Fans were thrilled when it was announced that a classic Doctor Who monster would be making its long-awaited return this Easter. There were also high hopes for this episode, as it is the penultimate episode for Jodie Whittaker before she takes her final bow and leaves the show. The Legend of the Sea Devils had a lot of promises, which were massively underdelivered.
The plot of this episode was far more complicated than it needed to be. We discover that the Sea Devils are searching for a piece of technology, known as the Keystone that can flip the gravity of the earth. Ji-Hun finds this Keystone and gives it to his trusted shipmate Lei Bao. His descendent Ying Ki then faces the famous pirate Madam Ching. She has her own mission: she looks for the treasure of Flor de la Mar, so that she can pay the ransom for her young sons and crew.
However, this story has nothing to do with the real Madam Ching. In the real history books, Madam Ching is a more successful female pirate than what we see in the episode. It is a shame that the powerful and successful person Madam Ching wasn’t portrayed in the episode. Considering we have recently had such great episodes celebrating strong women characters like Rosa Parks really well. It is a shame the same couldn't have been done to Madame Ching.
There are very few characters in this episode, but due to the lack of characters, there isn't much emotional weight. We don’t get to connect to the characters and understand why they are doing it. Also, considering the episode is about Sea Devils, they don’t spend that much time on our screens. It's also a shame that the head Sea Devils isn’t even granted a name. The hype for these characters was really high, yet they didn't meet the expectations.
Even our main cast suffered in this episode. In particular, Dan contributed the least to this episode, that if he wasn’t there you wouldn’t have noticed a difference in the episode. Although, in the end, it was a nice moment when Dan phoned Diana. It is clear that these two characters have unfinished business with one another. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to see how their story ends in the next episode. John Bishop is a great actor in Doctor Who, it’s a shame he wasn't used more effectively in this episode.
This could have been a great episode, but the plot was too complicated, and the scenes felt really choppy. Maybe they were trying to save money, but this episode felt really choppy as some scenes felt unnecessary. Overall, this episode is a real mess that needed a lot of work to do.
We cannot finish this episode without talking about the romance between the Doctor and Yaz. This episode progresses their relationship along, but it does feel a little forced in areas. However, it was nice to see how delicately the conversation about what could happen between these two characters was handled. The ending scene on the beach between the two characters felt very heartfelt, but it's clear, that it is setting up for the next episode. This relationship between the Doctor and Yaz gives off huge doomed love with the 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler vibes.
The Legend of the Sea Devils had a lot of promise, but it just didn’t work. This classic monster deserved a better story and more screen time. It's also a shame that more wasn’t done to put a spotlight on one of the most famous and successful female pirates in history. A poor script, choppy editing, and a missed opportunity. This is a poor instalment and a weak penultimate episode for Whittaker. Hopefully, her final episode will make up for this missed opportunity.
If you enjoyed this review, then give it a like. While you are here why don't you check out some more of our reviews below!
Performance | 2.5/5 |
Enjoyment | 2.5/5 |
Overall Rating | 2.5/5 |