The Sea Devils Episode Six

The one where the Doctor reverses the polarity of the neutron flow...

Don't you just love the lunacy of what looks like an old man in a crazy white wig and antique clothes beating the living shit out of rubber-suited monsters? The Third Doctor was a man of action, but looked anything like it until he burst into life, with his red-lined cape flying, as he karate-chopped, threw and hurled his enemies left, right and centre (and headfirst into walls). And after the Doctor fells two Sea Devils, he's rewarded with a lovely shoulder massage by a third Sea Devil!

As is customary in almost all of the stories featuring the Master so far, the evil Time Lord has to call on the Doctor's help, this time to build a fully-functioning revival machine to help wake up the Sea Devil hordes. It's not clear why the Master can't do it himself, because he's obviously capable, otherwise how did he build the calling device he used earlier in the story? The two Time Lords working together like old buddies makes me squirm: I really dislike this chummy relationship the two have, when all the Master has done is kill, maim and threaten innocent people. I really don't see how the Doctor can entertain being even civil with this psychopath. "I need a polarising condenser," says the Doctor. "Oh, allow me," replies the Master. It's all so annoyingly genial. A couple of episodes ago the Master was trying to kill the Doctor with a gun, a rapier and a dagger, for goodness sake!

The Sea Devils Episode Five

The one where the British Government starts a conflict with the Sea Devils...

"He's gone!" exclaims Jo, just seconds after the reprise - so why couldn't they have included this at the end of episode 4, to make it clearer what's happened? Seems a very odd editing choice to me, and it's not as if it would have pushed the episode's duration over the 25-minute mark (not that that seemed to bother producer Barry Letts too much during his tenure!).

This is the episode where the heart of the story really kicks in, but let's face it, we've been here before. The Sea Devils essentially has the same principal plot as Doctor Who and the Silurians, only it's shorter, more action-packed and with a maritime theme rather than a subterranean one. In my eyes, The Sea Devils is the better of the two as an overall slice of entertainment, but it loses something by being pretty much a retread of its predecessor's narrative. The only main difference is that the Master is in The Sea Devils, which spices things up a bit, but even his involvement is rather hackneyed, allying himself with the monsters in order to subjugate Earth.

The Sea Devils Episode Four

The one where the Sea Devils emerge from the ocean...

These Sea Devils are quite bloodthirsty fellas, aren't they? It's assumed by everybody from the start that they are aggressive and homicidal, and indeed they are. There's no mercy or lenience shown by these creatures, they are intent on simply killing any humans that cross their paths: the crews of the three vanished ships, Clark and Hickman, the Doctor, and now the innocent prison guards on the beach. Unlike their Silurian cousins, these Sea Devils seem much more like generic monsters than intelligent beings; wordless murderers rather than reasoning thinkers.

In one of his less wise (but braver!) moves, the Doctor leads Jo through a live minefield, using his trusty sonic screwdriver to detect where the buried explosives are (amazingly, this is only the third time the Third Doctor has used the sonic). He then uses the sonic to deliberately detonate the mines close to the pursuing Sea Devil, which screams repeatedly in some considerable distress before scarpering back into the sea. The explosions on the beach are pretty impressive, it must be said!

The Sea Devils Episode Three

The one where the Doctor goes from prison visitor to prisoner...

It seems Michael Briant thought the end of episode 2 was so good that the reprise should last more than 90 seconds, which is a bit of a chore (I know contemporary viewers had had a whole week in between, and I've had just a day, but still...). The Master needs to brush up on his knife-throwing skills because he misses the Doctor (chilling that he was aiming for his head!), but I'm wondering whether he missed on purpose because when he subsequently has the perfect chance to kill him, he doesn't bother. The Master claims he'd rather the Doctor witness the extermination of his beloved human race instead. Hmmm... those shifting priorities of the Master's.

There's not a lot to this episode, as it mainly concerns the Doctor being imprisoned and escaping, but it's a fantastic showcase for Jo Grant, whose ingenuity and determination really pay off. Before embarking on this Pertwee marathon, I always considered Jo Grant to be a rather dense, kooky clot, but after having watched through, episode by episode, I must admit she's a brilliant companion, and a true friend and sidekick to the Doctor. They adore one another, and Jo's innate resourcefulness is often highlighted.

The Sea Devils Episode Two

The one where the Doctor and the Master sword-fight...

The hulking, heavy-breathing monster in the shadows was Clark all along, in a classic cliffhanger twist from writer Malcolm Hulke. The terrified, wounded Clark mumbles something about "sea devils", a name for the creatures that sticks from hereon in as if it is their actual name, rather than an invention of a frightened man's fractured imagination. A similar thing happened with the Ice Warriors, who were named as such by Walters in The Ice Warriors, and ever since then everybody's called them that (rarely Martians).

The first five minutes of this episode rattle along at breakneck speed and manage to be both thrilling and scary in equal measure. The Sea Devil watches the Doctor, Jo and Clark from the shadows, contemplating its next move.

The Sea Devils Episode One

The one where the Doctor visits the Master in prison...

The episode opens with a great introductory scene in which the crew of the SS Pevensey Castle are under attack by an unseen enemy, and are forced to abandon ship. It transpires that it is one of three ships which have vanished without trace of late, with all hands lost. It's a great way to set up a story (reminiscent of the first scene of Terror of the Zygons), and I love the way the picture fades into a shot of the Doctor and Jo approaching the fortress island aboard Robbins' boat. Malcolm Clarke's eccentric soundtrack feels eerie and mournful, somehow capturing the maritime theme without resorting to cliched hornpipes.

The score bubbles and burbles, with moments which evoke a "lost at sea" yearning, a maritime melancholy. I realise Clarke's music for The Sea Devils is a controversial one - there are aspects of it which startle, such as what I call the 'Sea Devil sting' - but I adore it, it's so wonderfully strange and experimental, in the best tradition of the Radiophonic Workshop and Delia Derbyshire. Parts of the soundtrack sound unexpectedly ahead of their time, as if lifted from a 1980s Doctor Who story such as The Twin Dilemma (also Clarke), or a 21st century movie soundtrack such as Disasterpeace's It Follows. It's also reminiscent of some of John Carpenter's spookier work. I really, really love this score!