DOCTOR WHO
THE DEVILS ’ WORK
OLD ENEMIES RESURFACE WITH A SWASHBUCKLING TWIST IN DOCTOR WHO’S “LEGEND OF THE SEA DEVILS”
WORDS: NICK SETCHFIELD
Crystal Yu as Madame Ching: quite fabulous.
YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MONSTER down – not even if they habitually lurk on the ocean floor.
The term monster may be a tad unfair when it comes to Doctor Who’s Sea Devils, mind you. Yes, they’re an absolute menace to shipping, but like their surfacedwelling cousins, the Silurians, these creatures have a compelling claim to planet Earth. In fact they were here long before us puny apes, with our pyramids and TikTok. Now, 50 years after they first crept onto our screens, these briny marauders are back in new special “Legend Of The Sea Devils”, a title that nods to their exalted place in the ranks of the Time Lord’s greatest foes.
“They’re a real big fan-favourite,” says costume designer Ray Holman, who’s given them a piratical make-over for their run-in with Jodie Whittaker, making her penultimate appearance as the Doctor. “Fans of all ages really like them and maybe we just haven’t seen enough of them. What we have seen is intriguing and we could do with some more of them. I think that may have been behind the idea of bringing them back.”
“It was such a strong image,” agrees Creature Costume Maker Robert Allsopp, remembering a classic cliffhanger in that original 1972 adventure. “The six of them coming out of the sea was such a powerful image that stayed in a lot of people’s minds. And also the fact that the design of the heads by John Friedlander was such a strong, simple sculpt. That kind of turtle face was really effective. Even though technically they were very simple, the design of them was so strong.”
As he shares with SFX, he was less impressed by their encore in 1984’s “Warriors Of The Deep”, where they rocked a samuraiinspired look. “I thought they were maybe a bit of a disappointment. The samurai gear that was mentioned before the episodes came out really wasn’t what I would call samurai gear! To me the whole look of that story felt very over-lit and maybe not the most successful reappearance for them. I’m hoping it works out better this time around.”
Allsopp’s new sculpt remains faithful to the iconic Friedlander design from 1972. “Chris [Chibnall, showrunner] was quite clear that that was what he wanted. He wanted it to be instantly recognisable by people who’d seen the original ones in the ’70s. And so it was just trying to be as faithful as possible to what had been done then.