The Sea Devils
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| 062 - The Sea Devils | |
|---|---|
| Doctor | Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) |
| Writer | Malcolm Hulke |
| Director | Michael E. Briant |
| Script editor | Terrance Dicks |
| Producer | Barry Letts |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | LLL |
| Series | Season 9 |
| Length | 6 episodes, 25 mins each |
| Transmission date | February 26–April 1, 1972 |
| Preceded by | The Curse of Peladon |
| Followed by | The Mutants |
The Sea Devils is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 26 to April 1, 1972.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Third Doctor and Jo visit the Master in his island prison and encounter the Sea Devils, the aquatic cousins of the Silurians.
[edit] Plot
The Doctor and Jo visit the Master, held in captivity on a small Island Prison, after being captured by UNIT. The Master is being imprisoned indefinitely and is the only prisoner. He is watched by CCTV and the island is patrolled by armed guards and protected by minefields.
As they depart, the governor, Colonel Trenchard, tells them that some ships have been mysteriously disappearing. He cannot resist investigating and the Doctor is attacked by an underwater Silurian, a man-like lizard called a Sea Devil, while examining a Sea Fort. They escape to the nearby naval base run by the efficient Captain John Hart, HMS Seaspite, and an alliance forms. He is in charge of the adaptation of the sea fort for use as a SONAR testing station. The Doctor meanwhile discovers that the Master, assisted by a misguided Trenchard, is stealing electrical equipment from a naval base to build a machine that will control the Sea Devils. He intends to use them as an army to enable him to conquer the world and begins by using the machine to summon some of them from the sea.
A battle for the prison ensues during which Trenchard, who had believed he was aiding his country against enemy agents, is killed. The Doctor and Jo escape to HMS Seaspite, where Hart tells them a naval submarine has disappeared. The Doctor investigates in a submarine bell and is seized by the Sea Devils, who take him to their leader. The Doctor enters the Sea Devil's base and tries to encourage peace, recalling how he had failed to broker an agreement between mankind and the Silurians. The Master too ventures to the Sea Devil base, intent on provoking war, but matters are left unresolved when the base is attacked by depth charges.
This attack was ordered by a gluttonous and short-sighted politician, Robert Walker, who has arrived at HMS Seaspite to take control of the situation and is intent on repeating UNIT’s actions on Wenley Moor: blowing up the creatures, but this time with nuclear weapons. Hart and Jo are opposed to the attack but at least it allows the Doctor cover to flee, even if he has failed in his initial peace attempt.
The Doctor persuades Walker to allow him a final attempt at negotiating peace but in the meantime the Sea Devils capture the naval base. They have been inspired to such actions by the Master, who still wishes to instigate a war. The Master then forces the Doctor to help build a machine to revive Sea Devil colonies all over the world. Returning to the Sea Devil base the Master activates the device, whereupon the Sea Devils imprison both Time Lords as they are now both equally useless to them. However The Doctor has sabotaged the machine and he and the Master escape the base in submarine escape equipment.
As they are rescued massive power feedback from the sabotaged machine destroys the Sea Devil colony before the miltary attack can begin. As usual, the Master is able to escape capture (this time by faking a heart attack and hijacking a rescue hovercraft) and flees the scene.
[edit] Cast
- Doctor Who — Jon Pertwee
- Jo Grant — Katy Manning
- The Master — Roger Delgado
- Trenchard — Clive Morton
- Clark — Declan Mulholland
- Hickman — Hugh Futcher
- Wilson — Brian Justice
- Barclay — Terry Walsh
- Drew — Stanley McGeagh
- Robbins — Royston Tickner
- Radio Operator — Neil Seiler
- Walker — Martin Boddey
- Captain Hart — Edwin Richfield
- 3rd Officer Jane Blythe — June Murphy
- Rear Admiral — Norman Atkyns
- Commander Ridgeway — Donald Sumpter
- Lt. Commander Mitchell — David Griffin
- Lt. Commander Watts — Brian Vaughan
- Ldg. Seaman Lovell — Christopher Wray
- Ldg. Telegraphist Bowman — Alec Wallis
- CPO Smedley — Eric Mason
- CPO Myers — John Caesar
- C.P.O. Summers — Colin Bell
- A/B Girton — Rex Rowland
- Chief Sea Devil — Peter Forbes-Robertson
- Sea Devil — Pat Gorman
[edit] In print
| Doctor Who book | |
 |
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| Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils | |
|---|---|
| Series | Target novelisations |
| Release number | 54 |
| Writer | Malcolm Hulke |
| Cover artist | Chris Achilleos |
| ISBN | 0 426 10583 4 |
| Release date | 17 October 1974 |
| Preceded by | Doctor Who and the Dæmons |
| Followed by | Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Malcolm Hulke, was published by Target Books in October 1974. A Portuguese translation was published in 1983.
[edit] Continuity
- The Master is seen imprisoned in a high-security island establishment, having been finally caught at the conclusion of the serial The Dæmons, at the end of the previous season.
- This story introduces the aquatic cousins of the Silurians, the Sea Devils. The Silurians first appear in Doctor Who and the Silurians, and appear alongside the Sea Devils in Warriors of the Deep.
- In this story, the term "Sea Devil" is used only by humans, although Silurians and Sea Devils use the term in Warriors of the Deep.
- The earlier Doctor Who and the Silurians had resulted in many letters from scientists and geologists who argued that it was impossible for a reptilian lifeform to have existed in the Silurian era. In this story the Doctor admits that the name "Silurian" is inaccurate and states they should more properly be called "Eocenes" (which again is an unlikely candidate for the creatures' own era).
[edit] Production
- Working titles for this story included The Sea Silurians.
- Because of the story's location filming requirements it was allocated the second slot in the production run for Doctor Who's ninth season so as to allow filming in October. However to alternate the stories between those set on Earth and those set on other worlds it was transmitted third in the season. This was the first time stories were produced out of transmission order.
- The serial was mainly filmed around Portsmouth, Portsmouth HM Naval Base, No Mans Land Fort, the Isle of Wight and HMS Reclaim.
- The British Royal Navy waived royalty fees on the use of stock footage and clips showing ships in action, happy with on-screen credits and the positive publicity generated by the show.
[edit] Music
The incidental music for this story, by Malcolm Clarke, is highly experimental and among the more memorable television soundtracks of the era. A suite of it appeared on the 1983 LP Doctor Who - The Music, and later, in 2000, the full score was released on the compilation album Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970-1980.
[edit] Outside references
The Doctor claims to have been a close personal friend of Admiral Lord Nelson in this story.
[edit] Broadcast and video release
- A ninety minute compilation of the story was repeated at Christmas 1972.
- In May 1974 the compilation had an unscheduled repeat in place of a cancelled cricket match.
- When the wiping for episodes ended in 1978 it was discovered that the first three episodes had only survived as black & white telerecordings for overseas sales.
- In the early 1980s NTSC transfers of all six episodes were returned from broadcasters in Canada. These were converted back to the original PAL format.
- The story was repeated in full on BBC2 in 1992, representing the Pertwee years as part of a series of repeats of stories from all seven Doctors. The NTSC copy of Episode Five was used as the PAL copy had a nasty scratch on it.
- The story was released on VHS in September 1995. The copy of Episode Five used was the NTSC version, despite the fact work had been done a year or so again to remove the scratch off the PAL version.
[edit] External links
- The Sea Devils episode guide on the BBC website
- The Sea Devils at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- The Sea Devils at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
[edit] Reviews
- The Sea Devils reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- The Sea Devils reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
[edit] Target novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
- On Target — Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils
| The Master television stories | |
|---|---|
| Third Doctor: | Terror of the Autons • The Mind of Evil • The Claws of Axos • Colony in Space • The Dæmons • The Sea Devils • The Time Monster • Frontier in Space |
| Fourth Doctor: | The Deadly Assassin • The Keeper of Traken • Logopolis |
| Fifth Doctor: | Castrovalva • Time-Flight • The King's Demons • The Five Doctors • Planet of Fire |
| Sixth Doctor: | The Mark of the Rani • The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe |
| Seventh Doctor: | Survival |
| Eighth Doctor: | Doctor Who |
| Minor appearances: | The Caves of Androzani |
| See also: | The Curse of Fatal Death |
