Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop, Simon Carew, Crystal Yu, Marlowe Chan-Reeves, Arthur Lee, Nadia Albina, Jon Davey, Chester Durrant, Craige Els, Mickey Lewis, David Tse.
Nobody ever wants a disappointing end, but in life arguably we must make the most of the final reflection offered us, and whilst we may prefer a reward before the last gasp adventure, quite often it is sadness, perhaps melancholy, and certainly the unavoidable grief that haunts our last and most private thoughts.
Memories and lasting regrets, the chance not taken to kiss another human being one last time, it is the lingering doubt, the pleading to have one more turn around the sun and to be able to jump in head first to life; it is that declaration of immersion into all that lives that staves off the assuredness of passing time – and which urges us to fight right up until the final beat of the heart.
Occasionally we have to admit that the moment before the end is not what we wish for, and sometimes it is the bitter pill we have to swallow in order to progress onwards, whether that be in the dark, or in the will of new light.
As with life, so it is with every Doctor, and the mad owner of the blue box has always followed their own path in the days leading up to regeneration, either fuelled by heroism and bravado, quiet acceptance, or indeed, at least on television, not even having a moment in which to decide how to be seen in the evocative, moving last paragraph of life; and it is with unarguable shame for all involved that the last breathes before her own regeneration scene, that the Legend Of The Sea Devils is Jodie Whitaker’s silent damp squid of a show.
The loyal watcher of old will have to go back to the days Sylvester McCoy to feel as underwhelmed as they surely will during the fifty-minute exercise in self-indulgence and hopeful heart felt searching; and despite all the fuss of one of the great antagonists of the show returning after a decade’s long absence, the Sea Devils were more in keeping with Mr. Pertwee’s era than the audience might have expected, or indeed accepted. Such was the poor design that unlike other creatures and enemies that have been bought back in the last 17 years, this appearance was more in keeping with badly performed animatronics, stiff, no sense of malignancy, underwhelming and a poor substitute for what could have been.
Such a force of dull impression was not only confined to the adversary, as a whole the episode was disjointed, not enough time dedicated to the life of one of history’s fascinating characters in Madame Ching, portrayed with grace by Crystal Yu, almost relegating the back story to a mere coincidence of Time.
The issue has been with the lack of belief overall in the series, some episodes which have been amongst the very finest in the show’s history, and then Legend Of The Sea Devils, which at best isn’t the worst story line to have been put towards the viewer, but it is unfortunately close. This episode has all the hall marks of a filler, and to that end, the end is one that might be welcomed by a vast majority, and it will befall on Ms. Whittaker, unfortunately, to live it down; for the sense of history of having such an engaging personality having to ponder almost miserably on the meaning of accepting love is a step too far, and instead of embracing the moment, it has come to the last breath with no sense of dramatic forewarning.
A poor, almost needless episode, one that will be swallowed by the mists of time.
Ian D. Hall