Well, now I can see where the season budget went. Between the beautiful location filming, the costumes and effects, and the generous helping of Royal Navy assistance that was offered, there's a lot of eye candy in The Sea Devils. For all that this story touched a lot of the same narrative ground as Doctor Who and the Silurians did two years ago, there's certainly a lot more spectacle that's been injected into the affair. Without that spectacle, this story would probably feel like a complete retread, but as it is, these superficial additions and the reintroduction of the Master as the spanner in the works breathe life into the story.
This time around, our favorite Earth Reptiles are more of a side element for the first few episodes to a plot surrounding the Master's preparations to escape captivity. It really sells the Master's capabilities as a manipulator and escape artist that, by the time we find him, he has already all but broken out, having hypnotized or suborned everyone in the prison, and is just putting up appearances to keep the Doctor guessing. I had already cottoned on when the monitor observed the Master "attempting" to hypnotize a guard. We discover him enjoying a leisurely sit in a handsomely furnished cell, even watching kids' puppet shows on his TV. This is probably his strongest villainous outing yet, and his performance elevates the story immensely.
You know, it's a bit of a cliché when a villainous character promises a useful subordinate that they will "get everything they deserve", but I have a pronounced weakness for it just the same. Accordingly, I had a good chuckle when the Master pulls this line on the smiling Trenchard. Trenchard is a fun secondary antagonist for the episodes where he's present, another in a proud lineage of greedy civil servants who screw themselves over by allying with evil forces. He actually poses a bit of an obstacle to the Doctor when he locks him up after that charmingly choreographed swordfight with the Master. It's odd seeing the Doctor separated entirely from his UNIT support network for the entirety of an earthbound story, but in this instance it works because it makes him the sort of outsider that he never gets to be in a UNIT story, with all its drawbacks and benefits.
The rest of the side cast is also quite enjoyable for the most part. I was especially fond of the sparky 3rd Officer Jane Blythe; June Murphy plays her silent frustration with the sexism and stupid decisions of Walker in a very believable way, and she has a nice energy. Martin Boddey is also tremendous as the eminently dislikable Walker. The sequence where he's tucking into his lunch and explaining how he's going to wipe out the Sea Devils, flecks of food falling carelessly from his mouth as he orders the deaths of numerous British sailors and the Doctor, is certainly a chilling, and very biting, moment. I always enjoy an indictment of this particular wretched species of politician, and Hulke scripts seem to be good for that.
When the Sea Devils do finally come closer to the center of the production, the attempts to make peace that we saw in the Doctor's encounter with the Silurians do - briefly - make a reappearance. At the beginning, I sort of held out hope that things might be different this time around, but the story barely dedicates any time to the Doctor's attempts to make peace. It becomes evident that since the Master has already inveigled himself with the Sea Devils, it will simply be impossible to achieve a bloodless conclusion this time around. The reptiles themselves are well-realized, with awesome costumes and creepy voices. The expansion of the ancient reptile races of Earth to include an aquatic subspecies is a smart idea, and I really wish we would see more of the Sea Devils in the future of the program than we actually do! I do however note that for all his strengths, Hulke is no palaeontologist. Dinosaurs (well, the big scary kind anyway) weren't around anymore in the Eocene either!
And lest we forget amongst all this, the Third Doctor and Jo Grant are as good as they've ever been in these episodes. I've forgotten mostly to remark upon how Pertwee has settled into the role, because he's done it so much faster and more smoothly than either of his predecessors. Really, he's recognizably as the Doctor as early as this story's predecessor, Doctor Who and the Silurians, and has only gone from strength to strength since then. For all that he and Jo Grant had a rocky start in Season Eight, it's clear by this point that they've formed a strong rapport. In the absence of the UNIT boys, Jo gets a lot more to do, and comes across as quite capable and dependable, worlds away from her depiction in Terror of the Autons.
All in all, a very strong addition to the series canon. Onwards to The Mutants next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 3 April 2021.)
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