Really not as bad as people say, it's only really the special effects that are a let down for me. I loved the emotional scenes with 13 and Yaz, Dan was great, the Sea Devils are more adorable than ever, and I'm a massive fan of pirates anyway so this was right up my alley.
I will happily defend this episode for as long as I live

Frankly astonishing that this thing was ever broadcast.

I did this review when the episode came out. I have no idea if I still agree with it.

Whilst previous doctors, namely 10 and 11, have had memorial specials with episodes such as waters on mars and day of the doctor, Whittaker, as is it seems to be a general trend with the rest of her era, has had it poorly to no fault of her own. This and Eve of the Daleks feel like filler and I sincerely doubt, apart from the "Thasmin" subplot, these stories will not add up much to the inevitably catastrophic finale. This episode will probably, apart from the very clear production problems, be largely forgotten and overshadowed. If this episode was nothing more, nothing less than just forgettable, then it would warrant a higher rating but this episode is full of baffling inconsistencies which can only be explained by a rushed production trying to meet a deadline. That's not to say its faults are exclusively technical as chibnal poor writing quality is also on display. Its by no means an abomination though but feels very much a product of lack of imagination and doctor who's formulaic nature. One common criticism of the episode is its vfx which I believe are a result of the sea devils and the centenary. The sea devils have to be animated in every shot which is undoubtedly a tedious process which is why they obviously reused some shots. That being said the sea monster fx looks amazing. I wouldn't be surprised though that shot was done by the famous ben pickles who we recently found out was responsible for some of whittaker eras best vfx shots.

Overall its clunky and forgettable and will probably only be remembered for what ever the hell was going on behind the scenes. In that sense it will then share an ironic mirroring of warriors of the deep, which was famed for its difficult production. Hopefully Michael Grade won't pick this episode up out of context and use it to argue for its cancellation.

Oh my God, what an episode! I loved that. So much fun. The Sea Devils have never been better, we got some incredible sword fighting to fit in with the pirate theme, and some great moments between the Doctor and Yaz. And, of course, Dan is hilarious as always!

And the Centenary Special looks bloody incredible . Not only Ace, but Tegan Jovanka too! And Tegan wasn't even rumoured to be returning! I am so hyped for this October.

OKAY OKAY I know that this episode is BAD. the writing, the vfx, its bad!! However!!! This episode is one of my comfort episodes and I remember laughing sososo much when I first watched it, and for that I love it <3

Legend of the sea devils DEFENDER