OK time for another post revisitation as I figured I would squeeze in just one more post before the end of the month. So the post I will revisit is Doctor Who classic story - The Sea Devils, which was first broadcast back in 1972. But how does it still stack up after 45 years???? Well let's wade into that sea and find out.....
And yep, the usual warning is coming up.....
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!!
STORY
So the story begins with the Doctor (Pertwee) and his companion, Jo Grant (Katy Manning) visiting the Doctor's old foe, The Master (Roger Delgado) who has been imprisoned on a small prison island after he was captured by UNIT (as seen in the story The Daemons). On the island, the Master is well guarded and under CCTV surveillance, also the guards have been trained to resist the Master's hypnosis tricks. As the Doctor and Jo leave, the governor of the prison, Colonel Trenchard (Clive Morton) tells them that some ships have gone mysteriously missing and out of curiosity the Doctor decides to go and investigate.
The Doctor and Jo soon travel to an old sea fort where the Doctor finds a crazed crewmember who babbles about seeing a "sea devil" and the Doctor is soon attacked by a man-sized bipedal lizard, similar to the Silurians, but the creature escapes. The Doctor and Jo soon escape the fort and go to a naval base which is run by Captain Hart (Edwin Richfield) where he forms an alliance with him.
Meanwhile it turns out that the Master is in fact not being held captive and that he is instead working with Trenchard to apparently investigate the disappearance of the missing ships and the Master himself sneaks into the naval base to steal some electronics equipment, however he is spotted by one of the personnel at the base.
The Doctor then goes to confront the Master back at the island and they fight but they are interrupted by Trenchard who ties up the Doctor at the Master's insistance but Jo later on rescues the Doctor and they head back to the naval base. Afterward the Master then uses the electrical equipment to create a device to contact and control the sea devils who emerge from the waters and storm the prison island, killing the guard and also Trenchard.
The Doctor and Jo back at the naval base are informed by Hart that another submarine has gone missing and the Doctor decides to go down in a diving bell to investigate but he is soon captured by the Sea Devils. The Doctor is then taken to the Sea Devils base underwater where he is confronted again by the Master, who is hellbent on using the Sea Devils to destroy humankind and from here the Doctor must try and broker a peace between the Sea Devils and the humans in an effort to stop the Master, if he can.....
THOUGHTS
The Sea Devils for me remains one of Jon Pertwee's most enjoyable stories of his era and while it doesn't quite scale the heights of his very best stories its certainly isn't that far off them. The story also works well beacuse it provides a different tack when dealing with the Master as he appears to be held captive and also even claims that he has been rehabilitated only to find that he is still up to his old evil ways.
It also marked the return of the Silurians, well in different form as the Sea Devils are the underwater cousins of the original Silurians. However after the original Silurians story was broadcast, scientists and geologists sent in letters that it would be impossible for reptilian life to have existed during the Silurian era. So as an amendment to this it was corrected in the story as in one scene the Doctor refers to it as a "misnomer" and that it should be the "Eocenes".
But like the previous story, The Sea Devils remains an interesting one because the creatures themselves aren't necessarily evil as the Doctor tries to negotiate a peace between them and the humans, which was a familiar theme used in some of the writer, Malcolm Hulke's stories during the Pertwee era, even though it ultimatley doesn't go too well! The Sea Devils themselves are fairly well presented in the show as their masks and costumes are fairly good and quite effective as are their soft vocoder effect voices.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES
Performance wise the Sea Devils is also pretty good and Jon Pertwee once again is great in his role as the Doctor as he plays him with the usual sense of playfulness and seriousness and he has his share of good scenes in the story.
As for a few examples there is the scene when the Doctor first meets with the Master on the island and he remarks on seeing him on a video screen shown to him by Trenchard, "Good grief, he's putting on weight!". After the meeting he goes outside with Jo and appears almost a little sad and says to Jo "Well he used to be a good friend of mine once. A very good friend. In fact you might almost say we were at school together".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor is trapped on the sea fort with Jo but he manages to lash up a radio device to contact the coast guard. However at first the Doctor isn't too successful at getting through as he instead get's radio DJ channel, and he sheepishly switches off and Jo remarks "Hey, that was my favourite DJ!" and the Doctor laughs saying "I think I got my wires crossed!". But after the Doctor manages to make contact he says to himself "Well if I say so myself, I think that's a remarkably efficient piece of work". However as the Doctor switches off the radio, it goes up in smoke and he is left looking rather embarrassed.
Another good scene is when the Doctor confronts the Master back at the prison and they have a duel with epees and the Doctor after knock the Master down, looks over and sees a sandwich on a table and takes a bite from it and says "I always find that violent exercise always makes me hungry. Don't you agree?". And as the Doctor get's the better of the Master in their fight, the Doctor looks at the Master and says to him "How many times have I told you? Violence will never get you anywhere!" and as the Doctor turns his back, the Master throws a knife at him, which just misses him.
Then comes the scene when the Doctor arrives back at the prison island with Hart and finds Trenchard dead and the Master has escaped. And Hart sadly asks "I don't understand why" and the Doctor says "What do you think was Trenchard's strongest characteristic?" and Hart says "I don't know. Patriotism, I suppose" and the Doctor says "Exactly. The Master used that patriotism as a weapon".
Then we have the scene where the Doctor confronts the old fashioned and somewhat arrogant parliamentary private secretary named Walker (Martin Boddey) who orders a nuclear strike on the sea devils base. And the Doctor walks in angrily saying "What idiot ordered an all out attack just as I was on the verge of finding a peaceful solution?!" and Walker replies "I'm the idiot you've just been talking about!". And as the two of them argue and Walker says to him "I think you've got it wrong old man. Seek and destroy. Isn't that what you chaps say?" and the Doctor angrily says to Walker "But the point, Mister parliamentary private secretary is that you have not destroyed. You have just made them angry! VERY, VERY ANGRY!".
Roger Delgado is also wonderful again in his part as the Master and he relishes his lines of dialogue and clearly also in playing the role itself.
Delgado also has some of his own highlights in the story such as the scene where the Doctor meets with the Master at the prison for the first time. And the Doctor asks the Master "Perhaps you could tell me the whereabouts of your TARDIS" and the Master asks "So you can use to escape this planet, Doctor?" and the Doctor says "No, just to make absolutely certain that you can't!". And the Master says "No, I'm sorry. That is too much to ask" and the Doctor says "Ask a silly question!".
And before the Doctor and Jo leave, the Doctor asks the Master if there is anything he can do for him "There is one thing. Please come in now and then to have a chat. Oh, Trenchard's a very nice man, but his conversation is somewhat limited". And as the Doctor and Jo leave, the Master laughs to himself clearly showing his ruse that all is not what it seems in his time at the prison.
Then there is the Master at the prison island watches an episode of the children's show, The Clangers, on his TV and he seems amused by it and says to Trenchard "It appears to be a rather interesting extra-terrestrial lifeform!". And Trenchard says to the Master "Only puppets, you know. For children" and the Master then sighs and switches the TV off as Trenchard clearly missed his sarcasm, which is a nice touch in the story.
Another good scene comes when the Master duels with the Doctor and as the Doctor takes a bite from one of the Master's sandwiches, the Masters says "Then you'd better enjoy your meal, Doctor, because it might be your last!". And as the two of them continue to duel and clash epees, the Master shouts at the Doc "You're good, Doctor, but not quite good enough!" and the Doctor says "Ah, but you haven't seen the quality of my footwork yet!" and he kicks the Master back who falls over a table and lands on the floor.
And later on near the end of the story there is another good scene which also shows Delgado's ability to be menacing in the role when he hypnotises a guard who holds at gunpoint at the naval base and he says to the man "There's been a mistake you know. I'm not the man you want. Its a mistake....a mistake" and the man becomes drowsier and then the Master shouts "A MISTAKE!" and knocks the mans rifle away and hits him hard, knocking him out.
Katy Manning also does very well once again as Jo Grant and and she does share a nice chemistry with Jon Pertwee in the story as they did throughout the show's run, which is evident in many of their scenes together. The story was also noticeable for Katy on two different scenes one where she carried out a stunt involving rapelling down a small cliff face she burned her hands on the rope. And in another scene where Jo climbs up the ladder of the old sea fort, Katy found it too slippy so the regular stuntman for the show, Stuart Fell, dressed up as Jo and climbed up for her instead!
Katy's good moments include when the Doctor get's his makeshift radio working but ends up getting a radio DJ channel instead and he turns it off and Jo says "Hey that was my favourite DJ!" and the Doctor smiles "I think I must have got my wires crossed!". Although it has to be said that Manning's childish and boundless enthusiasm does also grate on your nerves a bit esepcially during scenes such as the one where the Doctor and Jo are trapped on the sea fort and soon rescued by a helicopter and Jo runs over to look out and says "Its a helicopter!" in a such an over enthusiastic way that makes you groan.
Then there is the scene where Jo helps the Doctor escape from the prison when he is tied up, she sneaks inside picks the lock on the manacles that tie the Doctor's hands together. And after the Doctor knocks out the guard he keeps pestering, the Doctor points to the door and says to Jo "After you" and Jo says "No after you" and the Doctor insists "No, no, after you!" and they both smile and leave.
The supporting cast are also pretty good such as Clive Morton as Trenchard who is ultimately mislead by the Master and you end up feeling sympathy toward him when you realise how much he was used by the Master.
And Morton has his moments also that include his first scene where the Doctor and Jo arrive at the prison and the Doctor asks of the Master "Has he given you any trouble yet?" and Trenchard says "Not a bit" much to the surprise of Jo who says "You've got to be joking!". And the Doctor asks "He hasn't tried to hypnotise any of the guards has he?" and Trenchard says "He couldn't. All our men are complete immune to hypnotism". And Jo asks "How can you be so sure?" and Trenchard says "I'll prove it to you" and he calls for one of his men to go in and see the Master, who the Master tries to hypnotise but it has no effect on the man.
Then there is the scene where Trenchard turns up at the naval base to meet with Hart but its an excuse to give the Master time to root around the base's store and steal supplies to build his machine to contact the Sea devils.
So in the scene, Trenchard blabbers on about a golf tournament to Hart, who he might play in. And Hart politely says to Trenchard "Now, don't worry, George. If I can't make the tournament,
I'll let you know in plenty of time". However Trenchard continues to stall for time and says "Yes, but you do understand I don't want you to feel under
any pressure about this. If you want to drop out, I suppose I could rope in old
Harry". And by now, Hart is becoming impatient and he says "Well, perhaps that's for the best. Now, if you don't
mind, George?" but Trenchard continues "At the same time, I don't want you to miss your game. I
mean ,we we'd much rather have you if you can manage it". And Hart finally opens the door and says to Trenchard "Well, I'll do my best. Now goodbye, George!" and Trenchard finally leaves and says to the Doctor "Staying down here much longer, Doctor?" and the Doctor replies "It entirely depends how long it takes me to conclude my
business. Good day, Colonel".
Edwin Richfield also is very
good as the efficient naval base chief, Captain Hart, whom the Doctor
forms an alliance with during the investigation of the missing ships.
And Richfield has some good scenes also and one that comes to mind is
when he refers to Horatio Nelson's personality "Yes a pretty impulsive
fellow. If one can believe the history books!" and the Doctor replies
"History books? Captain Hart, Horatio Nelson was a personal friend of
mine!" and then leaves the room with Hart looking perplexed who says
"Good grief! Poor chap's as mad as a hatter!".
Then there is the scene where Hart disputes with Walker's decision to launch a nuclear strike against the undewater Sea devil base. And Hart tells Walker "My submarine is missing in that area. There's a chance
that some of the crew may still be alive" and Jo offers "And what about the Doctor? He might still alive down there too!". And as Walker tells Hart and Jo "Our line is clear. Immediate retaliation with all we've got!" Hart says "You're throwing away the lives of the men in that
submarine, sir!" but Walker simply dismisses his concerns and Jo's saying "war is always is murder!".
June Brown also provides a good performance as Hart's secretary, Blythe and she shows her concern for the Doctor and Jo throughout the story, particularly when they don't appear back from the naval base so soon after they have been captured by Trenchard's men.
And this is evident in the scene where Blythe says to Hart "I hope you don't mind, but I telephoned Colonel Trenchard
about the UNIT people. He said they'd both gone back to London". And Hart says "Oh, I see" but Blythe then says "But they didn't
bring the Land Rover back, sir. Colonel Trenchard said they took a taxi to the
quay. So Hart then tells Blythe "Well you better send someone to collect it then" and Blythe says "Yes, sir, but why take a taxi when they could have used
the Land Rover, and, well..." and Hart says "Go on" and Blythe finishes "Well, sir, surely they'd have come back here before
leaving the island?".
And lastly Martin Boddey does well enough with his rather cliched role of a pompous parliamentary secretary, Walker, who shows up at the naval base to take charge of the situation.
And Boddey has a few good scenes such as when Walker first arrives and he arrogantly announces himself to Blythe and he asks "How long is he likely to be? Captain Hart, I mean" and Blythe says "I don't know, sir. And Walker says "Oh, well, now, I tell you what. You get him on your jolly
old wireless and ask him to come over here at the double, will you?". And Blythe is finally compelled to ask Walker "If I may ask, sir, what is the purpose of your visit?" and Walker tells her "Why, all those ships sinking! I've come down to clear it
up for you. The Minister's put me in full charge!".
Then there is the scene where Hart and Jo try to persuade Walker not to launch a missile strike against the Sea devils underwater base, where the Doctor at this moment in the story is. And Walker tells Jo "Our line is quite clear. Immediate retaliation with
everything that we've got!" but Hart protests saying "I'm sorry, sir, I don't agree". However, Walker is not interested and says "Your opinion is quite immaterial, Captain Hart. The
order's already been given. Ships are converging on this area from ports all
over England". And Hart pleads with Walker by saying "You're throwing away the lives of the men in that
submarine, sir!" and Jo adds "And you'll probably killed the Doctor. Look, do you
realise that that's murder?!". However, Walker is still not interested and says "Murder? War always is, my dear! Where on Earth's that
girl with my toast?!".
DIRECTION AND MUSIC
Direction
wise, Michael E. Briant also does a fine job with the story and he
himself was a keen sailor (similar to Jon Pertwee who served in the navy
as a sailor) so naturally the oceanic nature of the story would have
appealed to him. Briant also directed the story in co-operation with
the Royal navy who even waived their royalty fees for stock footage of
ships and many sailor volunteers were also used in the final episode
where the Sea devils attack the naval base.
Also worthy of note is the story's music score by Malcolm Clarke, which was quite unique sounding for its time as it was a weird concoction of electronic noise and synthesizers but it still remains one of the most interesting and experimental sounding scores for the show up to that point. Part of the score also featured later in one of the Doctor Who soundtrack albums and overall its a pretty good one, even despite its overt use of early 70s synthesizer sounds.
FLAWS
As for The Sea Devil's flaws.....well it has to be said as a six episode story it clearly is a bit too long and it does tend to drag itself out in certain scenes and you really feel that the story would have been better served if it was just four episodes.
The Sea devils themselves it has to be said that while their costumes and masks are actually fairly impressive their movement in the story is frankly ridiculous looking as there are moments where you see some of the Sea Devils at the shore just bobbing about stupidly! Its also of course noteworthy that when we see the Sea Devils come ashore that there are only six of them and as usual in Doctor Who (well in the old show anyway!) we are supposed to believe that six Sea devils alone could conquer the world! Although of course re-inforcements would be sent in later for battle no doubt, but again they would probably have to bring them up in sixes!
I also thought the story featured the usual toffy nosed bureaucratic and patriotic old-guard characters that often plagued the Pertwee era during the Earthbound stories. And Trenchard even though he ultimately means well is a prime example of this sort of character with his usual "old man!" and "old boy!" and "my dear" cliched dialogue.
But worst of all in the story is private parliamentary secretary Walker, who clearly is a bureaucratic, chauvinistic knobhead who thinks he knows it all and the answer to everything is to blow it up! And apart from that Walker's main concern is when he can get his next round of toast and after showing all his arrogance at first, he soon cowers in a cowardly fashion when the Sea Devils arrive to attack the naval base. So ultimately he is the one character in the story the audience wouldn't miss and serves as nothing more than an obsctacle for the Doctor and Jo to overcome.
There is also a rather hypocritical scene regarding the Doctor in the story where in the 5th episode when the Doctor and the submarine crew try to escape the sea devils, the submarine commander, Ridgeway shoots one of the Sea devils, much to the Doctor's disgust who says Ridgeway "There was no need to do that!". Yet in the last episode as the Doctor is being held captive by the Master and a Sea devil on guard, one of the navy soldiers enters the storage room where they are and the Doctor shouts out in warning "Look out, behind you!!" and the soldier shoots the Sea devil dead and we get a displeasing look from the Master. Now, surely the Doctor here is being a hyprocrite as he was trying to broker a peace with the Sea devils but it failed and he was disgusted with the sea devil being killed on submarine, yet here he effectively directs the soldier to shoot the creature! Pot calling the kettle black there I think!
Also further to this point regarding the end of the story (SPOILER!!!!!) the Doctor sets a charge on the Sea devils underwater base, ensuring it will be blown up, yet the Doctor was very much opposed to the Brigadier blowing up the Silurians in the story Doctor Who and the Silurians! So effectively the Doctor has done the exact opposite of what he wanted to do in the first place and indeed what he tried to do in the Silurians story! So yeah, I think the Doctor has been made to look pretty hypocritical in this story is what I'm saying here.
And lastly (PLOT SPOILER HERE!!) when the Master finally escapes at the end of the story in the sea hovercraft he sometime finds the time to have created another one of his facial masks and slapped it on one of the soldiers so he could make his escape. So you have to ask the question: does the Master keep a supply of these masks on him just when he needs them??? As it appears to be quite handy that all of a sudden he can produce them, especially when he was held captive by the Sea Devils they probably didn't bother to search him.
So that for me always remained one of the more silly aspects of the Master's character during the Pertwee era in that he always seemed to have a copious amount of face masks of his own face just whenever he needed them, so perhaps he keeps them in his back pocket?! Who knows. Interestingly enough however further to this point it was said that Delgado had a fear of water and it apparently it took alot of bravery for him to do the scene near the end of the story when the Doctor and the Master are picked up in the sea.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, The Sea Devils is still one of the most entertaining stories from the Pertwee era and it features another good script from Malcolm Hulke, who deals with themes of clashing races and how the Doctor tries to act as a negotiator to form a truce between them. The performances again are also very good with the regular cast all on fine form and its a nice twist to have the Master imprisoned only for him not to be quite the prisoner he seems to be.
And yes the story does have some silly moments, particularly the way in which the Sea Devils bob around and its clear there are only six of them! Also the story suffers from its usual mix of cliched, pompous, government figures that we get in Colonel Trenchard the ministerial secretary, Walker that permeated through the Pertwee Earthbound stories.
But if you can forget all that, there is still much to enjoy in this story and it remains one of Pertwee's most solid entries in his era.
Right, so that will be it for this month and I will be back again in April with some more posts.
Till then its bye fer now!
