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(More customer reviews)I have been a huge fan of the original Doctor Who series since I was a boy. My local PBS station used to run Doctor Who on Saturday night, and it was a highlight of my boyhood weekends. As a boy, the episodes being released in this set were among my favorites because I loved sea monsters and the Silurians and Sea Devils were great looking creatures.
As an adult, I now have a special appreciation for the unique nature of the Silurians and Sea Devils in the history of Doctor Who creatures. Most of the antagonists that the Doctor encounters in the series are evil aliens and monsters bent on destruction and conquest. But the Silurians and Sea Devils aren't. Instead, they were the original inhabitants of the Earth during pre-historic times, and they want their planet back from the "ape-descended primitives" who now occupy it, i.e. humans. If you see it from their point of view, they just want their home back. The Doctor does see it, and several times seeks to negotiate a peace between them and humanity, pointing out that both species can share the planet since the reptilian Silurians can live in environments that humans avoid.
In "the Silurians", the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) makes his first attempt at negotiated settlement between humanity and the Silurians. But he is thwarted by closed minded individuals among both the Silurians and Humans. In many ways, the humans look more evil than the Silurians in this storyline, although some of the Silurians do take monstrous steps to try to wipe out humanity. In the end, human fear takes advantage of the Doctor's success in countering the destructive plans of the rogue Silurians. The Doctor finds himself disgusted by humanity and even by the actions of his friend, the Brigadier. By the way, for fans of the Brigadier, this story represents some of Nicholas Courtney's best work on the series.
In "the Sea Devils," a cousin species of the Silurians begins to pop up off the coast of Britain and strike out against the humans who once again have invaded their territory. Once again, the Doctor (Pertwee) attempts a negotiated settlement. But this time his plans are thwarted by the Master, who wishes to use the Sea Devils and their superior technology to conquer humanity.
Fast forward in time a decade to the years of Peter Davidson as the Doctor. The Silurians and Sea Devils, together, return in a future Earth time period for the magnificent Doctor Who story "Warriors of the Deep." This time, the Silurians and Sea Devils will not hear the Doctor's entreaties for a negotiated settlement with humanity. Their previous experience with humans has taught them that the human race can not be trusted. They decide they have no alternative but to wipe out humanity once and for all in order to reclaim the world they once called home.
To do so, they assault and take over an undersea missile base to start a nuclear war that will destroy the "ape-primitives" with their own weapons. The Doctor is forced to make a choice-either destroy the Silurians and Sea Devils or let them slaughter all of humanity? In the Doctor's own simple, yet heartbreakingly spoken words, "there should have been another way." This compelling story gives Peter Davidson a chance to shine as a dramatic actor, with the Doctor not sure who he is more angry with-the Silurians or the humans. Especially since in a sub-story, human agents from a rival power have also infiltraited the sea base and unleash murder and treachery even amongst the Silurian and Sea Devil onslaught.
I am so pleased that these stories that span two Doctors and two decades are being released as a set. The stories of the Doctor's encounters with the Silurians and Sea Devils I think will become all the more compelling when taken as a whole. If the DVD quality is as good as the other Doctor Who releases have been so far, especially in terms of the commentaries and special features, this set will be a must have for Doctor Who fans.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Doctor Who - Beneath The Surface:The Silurians, The Sea Devils, and Warriors Of The Deep (Stories 52, 62, and 161)
All three classic battles with the Silurians and the Sea Devils! Doctor Who and the Silurians Exiled to Earth and now working for UNIT as their scientific advisor, the Doctor is summoned to an underground research center at Wenley Moor to investigate a series of inexplicable power losses. Initially suspecting sabotage, he soon discovers that the nearby cave system conceals a colony of an ancient race called the Silurians. Awaking from a hibernation which has lasted millions of years, they are now planning to reclaim the Earth from humankind. The Sea Devils Arrested after the events at Devils End, the Master has been incarcerated at a top security prison on a remote island off the south coast of England. When the Doctor and Jo Grant pay a visit to their old enemy, they find him a reformed character. But can the spate of mysterious shipping accidents and garbled reports of sea monsters in the local area really be a coincidence? The Doctor soon finds himself pitted against the Sea Devils, an ancient race of reptile intent on eliminating humankind and reclaiming the Earth for themselves. Warriors of the Deep Earth, 2084. Two global superpowers hover on the brink of war. When the TARDIS is forced to make an unplanned visit to Sea Base Four, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough find themselves accused of being enemy agents. Quickly embroiled in a deadly game of paranoid intrigue, it becomes clear that others on the base have sabotage and murder in mind. However, there is a greater threat to humankind: the Silurians and Sea Devils, prehistoric reptiles seeking to reclaim the Earth. Can the Doctor prevent them from implementing their "final solution" and triggering a war that could wipe out the entire human race?
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