One of the more unbearable stories among the already questionable roster of content among Chris Chibnall's time as Doctor Who showrunner.

This might be the worst, most clumsily edited episode of any Doctor Who ever made. Certainly of the new series. Some of the action just looks god awful based on how it was cut together, but my guess is the editors were trying to make a bunch of useless footage come together into something at least a little coherent. It is really hard to get through content edited like this - the scene where the Sea Devil is attacking the Doctor early on feels like it is a few small changes away from being a parody of itself.

Everything is wrong with this production. The writing is awful and outright ahistorical. The way this story ends is the exact kind of writing people have been making fun of around the Chibnall era since the very beginning. Our characters are flat nothings. The writing around Madame Ching is a huge disservice to actual history figure, while the stuff between 13 and Yaz felt completely unearned based on everything that has happened with these two before. It's a shame too because Crystal Yu seemed pretty good as an actor - she is just handed awful, reductive writing that no actor could make something positive out of.

The only thing I like about this episode is the Sea Devils themselves. They are essentially wasted here, but the actual design and look of them is pretty impressive. I know not everyone likes them but I think it is a really cool mix of what the originals looked like with a mix of more modern tech and prosthetics. I was impressed by them more than I wasn't. Still, that is nothing - perhaps even more insulting that they are used so poorly here and the writing leaves so much to be desired. I don't even know what the Sea Devils were up to. The episode was not clear about this, but more significantly, I don't care enough to revisit Legends of the Sea Devils and find out. It was not a pleasant experience the first time and I can't find the motivation to recreate those feelings. This is one of those stories that makes it borderline embarrassing to be a Doctor Who fan.

I am most definitely nostalgic for this episode (I mean, this is when Thasmin is most explicitly canon) but that does not blind me to its faults. The supporting cast have some lackluster acting and the storyline is kind of a mess, not the most well-written of specials. However, there’s some strong SFX with the ocean and the moments between Yaz and Thirteen are actually pretty good. I personally enjoyed the Sea Devil design but they were kind of nothing characters and I wished there had been more for them to do other than act imposing. There’s some hidden gems in this story but it’s otherwise a bit underwhelming.

So uhh.. At this Point, it's kinda a cliché to say that I didn't quite like this one, now, is it?

There are some good to be found, I think we get a few excellent Scenes between 13 and Yaz (how it delves into the Thasmin ship is quite interesting). Oh, and Dan in a Pirate Costume is cute and reminds me of the Gunfighters. Besides that, this one is just kinda disappointing to me. There is a lot of Potential in this one. Madam Ching is such an interesting historic Figure and while her Actress does an excellent Job with what she is given, sadly what she is given is easily one of the weaker Outings from Chibnall. In general, this one just feels kinda all over the place. We get the Sea Devils back, who look amazing in this new Redesign, but they are just kinda here and really nothing much is done with them.

I do see why some either quite or really like this one, sadly to me, it just kinda ended up being an Episode with a lot of wasted Potential. I do see some good in there, like I mentioned before, but that sadly doesn't put the Episode much higher to me.

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.

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

i actually think its extremely offensive to give me a qing dynasty historical like i asked but its some yawn doodoo boring s**t and anyways like if youre gonna do any china historical and not make it the most amazing groundbreaking episode i literally hate you. bbc are you racist like be honest.

and also idgaf about thasmin like im sorry but yazmin got the characterization of a piece of cardboard especially in comparison to other companions. how on earth am i supposed to care about this #emotional romantic conversations when ive sat through companions that gone through crazier s**t with the doctor.

Hilarious. No, really, it's super f**king funny that this ever got made and broadcast, you can just tell it's a rush job to fit an empty slot and I just love it for that. I can't hate it by any means, it's pretty inoffensive, there's nothing going on that would make it the actual worst of Doctor Who; you'd have to dig pretty deep to justify that, idk. At best it's harmless fun, at worse it's boring.

Great to watch drunk or high. I assume. I've never done that. But you can definitely try.

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.

This episode has a very classic feel, and honestly I think more of Thirteen's era should have been like this. She does best when in filler-type episodes, just running around having adventures with the fam. Though technically the stakes include the entire world, they feel small and localized, which I prefer. I like that the Sea Devils (unfortunately named, but that was established long before this) more or less maintain their classic appearance. The pirates (TWO different eras of Chinese pirates!) are great fun. The entire thing maintains the random yet earnest feel that made classic who so charming, only with impressive special effects.

And, of course, the relationship conversation was expertly handled. The Doctor in an ordinary romance would never have worked, and this was a great way to discuss that.

All of the stars are for Yaz and The Doctor. This episode feels so off in its editing and staging. Generously, I feel like that had to be from filming in covid times. But still feels really weird to watch a sword fight and feel zero excitement whatsoever. I hope in the years to come, we'll get to hear what happened behind the scenes.

I'm hoping this proves to be the Planet of the Dead for Jodie's last run. A semi decent special before the next one that delivers on everything we come to expect from Doctor Who.

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

Frankly astonishing that this thing was ever broadcast.

Nowhere near as bad as I remembered. The Thasmin moments are great, the story isnt amazing but its okay!

I adore wuxia movies so it's pretty hard for me to dislike this one despite it's dodgy writing and editing. They even get the 13th doctor to do a flip!!!!

Honestly, just kind of boring.

Inconsistent visual effects don't help either. But it's not anything egregious.

this is so much fun you guys are just curmudgeons

Yeah, that sucked. Idk, don't know what to really say. It is an episode of Doctor Who, and doesn't try to be anything more than that.