Some enticing new information has been announced regarding the next Doctor Who special, Legend of the Sea Devils.
The episode will see Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, along with companions Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop), travel to a coastal village in nineteenth-century Asia. Here they find the villagers under threat from both Madame Ching – a Chinese pirate queen based on the real historical figure – and the eponymous Sea Devils. Last seen in 1984 serial Warriors of the Deep, the Sea Devils are an underwater form of the ancient Earth-dwelling Silurians.
The episode’s guest cast, we now know, includes Crystal Yu as Madame Ching, Arthur Lee as Ji-Hun, Marlowe Chan-Reeves as Ying Ki, and Craige Els as Marsissus. If you recognise that last name, that’s because Els appeared in the last series, Doctor Who: Flux, as canine alien Karvanista – but it seems that this is an unconnected character, perhaps one of the Sea Devils.
The script is co-written by showrunner Chris Chibnall and Who newcomer Ella Road. Road is best known for her science fiction play The Phlebotomist and for her work on Amazon Prime series Ten Percent. The episode is also the television debut of acclaimed short film director Haolu Wang.
The episode is expected to air sometime around Easter. After this, there will be one more outing for Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor – a feature-length special which will air in autumn. Then in 2023, the as-yet-unannounced Fourteenth Doctor will take over the TARDIS, alongside returning showrunner Russell T Davies.