The Sea Devils (TV story)

The Sea Devils was the third story in the ninth season of Doctor Who. It marked the first appearance of the Sea Devils and the reappearance of the Master.

Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks had decided they wanted a sea-based story and asked Malcolm Hulke to write it. Instead of bringing back the Silurians, Hulke invented an aquatic version called the Sea Silurians. Unlike their counterparts, the Sea Devils were given clothing designed by Maggie Fletcher.

To combat the suggestions by fans that the Silurian era could not have spawned man-sized life, Hulke introduced a line in which the Doctor says they should correctly be called Eocenes. However, some considered it also unlikely that the Eocene period could produce such life.

After appearing in all five stories of season 8, Letts had decided to restrict the Master to a few appearances each year. This story joins him where The Dæmons left off, with his imprisonment. This story also implied that the Doctor and the Master were once friends.

Letts had successfully secured the involvement of the Royal Air Force for The Mind of Evil and so decided to try to do the same with the Royal Navy. After contacting the Ministry of Defence, he found them eager to take part. Shortly after broadcast, the BBC was visited by officials from the MOD who believed their top-secret submarine had been used in the show. It was in fact a model, adapted to have the features they were secretly testing.

This story saw the only use of "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", during the Pertwee era. The phrase became associated with the Third Doctor and so he used it again in The Five Doctors, some eleven years later. Pertwee did several times use a shortened version of the phrase, "reverse the polarity".

Like many of Hulke's stories, it included a moral dimension. The Sea Devils are caught between the Master, the Doctor and the humans. Ultimately, they are betrayed by all three and like their land-based cousins, it is the humans who damage them the most.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Jo visit the Master in his high-security prison on an island off the south coast of England and hear from the governor, Colonel Trenchard, that ships have been mysteriously disappearing at sea.

Episode one
The Doctor and Jo visit the the Master, now held in captivity on a small island prison, after being captured by UNIT.

The Master is being held indefinitely and is the only prisoner. He is watched by CCTV and the island is patrolled by armed guards – trained to resist the Master's hypnotic powers – and even protected by minefields. He claims to have reformed – but refuses to reveal the location of his TARDIS. As they depart, the old-school, patriotic governor, Colonel Trenchard, tells them that some ships have been mysteriously disappearing.

The Doctor cannot resist investigating and so they make their way to the sea fort. There, he and Jo are soon attacked, by a Silurian lookalike.

Episode two
This man-sized bipedal lizard is called a "Sea Devil" by a crew member who's been driven half mad. They escape to the nearby naval base, HMS Seaspite, run by the efficient Captain John Hart; despite the Doctor's eccentric behaviour (such as claiming to have known Nelson personally), an alliance forms. Hart is in charge of the adaptation of the sea fort for use as a SONAR testing station. The Doctor discovers that the Master, assisted by a misguided Trenchard, is stealing electrical equipment from the naval base to build a machine that will control the Sea Devils. The Master throws a dagger at he Doctor's back.

Episode three
The Doctor survives and hears the evil Time Lord intends to use the reptiles as an army to conquer the planet, and he begins by using the machine to summon some of them from the sea – forcing the Doctor to employ his sonic screwdriver to repel them by exploding mines on the beach.

The Master returns to his cell and begins work on a new device. He activates it and it calls the Sea Devils to his location. They attack the prison killing the guards and Trenchard.

Episode four
Soon, however, a battle for the prison ensues, during which Trenchard, who had believed he was aiding his country against enemy agents, is killed. The Doctor and the Master duel with swords, but eventually the Doctor and Jo are forced to flee to HMS Seaspite, where Hart tells them a naval submarine has disappeared. The Doctor investigates in a submarine bell and is seized by the Sea Devils, who take him to their leader. The Doctor enters the Sea Devils' base and tries to encourage peaceful negotiation, recalling how he had failed to broker an agreement between mankind and the Silurians. The Master, too, ventures to the Sea Devil base, intent on provoking war, but matters are left unresolved when the base is attacked by depth charges. Jo realises the bell is empty.

Episode five
This attack has been ordered by a gluttonous and short-sighted politician, Robert Walker, who has arrived at HMS Seaspite to take control of the situation and is intent on repeating UNIT’s actions on Wenley Moor: blowing up the creatures, but this time with nuclear weapons. Hart and Jo are opposed to the attack but at least it allows the Doctor cover to flee, even if he has failed in his initial attempt to sue for peace.The sea devil aims its gun at the three people.

Episode six
The Doctor persuades Walker to allow him a final attempt at negotiation, but in the meantime the Sea Devils capture the naval base. They have been inspired to this action by the Master, who still wishes to instigate a war. The Master forces the Doctor to help build a machine to revive Sea Devil colonies all over the world. Returning to the Sea Devil base the Master activates the device, whereupon the Sea Devils imprison both Time Lords, now both equally useless to them. However, the Doctor has sabotaged the machine and he and the Master escape the base using equipment from the captured submarine.

As they are rescued, massive power feedback from the sabotaged machine destroys the Sea Devil colony before the military attack can begin. As usual, the Master is able to escape capture (this time by faking a heart attack, hypnotising a man into switching places with him, and hijacking a rescue hovercraft) and flees the scene.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
 * Jo Grant - Katy Manning
 * The Master - Roger Delgado
 * John Hart - Edwin Richfield
 * George Trenchard - Clive Morton
 * Robbins - Royston Tickner
 * Radio Operator - Neil Seiler
 * Clark - Declan Mulholland
 * Hickman - Hugh Futcher
 * 3rd Officer Jane Blythe - June Murphy
 * Ldg. Telegraphist Bowman - Alec Wallis
 * Castle Guard Wilson - Brian Justice
 * Castle Guard Barclay - Terry Walsh
 * Sea Devil - Pat Gorman
 * C.P.O. Smedley - Eric Mason
 * Commander Ridgeway - Donald Sumpter
 * Lt. Commander Mitchell - David Griffin
 * Ldg. Seaman Lovell - Christopher Wray
 * Castle Guard Drew - Stanley McGeagh
 * C.P.O. Summers - Colin Bell
 * Lt. Commander Watts - Brian Vaughan
 * A/B Girton - Rex Rowland
 * Walker - Martin Boddey
 * Rear Admiral - Norman Atkyns
 * Chief Sea Devil - Peter Forbes-Robertson
 * C.P.O. Myers - John Caesar

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - John Bradburn
 * Costumes - Maggie Fletcher
 * Designer - Tony Snoaden
 * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware and HAVOC
 * Film Cameraman - Peter Sargent
 * Film Editor - Martyn Day
 * Incidental Music - Malcolm Clarke
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Producer - Barry Letts
 * Production Assistant - Colin Dudley
 * Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Mike Jefferies
 * Studio Sound - Tony Millier, Colin Dixon
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Peter Day

Foods and beverages

 * The Doctor consumes several sandwiches throughout his time at the naval base, and whilst visiting the Master.
 * Hickman is seen drinking Old Oak Light Ale.

Species

 * The Sea Devils are the 'aquatic cousins' to the Silurians.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor is a trained diver and accomplished golfer.

The Doctor's items

 * The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to detect mines and cause them to explode.

Vehicles

 * Jo can operate a hovercraft.

Story notes

 * This story had the working title The Sea Silurians.
 * The scene involving the Master watching Clangers was a last-minute addition, added because the first episode was missing 90 seconds of the standard run time.
 * This is one of two stories where the Third Doctor utters the full line "I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow.". The other is in DW: The Five Doctors.
 * The Sea Devils are never named as such (except the fort survivor rambling about sea devils).
 * The Doctor remarks that he was a personal friend of Horatio Nelson.
 * This serial's director, Michael Briant, provided the voice of the radio DJ in episode two.
 * Originally, Episode one was to include the Doctor water-skiing, which was to be used as the excuse for him and Jo being late to the Master's prison. Increasingly inclement weather made the shoot impossible.
 * Along with Mission to the Unknown, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Midnight, this is one of only six televised stories in the history of Doctor Who not to feature the TARDIS (Inferno and Day of the Daleks feature the central console, but not the TARDIS itself).
 * The series' producer Barry Letts and Clive Morton (George Trenchard) had both previously appeared in the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic in which they played Apsley Cherry-Garrard and Herbert Ponting respectively.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 6.4 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 9.7 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 8.3 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 7.8 million viewers
 * Episode 5 - 8.3 million viewers
 * Episode 6 - 8.5 million viewers

Myths

 * Roger Delgado was afraid of the water and it took great courage for him to film the scene in which the Master and the Doctor are rescued from the sea by the Navy. (This was frequently recalled by Jon Pertwee in later interviews, but according to Delgado's widow, Kismet, it is untrue. Delgado was actually worried about getting his costume wet, as there was no spare available.) (Delgado's fear of water is also recalled during the DVD commentary of The Sea Devils by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks.) Delgado also looks very uncomfortable during his scenes in the water.

Filming locations

 * The exterior of the Master's prison was in fact Norris Castle, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. The Sea Fort was an actual sea defence fort built in the 1860s in the river Solent, off the South Hampshire coast, in anticipation of a feared French invasion which never came to pass. Abandoned at the time of the story's filming, it has since been a hotel resort. In July of 2007 the fort came up for sale after the company owning the hotel collapsed and its owner was jailed.
 * Fraser Gunnery Range, HMS St George, Portsmouth
 * Royal Navy ship HMS Reclaim
 * No Man's Land Sea Fort, Solent
 * Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
 * Bembridge Harbour, Isle of Wight
 * Norris Castle, East Cowes, Isle of Wight
 * Red Cliff, Sandown, Isle of Wight
 * Bembridge Sailing Club, Bembridge, Isle of Wight
 * Priory Bay, Isle of Wight
 * BBC Television Centre (Studio 8), Shepherd's Bush, London
 * The set for the Wardens office is the same one heavily used for the Doctors laboratory in the previous season.

Production errors

 * The clock in the Master's prison moves backwards.
 * An Admiral of one of the ships sent to attack the Sea Devils base wears glasses, this is against Navy Regulations.

Continuity

 * The Master was captured in DW: The Dæmons.
 * The Silurians first appeared in DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians.
 * The Sea Devils are next seen in DW: Warriors of the Deep.
 * Sea Devils and Silurians appear in NA: Blood Heat.
 * The Master watches Clangers in a fashion similar to his watching Teletubbies in DW: The Sound of Drums.
 * The Doctor attempts to attribute the misnomer "Silurian" to their discoverer.
 * The Master mentions their encounter with the Sea Devils to the Tenth Doctor in DW: Last of the Time Lords.
 * The Doctor and the Master would later engage in another sword fight in 1215. (DW: The King's Demons)

Timeline

 * This story occurs after ST: The Switching.
 * This story occurs before EDA: The Eight Doctors.

Home video and audio releases
Editing for both VHS and DVD releases completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

VHS Releases
This was released on video in episodic format.

DVD releases
This story was released on DVD as part of the Beneath the Surface collection along with Doctor Who and the Silurians and Warriors of the Deep.

Audio releases
A soundtrack CD of the programme was released in January 2008. It was also included in the Monsters on Earth box set along with Doctor Who and the Silurians and Warriors of the Deep.