Holistic Review: It has its moments, but overall it feels like The Silurians with exciting new padding.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this story.

I have the sneaking suspicion that The Sea Devils may be one of the very few - possibly the only! - Doctor Who stories of which my enjoyment is based largely on my mood when I see it. The odd thing is that my enjoyment of it seems to be inversely proportional to my expectations. I'm sure I must have seen this story when I was younger, but I really don't have any strong memories of it. What I do remember is reading the novelization, and adoring it. I thought the Sea Devils were fantastic monsters and I really liked their heat-ray weapons. In fact, this was one of the few Pertwee stories I actively liked as a child. When I started rewatching the Pertwee era for this site years later, I was very much looking forward to seeing this story again. As a rule, I'm less fond of the six-parters, but I was hoping to experience some of the magic I remembered this story containing. Imagine my disappointment, then, when I found myself bored to tears by the whole thing. I was really distressed - here was this story that I thought I adored, and now I'd discovered that it was dull and uneventful. It was dangerously close to "worst story ever" territory, and I don't make these decisions lightly. Right now, even if you pushed me, I couldn't name one story that I actually loathe, but even picking a worst one would be extremely difficult. Not that there are that many bad ones; rather that I can appreciate almost all of them in some way. But The Sea Devils... I was having a hard time finding redeeming features.

So, I thought, I might as well get it out of the way early in the reviewing process rather than dreading it. Six episodes of tedium, then I could write a scathing review, let out all my bile, and be done with the thing. So I turned it on, sat back, and waited for the fidgeting to start. But a weird thing happened - or, rather, it didn't. I actually found the story to be reasonably engaging this time. I think I was into the second or third episode before this really hit me, and I spent the rest of the story trying to figure out why exactly I had loathed it so much the last time. Funnily enough, I was never able to pinpoint anything that might have caused it.

So I don't quite know what to say in this review. I wonder if this story is just too new to me. Perhaps I haven't had enough time to digest it and settle on just one opinion. Or maybe this story really is that borderline, and my mood is going to dictate how I feel about it. I've never really experienced anything like this before.

But there's one thing I can say about The Sea Devils - no matter what my childhood recollection wants me to say, I don't love it. I suspect, actually, it falls largely into the camp of "things I never liked about the Pertwee era", although at least the navy makes a nice change from UNIT. It's got bits that have the potential for greatness, notably anything involving the sea fort, which has a wonderfully claustrophobic, isolated atmosphere. I say "potential" because I distinctly remember being underwhelmed by these scenes the last time through, and I don't think they did as much with it as they could have.

One thing that did occur to me is that the Master really doesn't need to be in this story. In the first half, he's just a catalyst for all the things that don't involve the Sea Devils, merely helping to give the Doctor and Jo a good runaround before the monsters show up. In the last half, when he really gets involved in the action, he's still basically superfluous to the plot. He summons the Sea Devils to the naval base, but apparently they had already been awoken by the activity at the fort, so they would have gotten there eventually anyway. He eggs them on in their attack plans against the humans - nothing the Young Silurian hadn't already tried doing. And they don't really listen to his ranting anyway, until the humans' attack convinces them to declare war. And he promises to help them revive their comrades - nothing the Doctor wouldn't have done if peace had been achieved! It's interesting to watch him try to undermine the Doctor's peace attempts, but that's basically it, and there are probably a lot of characters that could have done that. So, in that sense, most of the first three episodes feels like a bit of a waste. If the Master hadn't been included, all of the pointless prison runaround could have been scrapped and maybe the story could have been made into a nice four-parter. Assuming, of course, they could have figured out some elements that weren't recycled from The Silurians.

The really funny thing is that, at first, I was much more forgiving about the Master's appearance in this story. Since he was actually arrested the last time that we saw him, it's nice to know what he's been up to in the meantime, and the idea that he's managed to secretly hypnotize an entire prison and turn it into a base of operations is superb. It's just a shame that this idea had to coincide with a plot that doesn't really mesh well with it. Instead, we have to play out the Master storyline first (which, on its own, does not a good story make) before we can commence with the story we came to see.

To give due credit, the idea of a water-based Silurian relative is certainly an interesting one, and I think the Sea Devils themselves look fantastic. I'm particularly fond of their turtle-like faces, the swept-back fins, those inhumanly long necks and the string vests. And, of course, their fantastic round heat-ray weapons, with their distinctive look, shiny metal and the fantastic way they emit a burst of flame as they fire. However, I can't say that they came across as very scary, aside from a couple of isolated moments in the sea fort. Had this formed a central part of the storyline, and their involvement in it increased, I think they would have come off better.

Another problem I had, at least at the beginning of the story, was that things were happening very quickly for no apparent reason that I could figure out. Maybe I just missed something, but it seemed to me that Jo was right by the Doctor's side one second, and then the next thing you know, he's claiming she was lagging behind and leaving without her in a stolen boat! "Well," I thought, "maybe it's a ruse of some kind." But, apparently no - when Jo shows up, she genuinely has no idea where the Doctor is, so she decides to borrow a motorcycle and try to find him! Then, to make matters worse, Jo takes this motorcycle off the island! Somehow she manages to cross the body of water between the island and the mainland, and arrives at the prison! Then, later, after their escape, the Doctor and Jo claim they had to walk ten miles from the prison to reach Hart's office. I see four options:

1) The prison and the base are 10 miles apart, but it's quicker to take a boat than to drive. (although Trenchard specifically states, several times, that they're on an island, so...)
2) The vehicle Jo borrows is actually a hovermotorcycle.
3) The town of Ann Arbor put something funny in my water.
4) Something really weird is going on with the script.

Surprisingly few effects to discuss this time around, which is not a bad thing. Happily, The Sea Devils earns points for its sparing use of special visuals, because apparently more time is spent on making sure that the ones which are included are done right. I'm not entirely convinced by the CSO viewscreen, on which the slats are prominently visible, but it's not a wholly unappealing effect and at least it's a relatively novel way to use it. And the escape from the Sea Devil base is just wonderful. The forcefield effect looks amazing, and the model submarine (which, in its first shot, I mistakenly assumed was an extremely drab Sea Devil craft!) is impressive too.

I'm mixed about the use of stock footage here. Most of it is pretty obvious, but despite that manages to be okay. The exception is the occasional inclusion of black-and-white stock footage, which of course was no problem when most people were watching Doctor Who on black-and-white televisions, but today tends to stick out like a sore thumb. (The funny thing is, I always have to blink a few times before I realize that, yes, the color actually has disappeared!) However! I must admit that in this case, the stock footage gives us what is surely one of the most impressive explosions ever in Doctor Who, when the Sea Devil base is blown up. I thought it was nice with just the first couple of booms, and then suddenly we're dwarfed by a massive wall of water - very very nice. I'm just sad I can't credit the effects team for it!

The stuntmen impressed me in this episode, particularly during the fight involving the hovercraft. Very nice action sequences, so whoever choreographed the fight should be commended, as well as the stuntmen or extras who died so convincingly.

You wanna know the other thing that surprised me? Malcolm Clarke's score! I don't ever remember really liking it, and I usually skipped past it when it came up on soundtrack CDs. But this time, I found myself liking it at first. "That won't last long," I thought to myself. But it did... I kind of want to shake myself. I wonder if I've just heard it so much, I'm starting to recognize its merits. It's never going to be my favorite score, but it is unique and interesting. There are times that it manages to be genuinely creepy, and I love the triumphant bit that accompanies the Doctor tossing the rope over the cliff edge when he and Jo are escaping from the prison.

I've already mentioned my enjoyment of the Sea Devil costumes, but I did not mention that, amusingly, one of them seems to have been graffitied by a passing vandal armed with a can of black spraypaint. Toward the end of the story, when they're all retreating back into the water, some others appear to have suffered a milder attack, but none as badly as the poor Sea Devil who marches into the naval base along with the others at the beginning of part 6. Was this meant to be interesting costume detail? Then there's Jo's costume, which I would have liked quite a lot if the accents had been in red or green or something. Was there some kind of rule in the 1970s that everybody had to like brown and cream? At least they didn't usually put the companions in orange, too. (Amendment: More eagle-eyed viewing has revealed the fact that Jo's outfit is not brown, but in fact a fetching shade of eggplant. Which means that I now love it a lot. Most humble apologies, &c.)

All of the guest stars turned in pretty good performances. I was especially impressed with June Murphy as Blythe, who conveyed great exasperation at her sexist workplace by being ultra-polite to the offenders. She came across as a very real person, with a professional side, a casual side, and an undercurrent of passive aggression. The two infuriating government employees were also well done - Clive Morton as Trenchard and Martin Boddey as the oh-so-funny-wait-he's-a-total-jerk Walker. After his first line, blithely requesting breakfast in the middle of a crisis, I liked him instantly. Then, of course, as soon as it became clear he was an opinionated sexist dolt, I had to shift gears just a tad.

As for the Doctor and Jo... well, they're themselves. At least the first half of the story gives Katy Manning something to do - she gets to ride a motorcycle, shove some prison guards around, use her escapology skills, and even try karate on yet another guard. (And it works!) Her eyelashes are also quite amazing in this story. You just watch and tell me you don't agree! The Doctor and Jo get a really sweet scene inside the fort, too, when the Doctor laughs, "I think I must have got me wires crossed somewhere!" Otherwise, pretty much status quo.

Minor points:

• The opening generates a nice bit of tension - shame it's all frittered away so quickly, never really to return.

• The relationship between the Doctor and the Master has taken an interesting turn here, with the idea that the Doctor still feels a sort of kinship with the Master, enough to want to check up on him in prison and make sure he's doing okay. And the Master actually seems to appreciate it, the pair of them chatting away quite happily. But I'm a little perplexed that the Doctor actually thinks the Master will be in this prison for hundreds of years. Even putting aside the point that such a time span would no doubt cause the wardens incredible headaches ("He's been here how long?!"), he must realize that the Master's going to figure out a way to escape sooner or later.

• At the naval base, Hart is outraged at the Doctor's trespassing, because the base is top secret! Given that the man with the boat knew about it, I'm assuming Hart meant their research was top-secret, not the base itself... but his dialogue certainly seems to indicate otherwise. In which case, they need some tighter security measures or something.

• A fantastic performance from Delgado:

  Trenchard: "What are you watching?"
  Master: "It seems to be a rather interesting extraterrestrial lifeform."
  Trenchard: "Only puppets, you know. For children."
  Master: "Ohhh." (passes Trenchard and subtly rolls his eyes)

• From the "committee against naturalistic dialogue" file:

  Hickman: "Well, the place is deserted, right?"
  Clark: "So?"
  Hickman: "Just the two of us on maintenance."
  Clark: "Right."
  Hickman: "Yet I keep getting the feeling I'm being watched."

• Has the Doctor not brushed up on his basic medical techniques?! He injects Clark with a tranquillizer of some sort, then puts the syringe right back in the medical kit! No disposing of the dirty needle or anything! And I seriously doubt he remembered to go back and swap it out later. I mean, he didn't need to lob it into the sea, just the nearest receptacle would have been fine... Maybe he thought he'd need it again, and better to have it and risk contamination than not? Or maybe he sterilized it with his mysterious Time Lord powers.

• The natural explanation to why the Sea Devils are reviving now is, of course, "the rebuilding of the fort." Because building the fort in the first place certainly wouldn't have been as disruptive as that!

• A cute scene for Pertwee, and a great reaction shot:

  Doctor: "Yes, well, though I do say so myself, I think that's a remarkably efficient piece of work."
  His remarkable device then promptly blows up.

• Who was the brilliant interior decorator who decided that the ideal accent for a prison wall would be... a big load of swords?! Nice way to make the inevitable riots more interesting. (I don't blame the set designer, of course - but, now, whoever added that bit to the script...)

• This may well turn out to be one of my all-time favorite Pertwee moments. Why isn't he my favorite Doctor, again?

  A guard removes the Doctor's handcuffs.
  Doctor: "How very kind of you."
  The guard pulls the Doctor's hands behind his back and re-cuffs him behind the chair.
  Doctor: "How very unkind of you!"

• Why exactly does the Master care about helping the Sea Devils, aside from mere mischief-making? Will it help him in some way that is not immediately obvious to me? They certainly don't help him escape from prison or find his TARDIS, which are really the only things he needs. He claims to want to help them reclaim the Earth, but that seems highly altruistic, unless he just gets great satisfaction out of seeing them overrun the Doctor's favorite planet.

• When Jo sneaks up to the Doctor's prison cell and gesticulates at him, her hand-waving is pretty much incomprehensible! The Doctor seems to understand her just fine, but I could only really figure out the last part. So I decided to have a bit of fun and try to reconstruct what she might have meant. (in which case, the Doctor really didn't live up to his end of the bargain!)

  Jo: (miming) "While I wash the windows, go over there and get a piece of flypaper and wrap it around your wrist five times. Then go over to the door and distract the guard by going on and on about boring topics like you always do."

• Jo leaves her purse in the Doctor's cell! And I don't think she ever goes back to get it. What a waste of a good purse. Especially after bothering to keep it with her during the entire previous escape attempt, when it was no doubt more liability than asset.

• The Sea Devils sure do respond to the Master's summons fast. You'd almost think they were crouching there below the surf just waiting for their cue. But why exactly did he need them at precisely that moment? I thought he was calling them over to hem the Doctor and Jo in from both sides; but no, they seem to emerge just beside the soldiers, so that instead of helping the soldiers, they actually frighten them off!

• I do feel kind of sorry for the poor Sea Devil that gets mines blown up in its face. It was just chasing them, poor thing. And then it emits this piteous cry and runs away as fast as its little legs will carry it... awwww. I want to name it Fluffy.

• Ooh! An infuriating moment! Perhaps this is why I never loved Pertwee's Doctor!

  Blythe: (re: sandwiches) "Only cheese, I'm afraid - the best the steward could do."
  Jo: (clearly famished) "Ooh, that's super, thanks very much."
  Doctor: "For heavens' sakes, Jo - what do you think this is, a picnic?!"

  And then the Doctor takes her plate of sandwiches away... and eats them himself! Oooooh, it makes me so mad, I could scream! And poor Jo just sits there and looks all forlorn. (I could name her Fluffy too, but that would really suit her better in The Three Doctors.) Then, to add insult to injury, the Doctor offers sandwiches to both Hart and Blythe, and when he finally decides that Jo is worthy of receiving one - after she wails with hunger and hurt feelings - he has none left!!! If I were Jo, I think I'd strangle him. It's only the intervention of that wonderful, caring Blythe that makes me feel better about the whole mess. Thank you, Blythe, for bringing Jo sandwiches.

• It's an odd moment when the Sea Devils are roaming the prison corridors and two of the guards come across them. They raise the alarm, sure - but do they scream, or otherwise react much at all? Nope. They just gawp, and then they die. Shows how far gawping gets you in life.

• Blythe brings a cup of chai to Bowman, who is busily trying to relocate the submarine. There are two things that strike me odd about this:

  1) Surely chai as we know it (spiced, sweetened tea with milk) is a relatively new import? Did they have it in Britain as early as 1972? And if not, exactly what is he drinking? Was Blythe just trying to make a plain old cup of tea sound exotic?
  2) Blythe pronounces it [kai].

• The first scene inside the diving bell looks fantastic - which makes it a greater shame that subsequent diving-bell scenes use a set which looks nothing like the bell we saw the Doctor get into (and also lacks that great echoey quality).

• The moment when a Sea Devil swims up to the diving bell and looks in the window is genuinely creepy. Bravo.

• It would appear that only the Time Lords can understand Sea Devil speech, as they only talk whenever the Doctor or the Master are around; until that point, I would have assumed they were silent creatures.

• I'm a little annoyed that the Doctor keeps telling the Sea Devils he's met "their people" before. He hasn't met their people before, he's met the Silurians before. In fact, all the dialogue implies that the Sea Devils are just underwater Silurians, but really they look nothing alike. If they aren't anatomically similar, how can they be the same race of creatures? Aren't they genetic offshoots or something? Wouldn't it be like telling the people of Mondas "oh yes, I've lived among your people for many years now"?

• Walker really is amazingly sexist. He asks Jo to pass him the sugar, when it's far closer to him than it is to her!

• I really love the director's decision to do a close-up on Walker's mouth while he's simultaneously eating breakfast and casually talking about committing mass murder. Two kinds of revulsion in one shot. Nicely done.

• It's a very touching moment when the Doctor and the Sea Devils finally come to a mutual understanding - and nicely subverted when a similar scene is played out with the Master later in the episode.

• When the Sea Devils' base starts quaking and some of them are caught under the rubble, I thought the Doctor was concerned for his captors' safety when he ran to their side - but no, he was simply going over to get one of their guns!

• Summers, one of the submariners, has a badly bruised fingernail. Ouch.

• Why is it that the Sea Devils make a career out of scorching ships (perhaps from directly underneath, but certainly from their base on some occasions), but when the submarine carrying the Doctor escapes from their base, they can only sit by helplessly and watch?

• At the end of episode 5, when Jo spies a Sea Devil, check out the look on Katy Manning's face! Now there's some serious acting. Jon Pertwee does his best to compete in the gurning competition when a Sea Devil attacks him from behind shortly after the reprise.

• When the Doctor activates his sabotaged device and Sea Devils across the entire base start drunkenly staggering about, the Master takes a very long time to switch the power back off! I'd assumed this was because he didn't realize the effects it was having, but then we see that the entire time, there was a Sea Devil in the room with them, clutching its head in pain. Perhaps he got caught up in perversely enjoying its pain before he remembered he was on its side.

• After the Doctor leaves the Master in custody, he has this amusing exchange:

  Doctor: "Have you seen Jo Grant anywhere?"
  Scott: "She's on the beach!"

  (At least, I think that's the man's name!) Now, I know what he means, but I still get this very funny mental image of Jo saying, "Ooh, I've escaped the Sea Devils for the moment - what I really need now is a nice spot of sunbathing!" and trotting on down to the seashore (dodging some Sea Devils on the way), stripping down to her bathing suit, pulling out a towel and lying about while the battle rages around her.

• The Doctor tries once more to reason with the Sea Devils - but, despite having been highly in favor of his plan before, now they refuse to reconsider? They're really quite stubborn once they're set in their wicked ways!

• I find myself a little saddened that, after having condemned the Brigadier for exactly this action before (although with more justification this time, admittedly), the Doctor's solution in this story is to blow the Sea Devil base sky-high. Couldn't they have come up with a better method? (Oh dear, now I'm paraphrasing Peter Davison.)

• Poor Blythe. "Bring me sandwiches!" "Bring me breakfast!" "Bring me chai!" Then she has to bring smoked salmon for tea. Does the poor woman get to do anything besides serve food at this job? And why didn't Jo rate smoked-salmon sandwiches?

• It's pretty cool that Pertwee and Delgado appear to have actually been in the water in those nifty orange floaty suits. Much nicer than, ah, swimming-doubles.

• It's kinda funny that the Master's grand hovercraft escape is treated as being so hopeless. Surely the police, with their nice quick speedboats, could catch up to a slow thing like that! But I must admit, despite the dodgy-looking mask, it was a very nice escape.

So, okay. I'm still not convinced that this story is any great shakes, but it does seem to improve upon repeated viewings. Whether or not I still feel this way the next time I watch it, I cannot predict. I do know, however, that I'm not going to be in any huge rush to watch it again. I'd say this one is average at best.