to Roger Delgado as the Master. Although the review was less favourable about the climax to the story, it described the closing scene as "perfection". Reviewing its DVD release, Ian Berriman of SFX was more critical, giving it three and a half out of five stars. He derided it for being an "awful mess" with a plot that "doesn't make a shred of sense". Despite praising the "magnificent" characters of Hawthorne, Horner, and Fergus, he thought that other characters including the Doctor and the Master were "continually acting in a completely absurd way". Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping were also unimpressed by the serial, noting its popularity but stating "The Dæmons isn't really very good. Its denouement is risible, and even the much praised church explosion effect looks cheap." They did, however, consider the final scene to be "charming". In Doctor Who: The Complete Guide, Mark Campbell awarded it six out of ten, describing it as a "wannabe occult chiller" which "gradually dissipates into a technobabble-filled damp squib". He regarded the "quintessentially English village" as a "pleasant backdrop" but concluded that "much of the action now seems dated". In 2010, SFX named the resolution to the plot as one of the silliest moments in Doctor Who history. An April Fool spoof report of a suppressed sixth episode was published in the fanzine DWB in 1993. Commercial releases In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Barry Letts, was published by Target Books in October 1974. It was reprinted in 1989 as part of Target's Doctor Who Classics range, printed back to back with Terrance Dicks' novelisation of "The Time Monster", bound in a metallic cover. There have been Dutch and Portuguese language editions. An unabridged reading of the novelisation by author Barry Letts was released on CD in August 2008 by BBC Audiobooks. The script of this serial, credited to Robert Sloman and Barry Letts edited by John McElroy, and titled , was published by Titan Books in October 1992. Home media The final episode of this story was also issued as a black and white film recording on the VHS release The Pertwee Years, along with the final episodes of Inferno and Frontier in Space. In 1993, the episodes with restored colour (see "Broadcast and reception", above) were released on VHS. A DVD of the serial was released on 19 March 2012, featuring improved sound and