Day 161 — June 10th 2021
The Sea Devils Episodes Five and Six
The Sea Devils — Episode Five
Cor this one is good, innit? This episode feels like a slightly more polished draft of both Doctor Who and the Silurians and Colony in Space — all by the same author. It takes the arguments made to the Silurians in the first story, mixes them with the idea of Doctor Who and the Master battling to convince an alien species of their opposing points of view, and it does them better that on the previous occasions.
I really love the way that Doctor Who is already up against it trying to convince the Sea Devils that he Master has ill intent; after all he’s the one who’s helped to rouse them from their sleep;
Doctor Who: ‘I beg you not to listen to this man. He’s the personification of evil.’
Sea Devil: ‘The Master is our friend.’
Doctor Who: ‘He wants only to provoke a war.’
And then there’s the debate itself, which is nicely done. I think it’s a mark of how well it’s written and performed that I’ve enjoyed watching it even though it’s basically the same scene we got in both Colony in Space and The Dæmons. It feels somehow more sincere here than it has before, and it’s afforded the room to breathe. It’s also nice to see Doctor Who lose the argument for a change, with the Sea Devils deciding that Humanity should be wiped out.
The Time Lords aren’t the only ones who get to have a good debate in this episode — up on the surface Jo is having it out with Walker, arguing for a peaceful solution. Once again it’s a strong episode for her, and it’s nice to see her being the one doing some reasoning; it’s not always about being involved in the action sequences.
While I’m on the subject, Walker has to be a member of Torchwood, surely? Yeah yeah yeah, I know they won’t be invented for another 40 years, but if you had to retroactively fit members of Torchwood into Old Testament Who then this would surely be your best bet? There’s all the stuff about ‘our duty is to destroy the Queen’s enemies’ and quoting the National Anthem, which is very Torchwood One, and then there’s the general xenophobia applied to the enemy;
Walker: ‘I’m going to get on to the Minister, and I’m going to ask him to seek approval for an immediate attack with nuclear weapons.’
Doctor Who: ‘But that, sir, would be tantamount to murder.’
Walker: ‘Oh, come, come, Doctor. You speak as if these creatures are human. We’re not going to hand over the world to a lot of lizards, you know.’
Five episodes in I’ve not actually said very much about the Sea Devils themselves, and that’s because they’ve been kept largely in the background so far, appearing only now and then to provide a cliffhanger or a bit of spooky ‘creeping into shot’ acting. They’re out in full force now, though, storming the naval base, and they look brilliant.
By all rights the string vests should look ridiculous — especially when the lead Sea Devil starts sporting a net cape — but somehow it just works. There’s something iconic about them, and they’re some of the best looking aliens we’ve had in the series. It helps that they really tower over the humans, and while I know they’ve got eye holes cut into their necks, I never doubt them for a second. The whole thing comes together really well.
I’d also noted yesterday that it’s a good thing they don’t talk — in the case of the Silurians the voices ended up really letting them down. Of course I’d totally forgotten that they actually do speak, and they get in quite a lot of it today! Sibilant whispers are something of a Doctor Who staple — we had the Ice Warriors back in the last story after all — but it sort of works again here while feeling different enough.
One last thing to note here, and it’s the involvement of the Navy with filming. It means we get some proper great action sequences, and while I suspect that some of it utilises stock footage, I think a lot was achieved as part of the shoot for Doctor Who. The huge sea battle we get in this one is brilliant, and it’s another example of this story doing a Pertwee Era staple exceedingly well.
9/10
The Sea Devils — Episode Six
I’ll tell you what — the Navy are significantly more competent at fighting off ‘alien’ threats than UNIT ever are! Look at how many Sea Devils they manage to shoot during the big battle in this episode! UNIT would have missed most of them and manage to puncture the hovercraft at a crucial moment. I think it’s another reason that The Sea Devils has been such a success for me; as much as I like UNIT, it’s nice to have an Earth-based adventure that doesn’t feature them, just for a change. Even though we get all the Pertwee Era staples here, it still manages to feel fresh and interesting.
And my God do we get some staples in this one! Person falling from a height and doing a somersault? Check. It’s a Sea Devil in this instance, but it’s still the same stunt they trot out every few weeks. Final Episode big battle featuring the military against the same bunch of alien costumes? Check. Jon Pertwee doing some gurning? Check. A chase sequence in which Doctor Who gets to add another vehicle to his list? Check — this time it’s a little motorboat.
Heck, we even get Doctor Who saying ‘reverse the polarity of the neutron flow’, which is usually listed as Pertwee’s catchphrase, though I think this is the only time he says the whole line in his era.
I know it sounds like I’m having a bit of a moan, but I’ve been quite pleased to see all these things, and glad that they haven’t impacted my enjoyment of the story. I’m giving this one an 8/10, which means The Sea Devils is an eight on average, and thus just slides into my Top Ten from the marathon so far.
The entire battle in the naval base is brilliant, and I think it’s the best example of the Sea Devils rising from the ocean. They’ve done it on two or three other occasions in earlier episodes, but this feels like the definitive one for me, and then there’s some great shots of them stalking around the base. When Jo makes her escape across a rooftop and two Sea Devils move into frame behind her it could almost be a Douggie Camfield shot — it’s got some real impact and looks brilliant.
I also really enjoy the resolution of Doctor Who and the Silurians being turned on its head here. In that one, Doctor Who opts to let the creatures return to hibernation but the Brigadier decides to countermand him and blow them all up. This time around it’s Doctor Who that has to blow them up. He justifies it to Jo (and himself);
Doctor Who: ‘I managed to destroy their base for you.’
Hart: ‘Thank goodness. Well done.’
Doctor Who: ‘Well, I did what I had to to prevent a war.’
But it’s tempting to think that the Brigadier could use the exact same excuse for his own actions in Season Seven. It’s the one time I was slightly saddened by the lack of UNIT in the story, as there’s an interesting conversation to be had there. That said, given how they glossed over Doctor Who’s treatment of the Ice Warriors in the last story, I don’t think we’d have gotten it.
There’s one last thing I want to touch on today, and it’s the Master’s escape. A couple of days ago I praised Malcolm Hulke for avoiding the rubber mask disguises that followed the Master around in Season Eight, and then we get just that as he makes his escape in this episode! D’oh! That said, I think it works rather well here, and it’s only a brief moment of mask wearing, so I won’t complain.
And does Doctor Who smile while the Master makes his escape? It certainly looks that way to me, but Pertwee plays it so well that you genuinely can’t be certain.
I rather like the idea that he’s pleased to see his friend live another day — it’s great that he ensures they both escape the Sea Devils’ base together, and you get a sense that he’s genuinely enjoying having his favourite enemy back on the scene.
Overall I’ve been really surprised by The Sea Devils. It’s not a story I’ve ever given a second thought to particularly, and now it’s tied with The Claws of Axos for my favourite Pertwee tale. I don’t remember a lot about The Mutants, which I’m moving onto tomorrow, but I’m fairly certain I wasn’t a massive fan. Here’s hoping it’ll turn out to be an undiscovered gem like this one.
