DOCTOR WHO-THE SEA DEVILS

 

DOCTOR WHO-THE CURSE OF PELADON 4-a longer version?

I would swear in court that on a UHF channel in the 1990s that certain DOCTOR WHO episodes ran longer than 28 minutes and one that vividly sticks in my mind is THE CURSE OF PELADON episode 4 which seemed to be about 33 minutes long. Thus, whenever I view this episode on DVD these days at some 24 minutes, I feel as if I’ve been cheated by a cut version. This happened with BRAIN OF MORBIUS and RESERRECTION OF THE DALEKS, both of which had no extra background music or sound effects. But it is THE CURSE OF PELADON part 4 that looks as if it is VERY edited these days. The jerkiest sequences seem to come from the attack on the main throne room. These scenes seem to jump from moment to moment and I seem to remember the full unedited version being much more violent. When the guards are jumped by two of Hepesh’s men who hurl themselves down, I seem to recall a longer fight where two men are stabbed with swords. Likewise, at the throne room, I seem to recall two guards there who are stabbed with knives or swords before the gang break into the throne room, yelling. The attack on the throne room itself was longer and I remember more men getting stabbed on screen and then one falls and another raises his spear to stab him and brings it down to kill him. As it is on DVD now, this scene shifts quickly but I recall it not being that way and seeing it finish out where the man is speared. As evidence, Centuari is cut off mind sentence before we then see the guards already rushing into the throne room! The cuts are obvious and I wonder if that original 33 min edit still exists.

 

The episode itself is a good ending and at least here, Aggedor survives. Jo’s dilemma seems a bit forced and the episode seems to come up short even without the idea that it’s been badly edited. ABOUT TIME will point out all the problems in the execution of this episode and with THE SEA DEVILS episode 1 (and the others). Fortunately, unlike the Colin Baker stories (though I will always defend and love THE TWIN DILEMMA and MARK OF THE RANI) and about half of McCoy’s 12 stories as well as about 90 percent of the awful Moffat Era, these mistakes do not detract from enjoyment of this story and this episode in particular. Pertwee rubs his neck a lot and more rubbing of his face. Yet, his delivery is spot on in every scene (“I’m going to see a man about an open door,” and, “Come on Grun, you’re not afraid, a big chap like you?”). His touching of Jo’s chin is a nice touch and he says he would not want to lose her.

 

Centuari, despite the cowardice and the whining, is a lovable character, possibly the first hermaphrodite on TV and one of the most alien of shapes, if not motivations.

 

Another good episode and a wonderful story, set totally off Earth, a refreshing thing in this era. I’m not sure enough was made of the Doc’s prejudice against the Ice Warriors but those aliens fare well in this as does the whole costuming thing, the sets, and the barely there effects. Aggedor might have been a bit more menacing in look but it’s okay.

 

THE SEA DEVILS episode 1

One thing about this era, from one episode to the other, one is never sure what one will see next. Here, there are no TARDIS references and in fact the whole story doesn’t have any, nor the TARDIS itself and while UNIT is discussed, I’m pretty sure UNIT never appears, nor does the Brig. The Doc, Jo, and an imprisoned Master DO appear. The Doc has a good love/hate thing going with not just this jailed Master but with the fun character Captain Hart. There is also a secret sea base, an off shore nearly abandoned fort (haunted by appearances of the hands of the monster, who are not fully seen until the end), and the prison itself (with another duplicitous head warden in the wonderfully eccentric Trenchard). The rapport is evident between…well, just about everyone and DOCTOR WHO doesn’t even look like DOCTOR WHO here. The location work of the dock, the ports, and the sea trips are all well done and give the episode and the story a great, expensive look. There’s also the sound and the music. Not sure of it. It sounds…rather dated but experimental, today and yet almost works in giving the story a unique sound. I wouldn’t want it in every story, though as it sounds a bit like a kazoo or a synthesizer. As for the Sea Devils, we only see a hand or two before it actually appears and again, I seem to think this episode was longer and on DVD now has the cliffhanger at “It’s coming toward us,” but I seem to recall the cliffhanger being where the Sea Devil face is first seen in the fort.

 

With the Master watching Clangers (and ABOUT TIME seems to have gotten this scene totally wrong…the Master is not faking his enjoyment of the show and in fact, doesn’t seem to really enjoy it for what it was and thinks it was a video about an extra-terrestrial and when he finds out they are puppets, he seems disappointed). Trenchard doesn’t seem to be taken in by anything because the Master, at least in this scene, isn’t trying to pull anything. He doesn’t have to here. He’s in charge of his own prison and the staff! His laughter after Jo and the Doc leave is both fun and creepy. Some of this plays like an old 1950s American or British horror or sci fi movie (THE GIANT BEHOMOTH, BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR and othes) about things from the sea…and also seems a bit like both the original GOJIRA and its redo GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS as there have been attacks on ships and disappearances.

 

All in all THE SEA DEVILS episode one is another entertaining episode. During the first three Doctors’ times, there haven’t been many bad or slow moving stories or episodes. While some have been a bit clunky and at least one a bit…comedic in execution (THE CHASE, I’m looking at you), none of them have been insulting, boring (GALAXY FOUR comes close) or badly done, even when experimental (THE WEB PLANET, EDGE OF DESTRUCTION, ENEMY OF THE WORLD) or awkward (SPACE PIRATES).

DOCTOR WHO-THE SEA DEVILS episode 2

This episode is pure classic Pertwee with a number of fantastically funny and fun scenes. It also moves at a fast pace, recovering from the “stranded in the fort” plot to the Master invading the base for parts he needs. Trenchard is such a nice man, it’s a shame he’s helping the Master! The Doc rigs up a transmitter but it’s not necessary as Hart has sent a helicopter anyway. Classic is a short scene where he holds the box and compliments himself but it blows up in his hands when he flips a switch and then reacts. Pertwee's great. Almost his every line here is wonderful. While waiting for Trenchard in the office, the Doctor blindfolds himself and gets a hole in one in the bottle. And best of all, he sword fights and quips through it all, fighting with the Master. He even gets to eat a sandwich. Love Pertwee!

 

Not sure WHY the Master, if he’s actually taken over the entire staff at the prison (maybe he hasn’t taken over all of them?), has to knock out a guard and take his knife? In which…the cliffhanger with the Doctor turning his back on the Master, has the Master toss a knife at him into a whish into the end credits and sting music! Watching FLASH GORDON’S TRIP TO MARS and in that Flash turns his back on one of Ming’s henchmen, only to get hit in the back with a wrench and into the cliffhanging danger of a disintegration room. Sometimes, we pretend we’ve come so far in sci fi and entertainment but really that’s just highbrow thinking. The past is owed a lot to by the present day stuff.

 

Not much Sea Devil stuff here but the hand appears again and the Sea Devil at the fort chases the Doctor, shoots at him (again, in Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars, the heroes get shot at…a lot and the villains miss…a lot; just like in DW and STAR TREK and INDIANA JONES and…STAR WARS, which was supposed to be, originally, a Flash Gordon remake!). Then, Jo and the Doc chase the wounded Sea Devil. In a weird moment, the two of them look out the window. What are they seeing? It can’t be a dead Sea Devil who went out the window because the Doc needs proof for Captain Hart and that would have been IT but isn’t. It must have dove back into the water?

 

All in all, faults, flaws and all, this is a very fun episode of DOCTOR WHO and classic. Love it!

DOCTOR WHO-THE SEA DEVILS-ep3

The sword fight is worth repeating in full and it is. There’s a lot of snarky and snap dialog as the Doctor is imprisoned, handcuffed (“How very unkind of you!”), Jo is stopped but gets away from the guards and back to the cell, frees the Doctor and follows him down the side of a cliff to a beach! Along the way the writers make Jane Blythe, the 3^rd officer of Capt. Hart, a smart woman who figures out Trenchard is lying. Trenchard is a kind of dope as we find out he believes the Master will use some device to stop enemy agents of the country. The series tries to do VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and well, in the 60s and 70s, NO ONE can do undersea adventure like VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA so the sub scenes, while adequate for the story, are…not VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA worthy, though I do like the captain of the sub…he’s a believable character. Manning and Pertwee are still at the height of their powers and their rapport is fun, whimsical, and entertaining. ABOUT TIME will discuss all the flaws in this episode and they’re apparent: WHY do the guards not stop the Doctor and Jo in…well, at least three places and wait for the Mater to turn on his machine…which will bring a sea devil to the beach…revealing IT to the rest of them including Trenchard. I also wonder why the Master says, “We’ll get them all at one go.” Who? Jo and the Doctor? Capt Hart, who’s already left. Despite the obvious flaws, this episode is highly enjoyable because of the actors…all of them. They are trying hard. It also has some of the best location shots of the entire series, a sprawling beach, a huge target area, the fort itself…and adequate model work. The cliffhanger is one of the first of just the Doctor’s face but probably not the first (see CURSE OF PELADON or some of the 2^nd Doctor cliffhangers). Either way, this episode is enjoyable. I DO feel that the Pertwee stories are somewhat all overlong, especially the six parters but this is enjoyable. SO why didn’t the Master kill the Doctor in the cell? SO why didn’t he stop Capt Hart from leaving? I don’t know.

DOCTOR WHO-THE SEA DEVILS-eps 4,5, and 6

 

One can see Pertwee is actually the one on the sea bike and it and he look spectacular. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER DOCTOR QUITE LIKE JON PERTWEE’S DOCTOR. I mean what actor since Jon would actually have the skill and bravery to get on a sea bike and ride it in that rough water? NONE, that’s who. Again, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER JON PERTWEE like Doctor. He truly was brave to do that alone.

 

No one ever calls the Sea Devils, Sea Devils. Ep 6 has probably the only time this Doctor says, “I’ve reversed the polarity of the neutron flow.” There’s also a lot of UNIT-like action with Sea Devils getting shot and killing men but of course, none of these men are UNIT! The dumb Trenchard realizes quickly that the Master tricked him…well quickly in ep4 and he dies trying to gun down Sea Devils…actually after he guns down Sea Devils. The Sea Devils also attack Hart’s base in ep6. Trenchard is quickly replaced by another dumb idiot, the war mongering coward who’s interested in tea and breakfast and who hassles Jane for that and other things…parliamentary Walker (who seems to have a one very red eye), who even advocates for a nuclear strike in ep6. He returns in a short story, trying to cut off funding for UNIT, the jerk.

 

One of the scariest things in DOCTOR WHO isn’t a monster…it’s Walker’s mouth up close as he eats and drinks while presuming to start a huge world war by just blindly attacking the Sea Devil base…with the submarine men and the Doctor still there not caring for peace but for slogans and war songs. It’s actually quite chilling.

 

In ep four there are three WTF moments: the Doctor and Jo are forced to traverse a mine field, caught between Trenchard’s dopey men gunning for them and one Sea Devil that follows them into it…and while Jo seems fine on foot, the Doctor dives, rolls over barbed wire using his jacket as insulation (perhaps to make way for Jo?), and the like. If that’s not bad enough, we see a camera lens taking pictures of the Doctor. Thirdly, we also see quite clearly a DEAD SEA GULL! WTF?

 

There’s a lot of Master stuff here and Delgado is masterful in it all. What I don’t get is why the Doctor is so friendly to him later on, in ep6, when he could have just left him in the sea—the Doc actually helps him get onto the rescue boat and it’s not just the Doctor…everyone else could have a chance to leave him for dead a few times, too. His getaway in the end is quite spectacular. Oh, and the Doc leaves another man to watch the Master, who just hypnotizes the man and escapes.

 

This story looks better than most stories in the classic series…at times and frankly, it looks even better than many of the modern day series stories, too. Navy vessels, hydro bikes, hydro plane boats, destroyers and the like as well as a diving bell. Another WTF moment is when the Doc’s machine goes haywire and explodes…it looks like a small boat is near the blast!

 

In ep4, the Doc steals a sandwich from Jo, offers it to Hart and gives one to Jane but leaves none for Jo, asking her if she thinks this is a picnic. It’s very funny, actually.

 

One can see Pertwee is actually the one on the sea bike and it and he look spectacular. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER DOCTOR QUITE LIKE JON PERTWEE’S DOCTOR. I mean what actor since Jon would actually have the skill and bravery to get on a sea bike and ride it in that rough water? NONE, that’s who. Again, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER JON PERTWEE like Doctor. He truly was brave to do that alone.

 

Ep 4 ends with the Doctor vanishing from a diving bell (in a strange way I think they wanted us to not see that it was empty…a similar thing was done twice, I believe on THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, just after this…in order to make us think that maybe Jo was looking at the dead body of the Doctor. It’s filmed oddly though but still makes for an interesting cliffhanger. I could have sworn the cliffhanger ended with her saying, “The Doctor’s gone!” But it doesn’t…it might have in America? In any case, the cliffhanger to ep 5 is even better…

 

…having resolved himself to return to the Sea Devil base (again they’re called lizards and reptiles, never Sea Devils), the Doctor walks with Hart and Jo along the base when Jo turns, “Doctor!” A Sea Devil points one of those reflector guns at the Doctor!

 

…who promptly decks two of them with his Venusian karate. And then gets taken from behind and starts gurning again as it chokes him down!

 

I’m not sure why the Sea Devils turn on the Master though in ep 6 or at all. He DID help them as he said.

 

All in all, a classic episode and one that is often underestimated and undervalued. It looks expensive for most of it and it’s entertaining. The guest stars and characters fulfill their part and Jane and Hart are quite good as is Bowman. I love Jane’s rapport with everyone and her eye rolling without eye rolling at Walker’s antics, her tone, and all indicate her revulsion of the stupid, evil coward. Everyone and everything here is so entertaining, it is easy to overlook the faults.

 

Of note: it’s well over a year that I started this rewatch and I’ve only really stalled on the Pertwee seasons, though I’m not sure why. I like them. Maybe it’s the sameness and/or possibly that many horrible things have happened in real life to me and my family. At the same time, I ‘ve managed to view all 36 Abbott and Costello movies, some of their TV episodes, the first 7 DARK SHADOWS episodes, select VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEAs (first season one to 17 or so), LOST IN SPACE, LAND OF THE GIANTS, TITANS, and a host of new shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and YouTube as well as FLASH GORDON’S TRIP TO MARS (so far the first 11 chapters) and many SHAZAM! episodes uncut.