Wednesday 26 May 2021

Big Gay Longcat reviews Doctor Who: The Sea Devils Episode Three


The whole of the swordfight is shown again, which is fine by me because it is great. This time we see that the knife misses the Doctor, and then Trenchard and another henchmanny with a gun come in and capture the Doctor. Other henchmannys try to capture Jo outside, but she gets away from them and escapes onto location.

Now that their situation has reversed and the Doctor is his prisoner, the Master has a bit of a gloat and then tells him his plan to contact the Sea Devils:
"Those reptiles, Doctor, were once the rulers of this Earth. And with my help, they can be so again."


Captain Hart hasn't heard back from the Doctor and Jo yet, and he decides to get on with the missing ships plot without them. To do this he sends a submarine commanded by Donald Sumpter to investigate the triangle.

The Master talks with Trenchard some more, and we learn that Trenchard isn't really a baddy, but has been fooled by the Master into thinking that helping him is doing the right thing.
"Just doing my duty."
he says, which puts him in the same category of baddy as General "moral duty" Carrington from The Ambassadors OF DEATH.

Jo finds an unbarred window and sneaks in to the part of the prison that is also on film, and from there gets into the studio set where they're holding the Doctor and helps him to escape.


Now you're probably expecting me to use the "it's only a model" "shhh" gif at this point, but in actual fact the BBC had the cooperation of the Royal Navy in the making of this story, so this is really a real submarine!

The submarine loses power (which is probably for the best) and sinks to the bottom of the sea. The mannys inside the submarine hear a clanging coming from outside, as though somebody is saying "The Sea Devils" over and over again. For a story with as much padding as this one has, this scene feels surprisingly rushed, when a slower ratcheting up of the tension might have been more effective. On the other paw, none of the mannys on board are main characters so it would have been difficult to sustain the viewers' interest in their fate for very long instead of going back to the Doctor and Jo, or the Master, who are the ones we are really watching the show for (especially the Master, purr). Still, the actors here do their best as the submarine is attacked by Sea Devils and Sumpter hears his submacrewmannys screaming over the intercom, followed by a blast of incidental music, followed by silence.


The Master hears from Trenchard that the Doctor and Jo have been spotted escaping towards the beach, so he switches on the device he has been building with the parts stolen from the naval base.

On the beach, Trenchard's mannys drive up to the Doctor and Jo in a small white vehicle to try to recapture them. Now what does that remind me of?

Summoned by the Master's machine, a Sea Devil rises out of the sea, so the Doctor and Jo are trapped between mannys with guns, a minefield, and a Sea Devil. Cliffhanger!

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