62)THE SEA DEVILS

The Sea Devils is an-all out sequel to Doctor Who and the Silurians substituting cave-dwelling monsters for aquatic deep-sea creatures, but lacks tension overall, and as a result is a weaker counterpart in comparison. Overall it’s basically the same story again, with the same basic outcomes, but the threat of world domination is very much restrained, but somehow it is more brutal. The Sea Devils themselves are disposed of in inhumane ways which can make for some distressing and downright diabolical imagery, we actually see Sea Devils succumbing to their fates compared to the off-screen fatalities of the Silurians.
The Doctor himself is more ruthless, he continually puts the Sea Devils in harm’s way and abandons any chance of peaceful cooperation, and blows the Sea Devils up in the closing moments, undermining his moral standpoints from before. The resolution is less striking as a result, the editing fails to capture suspense, resulting in a stilted escape after 2½ hours of viewing. The story perhaps has more to say; there are various moments when other secondary characters consider co-operating with the Sea Devils, and nobody takes overall pride in vanquishing the Sea Devils, The Doctor seems saddened that the ordeal had to end with violence. We’ll never see the Third Doctor overtly use excessive violence to annihilate an enemy again. 
Generally the execution is sound, there are effective action sequences which fully utilise the extensive help the production team got from the Navy, but at times it lacks overall excitement. The extent of the situation is aided by excellent stock footage which  gives the narrative a grander aesthetic feel, but (again) the same shots are continually recycled which makes the final product look rather lazy (when it isn’t). The storyline is generally solid, but padding issues, an inconsistent structure; but well-written dialogue gives out mixed signals. A good idea, but the finished product is far from polished, and can make for some difficult viewing.***