The Sea Devils · Classic Who S9 • Serial 3 · (6 episodes)

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.

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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.

Characters

Third Doctor

Jon Pertwee

Jo Grant

Katy Manning

How to watch The Sea Devils:

Watch on iPlayer

Blu-Ray

The Collection – Season 9

DVD

Beneath the Surface

VHS

The Sea Devils (VHS)

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4 reviews

Jon Pertwee era stop being boring challenge impossible

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Review last edited on 22-11-24

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This review contains spoilers!

The Sea Devils begins brilliantly with the Jo and Doctor on a boat, visiting a small island prison dedicated the imprisonment of one man: The Master. The build up to The Doctor's encounter with his arch nemesis is very well handled, once they are on land we pass heavy surveillance, armed guards and identity checks before being allowed anywhere near him. This suspenseful introduction reminded me of Hannibal Lecter, even more so when the excellent twist is revealed; the entire prison is under his control.

The introduction shows that the story's primarily purpose is not to be a sequel to the Silurians (Eocenes, Sea Devils, etc.) but to explore The Master's relationship with The Doctor. Whilst The Master steals the show (proving what a special treat he can be when not overused) the Sea Devils are a real flop when compared to their land dwelling cousins. Whilst they *can* speak, I can't recall many scenes in which they choose to do so. I criticised The Silurians for introducing the species as highly intelligent, but then failing to deliver this in terms of their presentation or speech. In The Sea Devils the problem is made worse, they are mostly mute villains without a trace of their supposed super-intelligence. Are they supposed to be considered intellectual compare to humans, or just all other Earth animals? Last week's The Curse of Peladon had seven races (Human, Peladon, Time Lord, Ice Warrior, Aggador, Alpha Centauri and Arcturus) only one of which I would consider to be less intelligent then the Sea Devils. This problem undermines the entire plot, it rids these creatures of one of their key distinguishing features.

The Silurian element of the plot is also hampered by the fact that we've already seen the same scenario played out two seasons ago. Swapping underground creatures to creatures from the sea adds no more than visual difference. This lack of substance means that their elements of episodes three to six drag terribly. It would have been preferable for them to see where The Silurian race was two years later, after being betrayed by UNIT. It would be amazing to see some righteous (and justified) ire directed at the human race.

The Navy's contribution to this story is highly significant, both The Master and The Doctor feel very at home in this hierarchical environment. Seeing The Master flit in and out of prison, then be saluted by a large group of naval officers makes him by far the coolest man in the show, his escape via hovercraft at the end of episode six is just as ostentatious. It is wonderful to see how this villain has grown. The Master does not just want to cause havoc, he wants to cause it in style.

They have made a conscious decision to not include UNIT in this story, it would have been nice to have a cameo appearance - especially as we were shown so many Navel equivalents to our favourite characters. For all my talk of loving variety, I must say that I've missed UNIT over the last couple of stories!

As time has gone on I have felt more and more attached to Jo, she is a truly excellent and versatile companion. In the previous story she was glamorously scaling buildings and here, I am also in love with Pertwee's Doctor, even if his attempts to make lofty, pretentious James Bond-like statements sometimes gets under my skin. Together these two make the best and most natural duo the show has seen so far.

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Review last edited on 4-09-24

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This review contains spoilers!

I had an excellent time with the Sea Devils. While the story is a standard affair considering this era, I'm most impressed by the amount of resources the crew put into filming around water, and a pretty cool set for the Master's prison. The Sea Devils themselves look just okay but I think compare well to something like The Silurians. Overall, I had a good time. The Master, Jo, and the Doctor are all a lot of fun here - everyone has good chemistry with each other and it is just easy to let Pertwee's charm just carry you through the story. Most of the guest actors are quite solid, too. Just when I think the premise started wearing thin, the story is brought to an end, and I'm left with a pretty fond feeling towards this story overall.

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Review last edited on 4-06-24

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Sometimes in Classic Who you find the longer serials (or to be fair, any serials) don't have enough plot to fill their time. I'm so glad The Sea Devils is not one of those

I liked the plot and the acting, the Sea Devil costumes are charming, and the location filming was enthralling (shout out to the sea <3). The Doctor had a sword fight with the Master, stole his sandwich, and then stole Jo's sandwich too. What more do you want from Doctor Who

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