Doctor Who (TV Series) The Sea Devils: Episode One (1972) User Reviews

Good opening episode.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 17 May 2008]

Doctor Who: The Sea Devils: Episode One starts as the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & his assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning) sail to a small island just of the coast of England on which the Master (Roger Delgado) is being held prisoner in a converted castle. The Doctor & Jo talk to the governor of the prison Colonel Trenchard (Clive Morton) who says that the Master hasn't given him or his guards any trouble or tried to escape, Trenchard also happens to mention in passing that several ship's have mysteriously disappeared in the surrounding area without trace. After visiting the Master the Doctor decides to investigate the ship disappearances, he pays a visit to the Naval base HMS Seaspite & learns from Captain Hart (Edwin Richfield) that at the very center of the disappearances is an old run down sea fort. The Doctor thinks he will find at least some of the answers he is looking for there...

Episode 9 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1972, the third story from Jon Pertwee's third season playing the Doctor one has to say like a lot of Doctor Who serials The Sea Devils has started off very well. I just hope that unlike a lot of Doctor Who serials, especially the long six parters, that The Sea Devils continues in that way. The script by Malcolm Hulke was originally called The Sea Silurians & was a sort of sequel &/or remake to Hulke's season seven story Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970) in that it had roughly the same story & featured what were intended to be aquatic versions of the Silurians. The Sea Devils also sees the return of renegade Timelord villain the Master & picks up his story after he was arrested at the end of The Dæmons (1971) at the end of the previous season, here he is seen watching the infamous British kids show The Clangers (1969 - 1974) while stuck in prison. The Sea Devils is also very unusual for an Earth bound Pertwee story as it doesn't feature UNIT or any UNIT regulars, in fact I think I am right in saying The Sea Devils is the only Pertwee story set on contemporary Earth that doesn't involve UNIT. This opening episode is typical Doctor Who as the script sets up some mysterious events & a race of monsters, this is actually a very good episode that has just the right balance between intrigue & exposition. It moves along at a decent pace although I am not too sure about the cliffhanger ending.

During season eight producer Barry Letts had managed to get the RAF involved with filming The Mind of Evil (1971) so for The Sea Devils he asked the Royal Navy for help, the Ministry of Defence agreed to their participation, the use of men, equipment & locations as long as the Navy was shown in a positive light. The scenes set here in the fictional HMS Seaspite were actually filmed at HMS St. George in Portsmouth in Hampshire. The castle where the Master is kept prisoner is in fact Norris Castle on the Ise of White. The sea fort location was No Man's Land Fort in the Solent just off the Isle of White, originally the script called for a disused oil rig but permission to film on one could not be found so the location was switched to a fort. The interior fort sets are excellent & very atmospheric, it's just a pity about that wobbly ladder. Talking of ladders there's a sequence where the Doctor & Jo are supposed to climb the ladder on the outside of the fort, it's painfully obvious that a bloke was doubling for Katy Manning! Just check out those broad shoulders & that rather chubby waistline!

The Sea Devils: Episode One is a cracking start to what I hope will be another top Jon Pertwee serial, I liked it.

Review of all episodes.

[DoctorThotcer · 8/10 · 13 August 2021]

This story has a particular soft spot for me as it was my most memorable early introduction to Doctor who, I was still in single figures regarding my age, but after this one I was hooked for life.

Watching as an adult, of course it has the usual issues with the BBC effects, but remembering that this was 5 years before Star Wars and done on a shoestring budget, it all holds up remarkably well.

Monsters lurking around dark corners, our heroes in plenty of peril, good and evil, lots of literally explosive action and stunts, with many well rounded characters, all filmed with some rather dynamic direction that produces quite a few iconic shots, and add to all of that, some of the most unique use of analogue synthesiser sounds you're likely to come across on any soundtrack.

We also find ourselves travelling over and under the sea in just about every form of water vehicle known to man at the time.

It still makes quite an impression, even today!

Despite The Flaws A Stunning And Fondly Remembered Adventure

[Theo Robertson · 9/10 · 15 August 2010]

An Overview To All Six Episodes - Contains Spoilers

This is the sequel to the 1970 story The Silurians . It would have been very easy for the production team to have simply resurrected the Silurians and just gone for a more of the same type story but to their great credit producer Barry Letts , script editor Terrance Dicks and writer Malcolm Hulke did something different and created an amphibious cousin to the Silurians which led to one of the best remembered stories of the 1970s . It's interesting to note its reputation dropped considerably in the 1990s when more people became familiar with the Silurian story . This is unfortunate because whilst the original 1970 tale remains my favourite all time story from the classic series The Sea Devils has a lot to recommend it

First of all is the highly effective set-pieces . The first episode revolves around the premise of ships disappearing in the English Channel and much of the story takes place on a lonely remote sea fort . Some people might complain that dialogue like " If we're alone why do I keep getting the feeling we're being watched " along with the unsubtle music and crash zoom sequences creating startle moments tends to talk down to the audience but I disagree . I was given nightmares by this story but never EVER regretted watching it all those years ago . Even today people of a certain age can still recall having seen " That Doctor Who episode where the monsters came out of the sea " This speaks well of the imagery that director Michael Briant created for this story and the Sea Devils themselves are amongst the very best looking monsters ever created for the show

Where the story is less effective is the bizarre episodic nature of the storytelling . This maybe isn't a criticism in itself because the show was made to be viewed as six 25 minute episodes with an interval of one week each . This means that watching every episode consecutively the story veers all over the place with totally idiosyncratic pacing but perhaps more than any other story from that decade it's a story set around the episodic set-pieces . For example the second episode is concerned about the Mater breaking in to the naval base , the third episode concentrates on the Doctor being imprisoned , the fourth episode the capture of the submarine , the fifth episode the Doctor being captured by the Sea Devils and the final episode concludes the episode with a great battle sequence and a climatic explosion

There's very little wrong with the story if you overlook the plotting . If even if you're fastidious enough to criticise the story structure there's still a lot to enjoy about this story . It has a doom laden and surreal atmosphere along with imagery that can sear itself on to a child's mind that will last for a lifetime . You think DOCTOR WHO isn't the greatest television drama ever ? Think again

Great example of Pertwee era 'monster threatens the Earth' format.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 29 September 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

The Master teams up with reptilian creatures who have been dormant under the ocean for millions of years to try to conquer humanity (again). These creatures, which are dubbed Sea Devils by terrified humans, are relatives of the 'Silurians' or as The Doctor re-names them Eocenes. They were on Earth before humans and want to claim the planet back after eons of suspended animation in the ocean depths. The Doctor tries to broker peace whilst The Master whips up a war. Human leaders also have the appetite for war so trapping The Doctor in the middle.

This adventure is not flawless but provides superb entertainment and iconic scenes throughout. All episodes of this adventure are terrific fun, exciting, interesting, well written and acted with only very minor faults. The interest and quality levels never drop below 9.5/10 for me and this epitomises Pertwee era Who.

Pertwee himself is in majestic form demonstrating brilliant humour, dynamic action, warmth and intelligence. Katy Manning as Jo is as endearing as ever and Roger Delgado is at the top of his game as The Master. There is a tremendously fun sword fight between him and The Doctor as well as all the wonderful verbal jousting.

There are a few guards and sailors whose acting and stunts are underwhelming but they are a tiny minority, most of the support cast is convincing and the whole naval scenario is brought to believable life with superb location work and ships, guns, submarines, hovercrafts etc. It is extraordinary in ambition compared to many earlier and later eras of the show.

Three main guest characters add particular quality to the serial too: Edwin Richfield as Captain Hart is a great substitute for the Brigadier providing cynical but admirable support, Clive Morton as Trenchard is a fantastically rich character beautifully acted and Martin Boddey as Walker provides an incredible mixture of comedy and horrible, pompous warmongering in a terrific role in the last 2 parts.

The Sea Devils themselves, whilst looking unimpressive to modern audiences perhaps, were very well done for the day in terms of costume and voices. The performance of Peter Forbes-Robertson as their Chief is superb as is the concept of them as a race with links to the Silurians introduced a couple of seasons earlier.

Overall this is a really great adventure.

My ratings: Episodes 1, 2, 4 & 5 - 10/10, Episodes 3 & 4 - 9.5/10

Good grief, poor chap's as mad as a hatter.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 28 February 2021]

The Doctor visits The Master who's being held as a Prisoner on an island, it if just a coincidence that boats in the nearby facility keep on vanishing.

Fondly thought of by many fans, for good reason, this is an excellent first episode. I love the nautical theme, disappearing ships, the settings, and of course monsters from the sea. Roger Delgado is phenomenal, I just love the idea of him locked up watching kid's programmes.

The big reveal of The Sea Devils is held off, and fair play, they look great.

The music, you'll either like it, or it will irritate you, I quite like it, it's heavy, but somehow it works.

The ever present stuffy, older man who's there to cause problems for the Doctor is once again present, this time in the form of Trenchard.

It's wonderful, 9/10.

Lord Nelson was a personal friend of mine

[JamesHitchcock · 18 March 2015]

The "Sea Devils" of the title are a race of aquatic reptiles, related to the Silurians who appeared in an earlier adventure. (The Doctor at one point comments that the Silurians should be renamed the "Eocenes"; this was a concession to all those scientists and others who had written to the BBC to point out that reptiles did not in fact exist during the Silurian era). Like the Silurians, but unlike, say, the Daleks, the Sea Devils are not aliens from another world. They are beings from an earlier period in the earth's history who have awakened after a long period (several million years) of hibernation.

There is another important difference between the Sea Devils and of some the Doctor's other enemies. They may be aggressive, but they are not treated as being entirely evil. They also lack the advanced weaponry of the extra-terrestrial races in this series; they have developed what appears to be a sort of ray-gun, but when they try and take on the British Armed Forces they generally come off second best. The Doctor is keen to try and broker some source of compromise peace-deal between humans and Sea Devils in order to prevent the bloodshed on both sides which would result from all-out war. The implication is that the Sea Devils can (to some extent at least) be trusted and that they have some sort of legitimate viewpoint. I cannot imagine the Doctor trying to negotiate in this way with the Daleks or Cybermen.

Standing between the Doctor's hopes for peace between the Earth's past and present inhabitants are two figures. One is his old enemy the Master who at the beginning of the story is being held prisoner on a small offshore island following his capture by UNIT in "The Dæmons". He soon, however, manages to escape with the assistance of the misguided prison governor, and uses his freedom to encourage the Sea Devils in their attacks on the human race, hoping to use them to fulfil his own ambitions of conquering the planet. The other is a gung-ho, warmongering politician named Robert Walker who is determined to finish off the Sea Devils as soon as possible, even by using nuclear weapons. The serial was first broadcast in 1972, at the height of the Cold War, so there is an obvious political subtext. (A goof. Walker is described as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, a very junior ranking minister under the British system, and certainly would not have had the power to authorise the use of nuclear weaponry).

Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor is probably my favourite Doctor Who, if only because he was the incumbent when I first became a keen fan of the series, and he always combined well with Roger Delgado's Master. (In real life the two men were close friends, despite playing enemies in the programme). Katy Manning's Jo Grant was never really a favourite of mine, being too much of an airhead, but at least in this serial she gets the chance to show qualities such as loyalty and courage.

Unusually for an earth-bound Third Doctor adventure, this one does not feature the character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, although UNIT are briefly mentioned. One possible reason is that the serial was being unofficially sponsored by the Royal Navy who would not have wanted a senior Army officer, even a fictitious one, putting in an appearance. The Navy, who were doubtless hoping the programme would bring them some publicity, are thanked in the credits for their assistance. Much of the serial was filmed on the naval base at Portsmouth, here disguised as the fictional "HMS Seaspite", many naval personnel appeared as extras and the Navy allowed the use of footage of their warships in action. Captain John Hart, the Seaspite base commander, plays a similar role to that played by the Brigadier in other episodes. We even learn that the Doctor has his own naval history; he tells the incredulous Hart that Lord Nelson was a close personal friend.

Despite the Navy's involvement, "The Sea Devils" has a generally pacifist slant, which makes a refreshing change from the "humans good, aliens bad" emphasis of some other serials. The Doctor's code of ethics clearly goes beyond merely assisting the human race. The Sea Devils themselves make an interesting addition to the gallery of "Doctor Who" monsters and the location settings make for a greater realism than was possible in studio-bound serials. This is an excellent adventure.