The Sea Devils

Ah...the Sea Devils with its electronic score. I remember the first time I watched this, with a gang of non-Doctor Who fans, being vaguely annoyed by the music. It seemed weirdly inappropriate. This time around though I loved Malcolm Clarke's music. It seemed to add an extra layer of atmosphere to the story. It still sounds like nothing else around at the time (as far as I'm aware) but I think that makes it all the more wonderful.

The Sea Devils themselves look pretty good, although there's a scene in the last episode where they stand around for a bit looking like they are posing for a holiday snap or an album cover. They are kept nicely in the background for the first episode as the tension builds and the director does a good job - especially in the end battle scenes - to make it look like there are a lot of them.

They are the aquatic cousins of the Silurians from Doctor Who and the Silurians and much of the plot is similar to that story. The Sea Devils - not the name they give themselves btw - want to revive their race and take back planet Earth from the apes with an attitude that has taken over. The humans want to destroy the threat. The Doctor tries to find a peaceful solution.

Unfortunately, The Doctor is up against an added complication: The Master is back. The Master is supposed to be in prison but being a devious sort he's managed to persuade his jailer Colonel Trenchard to let him have freedom of a kind by blagging him into believing that Great Britain is threatened by spies. Trenchard is one of two civil service blowhards in this story, the other being Walker, the PPC from the Ministry. Trenchard though, on seeing the Master has duped him, at least gets to go out in a blaze of glory.

Walker is a real negative in this story. Even by the standards of the Third Doctor's era, this is a civil servant of epic cowardice, stupidity, and pomposity. His desire for food and tea at every opportunity is irritating and I'm not a big fan of Martin Boddey's performance either. He's just TOO dislikable and too stupid. He also seems to have an incredible amount of power and no one seems to be willing to question this.

This time there is no UNIT but the British Navy. The story is helped by the support the Royal Navy gave to the production team so everything seems to have more heft. The Navy attack in the final episode is quite convincing because it is carried out by real military types. They look like they know how to fire a gun - unlike some of the actors playing Trenchard's security team. There are scenes at sea and Pertwee being ex-Navy looks right at home. (There's a little moment where Pertwee's about to depart in the submersible where his short line: "Yes Chief" is delivered with casual correctness.)

It's a bit padded being a six-parter. I'm coming to the conclusion (as I think production teams do in the end) that the four-parter is the ideal size for a Doctor Who story. You don't have to stretch credulity quite so much or fill in time.

The Master, of course, needs the Doctor's help (both with a machine and to escape after The Sea Devils lock him up with the Doctor at the end) and he can't quite kill the Doctor (again). When The Master escapes at the end The Doctor almost looks pleased for him. It's all quite civilised, again. I'm sticking to my guns: they're playing a game. This isn't for real. (Hey, it's my pet theory and I'm sticking to it)