Sea Devil (Doctor Who)

Doctorwhorace


name=Sea Devil
type=Reptilian humanoids
affiliation=Silurians
planet=Earth
start=The Sea DevilsThe Sea Devils are a fictional race of amphibious reptile-like beings in the long-running British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". The Sea Devils, like their land-based cousins the Silurians, were scientifically advanced, and lived during prehistoric times in an aquatic civilization. At some point, the Moon approached close to Earth, threatening to cause geological upheaval, and both the Sea Devils and the Silurians went into self-induced hibernation to survive.

Overview

Which period of Earth's prehistory the Sea Devils and Silurians come from is not entirely clear. The name Silurian is a misnomer coined and used by humans, arising because the race was identified as belonging to the Silurian period when first encountered in the Third Doctor serial "Doctor Who and the Silurians". The Doctor, in the 1972 serial, "The Sea Devils", mentions that Silurians should more properly be called Eocenes. However, that term appears to be equally inaccurate. The Silurians are seen using dinosaurs as guard animals, and by the Eocene epoch, dinosaurs had long become extinct (although Lawrence Miles suggests in his "About Time" reference books that the primitive Silurians co-existed with dinosaurs and their domesticated versions survived with them). In some of the New Adventures novels, the terms "Earth Reptile" and "Indigenous Terran" are offered as "modern" terms for them.

Sea Devils are cold-blooded reptilian humanoids, with large eyes and turtle-like snouts, resembling humanoid dinosaurs more than the Silurians do. Also unlike the Silurians, they do not have a third eye, and rely more on hand-held weaponry. Though more aggressive than their Silurian cousins, they're more vulnerable to hexachromite, a gas lethal to reptiles which had almost instant effects on the Sea Devils as opposed to the Silurians, who lingered far longer before succumbing.

In their first appearance in the Third Doctor serial "The Sea Devils", they were awakened from their hibernation in 1972 by the renegade Time Lord known as the Master, who persuaded them to reclaim the planet from the human race. Despite the Doctor's efforts to convince them otherwise, the Sea Devils eventually decided to go to war, and the Doctor was forced to destroy their base. It was revealed, however, that there were many colonies still in hibernation around the world.

The Sea Devils next appeared in the 1984 serial, "Warriors of the Deep", where they allied with the Silurians, in a second attempt to reclaim Earth from the humans. That attempt took place in the year 2084 during a prolonged cold war between humanity. Curiously, on that occasion the creatures used the terms "Silurians" and "Sea Devils" to refer to themselves, despite these terms previously being purely human phrases. These Sea Devils were described as being elite warriors and sported bullet-proof samurai-style armour.

Other appearances by the Silurians in the "Doctor Who" spin-off media include the Virgin New Adventures novel "Blood Heat", which featured an alternate reality where the Silurians conquered Earth; the Virgin Missing Adventures novel "The Scales of Injustice", which attempted to bridge the inconsistencies between the seventies' stories and "Warriors of the Deep"; and the Big Finish Productions audio play "Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Poison Seas".

The Sea Devils were mentioned by the Master in the 2007 Tenth Doctor episode "Last of the Time Lords".

Appearances

;Television
*"The Sea Devils" — February 26–April 1 1972
*"Warriors of the Deep" — January 5–January 13 1984

;Novels
*"Blood Heat" by Jim Mortimore
*"The Scales of Injustice" by Gary Russell

;Comic strips
*"Devil of the Deep" by John Peel (script) and John Stokes (art), "Doctor Who Monthly" #61; does not feature the Doctor or his companions
*"City of Devils" by Gary Russell (script) and Vincent Danks (art), "Doctor Who Magazine Holiday Special 1992"; featuring Sarah Jane Smith and K-9.
*"The Cybermen: The Hungry Sea" by Alan Barnes (script) and Adrian Salmon (art), "Doctor Who Magazine" #227-#229; these and subsequent Cybermen strips presumbably take place on the Cybermen's homeworld (and Earth's twin) Mondas and features the Sea Devils of Mondas rather than Earth.
*"The Cybermen: The Dark Flame" by Alan Barnes (script) and Adrian Salmon (art), DWM #230-#233; also features a giant, Sea Devil-like god, Golgoth, implicitly linked to the Silurians.

;Audio plays
*"Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Poison Seas"

Merchandise

In 1996 Dapol released a figure of a Sea Devil along with other monsters and villains from the Pertwee era. In 2008, a Sea Devil based on their first appearance will be released as part of Character Options Classic Doctor Who range.