The Sea Devils
Previous: The Curse of Peladon
The Sea Devils
Wow. No delay in getting to the action. LITERALLY the first thing we see is a sailor calling Mayday and people screaming in the background.
Hello again, Jo! Nice to see you again!
"There you are, Jo! That's the Master's permanent residence from now on!" ...Wait, WHEN did he get locked up in a seaside castle?
*obligatory checking of Wikipedia* Ah yes, there were only a couple serials between this and The Daemons.
DELGADO!MASTER! I think I've waited too long for this.
Although that Extreme Close-up could've waited a while longer...
Swords. I see them. On the wall. I know where this thread is going. ...seriously, what prison keeps SWORDS on its walls?
Ah, so there were days when the Doctor and the Master (and Jo, apparently) could engage in legitimately casual chit-chat.
"Changed men" don't have evil laughs. But then again, we all knew that. And we all know that Three knows that.
"Well, he used to be a friend of mine once. A very good friend. In fact, you might almost say we were at school together." D'awwww...
And why did those lines feel strangely evocative of Obi-Wan talking about Anakin in the original Star Wars? It hadn't even been made yet.
So the Master wants a color...sorry...colour TV for his room? I wonder where this is going...
Hey, look at Three! He's *insert obligatory stupid "I'm on a Boat" reference here*
Guys, I really don't understand what the Master's strange obsession with children's television is. First Teletubbies, now these aardvarks.
So apparently Jo Grant + motorcycle = access to anywhere.
And then they heard a s'plosion!
I knew the Sea Devil's costumes were...not what the crew had planned, but...bright blue mesh bathrobes? Really?
Seaman!Master! ...I mean, Navy!Master! *facepalm*
Huh. He seems to be having a bad hypnotism day. Solution? Karate-chop to the back of the neck.
So the plot thread with the Master and the plot thread with the Sea Devils feel almost completely separate. Really, guys?
Oh wait, they did say that this was how Malcolm Hulke wrote stories...
CRAP. Just missed my 2,000th Tweet. This is my 2,002nd.
How do you pass the time while waiting for guards to check on your imprisoned nemesis? Play blindfolded golf indoors, of course!
SWORD FIGHT. SWORD FIIIIIIIIGHT. Also, I couldn't sworn Three just yelled something in Japanese.
Im in ur prizon sell, noming ur sammich.
Im in mah prizon sell, stabbin ur bax.
YES THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT EPISODE IS RECAPPING THE WHOLE FIGHT SCENE.
Wow. Jo made surprisingly good work of, what appear to be, full-trained prison personnel.
Seriously, what is it with trained armed guards and their regular failure to hold their own against the Doctor's companions?
Don't bother the Master now. He's making a SCIENCE.
*uncuffs Three's left hand*
"How very kind of you."
*cuffs Three's right hand to the chair*
"How very UNkind of you."
NOW the two plot threads come together.
Hey...um...any chance you could translate what Jo just mimed to us through the window?
Impressively sneaky Jo is impressively sneaky.
And sinking submarine is sinking.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"There's something out there, sir..."
Guns all around, minefield below, Sea Devils on the tide...Three and Jo are literally surrounded from EVERY side except up.
Wait, WHY did Three fall over, what appeared to be, the same fence twice?
Also, the music in this serial is so electronic that I can barely tell the soundtrack from the sound effects.
The men in the submarine are...cooperating cordially with the Sea Devil? I wonder how they're going to explain this...
Okay, Three, I can understand stealing the Master's delicious sammich, but...stealing your companion's delicious sammich? Really?
So what's the betting they're going to open that diving tank and find Three not-being-in-it?
Called it.
So we finally get to hear the Sea Devils speak. And talks between them and Three seem to be more tense and hostile than last time.
Why do I have a feeling that EVERY Silurian-related plot is going to be the same "why can't you share Earth with humans" deal?
The original The Silurians was like this, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood was like this, this is like this...
Then again, this and The Silurians were written by the same guy. Warriors of the Deep wasn't, but it had Silurians AND Sea Devils.
AND TURLOUGH. MORE INCENTIVE FOR ME TO WATCH IT.
"NO! The Doctor is your deadly enemy! He must be DESTROYED!" Oh yes, The Silurians also didn't have the Master pulling the strings.
So I can't help but wonder whether or not that's stock footage of the Naval fleet swarming in.
I think it's been made quite clear now that ALL hibernation units are faulty.
The Slow-Motion Diplomatic High-Five of Hey-Why-Don't-We-Try-Peace!
AQUA-SPLOSIONS.
And Three escapes! Only for his ex-captors to be rock-crushed. So he goes back to...get their gun?
RETURN OF WINDOW-PERTWEE.
What do you do when you're being held captive in your own submarine by sea monsters? Play a happy game of cards, of course!
"They're holding us back with some kind of forcefield!" Okay, so how did it move again RIGHT after you said that?
Back to the surface! This calls for the ORANGE MUG OF VICTORY!
"Our duty is to destroy the Queen's enemies. Don't you know your national anthem?" Makes me wonder, DOES Gallifrey have a national anthem?
"But the point, Mr. Parliamentary Private Secretary, is that you have NOT destroyed. You have just made them ANGRY. VERY. VERY. ANGRY."
Holy balls, guys, intense Pertwee is INTENSE.
YES. IS CAN BE TIME-FU TIEMS NAO.
And...that was fast. For a second I thought Three's face was melting/deflating/something.
So I wonder if Three's actually trying to sabotage the Master's device instead of fixing it. If he is, why hasn't the Master caught it yet?
Unless this is establishing that the Doctor IS, in fact, the superior technomancer.
I KNEW IT. JO IS WEARING HEELS. Shorter heels that other companion's I've seen but STILL SHE'S WEARING HEELS.
Awww, Doctor and Master, makin' a science together...
Okay, Three, I saw how you gripped the Master's lower abs just now. And you need a "polarizing condenser"? Planning on reversing something?
"Don't worry about the guards, you leave them to me." Please tell me this implies more impending Time-Fu.
Okay, I guess it didn't. High-frequency pulsation noise is what we get instead.
ALSO JO PILOTING SOME SORT OF LAND-AND-SEA CRAFT.
It's time for another round of Gunning Down Slimy Things!
Three, I know you're in a rush here but...leaving a soldier alone with the Master WITHOUT warning him about the hypnotism? Really?
SEE? SEE? Also, WHY DO THINGS APPEAR TO BE ON FIRE?
PLEASE TELL ME THERE'S GOING TO BE A DOCTOR VS. MASTER BOAT CHASE SCENE HERE.
THERE IS. Oh man, Jon Pertwee must've had fun filming this...
Wait, the Sea Devils only brought one transport pod, but both Three AND the Master are down in the base now. Must've been a tight fit...
"Before you activated it, I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow." And if I remember right, this is the only time he ACTUALLY says it.
I'm sorry, it needs to be said again: "Before you activated it, I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow."
So the Doctor and the Master are locked in a cell together and there's about to be an epic s'plosion. Anything could happen now...
Wait wait wait WHAT? Did I miss something MAJOR? The cell door's magically open now and...WHAT? This has to be a mistake in the video.
*tries to check* Crap, screwed that up. Gimme a few more minutes...
So the video somehow skipped Three sonicing them out. Found it on another vid. Come on guys, that was important!
Guys, the Master in a bright orange inflatable wetsuit waving to a hovercraft has to be seen to be believed.
And then he suddenly collapses? Wonder if he's got the bends or something...
...actually it's probably just a ruse to escape once they get to shore. Then again, he's at a naval base. How's he going to escape?
Unless he hijacks the ambulance or something...
WAIT. A. FUCKING. SECOND. SINCE WHEN DOES THE MASTER CARRY RUBBER MASKS OF HIMSELF TO DISGUISE OTHER PEOPLE AS HIM. THAT...I DON'T EVEN...
Though for all intents and purposes, giving someone a you-mask and riding off in a hovercraft is a pretty damn awesome mode of escape.
And I was right earlier, that WAS stock footage of the Navy ships.
Next: The Mutants