Things I've Learnt from Watching My Favourite Doctor Who Stories: Part 26 - The Sea Devils

26: The Sea Devils

Don't imprison Master criminals on an island near a naval base... 

A lot of these choices, particularly the classic series ones are based on nostalgia, reminding me of where I was or who I was with when I saw this episodes. The story was one from the 1992 repeat season and had been chosen to represent Jon Pertwee, which is unusual as it didn't feature UNIT. But this was a few months before technology gave us the recolurised versions of all those Pertwee classics such as Terror of the Autons agd the Daemons, that would have only existed in black and white. Still, at least they didn't chose the Time Monster... 

The Doctor and Jo are off to visit the Master, who we last saw being driven away after finally being captured by UNIT at the end of the Daemons. Well, you would have had you watched this on original transmission. But Doctor Who is a curious beast. It's the only tv show that's been released in a random order commercially, whether on VHS, DVD or Bluray! So when this rocked up on a Friday night on BBC2 after Thunderbirds, I'd not actually seen any episodes featuring Roger Delgado (I've checked, and The Claws of Axos was his first vhs released in May 1992, a month after this had finished it's repeat run) 

So let's talk Delgado. He's suave, sophisticated, swarthy and charming as the Master. It's no wonder that it's rumoured Pertwee was unhappy with the amount of attention Delgado was getting from the press, although they were both good friends in real life. I'd grown up watching Anthony Ainley's Master in the 1980s and the conseus among fans was that he wasn't as good as Delgado. I'd say it's more a case of Delgado's Master is better written and the actor is being guided to play it straight rather than ham it up a bit. 

Delgado's Spanish ancestry led him to play many villains of many nationalies, and his swarthy looks were shorthand for being a baddie in those not-so-enlightened times. This is halfway in Delgado's run in the series and he looks very comfortable in the role, and with Pertwee and Katy Manning, who are both great together as well. Had I watched the series in order, I might be questioning why Jo would be so calm about seeing the Master, given the fact the last time they had met, he was planning to murder her in a sacrificial ritual. She's a lot more forgiving than I would be! 

One of the strengths of the Sea Devils is the direction by Michael E Briant. Episode One in particular, with the scenes on the sea fortress are very tense, with unusual camera angles that help build the tension and give a claustrophobic atmosphere. Having the Royal Navy helping to provide hardware gives a boost to the serial's production values and there are some exciting battle sequences. 

We have two fine supporting characters in Captain Hart and Governor Trenchard. The former is played by Edwin Richfield, who would later suffer the indignity of being Mestor in the Twin Dilemma. Hart is the surrogate Brigadier and fortunately he's written intelligently and quickly accepts the Doctor which saves us a lot of tiresome clichéd scenes of arguments. 

Trenchard is written as a sad old buffer who's gullible enough to believe the Master who manipulates the Governor's patriotism. His end is written strongly and Clive Morton effectively conveys that although a bit of a buffoon, he's brave enough to stand in the front line of the Sea Devils attack. In the book, Malcolm Hulke gives him a sad ending where the Doctor discovers he'd forgotten to take off the safety catch of his revolver and the Doctor flicks the catch. It's quite a poignant moment but I think I prefer the TV version. 

The titular monsters of the serial are effective and memorable, having returned to the series in later years. It's obvious this is their best outing but I enjoy their other two stories more than most. Some argue it's a retread of Doctor Who and the Silurians, but I as I saw this first, and it's an episode less, I prefer this. I think if I'd been a child watching this, I'd have wanted the Master to get away at the end, which of course he does, to fight another day. Shame that other day was the Time Monster... 

But the Sea Devils is the Doctor Who equivalent of a comfy pair of shoes. Great direction, acting, action and a memorable monster! 

Next Time: Good secretaries are hard to find!