Topic: Doctor Who: The Sea Devils

[GSyren]

Title	Doctor Who: The Sea Devils (Disc ID: 0D09-94AF-54AA-5119)
Director	Michael Briant
Actors	Jon Pertwee, Roger Delgado, Katy Manning, Edwin Richfield, Clive Morton
Produced	1972 in United Kingdom
Runtime	148 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Music Only Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles	English
Overview	Arrested after the events at Devil's End, the Master has been incarcerated at a top security prison on a remote island off the south coast of England. When the Doctor and Jo Grant pay a visit to their old enemy, they find him a reformed character. But can the spate of mysterious shipping accidents and garbled reports of sea monsters in the local are really be a coincidence? The Doctor soon finds himself pitted against the Sea Devils, an ancient race of reptiles intent on eliminating Makind and reclaiming Earth for themsleves...
My thoughts	Doctor Who: The Sea Devils comes as a part of Doctor Who: Beneath the Surface, a box that also contains Doctor Who: Warriors of the Deep and Doctor Who and the Silurians. The Sea Devils is sort of a sequel to Doctor Who and the Silurians. But it also brings back one of The Doctor's old foes, The Master. Like in pretty much all of the classic Doctor Who shows, the limited budget is apparent, but a good script and good acting makes it quite enjoyable anyway. One thing strikes me about the Doctor Who shows that I have seen so far with Jon Pertwee is that there is little or no Tardis travel. Everything seems to take place here on earth in “present time”. So they are perhaps not all that Doctor Who specific, if you know what I mean. These are fantasy stories that could, with little change, use another hero altogether. Still, that's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your expectations. A good story is a good story regardless of time and space. I enjoyed this one. Watching these old TV shows is a little bit like watching a theater play. You don't get realism, you have to let your imagination do a bit of the work.
My rating

[DJ Doena]

YOur observation is correct, the Third Doctor is famous for staying on Earth because the Time Lords have revoked his TARDIS rights. Instead he uses this yellow car and other Earth means of transportation. This was mostly due to budget constraints.

[Tom]

One thing strikes me about the Doctor Who shows that I have seen so far with Jon Pertwee is that there is little or no Tardis travel. Everything seems to take place here on earth in “present time”. So they are perhaps not all that Doctor Who specific, if you know what I mean. These are fantasy stories that could, with little change, use another hero altogether.

During the last episode with the second doctor ("The War Games"), the doctor was exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, and a regeneration was forced upon him. This is why the third doctor is restricted to Earth in the beginning. They did this to save money on the sci-fi stuff. When a new producer took over, he wanted to undo this decision, and the third doctor gets his exile lifted at the end of the 10th anniversary special "The Three Doctors".

[Dragonfire]

And UNIT kind of...impounded the TARDIS in the first story with Pertwee....and kind of forced him into working with them.  The Doctor was taken to a local hospital after the TARDIS crashed, and the one guy from UNIT tracked him down..they found the key and wouldn't give it back to the Doctor.