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Whilst visiting the MASTER, who has been exiled to a luxurious castle prison on a small island, DOCTOR WHO and Jo Grant learn that a number of ships have vanished in the area. Whilst investigating these mysterious disappearances, Jo and the Doctor are attacked by a SEA-DEVIL, one of a submarine colony distantly related to the Silurians. Soon they discover that the SEA-DEVILS plan to conquer the Earth and enslave humanity, aided and abetted by the MASTER. What can DOCTOR WHO do to stop them?

139 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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About the author

Malcolm Hulke

44 books23 followers
Malcolm Hulke was a British science fiction writer best known for his tenure as a writer on the popular series Doctor Who. He is credited with writing eight stories for Doctor Who, mostly featuring the Third Doctor as played by Jon Pertwee. With Terrance Dicks, he wrote the final serial of Patrick Troughton's run as the Doctor, the epic ten-part story "The War Games." Hulke may be best known for writing "The Silurians," the story that created the titular race that is still featured in Doctor Who. Hulke's stories were well-known for writing characters that were not black and white in terms of morality: there was never a clear good guy vs. bad guy bent to his story.

Hulke joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1945 and worked briefly as a typist in the party's headquarters. He left the party in 1951, objecting to the Soviet Union's hostility to Yugoslavia and its line on the Korean War, but soon rejoined, and appears to have remained a member of the party, on until the early 1960s. His politics remained firmly on the left, and this was reflected in his writings, which often explored anti-authoritarian, environmental, and humanist themes.

In addition to his television writing, Hulke wrote the novelizations of seven television Doctor Who stories, each of which had written for the screen. He died at the age of fifty-four, shortly before his novelization of "The War Games" would be published.

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5 stars
61 (17%)
4 stars
125 (35%)
3 stars
134 (38%)
2 stars
25 (7%)
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4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Ken.
2,565 reviews1,377 followers
July 8, 2019
Following The Masters imprisonment after the events of Doctor Who And The Daemons as The Doctor and Jo visit the villains Time Lord on a secluded island.
Whilst there The Doctor learns of ships mysteriously sinking...

With both novelisations first published in October 1974, this serial leads perfectly in from a previous adventure.
I always like it when there’s continuity between the books.

Hulke wonderfully adapts his 6 part story into a tight concise novel whilst bring all the characters motivations to the fore.

I think it helps that I have a soft spot for this story and may have actually catch some of a repeat viewing of this story on BBC2 during 1992.

Hulke brings important environmental issues to the story as The Master points out humans track record of now extinct animals.

The perfect Third Doctor adventure!
Profile Image for Craig.
6,353 reviews178 followers
December 14, 2021
This is a novelization of the third serial from the ninth season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast from February through April of 1972 in six segments. Malcolm Hulke adapted and expanded his own original teleplay for the book, which was printed in 1974 and was among the earliest of the adaptations to appear. Target kept the nice Alan Willow illustrations when they reprinted it in their uniform mass market series. In the story, The Doctor is in the prime of his third regeneration and is accompanied by Jo Grant. They pay imprisoned rival Time Lord The Master a visit and become caught up in his scheme to control the Sea-Devils, an aquatic race from prehuman history, in order to conquer the world from his jail cell. Hulke manages to make good points about ecology and social awareness without becoming dogmatic, and Jo is shown to be a caring, competent, and intelligent character. He offers good insight into the backgrounds and history of the characters that don't come through in the televised version. It's among the best of the Pertwee-era novelizations.
Profile Image for Brayden Raymond.
564 reviews13 followers
October 29, 2025
Short but action packed. Hulke continues his thematic excellence here while framing the UK government rightfully as war mongers. Grade A installment right here.
Profile Image for Daniel Kukwa.
4,744 reviews123 followers
August 19, 2011
Another Malcolm Hulke masterpiece, that fleshes out characters, agendas & motivations, while never sacrificing any of the action/adventure quotient. There's some astonishing background offered to explain the situation of the Master's imprisonment, and the story's genuinely adult treatment of politics & patriotism takes us far beyond the realm of a so-called "children's" book. A positive triumph.
Author 5 books47 followers
April 22, 2022
The Doctor and the Master need to fuck already.
Profile Image for Hannah Maroof.
16 reviews3 followers
July 15, 2025
Would’ve been three but I’m a sucker for jujitsu in a book
Profile Image for Christian Petrie.
253 reviews2 followers
February 9, 2019
I can feel myself starting to drag in the my challenge to read all my Doctor Who Books. Took longer to finish this one and even longer to post my review. Slowly, but surely carrying on.

With the Target novelizations, you get glimpses of what could be great stories, but see how they are curtailed by the page limit set on them. If you remember Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters (The Silurians), then you have the same plot, except at sea.

A group of realities who use to rule the Earth, that went into hibernation, and are awoken to find Earth taken over by the mammals. They want to reclaim the Earth and The Master is helping them. Not original on the plot, though made different by setting it with the sea version of the Silurians.

Even though Malcolm Hulke takes time to flesh out what happened with The Master and more background to Trenchard, the story is just bland as a novel. I preferred the televised version over the novelization.
Profile Image for Wealhtheow.
2,465 reviews605 followers
May 7, 2014
The Doctor and Jo investigate strange disappearances in the sea that are eventually linked to the Master's plot to use Sea Devils to exterminate the human race.

The writing is clunky and juvenile. For example: "The Judges had decided to sentence the Master to life-long imprisonment. They did not realise that, in the case of a Time Lord, 'life-long' might mean a thousand years!" The science is terrible. The background characters are stereotypes. The plot is slapdash and poorly paced. But nostalgia is a powerful force, and I love the Third Doctor and Jo Grant, so this gets two whole stars from me!
Profile Image for Jacob Licklider.
319 reviews6 followers
November 27, 2022
Sometimes there’s a novelization that you just struggle to find an angle to talk about. There are plenty of novelizations that just take the television story and transplant it to prose with nothing special and those are difficult but usually there’s some minor changes you can latch onto. Doctor Who and the Sea Devils is kind of a special case in that while there are changes (there are two particular continuity errors where Jo is mentioned to have been there for Doctor Who and the Silurians and the events of Frontier in Space are mentioned), most of the changes are artificial. At this point I’ve covered five of the seven novelizations from Malcolm Hulke and all of them have been some of the best novelizations, so it’s sad to see Doctor Who and the Sea Devils kind of struggle to reach those heights. The Sea Devils is a story I enjoy quite a bit on television, but a lot of that comes down to the performances of Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, and Roger Delgado. The plot itself is essentially a repeat of Doctor Who and the Silurians, something that Hulke really doesn’t do much of to expand upon for Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils. Now the plot itself does move at a very nice pace in novelization form, simply because Hulke is one of the few novelists to understand that he can play around with format instead of just translating the television episodes to some form of prose flexibly.

Now that isn’t to say Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils is by any means bad. It’s not, it’s actually quite a fun time since the plot to Doctor Who and the Silurians and The Sea Devils is a great plot that explores the Doctor, but what really saves this novelization from being fine to being a good time is some little added character moments. Early on in the novelization, there is this expanded explanation that the Doctor fought in the court system to give the Master life imprisonment instead of the death penalty, as well as this added idea to ensure he is given reading material while in prison. There is also an added implication that had the Master stayed imprisoned the Doctor would continually visit as time went by which is honestly wonderful. There are also small sequences from Trenchard’s perspective up to his death which also make for an exhilarating climax of the novel, even if it still follows the TV series beat for beat. Minor cuts also include some of the improvised jokes between Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning which have sadly dated the serial so it’s honestly nice to realize they are gone and Hulke didn’t intend them in the script.

Overall, Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils suffers from just translating a television story that is regarded as a classic due to its performances while it’s plot is something that had only happened a few stories previously (and broadcast only two years before), though added character moments save the book and perhaps is why it had several reprints. 7/10.
Profile Image for Mikes Dw Reviews .
107 reviews
September 20, 2025
I love the orginal sea devil's tv story and Malcom Hulke is one of my favourite who writers. However I was utterly shocked by how rushed and structured this is and just how much it missed the orginal point of the tv story. Which is confusing considering its written by the same author. The very same man who expanded his "silurians" story beautifully.

The book is only roughly 140 pages and yet we spend 90% of it exploring and developing into the story with the master and his life in prison. I do enjoy these moments and there are some good depth to the story here. The opening attack is excellent, the structure of just how the master manipulates people is believable here. But way too much time is spent on it. The last 10% is a cery very rushed final act of moments of the sea devil's finally appearing, them attacking and the whole drama of the dr trying to make pace. It's so badly written because it's so rushed. And while it very very losely retells the story, it complete missed the main talking point and dilemma of it.

What makes the dr not a horrible mass murdering monster in this story is that he has to try his hardest to stop both the sea devil's and humans from killing each other. The dr loves all life but he does have an extra soft spot for the humans. He wants to save the sea devil's but he knows the humans will kill them all or ruin their lives. Even the sea devil chef allows the dr a chance to make pace. The creature puts his hand to the Dr's as a sign of trust. A scene that's completely cut. Even to the end before the dr uses the device to kill them he makes one last plee. But the sea devil's refuse and he's left with no alternative.

This is not only a powerful piece of drama and story but it's the stories/books main dilemma. To have it missing makes the dr seem so cruel. I can imagine just how amazing it could be getting into the Dr's head at that very scene. It's not the worst target book I've read but it's the most disappointing.
Profile Image for Michel Siskoid Albert.
591 reviews8 followers
August 13, 2025
I always like to break open one of Malcolm Hulke's Target adaptations because he never sticks to the script, but rather rewrites even his own episodes, and gives us something new.Of course, Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils (sic) adapts one of my favorite Third Doctor stories, so changing it could be dangerous. Indeed, there are a lot of my favorite bits missing, in particular things that feel like they were worked out in rehearsal or on set/location, like the Master's tastes in television, the Doctor eating everyone's sandwiches, the sword fight, the crazy vehicles... Hulke writes action well, but it's not his focus - indeed, the action-filled last episode takes up less than 10% of the page count! So what do we get in exchange? Well, we get into people heads more, which is always worthy, the prison warden has a different and more ironic fate, and the Doctor's solution hits harder as the Master brings it into focus. I miss too much of the televised version to love this book, but the best version of the story would be an amalgam of the two.
869 reviews6 followers
March 21, 2021
Another good story here by Malcolm Hulke, and quite linked but stronger than the Cave Monsters novel for me. Feels like a UNIT story, even though UNIT unfortunately doesn't appear here, but get the Navy in it's place.
Features the return of the Master as well, after the events of the end of season 8, and leads to some nice scenes between the Doctor, the Master and Jo. Seems quite fast paced adventure in the novel at least, with some interesting twists and turns along the way.
Good cast of one off characters here as well, with their own strengths and weaknesses, all of whom somewhat unfortunate to have to be dealing with both the Master and the Sea-Devils.
The Sea-Devils themselves aren't that interesting, a little one dimensional for most of the story, though do get a bit more depth towards the end.
Interesting turn about as well for the ending of this story, against what happened in the Cave Monsters, just a shame the Brigadier wasn't there for it as well.
Profile Image for Jason Bleckly.
491 reviews4 followers
April 15, 2025
Based on his own script this is number 44 in the Target catalogue. The first cover is by Chris Achilleos and the second by John Geary. This is another of the Targets with interior artwork by Alan Willow.

This book was a disappointment. It’s a story I really like and the novelisation starts of really well, but by the end it just feels like Malcolm wanted to be done with it and rushes it. It may have been because he was reaching his word limit, but I didn’t find it as enjoyable as the broadcast version

The main plot events are all there, but the flavour isn t. He completely deletes the sword fight between the Doctor and the Master, which is one of my favourite bits. There’s no storming of the beach in a hovercraft. And he turned Jo and the Doctor into criminals stealing boats and bicycles at the start. I think offering cash for the guy to look the other way while they borrow his boat and scooter is much more inkeeping with their character than outright theft.

Sadly this isn’t one I’ll rush to read again.
Profile Image for Myles Parish.
18 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2018
Another Malcolm Hulke triumph. It’s such a shame the novelisations he writes are so much better than what’s on screen, because if you encountered the novel before the TV serial you’d be tricked into thinking the TV serial was a classic.

On screen, “The Sea-Devils” is fun but slow, and at times can play like a Royal Navy recruitment film. In the novel, as is always the case with Hulke, the supporting characters gain wonderful extra characterisation and proper motivation, which tends to lift the material to transcend its humble format as a TV tie-in.

A criticism I keep having of the Hulke novels is that they are written very simply, in a very child-friendly prose style. To some extent I can’t really justify this as they are children’s books first and foremost - but I’ve always been one not to talk down to the kids!
Profile Image for Jason Arbuckle.
367 reviews1 follower
May 10, 2025
Book 331 - Malcolm Hulke - The Sea Devils

Loving Hulke’s writing. The Third Doctor’s stories were always seen as the most grownup and Hulke’s in particular wouldn’t be out of place as a science fiction movie rated 18… death my sonic weapon… destruction of submarines and the threatened annihilation of the human race.

Rather wonderfully with UNIT and the Brigadier absent we meet their Royal Navy alternatives and with another fantastically evil appearance by the Master the tale is truly epic… terrifying and exhilarating.

The Doctor is at his most lost as he tries to make up for what happened to the Silurians… and in the end…he fails again.

The Doctor doesn’t always win… and it is so sad.
Profile Image for Andy.
1,910 reviews
April 8, 2022
I decided to read this book after seeing that the next Doctor Who special was going to feature the sea devils. Apparently they have only appeared once in the entire history of the show and since I didn’t remember this episode I thought it would be a good idea to find out more about them. It was a very classic Doctor Who story featuring not only the sea devils but the Master as well. Jo and the Doctor were fun to follow along as they tried to figure out exactly what the Master was up too. For the most part I liked it.
Profile Image for Rob.
142 reviews
July 10, 2022
An adaptation of a teleplay starring the third Doctor (frequently called Doctor Who in the exposition in this novel), "...and the Sea-Devils" originates one of those cliche Doctor stories as oil drilling upsets an underground, reptilian civilization. However, unlike the Silurians of The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, the Sea Devils are manipulated by the Master, who is aided and abetted by a blindly patriotic prison warden. A lot of holes in the plot and some clunky writing, but not the worst novel I have read. It's just okay.
Profile Image for Pete.
1,105 reviews78 followers
May 16, 2023
Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils (1974) by Mike Hulke is the novelisation of the third serial of the ninth season of Doctor Who.

The third Doctor and Jo traipse off to where the Master is imprisoned on an island. Nearby ships have been disappearing. The Master is up to his usual tricks and wants to contact the creatures that he has found out about. The creatures appear and there is much mayhem.

It’s not a bad serial. It’s good to have the Master return for just one episode rather than always appearing. The Sea-Devils themselves are a bit under utilised.
Profile Image for Ian Banks.
1,104 reviews6 followers
May 27, 2024
Mr Hulke fleshes out the guest cast wonderfully and his fast-paced and clever retelling neatly hides the fact that there are only half-a-dozen locations used throughout the entire story. I would have liked a little more information about the Sea Devils, though, rather than a couple of paragraphs of potted history linking them to the Silurians, although that leads into Warriors From The Deep quite nicely.
Profile Image for Laura.
650 reviews1 follower
June 9, 2024
3.5/5

I feel like Malcolm Hulke always gets the short end of the stick adapting long serials into a very limited wordcount. There's some notable cuts here, and the Sea Devils' invasion of the base feels sort of anti-climactic, but overall I did enjoy it, especially that bit near the beginning where the Doctor and Jo discuss rising tides and the ability for apparently grand and sturdy human buildings to fall into decay.
58 reviews
June 17, 2020
When i was a child this story terrified me. The book bought back great memories as well as parts of the story that i cannot remember. Very enjoyable afternoon during lockdown easing this
Profile Image for Michael Lasco.
Author 11 books8 followers
October 16, 2021
Reading this was a return to my childhood, a wonderful retro experience.
Profile Image for Alex.
419 reviews3 followers
November 11, 2021
A solid novelisation of the Third Doctor serial 'The Sea Devils'. The characters felt completely on point and Hulke's writing kept me totally engaged in the story.
201 reviews5 followers
June 6, 2022
This book started kind of slow but then it was soooooo good. A classic Dr and the Master tale.
Profile Image for Jayaprakash Satyamurthy.
Author 43 books519 followers
June 24, 2013
I dislike recurring arch enemies in long-running series. If they are eliminated once and for all it removes a certain tension in the ongoing narrative. On the other hand, the ways in which they are constantly defeated yet escape to defy the hero another time can get contrived. The Third Doctor spent more time than most of his other avatars combating the Master, and after some time, it gets predictable. When the Master is imprisoned in an island chateau by the British government, you know it isn't going to last. He soon makes contact with reptilian sentient beings who have lain dormant beneath the seas for millenia and hatches a genocidal scheme, which the Doctor has to thwart by eventually perpetrating what the Master points out is the mass murder of a species. There's some very tense bits here, on a deserted oil rig and in the undersea base of the 'Sea-Devils' as well as some memorable side characters, especially the hapless governer of the jail where the Master is imprisoned. On the other hand, Jo Grant is my least favourite of the companions, the one who came closest to being just a bimbo, and this comes through in the novelisations too.
Profile Image for Mel.
3,519 reviews213 followers
December 6, 2012
The Sea Devils has one of my favourite moments of all time in Doctor Who, when the master watches the Clangers and thinks they are real. It wasn't mentioned in the book. This novelisation suffered from the fact that it was a long serial fit into 140 pages. The last 30 pages felt very rushed and Jo's part in repeatedly rescuing the doctor was played down. Not one of the better novels but still a good story and the illustrations were priceless.
Author 26 books37 followers
May 21, 2008
Adaption of a very good TV episode that introduces the Sea Devils.
They really should have had these guys show up in more stories, they were cool monsters.

Lots of good suspenseful bits with the monsters, some really great stuff with the Master (though he was over used during the Third Doctor's run, this was one of his better appearances) and everyone gets something to do and sounds right.
Profile Image for Kathy .
1,181 reviews6 followers
October 2, 2010
It's too bad that a longtime Doctor Who fan like myself must give this book such a poor rating, but Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils deserves it. I should know better; I had the same experience with a couple of original Star Trek books. But my little granddaughter found this at a book fair, so could I possibly resist?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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