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A Sea Devil
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 The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan come face to fin with one of The Doctor’s oldest adversaries, the Sea Devils.
Why has legendary pirate queen Madam Ching come searching for a lost treasure and what terrifying forces lurk beneath the oceans of the 19th century?
| | | Source: BBC Website | |
| Season: |
Thirty Nine (New Series 13)
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| Production
Code: |
13-3 |
| Story Number: |
299 (New Series: 143)
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| Episode Number: | 870 (New Series: 174) |
| Number of
Episodes: |
1 | | Percentage of Episodes Held: | 100% |
| Production
Dates: |
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| Broadcast Date: | 17 April 2022 |
| Colour Status: |
HD Colour |
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Studio: |
BBC Wales (Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff) |
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Location: |
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| Writers: | Chris Chibnall and Ella Road |
| Director: | Haolu Wang |
| Executive Producers: | Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens |
| Co-Executive Producer: | Nikki Wilson |
| Executive Producer for the BBC: | Ben Irving |
| Associate Producer: | Sheena Bucktowonsing |
| Assistant Directors: | Jac Lewis, Laura Thompson and Tom May |
| Script Supervisors: | Abdoulie Mboob and Amanda Lean |
| Script Editors: | Caroline Buckley and Rebecca Roughan |
| Editors: | Tom White, Brooke Taylor Michael (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant), Jacob Percival (Assistant VFX) and Emily Lawrence (VFX) |
| Colourist: | Gareth Spensley |
| Head of Production: | Charlotte Bloxham |
| Production Executive: | Tracie Simpson |
| Production Manager: | Delmi Thomas |
| Post Production Producer: | Ceres Doyle |
| Post Production Supervisor: | Liv Duffin |
| Location Manager: | Gareth Roberts |
| Supervising Location Manager: | Iwan Roberts |
| Production Designer: | Dafydd Shurmer |
| Director of Photography: | Mark Waters |
| Casting Director: | Andy Pryor CDG |
| Line Producer: | Steffan Morris |
| Costume Designer: | Ray Holman |
| Make-Up Designer: | Emma Cowen |
| Cameramen: | Evangeline Davies (Assistant), Nic Yates (Assistant), Mark McQuoid (Operator), Adam Clewes (Trainee) and Olga Walus (Trainee) |
| Visual Effects: | DNEG |
| Additional VFX: | Ben Pickles, Martyn Western, Rory Williams and Zodiak VFX |
| Special Effects: | Real SFX |
| Special Creature Effects: | Robert Allsopp & Associates |
| Creature Designer: | Ray Holman |
| Stunt Co-ordinators: | Andy Benton, Belinda McGinley, Crispin Layfield, Derek Lea and Stephanie Carey |
| Stunt Performers: | Anna Benton, Donovan Louis, Isky Fay, James Pavey, Louis Samms, Rob Jarmen, Robert Pavey, Tom Hatt and Varpu Kronholm |
| Movement Coach: | Paul Kasey |
| Incidental Music: | Segun Akinola |
| Sound Designer: | Harry Barnes |
| Sound Recordist: | Deian Llyr Humphreys |
| Dubbing Mixers: | Howard Bargroff and Natasha Haycocks |
| Music Orchestrated By: | Alec Roberts |
| Music Conducted By: | Alastair King |
| Music Recorded By: | Olga Fitzroy |
| Music Mixed By: | Goetz Botzenhardt |
| Title Sequence: | Ben Pickles |
| Title Music: | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Segun Akinola |
| Sea Devils Originally Designed By: | John Friedlander |
| Sea Devils Created By: | Malcolm Hulke |
| Number of
Doctors: |
1 |
| The Doctor: |
Jodie Whittaker (The Thirteenth Doctor) |
| Additional Cast: |
Marlowe Chan-Reeves (Ying Ki), Crystal Yu (Madam Ching), Craige Els (Chief Sea Devil), Arthur Lee (Ji-Hun), David K.S. Tse (Ying Wai), Jon Davey, Simon Carew, Chester Durrant, Richard Price, Mickey Lewis, Andrew Cross (Sea Devils) |
This is the second of the 2022 specials and follows "Eve of the Daleks", serving as an Easter special for 2022.
"Legend of the Sea Devils" was written by newcomer Ella Road, and showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall. It was directed by Haolu Wang.
This story sees the return of the Sea Devils for the first time for 38 years - since the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Warriors of the Deep".
This story stars Jodie Whittaker, as the Thirteenth Doctor, alongside her two travelling companions Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan and John Bishop as Dan Lewis. The casting of Crystal Yu, Arthur Lee and Marlowe Chan-Reeves were announced alongside their appearances in a trailer following the credits in "Eve of the Daleks".
This story is the first time that Chris Chibnall had his executive producer credit above Matt Strevens' credit. All the previous Thirteenth Doctor stories had Matt Strevens credited above Chris Chibnall.
This story was filmed at the same time as the previous story, "Eve of the Daleks". Filming for these two specials concluded in August 2021.
The sets for this story were particularly ambitious and included a full-sized pirate ship. Executive Producer Matt Strevens said that they were probably the biggest sets that had ever been made for the show while Mandip Gill said they were the biggest sets she's ever worked on.
John Friedlander is credited as originally designing the Sea Devils from the stories "The Sea Devils" and "Warriors of the Deep".
The Doctor is heard to mention that she has dealt with the Sea Devils ‘once or twice’ in the future (see "The Sea Devils" and "Warriors of the Deep").
The Doctor gets angry at Ji-Hun for killing an enemy unnecessarily (see "Doctor Who and the Silurians", "The Christmas Invasion" and "War of the Sontarans" (the second chapter of "Flux")).
The Doctor acknowledges to Yasmin of her wife, River Song (see "The Wedding of River Song"), though mentions she was ‘a different man’ during their marriage.
The Doctor is heard to shout ‘Geronimo’ when swinging across the pirate ships, just like the Eleventh Doctor in "The End of Time").
The Doctor is aware that her time is running short (see "The Vanquishers" (the sixth chapter of "Flux")).
Yasmin encounters the Sea Devils for the first time, although another account suggests that she has already encountered them once before (see the 2020 Titan’s Graphic Novel comic strip "Alternating Current").
Yasmin and Dan recall their earlier conversation regarding Yasmin's romantic feelings for The Doctor (see "Eve of the Daleks").
Dan claims he is ‘forty two’. For this to be true, he has seemingly discounted the four years he was trapped in the past with Yasmin. Indeed, he nearly says ‘forty six’ before quickly saying ‘forty two’ in its place (see "The Vanquishers" (the sixth chapter of "Flux")).
It is revealed that Zheng Yi Sao is after the lost treasure of Ji-Hun, known as the keystone. Ji-Hun gave the keystone to Lei Bao, whose family handed it down the generations. The keystone is a plutonic crystal created by the Sea Devils.
Unlike the 2010 redesign of the Sea Devils' sister species, the Silurians, in "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood", the Sea Devils remained largely faithful to their original designs, with CGI augmentations mostly allowing for a greater variety of expressions.
The Sea Devils have a Geomagnograph for measuring the current flow underwater, and a current regulator for controlling the flow. The Sea Devils also employ orbital electron stripping to keep their underwater base airtight, and algae to keep the microclimate under check.
The TARDIS is able to sustain being underwater with the doors open without hurting its occupants due to its oxygen bubble (see "The Runaway Bride", "The Beast Below" and "Oxygen").
While the TARDIS is underwater, The Doctor reinforces the oxygen bubble with an aquashield.
The Doctor makes reference to Pimp My Ride, saying that the Sea Devils ‘really pimped Ji-Hun's ride’. Yasmin reminds her that this is an anachronism.
At the end of this story Dan is seen getting back in touch with his friend, Diane, who worked at the Museum of Liverpool (see "The Vanquishers" (the sixth chapter of "Flux")).
This story has the distinction of being only the second Easter Special, following the 2009 Tenth Doctor story "Planet of the Dead" 13 years prior.
This is the first story for the Thirteenth Doctor that has the 'Coming Soon' trailer before the end credits and also does not include the Doctor Who theme. A special rendition of the Thirteenth Doctor's theme by Segun Akinola was played instead.
This is the first story since, the 2021 story "Revolution of the Daleks", to include the old BBC logo in the title sequence.
The end credits misspelt Malcolm Hulke's name as Malcom Hulke.
This story is the shortest Doctor Who special up to that point, with a running time of 48 minutes (the average length of a regular story in the revived era of the show).
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The Firsts:
The first appearance of the Sea Devils since they were last seen on-screen in the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Warriors of the Deep".
The Thirteenth Doctor's first encounter with the Sea Devils.
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