Doctor Who: The Daemons

The story starts with an archaeological dig at the ominously named Devil's End. The Doctor, Jo, Sergeant Benton, and Captain Mike Yates are watching it on tv. The excavation will open Devil's Hump at midnight, and the Doctor wants to stop it.

Joe, Yates, the Doctor, Benton

Look who's here!

Magister?

The Master is in Devil's End, pretending to be a vicar called Mr. Magister. Magister is Latin for "master." Nice. As soon as the Doctor hears the new vicar's name, he knows who it really is. At midnight, just as they open Devil's Hump, the Master performs some crazy ritual to raise Azal. A heat barrier goes up around the village, so no one can get in or out. The Brigadier is stuck outside, while the Doctor, Jo, Yates, and Benton are on the inside.

the Brigadier

There hasn't been any screen time for Azal yet, but there is this living gargoyle controlled by the Master creeping around.

Don't want to run into this guy

The Doctor and Jo find a spaceship. Then the Doctor fills everyone in. It's not the devil who is in Devil's End, it's a Daemon- a member of a powerful species from the other side of the galaxy. They've been around for ages and are why humans associate devil horns with evil/power. This one might destroy the world. Hm.

Those are Azal's legs in front of the Master. He's kind of big.

The Master wants Azal's power so he can rule the world. Azal knows the Doctor is also not a human and wants to talk with him, too. The Master isn't thrilled about that. Azal shows up again and this time the Master wants to sacrifice Jo as an offering. That's pretty messed up, even for the Master.

Azal

Meanwhile, the Doctor has helped the Brigadier figure out a way through the barrier, so here comes UNIT. The Doctor goes to talk to Azal and asks him to leave Earth. Azal offers the Doctor his power, but he doesn't want it. So Azal decides to give his power to the Master and kill the Doctor.

Jo jumps in front of the Doctor, shouting that the Doctor is a good man and Azal should kill her instead. Azal can't understand this selfless, irrational act and self-destructs. In the end, UNIT takes the Master into custody.

This is a good one, even though Azal and the gargoyle are a little ridiculous. That's part of the fun.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #59, "The Daemons," five parts
Adversary: Azal and the Master

Classic Lines: the Doctor, to Jo: "Jo, did you fail Latin as well as science? Magister is the Latin word for master!" 

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: Azal said he destroyed Atlantis. We already saw Atlantis destroyed by someone else in the 2nd Doctor era. There's an upcoming 3rd Doctor story in which the Master destroys Atlantis. Doctor Who has a major Atlantis continuity issue.
Next Up: "Day of the Daleks"

Doctor Who: Colony in Space

The story starts with the Time Lords discussing the Master looking for a doomsday weapon and how they better get the Doctor to help. Cut to the Brigadier and Jo teasing the Doctor about how his TARDIS doesn't work. The Doctor is still fiddling with the dematerialization circuit.

I love the look on the Brigadier's face.

The Brigadier is still looking for the Master, but the Doctor says he could be anywhere because his TARDIS actually works. I wonder if he will show up in this story?? The Doctor and Jo go inside the TARDIS, and the doors close and they take off. The Time Lords are controlling the TARDIS. They just send him off and don't tell him anything about it!

Someone's watching...

They end up at an Earth colony in 2400s. The colonists are having issues with their crops. Oh, and the planet's native inhabitants take the TARDIS when the Doctor and Jo leave it behind. They aren't baddies, though. They're friendly with the colonists.

Meeting the colonists

IMC, a mining company, is stirring up a lot of trouble because they want the planet's resources. They're cartoonishly evil in a boring way. This whole story drags, unfortunately. The Master doesn't even show up until halfway through. They call for an mediator to settle the dispute as to who gets the planet. Who turns up?

the Master

Yep, the Master is impersonating the mediator. Then these brain guys show up.

They live underground. They're the remnants of an ancient civilization, and they're the source of the doomsday weapon- but we won't find that out until episode five. Did you forget about that? The doomsday weapon? The reason the Master and the Doctor are there? Now here's the head brain guy.

oh my

The head brain guy lets the Doctor and Jo go and tells them not to come back on penalty of death. Do you think the Doctor goes back? Anyway, the Doctor returns to the colony and finds the Master there. Oops. What's going to happen? At this point in the story, I just don't care. It's too long and disjointed.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #58, "Colony in Space," six parts
Adversary: IMC and the Master

Classic Lines: Jo, on entering the TARDIS: "It's bigger inside than out!"; the Doctor: "Yes, that's because the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental."; Jo: "What does that mean?"; the Doctor: "It means that it's bigger inside than out."

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: This story is the first time the 3rd Doctor leaves Earth and the first time Jo enters the TARDIS.
Next Up: "The Daemons"

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos

The Axons arrive and act friendly and offer a gift to the Earth- Axonite. But Axons aren't so friendly after all. Axonite is a way for them to absorb all of Earth's energy and living matter. Oh, and they have the Master helping them since he's their captive. (They have his TARDIS.)

the Doctor, an Axon, Jo, the Brigadier

The Master inevitably escapes and works with the Doctor to create a workaround for the faulty dematerialization circuit in the TARDIS. (Remember, the Time Lords put a block on the Doctor's memory and messed with his dematerialization circuit so he's stuck on Earth.) In the end, the Doctor traps the Axons in a time loop to save the day while the Master escapes again. However, the Time Lords make sure the Doctor returns to Earth. He's still stuck.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #57, "The Claws of Axos," four parts
Adversary: Axons and the Master

Classic Lines: the Doctor: "Obviously the Time Lords have programmed the TARDIS always to return to Earth. It seems that I am some kind of a galactic yo-yo."

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: This story is the first time in the 3rd Doctor era that we see the inside of the TARDIS.
Next Up: "Colony in Space"

Cookie butter cookies

I tried a little experimenting. It went horribly wrong.

I like cookie butter, specifically Trader Joe's cookie butter. I thought, hey, let me substitute it for peanut butter in the peanut butter cookie recipe in Joanne Chang's Flour. Mistake! They were terrible. They grew too big. They tasted awful. They ended up in the trash. Let me be clear, I'm not knocking the recipe. I'm sure it would've turned out great with peanut butter. Just don't use cookie butter like I did.

Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil

I thought the Whoathon was done with the black and white episodes, but the only version of this story I could find easily was in black and white. That's because this was one of those stories lost and later recovered, like so many of the 1st and 2nd Doctor stories. The recovered version was black and white, but it was later restored to color.

the Master and the Doctor

So there's a machine that supposedly removes the evil from criminal minds and a world peace conference and a missile that's supposed to be decommissioned. The Master is right in the middle of it, looking to start World War III. In the end the Master escapes again, this time with the dematerialization circuit for his TARDIS. He makes sure to call the Doctor at the end and gloat, too. Typical Master.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #56, "The Mind of Evil," six parts
Adversary: the Master

Classic Lines: the Doctor, to the Brigadier: "Do you think for once in your life you could manage to arrive before the nick of time?!"; the Brigadier, in reply: "I'm glad to see you, too, Doctor."

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: The Doctor says UNIT was established to deal with new and unusual menaces to mankind.
Next Up: "The Claws of Axos"

Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons

The story starts with the introduction of Jo Grant as the Doctor's new assistant. The Doctor is annoyed because she's an idiot, but the Brigadier says too bad, her family has connections and he had to give her a job. Then a Time Lord, incognito, pays the Doctor a visit.

He warns the Doctor that the Master has come to Earth and will most certainly try to kill him. The Master!! This story is the first appearance of this classic Doctor Who villain. The Doctor immediately sees signs that the Master is around causing trouble. He find a bomb and one of the scientists at a research facility has been shrunk.

This is a signature move of the Master. Another signature move: hypnotism. He puts people under his control and makes them do his bidding. He's currently working with the Nestene. Remember them? Oh, and Captain Mike Yates is around now. He's another member of UNIT. Benton is here, too.

the Doctor, Mike Yates, Jo Grant

Ugh, Jo is so dumb. She is even dumber here than in later stories. Anyway, the Master has taken control of a plastics factory so he can make Autons. He's using the pseudonym Colonel Masters. Clever!

The man himself. The Master.

By the end of the story, Jo is more likeable and the Doctor has foiled the Master's plan. The Master escapes, but the Doctor has the dematerialization circuit from his TARDIS so he's trapped on Earth. (The circuit conveniently doesn't work in the Doctor's TARDIS.) I'm excited for a string of upcoming Master stories. He's always fun.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #55, "Terror of the Autons," four parts
Adversary: the Master and the Nestene/Autons

Classic Lines: the Master: "You will obey me."

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: This is the first appearance of the Master. 
Next Up: "The Mind of Evil"