Series 12 of Doctor Who is almost halfway through, with a squad of mercenary Judoon set to return in tomorrow night’s fifth episode of the season. The Cybermen are also due to reappear later in the series. However, there is one classic foe that is rumoured to rise from the deep in the sixth episode, Pete McTighe’s Praxeus… 

That’s right! Rumours from a number of reliable sources are very strongly suggesting that the Doctor’s old adversaries, the Sea Devils, may be returning in the new series very soon. These long-slumbering reptiles had been hibernating deep beneath the Earth’s surface, alongside their cousin species, the Silurians. Once they awoke from hibernation, they discovered that the human race (no more than primitive apes back in their day) have got above themselves and have taken over the planet that once belonged to them. Onscreen, the Doctor has encountered the aquatic Sea Devils twice before. 

The Sea Devils

★★★★★

TX: 26/02/1972 – 01/04/1972

Written by Malcolm Hulke Directed by Michael E. Briant

In this classic 70s adventure, the Third Doctor and Jo visit the Master, now incarcerated on an island off the English coast. However, the Doctor’s former friend has been up to his dastardly old tricks, having hypnotised the prison security staff. After investigating a nearby sea fort, the Doctor discovers that a long slumbering colony of reptilian, so-called “Sea Devils” has been awoken by recent work on the fort. The Master intends to assist these previous owners of the planet in their reclaiming of the Earth from man.

Having previously offered the hand of friendship to their prehistoric cousins, the Doctor desperately negotiates with these amphibious homo reptilians. But, once again, the humans attack the reptiles, ruining any further attempts at obtaining a peaceful settlement. The Doctor is forced to use a revival machine he built for the Sea Devils to destroy their underwater base. In the ensuing chaos, the Master unfortunately escapes.

Warriors of the Deep

★☆☆☆☆

TX: 05/01/1984 – 13/01/1984

Written by Johnny Byrne Directed by Pennant Roberts

The Fifth Doctor, Turlough and Tegan arrive on the underwater Sea Base 4 in the year 2084. In a narrative nod to the political real world events at the time of transmission, the planet is still in the grip of a tense cold war between two rival superpowers. However, a group of Silurians and Sea Devils have united to wreak revenge on the human race by taking control of Sea Base 4’s armoury of atomic weapons in order to provoke a nuclear holocaust. The Doctor manages to flood the base with Hexachromite gas which is deadly to reptiles, however not before the entire Sea Base 4 crew are wiped out by the enraged homo reptilians.

In 2002, former BBC1 controller Michael Grade cited a clip from this particular story as one of the reasons why he personally hated Doctor Who and therefore tried to cancel the series in 1985. I would like to cancel Michael Grade due to the universal dislike for him. Despite a promising script, the production values on Warriors of Deep admittedly look atrocious, even by the standards and budget of 80s Doctor Who, leaving an open goal to critics such as Grade. The less said about the Myrka, the better. There should have been another way…

With just over a week to go until Praxeus, we haven’t got long to wait until we discover whether the rumours of a return for the Sea Devils in the sixth episode of Series 12 are indeed true. Perhaps the amphibious reptiles will undergo a major design overhaul, in the same way that their cousins, the Silurians, did when they were reintroduced to the series back in 2010. Whatever the case, I am excited to see the next instalment in what is shaping up to be a truly memorable season of Doctor Who!

Legend of the Sea Devils

★☆☆☆☆

TX: 17/04/2022

Written by Ella Road and Chris Chibnall  Directed by Haolu Wang

The Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz and Dan arrive in 19th Century China, where pirates have invaded a nearby settlement on the coast. However, these are not pirates at all – they are in fact Sea Devils, who have their own flying galleon! When the legendary pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao, alias “Madam Ching”, awakens an antediluvian Sea Devil extremist, the Doctor and her companions must work together with the historical rogue to save the entire Earth from a global flood. But amidst the high-stakes, high-sea adventure, it soon becomes clear the stakes for everyone involved — even the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz — are much more personal than a legendary sunken treasure, or even the all-important Keystone… The Doctor and Yaz take the TARDIS back 274 years and witness a Sea Devil betraying Ji-Hun aboard the latter’s ship. Returning to 1807, they try to find the shipwreck to no avail. The Huasen takes the TARDIS to the Sea Devils’ undersea lair. The Sea Devils seek the gem, the Keystone, to execute their plan. Pretending they have it, the Doctor and Yaz use it as leverage to board Ji-Hun’s ship, which has been retrofitted with alien technology. They are shown Ji-Hun, who has been kept in stasis. He reveals he tricked the Sea Devils in their deal. Marsissus calls the Doctor’s bluff, claiming the Huasen has located the Keystone. Ji-Hun, the Doctor, and Yaz board Ching’s ship. Ji-Hun finds out Ying Ki is the descendant of his most trusted crew member Lei Bao and reveals he gave the Keystone to Lei, who escaped his ship. Marsissus seizes the Keystone from Ying Ki just as the Doctor realises the Sea Devils plan to use it to flood Earth. The protagonists fight the Sea Devils aboard Ching’s ship. The Doctor tampers with the technology on Ji-Hun’s ship, but destroying it requires two cables to be held together. The Doctor volunteers to stay back while the others escape, but Ji-Hun offers to sacrifice himself instead. Madam Ching announces she has recovered enough treasure to pay the ransom and will make Ying Ki a member of her crew. The Doctor takes Yaz and Dan ashore. Dan leaves a message for his love interest Diane and is surprised when she calls him back. The Doctor, who had acknowledged Yaz’s feelings for her on Ji-Hun’s ship, solemnly expresses her wish that she could spend more time with Yaz. But the Doctor knows that unfortunately, her time is running out…

The War Between the Land and the Sea

★★★★★

TX: 07-21/12/2025

Written by Russell T Davies & Pete McTighe  Directed by Dylan Holmes Williams

In this acclaimed Doctor Who spin-off, U.N.I.T encounter a different branch of the species, Homo Aqua, a more humanoid version of the Sea Devils. Low-level U.N.I.T operative Barclay Pierre-DuPont is selected by Aquakind/Sea Devil ambassador Salt to represent the human race in a summit at Empress House in London, a U.N.I.T (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) installation on the banks of the River Thames. A conduit from the Thames to Empress Hall (next to Thames House) is constructed, leading to a tank where the Aquakind ambassadors meet with representatives from multiple nations, including American General Austin Pierce (Torchwood: Children of Earth). Aquakind vary in anatomy, some having tails akin to mermaids. Salt exits the tank into the hall. Salt tries to guilt trip Barclay and the rest of humanity for polluting their waters. Like other amphibians in the real world, Salt can change gender. Salt and Aquakind decide to take revenge on humanity by dumping plastic waste and other rubbish on human cities. This ground-breaking spin-off is essentially U.N.I.T vs The Sea Devils but with a political message about pollution, plastic in the ocean and climate change (The Green Death, Orphan 55, Praxeus). The War Between the Land and the Sea was therefore positively received by the grassroots organisation Greenpeace, years ago I had a girlfriend (from my university creative writing society) who was a Greenpeace activist. I studied environmental law at Bristol University as part of my masters degree. The War Between the Land and the Sea is a line quoted by the Fifteenth Doctor in 73 Yards, which was also directed by Dylan Holmes Williams.