Jon Pertwee
Season Nine

LLL. The Sea Devils

Writer: Malcolm Hulke
Director: Michael Briant
Designer: Tony Snoaden
Inciental Music by: Malcolm Clarke
Action by: Havoc (6)
Extra Credit: The BBC wish to acknowledge the help given to them by the Royal Navy in the making of this programme

TRANSMISSION DETAILS:

312. Episode One                   26.02.1972   5.50pm - 6.15pm   6.4M/76th
313. Episode Two                   04.03.1972   5.50pm - 6.15pm   9.7M/26th
314. Episode Three                 11.03.1972   5.50pm - 6.15pm   8.3M/45th
315. Episode Four                  18.03.1972   5.50pm - 6.15pm   7.8M/40th
316. Episode Five                  25.03.1972   5.45pm - 6.10pm   8.3M/39th
317. Episode Six                   01.04.1972   5.50pm - 6.15pm   8.5M/47th

REPEAT DETAILS:

     Edited Compilation      Wed   27.12.1972   3.05pm - 4.35pm     8.7 M/51st
     Edited Compilation      Fri   27.05.1974  11.15am - 12.45pm  * 4.64M/99th

     Episode One             Fri   06.03.1992   6.50pm - 7.15pm   ~ 3.14M/14th
     Episode Two                   13.03.1992   6.50pm - 7.15pm   ~ 3.55M/13th
     Episode Three                 20.03.1992   6.50pm - 7.15pm   ~ 2.96M/15th
     Episode Four                  27.03.1992   6.50pm - 7.15pm   ~ 3.37M/12th
     Episode Five                  03.04.1992   6.20pm - 6.45pm   ~ 3.10M/13th
     Episode Six                   10.04.1992   6.50pm - 7.15pm   ~ 3.04M/15th

     * - unscheduled in Radio Times (late replacement for cricket covereage
         lost due to industrial action)
     ~ - on BBC2 (positions just for that channel)

CAST:

THE MASTER: Roger Delgado; CAPTAIN JOHN HART: Edwin Richfield; THIRD OFFICER JANE BLYTHE: June Murphy; COLONEL GEORGE TRENCHARD: Clive Morton (1-4); SEA DEVIL: Pat Gorman (1-2,4-6), LDG TELEGRAPHIST BOWMAN: Alec Wallis (1,4-6); CASTLE GUARD BARCLAY: Terry Walsh (1-3 - uncredited 2); ALAN CLARK: Declan Mulholland (1-2); RADIO OPERATOR: Neil Siler (1); EDWIN HICKMAN: Hugh Futcher (1); ROBBINS: Royston Tickner (1); CASTLE GUAD WILSON: Brian Justice (1); CPO SMEDLEY: Eric Mason (2); LT COMMANDER TONY MITCHELL: David Griffin (3-5); COMMANDER RIDGEWAY: Donald Sumpter (3-5); LDG SEAMAN LOVELL: Christopher Wray (3-5); CASTLE GUARD DREW: Stanley McGeagh (3-4); CPO SUMMERS: Colin Bell (4-5); LT COMMANDER WATTS: Brian Vaughn (4); CHIEF SEA DEVIL: Peter Forbes-Robertson (5-6); WALKER: Martin Boddey (5-6); A/B GIRTON: Rex Rowland (5); REAR ADMIRAL: Norman Atkyns (5); CPO MYERS: John Caeser (6). UNCREDITED: VOICE OF DJ: Michael Briant (2); SEA DEVILS: Steven Ismay, Brian Nolan, Frank Seton, Jeff Witherick; CHATEAU GUARDS: Stewart Barry, Bob Blaine, Les Clark, Jim Dowdall, Brian Gilmar, Phillip Weston; RATINGS: Jim Dowdall, Nick Llewellyn, Roy Pearce, Dennis Plenty, Ron Tingley; NAVAL BASE SAILORS: Jim Dowdall, Brian Gilmar, Nick Llewellyn, Roy Pearce, Dennis Plenty, Ron Tingley, Phillip Weston; STUNTMEN: Marc Boyle, Peter Brace, Alan Chuntz, Jack Cooper, Stuart Fell, Billy Horrigan, Mike Horsborough, Mike Stephens, Terry Walsh, Derek Ware

STORY:

The Doctor and Jo visit the Master in his island prison. Besides visiting his old friend the Doctor is after assurance that the Mster is secure - that he hasn't managed to use his hypnotism to escape. Colonel Trenchard gives the Doctor the impression that the guards are impervious to hypnotism.

Colonel Trenchard lets slip that ships have been disappearing, and the Doctor decides to have a look. After triangulating three of the disappearances the Doctor finds an abandoned base, and starts his investigations there - and Jo tags along. Whils there they are attacked by Sea Devils, related to the Silurians.

The Doctor manages to escape and notifis the Navy, who want to launch an attack. The Master is involved, with Colonel Trenchard assisting. The Doctor stalls the Navy by offering to negotite, but with the Master present this is difficult. The Doctor pretends to help the Master contrsuct a machine that will enable the Sea Devils to emerge victorious, but instead sabotages it, and the Doctor and the Master escape as the Sea Devils' base is destroyed.

The Master fakes illness. He hypnotises, and disguises, one of the rescue crew, and manages to escape from the authorities.

BLOOPERS:

Episode 1: The Doctor has a telescope, which he uses to look at the Master's prison with. Yet when the camera switches to the close up of the castle, it shows the view from a pair of binoculars.

Episode 1: When Jo and the Doctor are climbing the ladder to get into the sea-fort, it's painfully obvious that it isn't Katy Manning, but a bloke in a Jo Grant wig.

Epispode 2: When the Doctor and Jo are carrying the fat guy out, you can see shadows and light moving around in the background as if there's someone there.

Episode 2?: While in the sea-fort, the Doctor rigs up the radio to transmit messages, but somehow still gets it to receive them too.

Episode 3: When the submarine crashes to the sea bed there is a shot of the sub falling, cut to the inside and the crew fall around a bit. Then the sub hits the sea bed, in a model shot, then cut back again and they fall around a bit more.

Episode ?: The radio that the Doctor built couldn't have worked. If you look at the device (this is clearest right before it explodes), you can see that there's a 9 Volt battery clip sticking out of it. The blooper is that there is no battery in the socket, so electricity cannot flow between the two metal terminals. Therefore the whole thing shouldn't be able to work at all because there isn't a complete circuit.

STUDIOS:

Television Centre Studio 8

LOCATIONS:

HMS Reclaim; Norris Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight; No Man's Land Sea Fort, Solent

NOTES:

This was the last story that the Havoc team as a whole worked on
Episodes One to Three exist in a converted NTSC format suitable for UK transmission

NOVELISATION:

The Sea-Devils Malcolm Hulke

VIDEO:

The Sea-Devils

Jon PertweeSeason Nine