Legend of the Sea Devils (TV story)

Legend of the Sea Devils was the 2022 Doctor Who Easter Special. This episode introduced the Sea Devils into the BBC Wales revival series, last seen on television in 1984's Warriors of the Deep.

Unlike the 2010 redesign of the Sea Devils' sister species, the Silurians, in TV: The Hungry Earth, these returning enemies remained largely faithful to their original designs, with CGI augmentations mostly allowing for a greater variety of expressions.

Synopsis
When the legendary pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao, alias "Madam Ching", awakens an antediluvian Sea Devil extremist, the Doctor's TARDIS is pulled off-course and Team TARDIS must try to work together with the historical rogue to save the entire Earth from global flood. But amidst the high-stakes, high-sea adventure, it soon becomes clear the stakes for everyone involved — even the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz — are much more personal than a legendary sunken treasure, or even the all-important Keystone...

Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
 * Dan Lewis - John Bishop
 * Ying Ki - Marlowe Chan-Reeves
 * Madam Ching - Crystal Yu
 * Chief Sea Devil - Craige Els
 * Ji-Hun - Arthur Lee
 * Ying Wai - David K.S. Tse
 * Diane - Nadia Albina
 * Sea Devils - Jon Davey, Simon Carew, Chester Durrant, Richard Price, Mickey Lewis, Andrew Cross

TARDIS

 * While underwater, the Doctor reinforces the oxygen bubble with an aquashield.

History

 * Zheng Yi Sao is after the lost treasure of Ji-Hun, known as the keystone. Ji-Hun gave the keystone to Lei Bao, whose family handed it down the generations.
 * The keystone is a plutonic crystal created by the Sea Devils.

Technology

 * Dan has an app on his mobile phone for identifying the constellations in the night sky.
 * The Sea Devils have a geomagnograph for measuring the current flow underwater, and a current regulator for controlling the flow.
 * The Sea Devils also employ orbital electron stripping to keep their sea creature base airtight, and algae to keep the microclimate under check.

Popular culture

 * The Doctor says Stephen King films, like history, are "never like the books".
 * The Doctor makes reference to Pimp My Ride, saying that the Sea Devils "really pimped Ji-Hun's ride". Yaz reminds her that this is an anachronism.

Story notes

 * This was the second Easter Special in Doctor Who history, following 2009's Planet of the Dead.
 * This was the first episode of the Chibnall era that had a 'Next Time' trailer before the end credits.
 * This was the first episode since Revolution of the Daleks to included the old BBC logo in the title sequence.
 * This episode was the first time that Chris Chibnall had his executive producer credit above Matt Strevens' credit. The entire Chibnall era, Matt Strevens was credited above Chris Chibnall as executive producer.
 * With ratings of 2.2 million, this story is officially the story with the lowest on the day viewing figures since Battlefield in 1989 and the lowest rated story ever.

Ratings

 * Overnights: 2.2 million
 * Consolidated: TBA

Filming locations
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Production errors

 * The end credits misspelled Malcolm Hulke's name as "Malcom Hulke".

Rumours

 * The Sea Devils' pet sea creature was a Myrka. This was never stated in dialogue.

Continuity

 * The Doctor mentions that she's dealt with the Sea Devils "once or twice" in the future. (TV: The Sea Devils, Warriors of the Deep).
 * The TARDIS is able to sustain being underwater with the doors open without hurting its occupants, (TV: Listen, PROSE: Dark Horizons) due to its oxygen bubble. (TV: The Runaway Bride, The Beast Below, Oxygen)
 * Yaz encounters the Sea Devils for the first time, although another account posits that she has already encountered them once before. (COMIC: Alternating Current)
 * The Doctor gets angry at one of her allies for killing an enemy unnecessarily. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Christmas Invasion)
 * Yaz and Dan recall their earlier conversation regarding Yaz's romantic feelings for the Doctor. (TV: Eve of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor acknowledges her wife. (TV: The Wedding of River Song et al.)
 * Dan gets back in touch with Diane. (TV: The Vanquishers)

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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