2nd Opinion, Take 2 “Legend of the Sea Devils” – A Damp Squib

Cast your mind back to November 2009. David Tennant’s penultimate story as the Doctor is about to air. What episode was that? Oh, yes, a story called “The Waters of Mars”. A special that many fans, quite rightly, consider a classic. A story that examined the good and not-so-good side of Ten’s character, set up his incoming demise and merged it all with a brilliant base under siege adventure with a fantastic watery monster. Now, what does Jodie Whittaker get for her penultimate adventure? Aside from an aquatic monster, the exact opposite.

There were reports that this episode had issues behind the scenes, and it really shows. For one thing, this ‘special’ is barely over the 45-minute mark and feels very hastily produced. Frequently, I felt like I was watching an unfinished preview copy. I had to keep skipping back to check mine wasn’t messed up. From the off, scenes felt disjointed, there was patchy CGI, and continuity issues. For instance, it’s raining at the very start of the episode, then when the Doctor and co. arrive it’s sunny. You might assume that the Doctor has arrived much later, but then in the very next scene it’s raining again in the village and events are taking place right after the pre-title sequence. So barely any time has passed for the weather to change so dramatically. The Doctor and companions aren’t wet at all when they arrive in the village either.

After that, the Sea Devil arrives and starts slicing people up, and the effect was just laughably amateurish. I’d say it looked like a school project, but I think school kids would have done a better job. Events then proceed to happen without any setup. For instance, when the Doctor confronts the Sea Devil for the first time, Dan and Yaz are behind the Doctor. Then all of a sudden, the pair have prepared a trap that the Doctor is fully aware of, and she gives the signal to capture the Sea Devil. When and how did all this happen?! It seemed like some scenes were missing throughout the episode with editing like this. Was the editor half asleep?

So, the Sea Devils made their big return. If I can give any praise, it’s that they were faithfully recreated. Visually at least. Sadly, there are even issues with them too. In an interview before air, Chibnall noted that they had to use CGI on the creatures’ faces after it was shot. This means there are some noticeable shifts where you clearly see the change from costume head to CGI. There’s also inconsistencies where the mouth doesn’t look like it’s moving right. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not. But even if I ignore all that, their overall presence in the episode was poor. They’re very one-note foes compared to their more nuanced classic era portrayal, and ultimately they’re vanquished far too conveniently in the end (and where on Earth did they get the ability to super jump and teleport?).

Let’s talk about the guest cast. Unfortunately, I found Crystal Yu as Madam Ching to be a bit flat. I won’t pretend to know Ching’s real-life history, but it seems like Chibnall and Ella Road didn’t even scratch the surface of an interesting story here. Marlowe Chan-Reeves wasn’t great as Ying Ki either. He was far too flippant, going from grieving his father to happy-go-lucky crewmate in the blink of an eye. Faring a little better was Arthur Lee as Ji-Hun, but of course, the more compelling character had to die. Ko Sharmus and Jericho say hi.

You can’t have a pirate story without some sword fighting, and my word did this episode do fighting. Very poorly. In today’s media, you have to hire a competent choreographer if you want the fighting to look more than a pantomime exercise of people waving sticks at each other. The Pertwee era had sword fights that were better than this.

The episode has received some talk for its “Thasmin” scenes (oh god, how I hate these shipper names), but as I said in my review for “Eve of the Daleks” this is all too little too late. If this Doctor and Yaz “relationship” had clearly been set up in Series 11 it might seem like there’s some sort of payoff due. Some were convinced that vague, interpreted looks have been there since day one. However, even producer Matt Strevens admitted that none of this was planned at all. So I’m baffled anyone could be happy with this blatant tokenism at the last moment. And where is it all going to end? With 13 regenerating next episode. What a great three-episode arc! The only good thing about the Thasmin scenes was that it actually saw some decent acting from Jodie Whittaker, especially the end scene.

However, elsewhere in the episode, Thirteen’s characterisation is still all over the place. Remember when the Doctor had a “duty of care” to their companions? I do, but here she is quite happy leaving Dan behind again. Oh, yes Dan, I’d forgotten about him. Aside from a couple of pirate gags, a sword “fight” and an out of nowhere call to Diane (didn’t she dump him?), there’s very little to comment on. I can’t help but feel that Dan was a completely unnecessary addition since Flux.

Overall, “A damp squib” seems like a perfect summary of “Legend of the Sea Devils”. I’m meant to be upset that an era is coming to an end, but low-quality episodes like this remind me why RTD can’t get here soon enough.

Asides

• Thirteen allows yet another man to sacrifice himself in her place. This man also barely knows her.
• “I think you’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.” Yaz gets yet more positive affirmation, and still not a shred of this so-called greatness has ever been seen on screen. Seriously, can someone explain what Yaz has done that makes her so great? Just think of all the people the Doctor has met on their travels, and Yaz comes out on top?!
• Chibnall’s unnecessary exposition is never going to change. Still, I couldn’t help but laugh at Yaz explaining what we can see, and then Thirteen doing the exact same thing moments later.
• “Don’t let the swords touch your skin! ” Well, no ship, Sherlock.
• How did Madam Cheng hang up two fully-grown men with no resistance from either?
• How did Dan and Ying Ki swim faster than a moving ship?
• How did Dan know how to fire the ship cannons, and sword fight?
• Cheng’s ship crew are gone, so how did she get around? One person couldn’t sail a large ship on their own. Dan points this out, but no answer is given.
• There was far too much “not possible” and “impossible!” repetition in the episode.
• What happened to the giant Hua Shen monster?