[daveyboy7472]

This story was a big contrast to the previous one and the location filming used is very effective. I like The Sea Devils, for me it's so much better than the snorefest that was The Silurians in Season 7. It's not perfect by any means, the story is divided nicely into sections to help pad out the 6 parts, from The Master in prison, The Doctor at the fort to Private Parliamentary Walker in later episodes. Some of these things weren't really necessary and the story could quite easily have been a 4-parter. It was also refreshing to have a Earth story without lots of UNIT soldiers running and shooting at things for once, though I think the Brigadier is a big miss.


The same scenario is set up as in The Silurians in that The Doctor is once again trying to establish a peace, with The Master this time interfering and the humans not helping much either. I just think this is better portrayed than before though obviously it lacks the dramatic ending of the the earlier story.

I like all the early scenes with The Master in prison, plus all the scenes with Jo trying to rescue The Doctor from prison. I think this must be the only Master story of the Pertwee Era where Jo doesn't come under any attack from The Master and neither does The Master use her against The Doctor to do his bidding.

I much prefer The Sea Devils to The Silurians as monsters and it's a shame they have only been accorded one return since this story. I hope one day they turn up in the New series, though also hoping if they do they won't be too radically redesigned, as with The Silurians.

[Mulett]

One of my earliest memories of Doctor Who is the scene where he and Jo are on the beach and the Sea Devils come out of the water - abso-bloody-lutely terrifying!

Having watched this and The Silurians fairly recently, it is interesting how the Sea Devils does come across as a basic re-hash of The Silurians.

[Larry1971]

don't know what it is about the Sea Devils but it's never been a story that i've been paticularly keen on.

[sovietusername]

Absolutely LOVE this story to bits, used to watch it literally all the time on VHS as a kid. The music isnt to awful, it's got great atmosphere, the Master is fantastic, and for me, it's wrapped up in nostalgic memories of childhood. Absolutely fantastic!!!!!

[Listentome]

Totally love this story. It's one of the Pertwee's where the length doesn't drag for me. Love the locations, sets, The Master. The Sea Devils were far more interesting than their Silurian cousins. The scene when they emerge from the sea has to be one of the most iconic in Who.

[meglosmurmurs]

I found the Sea Devils so scary when I first watched this. Especially when they invade the submarine, creep around the fort and of course when they're coming out of the sea. I actually can't be on a beach nowadays without having that picture in my head. I always remind myself of where the nearest exit is just incase.

I really love all the sets and location work.
I think the only negative aspect is the cliched government official who just wants to come along and blow them all up. Really wanted to punch him in the face.

[CoalHillJanitor]

Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow!

At least the Sea Devils made the monster montage in The Eleventh Hour.

[Castrovalva]

This is the earliest story that I can remember watching on original transmission, so it has a special place for me too. However like the poster above this may be becuase the scene when they rise from the water is so vivd it sticks in the 5-year-old mind for a long time.

[DoctorQui]

I could never make my mind up with this one! I watched first when I was quite and then when they repeated it during the Doctor Who and Monsters series (I think). The Sea Devils rising from the sea was a great scene and the fact that it was filmed near where I grew up was a bonus BUT it didn't strike me as being the best contrived story of the JP era. As someone has already said, its a rehash of the Silurians and I was always confused about the name of the species. Teh Sea Devils, I original thought was their species name, then I 'new' it was only the story title, then they are referred to as Sea Devil's in Warriors of the Deep...the name never really made sense to me!

What were they called?

One thing I do remember is being irritated by Jo's screaming, it was very half hearted and forced to the point of being husky (or maybe that was from rehearsing the scenes ad naueum)

[ocox]

Originally Posted by DoctorQui

I could never make my mind up with this one! I watched first when I was quite and then when they repeated it during the Doctor Who and Monsters series (I think). The Sea Devils rising from the sea was a great scene and the fact that it was filmed near where I grew up was a bonus BUT it didn't strike me as being the best contrived story of the JP era. As someone has already said, its a rehash of the Silurians and I was always confused about the name of the species. Teh Sea Devils, I original thought was their species name, then I 'new' it was only the story title, then they are referred to as Sea Devil's in Warriors of the Deep...the name never really made sense to me!

What were they called?

One thing I do remember is being irritated by Jo's screaming, it was very half hearted and forced to the point of being husky (or maybe that was from rehearsing the scenes ad naueum)

At least she was not making any of those stupid/childish voices she does so often on the commentaries

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I like the scene where the Master is smiling as he watches the Clangers on telly, in prison.

[doublefour]

I like the episode or so when they are on the Sea Fort the most in this story, it’s atmospheric and bit creepy.
The Sea Devils are decent foes for the Doctor, just feel maybe due to the story that they are not given as much back story or we see enough of what they are about as we did with the Silurians. The nature of the Siluirians is that we are discovering them in there base or colony.
One point I would make, is it makes a change that the Navy rather than UNIT in some form is used in the Pertwee era.
The Master intending to use the Sea Devils is his usual treacherous self, it does go wrong and is at one point forced to work with the Doctor ala Axons and Mind of Evil. I find it’s always good to see them come together under protest
The Master is as cunning as a fox at the end, speeding off into the distance in the hovercraft , the Doctor’s face is a picture!
The Sea Devils is a good example of when a Pertwee can be entertaining and interesting, and not just hung together with a lot of padding.

[doublefour]

Originally Posted by daveyboy7472

I much prefer The Sea Devils to The Silurians as monsters and it's a shame they have only been accorded one return since this story. I hope one day they turn up in the New series, though also hoping if they do they won't be too radically redesigned, as with The Silurians.

Quite surprised we only have seen them and the Silurians one more time in the rest of Classic Who in Warriors of the Deep. Indeed I don’t even recall a Big Finish audio with them in, I couldn’t tell you whether they have been in a Novelisation somewhere?

[MrGiles2]

Recently, I purchased the box set of Doctor Who's "Beneath The Surface."

The Sea Devils was one of the stories in the set. It was great watching them again after so many years. I had not seen it since UK Gold transmitted it a few years back one Sunday morning. It certainly is one of the better Whos from the 1970s. I watched it with Info Text switched on, with details about the making of the story as it went alone, and also what happened behind the scenes etc. Some viewers may find this distracting, but being partially deaf, I am used to seeing telex on the screen. One of the funniest stories concerning The Sea Devils was that Katy Manning, during filming, had problems with her trousers. The zip kept breaking! Very embarrassing it was for her too!

The box set also contains another Jon Pertwee story "Doctor Who and The Silurians". The companion then was Caroline John as Liz Shaw, who sadly, died recently.

The third story, which I watched last night was "Warriors of The Deep." It wasn't well liked at the time, due to production problems etc. I enjoyed it though. It was nice to see the sexy Tegan again, played by the lovely Janet Fielding.

All three can be bought from Amazon in the box set for a fantastic price, about £11.98. Very good value indeed.