“The Sea Devils”, is an adventure of the ninth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1972. It follows “The Curse of Peladon” and it’s a six parts adventure written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Michael Briant.

The story

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) goes along with Jo Grant (Katy Manning) to visit the Master on the small island where he’s imprisoned after he was captured by UNIT. Specific security measures have been established so for example the guards are able to resist his hypnotic powers. The Master claims he’s changed but he doesn’t want to reveal the location of his Tardis.

The Doctor is still worried but Colonel Trenchard, the prison’s governor, shifts his attention on another issue telling him that some ships disappeared in the area. The Doctor decides to investigate along with Jo but they get in the middle of an attack by intelligent marine reptiles. It’s the start of a threat for all humanity.

Extras

This DVD contains a good amount of extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Billings, a trailer about the next “Doctor Who” DVDs to be released and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.

There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks and director Michael Briant.

Isolated Music. The option to watch the adventure with Carey Blython’s soundtrack in an isolated audio track.

Hello Sailor! A documentary about 37 minutes long about the problems faced during the production of this adventure.

8mm Film. A short 8mm film shot on during the production of this adventure.

Trails and continuities. Various announcements concerning the BBC original transmission of this adventure.

The Making of Doctor Who. The book “The Making of Doctor Who” published in 1972 in PDF format.

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For the ninth “Doctor Who” season, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks decided to produce an adventure with a sea setting that included creatures similar to the ones seen in “Doctor Who and the Silurians” and the Master as well. Thanks to the collaboration of the British Royal Navy in the production, it essentially replaced UNIT in this serial.

Thanks to the simultaneous presence of the reptiles called “sea devils” and the Master, the plot of “The Sea Devils” is in many ways more complex than “Doctor Who and the Silurians” despite being an episode shorter. This allows to have action from the start and a higher average pace.

Despite the title, in “The Sea Devils” the main villain is the Master. Captured at the end of “The Daemons”, the last adventure of the eighth season, he was locked in a prison with very special security measures. Nevertheless, the Doctor fears that his old enemy is, as usual, up to something and actually the Master’s plan develops in the course of this adventure.

The plot concerning the Master intersects with that of the sea devils from the start because during his visit the Doctor discovers the disappearance of some ships and starts investigating, stumbling in those marine reptiles. This part of “The Sea Devils” resembles in many ways “Doctor Who and the Silurians” and this is the main problem.

The sea devils, like their cousins, entered a state of suspended animation but didn’t awaken when scheduled and when that happened they found a planet occupied by humans. Once again, the Doctor tries to mediate between two species that have both the right to inhabit the Earth but this time even he seems unconvinced.

Captain Hart, who in “The Sea Devils” is the equivalent of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, hesitates to order an attack to the colony of reptiles and it’s Walker, a pompous government representative, who decides that the sea devils must be wiped out. These are variants of an adventure already seen and that’s why this part of the story ends up being less dramatic.

Eventually, the best part of “The Sea Devils” is the one with the Master. Roger Delgado is as always extraordinary in his performance and works very well with Jon Pertwee, though some scenes are over the top. In the Master’s machinations, Colonel Trenchard, the governor of the prison, is also involved. His patriotism is his weakness which is cleverly exploited by the Master and as a result Trenchard does the wrong things thinking he’s doing a service to his country.

The characters are undoubtedly one of the highlights of “The Sea Devils” and even Jo Grant, who in some adventures just follows the Doctor around, has a few scenes where she provides the Doctor with some important help.

Another reason why “The Sea Devils” works well is in its production values, certainly enriched by the support of the British Royal Navy, which provided crafts, equipment and even personnel. Several extras are real sailors and this contributes to the realism compared the the adventures with UNIT in which Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart leads just a few soldiers.

Overall, “The Sea Devils” is a really good adventure while the extras on the DVD are quite good but not extraordinary.

This DVD is part of the “Beneath the Surface” box set – available on Amazon UK, Amazon U.S.A. and Amazon Canada – so a global judgement of that box set must necessarily be given only at the end of the reviews of the adventures it contains.