Doctor Who Reviews: "Legend of the Sea Devils"

We may be in the early stages of a mini resurgence of the pirate genre and I am here for it. The sudden popularity of Our Flag Means Death perhaps speaks most significantly to this, but this new Doctor Who special also really reminded me how fun pirates are and how maybe we should make movies about them again. True, “Legend of the Sea Devils” is mostly just playing in the Pirates of the Caribbean sandbox of combining swashbuckling adventure with the paranormal, but it does so while also emphasizing the diversity of pirate history to a degree that series never did. High seas piracy was a thing for centuries and belonged to many different aesthetics and cultures. Madam Ching, who is showcased here played by Crystal Yu, should get a more thorough examination in the manner that Blackbeard has. It’s very interesting.

I wish I could say that this episode was, which is certainly working with a lot of cool elements. Firstly, it brings back the Sea Devils, one of the last memorable recurring adversaries of the classic series to be reintroduced for modern audiences. They have a great look and backstory, and it’s a treat to see them cast here not only as pirates, but as clear, vivid puppet pirates -it’s basically Muppet Treasure Island! And second, it’s got a new director in Haolu Wang, who does manage to bring some nice images to the episode -she and Azhur Saleem should be kept in Doctor Who’s rotating stable of directors. But ultimately this is an episode that again doesn’t do as much with its’ premise as it ought to. And for a one-off holiday special no less.

Chris Chibnall as I noted back at New Years’, seems to be mimicking Russell T. Davies in his wind-down of Jodie Whittaker’s run as the Doctor -including releasing specials to coincide with major holidays. Thirteen years ago Davies put out “Planet of the Dead” at Easter, easily the most innocuous of that quartet building to “The End of Time”. “Legend of Sea Devils” is even more so, and is like that episode in no way tied into the holiday. “Planet of the Dead” wasn’t great, but it did have some memorable stuff going for it -that London bus in the middle of the desert, those flying sting-ray monsters, even Michelle Ryan as one-off companion Lady Christina de Souza, a noblewoman thief. “Legend of the Sea Devils” has some pretty but not terribly striking imagery, its’ guest characters largely don’t get much chance to shine, and but for a thread tied into the new contours of the Doctor and Yaz’s relationship, it feels rather underwhelming for a penultimate show.

The action begins with Madame Ching infiltrating a seaside village in nineteenth century China and freeing a Sea Devil entombed in stone. He then wreaks havoc, killing the father of a young man named Ying Ki (Marlowe Chan-Reeves) who believes Ching to be guilty. The Doctor and crew arrive after once again taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque -Yaz is still after that beach holiday- and before long discover what is going on. The Sea Devil retreats to the ocean to reunite with his crew of undersea pirates while Ching goes back to her own ship, bereft of a crew until she finds the legendary treasure of Ji-Hun, a famous pirate from centuries before.

Ching is by far the most engaging of the new characters, as she should be based on her history, and Yu is having a good time playing her. She’s also the vessel through which the episode can indulge in some pirate charm that I wish was maintained. Her capture of Ying Ki and Dan, who sneak aboard -the former for vengeance the latter I guess just to play pirate- may be more in the vein of Hook than some more serious pirate fare, but it’s fun enough. And the episode serves well her own sense of morality without making her too polished. Ying Ki on the other hand is incredibly flat beyond his narrow motivation which goes away once Dan volunteers the two of them as Ching’s crew and she seems to convince him she didn’t kill his father. He of course is more important a little later, as he’s revealed to be the carrier of this episode’s particular MacGuffin, but even then he’s mere plot device and a means of getting Dan on that boat to split the narrative more evenly.

And yet the Dan-Ching-Ying Ki storyline for as long as it is separate from the diversion of the Doctor, is rather insubstantial both in time allotted and how that time is used. It should be the most exciting side of the episode but there’s no adventure to it, none of the stuff that makes a pirate story so entertaining, despite a lot of the pieces being there. I love the idea of Dan joining a pirate crew (while dressed in a Halloween pirate costume picked out for him by Yaz), and I like the notion of in doing this he is trying to steer a young man away from bad influence. Dan has occupied that role fairly organically since joining the series, most emphatically with Yaz (it’s kind of filling the shoes of Graham). I love also the severity of the circumstance Ching is in -a severed ear being all she’s got of her crew, the threat of their deaths hanging over her if she does not fulfil her bargain. But the episode doesn’t have the inclination to explore this deeper or even to let Ching find the Sea Devils on her own. It’s a bit reminiscent of the way Mary Seacole was used in “War of the Sontarans”, which is disappointing.

The Doctor and Yaz meanwhile have a plot to follow as they go back two centuries where they find the Sea Devils in an alliance with Ji-Hun himself (Arthur Lee) -albeit one that breaks down pretty quickly because of course the Sea Devils don’t trust landlubbers. The Sea Devils win the ship, the Flor de la Mar, but the critical Keystone that the Devils are after is smuggled out with one loyal pirate who passed it down to his descendants, of which Ying Ki is the most recent. That Keystone is of course a device through which the Sea Devils can alter geography, flood the earth and take it over, restoring their original classic series goal of retaking the planet that was once theirs. Back in the 1800s, the Doctor and Yaz are brought to the Sea Devils by their monstrous leviathan, which is at once a Pirates of the Caribbean Kraken rip-off, an homage to the “bigger fish” scene from The Phantom Menace, and maybe the most awesome thing in the episode that is once again not utilized enough.

All of this is paced relatively well in contrast to the parallel thread, but it still feels more than a touch dry. Doctor Who of late has had an exposition problem, though here it’s not overly convoluted or anything, it’s just uninteresting and not very original. Ji-Hun still being alive, but in a kind of suspended animation is the least surprising thing. Because he needs to be able to explain himself to set up what’s next. None of this is helped by the dank green barnacled Flor de la Mar, where much of the later action takes place, a grimy environment that lacks visual energy -once I’d like to see a Doctor Who climax take place in fresh daylight again.

But where the episode does take a pause, it is probably rightly for that lingering tension between the Doctor and Yaz. There is no pretense anymore, Mandip Gill is consciously playing her every scene with the Doctor as someone quietly in love and it’s really quite good. And it’s complimented by the way Chibnall and Wang play with the Doctor’s consciousness of this, and her reciprocation. Separate from everything else, that scene of her and Yaz gazing out the TARDIS door underwater, protected by the TARDIS’ oxygen bubble, the stunning sea floor in front of them -it’s very romantic. The Doctor calls herself a good date and there’s a moment where they seem about to kiss that is of course interrupted by the Doctor’s own absent-mindedness …seemingly. A later scene goes into it more fully, the Doctor still awkward about it yet coming out with her own feelings towards Yaz -saying that she doesn’t but if she did date (or possibly more) it would be with Yaz. Which is pretty big. And it’s also why I question this pairing.

In case it needs to be said, there is nothing wrong with the Doctor being attracted to a woman (in fact, the Doctor has been attracted to enough women that it might be a bigger statement were she attracted to a man). The Doctor transcends sexuality as the Doctor transcends gender. But it’s another thing to suggest the Doctor is in love -that carries with it a heavier weight. And in this case I honestly don’t believe it. Yaz has been with the Doctor for a while but there’s never been any indication she means a great deal more to her than any other companion. Nor has Yaz necessarily earned that status within the universe of the show for being particularly outstanding. I like her a lot, Gill is terrific, and she and Whittaker do have great chemistry, but this reveal doesn’t much fit. It’s almost akin to the relationship between the Doctor and River Song, which we were told was very meaningful without ever being shown it. And it also edges uncomfortably close to that Moffat crutch of insinuating a companions’ greater importance without earning it -as was what always plagued Clara. The right way to do it is of course the way it played out between the Doctor and Rose -that romance was built to, this one wasn’t. And though you could argue its’ in this Doctors’ closed-off personality to not outwardly show her true affection, it still rings a touch hollow when you’ve got an actress of Jodie Whittaker’s talent to subtly show it. I respect what the show is trying to say symbolically with this, but I don’t think it ultimately takes on her end.

That said the tenderness of this pair of scenes did evoke feeling that the rest of the episode can’t deliver on. Once the Sea Devils get their Keystone the episode devolves into its’ incomprehensible climax. Here, there is at least some good sword-fighting between our human protagonists and the Sea Devils armed with neat laser swords. However, the chief Sea Devil is killed off by Ji-Hun, which the Doctor admonishes him for, though given he was their captive for centuries after they’d killed his crew, it’s pretty understandable why he did it -this show needs to either find easier moral conflicts or commit to interrogating the actual complexity of the Doctor’s philosophy. But anyway, she figures out a way to destroy the ship though it requires a sacrifice that the now murderous Ji-Hun is willing to volunteer for (conveniently erasing any paradox). And it works, without so much as a goodbye to the Sea Devils. Ching’s ship is saved and she recovers the treasure to barter for her crew, taking along Ying Ki. As has been a bit of a pattern, it all happens very hastily and could have used more coherent editing to convey better what exactly is going on.

There’s a two-part denouement on the beach before the crew takes off. Dan, who was fairly under-served by the episode (though does get to beat a few Sea Devils which is nice) leaves a voice message for his love interest Diane, who moments later calls him back saying she’s been thinking about him -indicating a reconciliation between them for the next episode, and in all likelihood a convenient exit for Dan as a character -despite only having just got here. 

The Doctor and Yaz have a nice tete-a-tete too, where the Doctor reiterates how relationships can’t work for her given her life and longevity. Sooner or later, she notes, it’ll only hurt. Yaz nonetheless modestly pursues, but the Doctor stays firm: “Can we just live in the present with what we have while we have it.” It’s nice, sweet, and of course with her end right around the corner, it seems to close the book on this relationship growing into something more. That said I’ll be surprised if they don’t share a kiss before this Doctor departs. It seems kind of inevitable, both as a last gesture to this companion who’s been with her this entire regeneration cycle and as a major moment for the show. Though I wouldn’t want this Doctor’s last outing to be entirely about that.

No worries there, if the teaser for the big final episode is anything to go by. Ominous words about nothing lasting forever paired with the Doctor in crisis calling Yaz’s name. It promises the return of the Master and more interestingly the Cyberman Ashad from series twelve’s final arc. But of course for me the hype is all around a couple elder ladies. Next episode, the Thirteenth Doctor’s final appearance, will include the long-awaited returns of Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka and Sophie Aldred as Ace -two of the all-time best Doctor Who companions! Holy hell this got me excited! It may be just fan service, it may just be shallow, it may be just equivalent to sticking Kate Stewart into Flux for no good reason. But it means something to see these two Doctor Who veterans back in the fold after so many years. Ace it’s of course awesome to see, the progenitor in some ways of the modern Doctor Who companion; but I’ve been waiting for Tegan to get a chance to come back since forever (I remember when Janet Fielding took that photo with Peter Capaldi that convinced everyone she was coming back about seven years ago). After three years with the Doctor, Tegan left under sad circumstances in “Resurrection of the Daleks”, and I always felt she deserved a chance to part with the Doctor on better terms. This may be her chance and I am so happy for that!

This reunion does stand a chance of either overshadowing or being dwarfed by the Doctor’s swansong -I would hope Chibnall plays it right. I hope it doesn’t descend into messiness with all that’s going on. But then, when was the last time we got a truly great finale for a Doctor? Tennant probably. What counts is the end itself. Capaldi and especially Smith before him, though leaving on not very strong episodes, got to exit the show beautifully -to say nothing of Tennant and Eccleston. It’s imperative Whittaker gets that chance too. And if we can get a great episode out of it, and a great episode for her specifically, it may be worth these weaker preludes.

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