Product Details

• Actors: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Run Time: 147 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00147F8YQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,155 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/03/2008 Run time: 147 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "History books? Captain Hart, Horatio Nelson was a personal friend of mine.", June 11, 2008

By 

Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Sea Devils, Story 62 (DVD)

As the middle storyline of the middle season in Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor, "The Sea Devils" somehow manages to encapsulate everything that's great about that era in microcosm. And with extensive location shooting and the friendly cooperation and involvement of the British Royal Navy, it does so with a much higher level of verisimilitude and sense of scale than usual, making for an especially memorable adventure. One that's nonetheless entertaining and thoughtful in exactly the ways "Doctor Who" should be.

From one point of view, "The Sea Devils" is a sequel to the classic "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and from another it's simply a heightened reworking of the same story just different enough to stand on its own. The same basic premise is revisited: reptilians (semi-aquatic in this case) who evolved on Earth long before humankind and went into hibernation to avert a disaster have finally awakened thanks to humanity's environmentally intrusive meddling and are seriously intent on retaking their planet for themselves. Once again the Doctor, the voice of reason on the moral high ground, tries to broker some sort of mutually beneficial compromise but to no avail. Mutual distrust and violence prevail. Of course this time we have to add into the equation the Doctor's nemesis (and former friend) the Master, villainously sowing seeds of discord wherever he goes, egging the tragedy along for his own nefarious purposes.

That said, the moral complexity characteristic of "Silurians" is more muted in this tale, hinted at and alluded to but not being allowed to interfere with the action and adventure that had come gradually to be emphasized in the show. The plot treats pragmatic military solutions less harshly, allowing them to come across as more inevitable and necessary here--even to the Doctor himself eventually. "The Sea Devils" is in fact a perfect showcase for Pertwee as the dynamic Doctor, who gets to sword fight with the Master, use his Venusian martial arts on the Sea Devils, rappel down cliffs, and drive any number of fancy water vehicles through the waves. The Master likewise is played brilliantly and inimitably by Roger Delgado, sinister and suave in a manner unique to him. This is one of the few DVD releases to feature him, and it is precious on that score alone. Katy Manning is in perfect form as Jo Grant here too--whoever claims that the Doctor's companions at this time were portrayed as passive and weak sex objects merely awaiting rescue obviously wasn't paying attention here when Jo takes out two armed guards in a matter of seconds with her bare knuckles and rescues the Doctor himself.

Nicely prototypical portrayals of the classic core characters of the series at this time, in short, along with the Doctor's wonderfully snarkish disregard for authority and the odd tension of a loose cannon like him working closely with the military establishment and the refreshingly dry humor so emblematic of "Doctor Who"--it's all here in its quintessential form in a speculative science fiction adventure that's not afraid to be at once both meaningful and thoroughly enjoyable.

P.S. As it so happens, this was neither the first nor the last time the Doctor got caught between two contending sets of Earthlings, reptile and mammal, and "The Sea Devils" can be purchased together with those other two adventures conveniently in one set: Doctor Who - Beneath The Surface (Doctor Who And The Silurians / The Sea Devils / Warriors Of The Deep).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It seems to be a rather interesting extraterrestrial lifeform...", July 27, 2008

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Sea Devils, Story 62 (DVD)

Season 9's THE SEA DEVILS is a sequel to season 7's DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS and while the original is usually the more praised serial in Doctor Who fan circles, I've always preferred the follow-up. I don't have anything against THE SIULRIANS (I quite like much of it), but I find a little more to enjoy with THE SEA DEVILS.

Like the original, Malcolm Hulke's script is about an ancient species (cousins to the Silurians) who once ruled the Earth. After a hibernation period which lasted millions of years, they are slowly awakening and reclaiming ownership to a planet they believe to be their own. Mankind is not keen on giving up on a world they've grown attached to, so it's up to the Doctor to prevent an all-out war.

There are several key differences between THE SILURIANS and THE SEA DEVILS. The first time, the Earth Reptiles were alone in their planning. This time they're being covertly aided by the Master who wishes to take his revenge upon the humans who have imprisoned him on Earth.

Despite this help, the Sea Devils are in a fundamentally weaker position than the Silurians had been. While their cousins had a plague virus that could potentially wipe out all humans and a device which could destroy the Van Allen Belt, the Sea Devils are shown simply as survivors, merely capable of blowing up passing freight ships. I find this lowering of the stakes actually benefits the drama. I think it's more exciting to see the villains in a dire situation which makes them desperate. It's also a nice twist in that much of the tension in the later episodes involves the Doctor trying to save the creatures which are nominally the story's bad guys.

THE SEA DEVILS is more of a conventional Doctor Who monster story than THE SILURIANS was. Humans don't have the pure psychological dread of these creatures they way that they had in THE SILURIANS. There are no soldiers or scientists drawing primitive cave pictures after being driven mad with primeval terror. I wish the producers had retained this aspect as I thought that was one of features of the first production that was extremely well done.

However, removing the more psychological horrors did give the serial a more action/adventure flavor, which worked its benefit. The story is fairly fast moving, despite its six episode length. The Sea Devils appear early, unlike many Doctor Who adventures where the creature would be hidden in the shadows for many of the opening episodes. Trenchard's deception is uncovered quickly and the Master is shown in charge
almost from the start. That said, this was the first time that I saw this serial in episode format, and I thought some of the cliffhangers were just silly.

The DVD commentary features an all behind-the-scenes crew. We have director Michael Briant, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks. They are moderated by Andrew Cartmel although I'm not convinced that this group really needed a moderator, especially given that Letts usually informally takes that role. Lacking someone from in front of the camera, the commentary has fewer on-set anecdotes and focuses mainly on information from the production side.

THE SEA DEVILS is one of the highlights of the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who. It's got great pacing, a good cast and an exciting story. This serial was made with help from the Royal Navy and the collaboration gives the sea-faring portions a very realistic flavor. Any adventure with Roger Delgado's Master is usually worth a viewing and in this story the chemistry between him and Jon Pertwee's Doctor is at its best.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Pertwee, May 4, 2009

By 

Nancy A. Fox (West Covina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Sea Devils, Story 62 (DVD)

This is a classic Pertwee episode from the middle of Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor. It has an interesting villain, two actually, counting the Master; good action sequences, and an interesting story.

As other reviewers have noted, this story is a sequel to Jon Pertwee's first season story, "The Silurians". The Sea Devils, are reptilian cousins of the Silurians, who have been awakened by undersea blasting to retrofit a 19th century seafort. The Sea Devils are part of race of intelligent reptiles that used to rule the Earth long before the evolution of man, and they want their planet back. The Master wants to help the Sea Devils destroy mankind, since the Doctor is so fond of humanity.

This is a good story for companion Jo Grant, who I remember being a somewhat annoyingly helpless character. She is able to evade prison guards, come up with a plan to free the Doctor, use her escapology coursework to free the Doctor from his handcuffs, and she even knows how to drive a hovercraft-something the naval captain seems to be incapable of. It is also a good story for the Master, who is in turns menacing and charming as it suits his needs. Jon Pertwee has grown quite comfortable in his portrayal of the Doctor, and this really shows his Doctor at his action-packed best. The supporting characters are well cast, and the story moves along fairly briskly for a 6-parter.

The British Navy's involvement with this story must be mentioned. The support given through locations, seacraft, sailors, weapons, and stock footage helped give this story a rich, almost movie-like look. Without the navy's involvement it would have been a much poorer-looking show, and the fact that it was provided gratis by the navy allowed the production team to use the money elsewhere.

The extras for this DVD aren't extensive, but they are good. There is a half hour making of feature, which is quite interesting featuring production team, cast and former naval personnel. The commentary with Director Michael Briant, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, moderated by Andrew Cartmel is quite fun and interesting, and the information notes option is always fun and quite illuminating.

Going back to the commentary, I'm beginning to agree with another reviewer on a different Doctor Who DVD who said that Terrence Dicks should be brought in to do commentary whether he had anything to do with the story or not. Terrence Dicks is delightful on the commentary tracks. He is deservedly, quite proud of a lot that they accomplished during his tenure with Doctor Who, but that doesn't stop him from saying where they failed, when something's rubbish, or just plain funny, and he doesn't hold Doctor Who up on some godlike pedestal. Terrence Dicks and Barry Letts also have a long-standing friendship and working relationship based on respect and trust, and they feed nicely off each other on the commentary tracks, as they must have in their days as script editor and producer of Doctor Who. Michael Briant jumps right in with these two, and they have quite an interesting discussing going about the story, what worked, what didn't, and why certain things happened the way they did. Andrew Cartmel was rather wasted as a moderator, since these three all knew each other and had no trouble discussing things, and I'd hazard that he was actually more of a hindrance than a help, not really bringing up any interesting questions for the others to discuss until the last two episodes.

If you like Doctor Who, get this DVD, you'll enjoy the visit back to a time when the Doctor was exiled on Earth, and the scary monsters had to come to him.