Stories Television Doctor Who Season 9 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 The Sea Devils Original Story TV Soundtrack Original Story TV Soundtrack 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 11 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 2 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, February 26, 1972 Production Code LLL Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant Runtime 150 minutes Time Travel Present Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Simply Messing about in Boats, Fencing, Lost the TARDIS, Reverse the polarity, Stranded on Earth, Under the Sea Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!) Exile on Earth, Working for UNIT Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Sonic Screwdriver Location (Potential Spoilers!) Earth, England, Fortress Island Synopsis The Doctor and Jo visit the Master in his high-security prison on an island off the south coast of England. The governor, Colonel Trenchard, says ships have been disappearing mysteriously at sea. The Doctor discovers that Trenchard and the Master are in league to contact the Sea Devils, a race of reptiles in hibernation in a base beneath the sea, who have been awoken by recent work on a nearby sea fort. The Master intends to use his new allies to help him conquer the world. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 6 Episodes Episode One First aired Saturday, February 26, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 6.4 million Synopsis The Doctor and Jo visit the Master at his island prison where the Doctor becomes curious about a number of ships sinking in the area. Episode Two First aired Saturday, March 4, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 9.7 million Synopsis The Doctor and Jo are trapped on the fort by a Sea Devil while the Master convinces Trenchard to help him steal some electronic components. Episode Three First aired Saturday, March 11, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 8.3 million Synopsis The Doctor is held prisoner by Trenchard while the Master attempts to contact the Sea Devils. Episode Four First aired Saturday, March 18, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 7.8 million Synopsis The Sea Devils attack the island prison and rescue the Master, prompting the Doctor to venture underwater to try and contact them. Episode Five First aired Saturday, March 25, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 8.3 million Synopsis The Doctor is taken to the Sea Devils' underwater colony where he tries to make peace with the creatures, only for the navy to attack the base. Episode Six First aired Saturday, April 1, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 8.5 million Synopsis The Sea Devils take over the naval base and the Doctor is forced to help the Master find a way to revive their colony. Show All Episodes Characters Third Doctor Jon Pertwee Jo Grant Katy Manning Sea Devils First Appearance The Master [UNIT Era] Roger Delgado Show All Characters (4) How to watch The Sea Devils: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 9 DVD Beneath the Surface VHS The Sea Devils (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last Ranked 11 reviews 2 June 2025 · 34 words Review by ErickSoares3 That was amazing. A really engaging adventure and I love how Delgado is such a good actor that I can admire his acting and hate the Master at the same time hahaha ErickSoares3 View profile Like Liked 0 20 May 2025 · 39 words Review by kawaii2234 I don't have anything intelligent to say about the plot apart from I enjoyed it. solid doctor who serial. the sea devils are some funky looking dudes and this serial is easily the best Delgado master story so far kawaii2234 View profile Like Liked 0 8 May 2025 · 265 words Review by Newt5996 1 Did I intend to immediately watch The Sea Devils after The Curse of Peladon? No. Yet there’s something quite cozy about Doctor Who under Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning that’s quite hard to resist. The Sea Devils is Malcolm Hulke’s script for the ninth season and largely it’s a retread of Doctor Who and the Silurians in the form of a sequel with the added weight of Roger Delgado as the Master. What holds this serial back is that Hulke despite clearly wanting to reckon with the character choices made at the end of Doctor Who and the Silurians, isn’t writing a serial with the UNIT team. Instead there are characters from the Royal Navy and the government to criticize and Jon Pertwee as the Doctor does criticize them but a lot of this feels like a retread. Now for a retread, it’s a very good retread. Michael E Briant as a director once again does great with the location work, getting a far better location to work with than Colony in Space’s dull quarry, getting to set up plenty of action shots. Delgado as the Master being included means we get some deepening of the Doctor/Master dynamic as old friends turned enemies, and a great sword fight at the end of Episode Two. And of course Pertwee and Manning are at the top of their game together, so this is a serial that’s a good time. The Sea Devils themselves also have a cool enough design, even if things really play out so much like Doctor Who and the Silurians with less personality. Newt5996 View profile Like Liked 1 18 April 2025 · 44 words Review by Azurillkirby 1 Perfectly fine, but unremarkable. My biggest problem with a lot of these old six-episode serials is a lack of cohesion. The storyline we have at the start is not same storyline we have at the end. It jumps around too much. C. Maybe B. Azurillkirby View profile Like Liked 1 17 April 2025 · 64 words Review by Scottybguud A sequel of sorts to the Silurians, as the Sea Devils are of the same species and want to emerge and take back planet earth. This isn't as good as that story though. The sea Devils look cool, better than the Silurians, but seem less intelligent than them. The Master is good as ever. Too many episodes, it would of been a stronger 4 parter. Scottybguud View profile Like Liked 0 Show All Reviews (11) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating534 members 3.71 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 991 Favourited 98 Reviewed 11 Saved 10 Skipped 1 Related Stories BBC Books The Eight Doctors Rating: 2.52 Story Skipped Book Reviews(12) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Eighth Doctor Adventures (Books) Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Clara Oswald and the School of Death Rating: 3.86 Story Skipped Comic Reviews(7) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Twelfth Doctor – Titan Comics Set of Stories: Titan Comics Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils Rating: 3.59 Story Skipped Book Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other variations of this story We define a variation as another way of experiencing the exact same story - like an autiobook, a reconstruction or an omnibus edition. BBC Audio Soundtracks The Sea Devils (BBC Audio Soundtrack) Rating: 2.92 Story Skipped Soundtrack Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: BBC Audio Soundtracks Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: I always find that violent exercise makes me hungry. Don't you agree? — The Sea Devils Show All Quotes (2) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Episode One [SS Pevensey Castle] (There are screams outside the radio room. A crewman dashes in and starts broadcasting.) CREWMAN: Mayday. Mayday. SS [Naval base radio room] Show Full Transcript Open in new window
