Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 20, 2022

One of the kind of sweet things about British television is the longstanding tradition of offering special broadcasts for holidays, something that of course American broadcast television used to do quite regularly (as kids brought up on annual showings of The Wizard of Oz to The Ten Commandments can easily attest). But in Britain, there seems to be something even more "special" about these specials at times, especially (no grammatical pun intended) since these are often new productions and not reruns, though they aren't always specifically "holiday-esque", so to speak, as is the case with these two Doctor Who one offs. Eve of the Daleks was crafted as BBC's New Year's special for 2022, while Legend of the Sea Devils made its debut on Easter. Now those who search for "hidden meanings" may like the fact that the New Year's episode involves a so-called "time loop" that sees the good Doctor (Jodie Whittaker, nearing the end of her run in the role) and her gaggle of "companions" counting down to midnight as they attempt to escape an increasing horde of Daleks intent on their "extermination". And I guess a case could be made that Legend of the Sea Devils has a bit of a "resurrection" subtext, at least insofar as a previous nemesis (or nemeses, as the case may be) is/are back for another fracas with the Doctor, in fact much like the seemingly inextinguishable Daleks.

Of the two specials on this disc, it's arguable that Eve of the Daleks provides the more engaging story, while Legend of the Sea Devils probably offers the most visual splendor, even if, per longstanding Doctor Who tradition, the Sea Devil costuming is kind of goofy looking. Eve of the Daleks takes place almost entirely within the confines of a large dilapidated building in Manchester that a very unhappy woman named Sarah (Aisling Bea) has inherited and has been trying to use as a storage facility business. The problem is she only has one client, a kind of weird guy named Nick (Adjani Salmon), who shows up annually on New Year's Eve to leave some new "trinket" in his locker.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who, Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and Dan Lewis (John Bishop), are preparing to take a little vacation at a beach while the Tardis reboots itself (or something like that), only due to one of those inexplicable disruptions that creates an "issue" for the team, they end up in the storage facility, along with (initially) a sole Dalek. Needless to say, havoc ensues, with the metallic voiced Dalek informing not just the Doctor and her acolytes, but also the innocent bystanders Sarah and Nick, that they're going to be "exterminated", which indeed they all are. Except, as per that aformentioned plot point, it turns out everyone is ensconced in a time loop, which resets one minute closer to midnight each time, but which at least gives our heroes (and/or heroines) a chance to live to fight again.

As some of the supplemental material included on this disc gets into, the creative staff wanted to have fun with a "rom com" element vis a vis Sarah and Nick, and that aspect plays out in what might almost be thought of as a videogame context, in that the "players" have to keep repeating the same "level", only with less time and more assailants (in the form of additional Daleks) on every repetition. It's completely preposterous on its face, and the whole time loop thing is really never that artfully explained, but it's fun and brisk, and the performances are nicely modulated, albeit on the comedic side most of the time.

Legend of the Sea Devils aims for something that might be termed "folkoristic", although in this case it's folklore derived from the venerable history of the series itself. This story arguably has more of a novelistic flair than Eve of the Daleks, and yet it is also probably not quite as much fun as that other special. A story spanning centuries (you expected anything less with a Time Lord) is centered here around the early 19th century, where a woman named Madam Ching (Crystal Yu) might initially seem to be a villainess, but turns out to have some ulterior motives for her seeming infamy. That "bad behavior" of Madam Ching results in a Sea Devil named Marsissus is released from stasis in a stone statue, with terror and death being the unsurprising result.

There's some passingly fun swordplay in this special that gives it just the hint of a wuxia offering, but for many fans of Doctor Who, the most eyebrow raising moment will probably be a late interchange between Yaz and the Doctor. This is Jodie Whittaker's next to last appearance in the role, which may account for at least some of the revelations offered.

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.00:1. Unsurprisingly, the IMDb does not have a ton of technical data, but this is another stellar looking digital capture from the good folks at Doctor Who, and both episodes feature generally superior detail levels and a robustly suffused palette. As mentioned above, Legend of the Sea Devils probably has more visual allure, if only because it's kind of epic in scope and actually gets outside once in a while, while Eve of the Daleks is decidedly more reserved in that regard. Even so, some moments in the New Year's special really have a really vivid palette, as in several sequences where the storage facility gets bathed in a red "security" light. The CGI of Legend of the Sea Devils is pretty soft looking, especially in some of the wide shots, but the practical effects, including the Sea Devil costuming and makeup, actually look pretty good, if undeniably goofy. I noticed no compression issues.

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils features a nicely boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that regularly exploits the surround channels, although the showiest effects are probably reserved for Legend of the Sea Devils, again due at least in part to the fact that the Easter special is filled with outdoor ambient environmental effects (including some torrential rainfall), while Eve of the Daleks takes place in small, contained interior spaces. There's appealing dynamic range in both episodes, and fidelity is fine throughout. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, without any issues whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Dalek Execution (HD; 9:07) features Chris Chibnall and members of the cast discussing the episode.


• The Sea Devils Return (HD; 6:31) offers much the same service for this episode, with Chibnall, Whittaker "and the rest", along with some of the guest stars.


• Becoming Pirates (HD; 5:28) focuses a bit more on things like swordplay.

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea Devils offer some fun moments, but there's going to be an undeniably bittersweet feeling for some fans as they ponder the imminent departure of Jodie Whittaker. Technical merits are first rate, and the supplements, while slim, are enjoyable. Recommended.