Doctor Who Redesigning A Classic Monster Is A Relief After Jodie Whittaker Era’s Made Them A Joke

The first Doctor Who spin-off from the latest era of New Who is in active development, and leaked photos from the set reveal that a familiar villain seen in the Whittaker era is getting an updated design. With the long history behind Doctor Who, spanning more than six decades, the Doctor has faced an incredible number of aliens and monsters on their travels. Along the way, several of these antagonists are brought back, such as the Daleks and Cybermen, who end up becoming regulars throughout the history of the show.

However, there are other creatures who appeared once or twice in the classic series, and have been featured again in the revived show. This forms a connection between the classic series, and the fanbase who grew up watching Doctor Who, and modern viewers. While this works extremely well for some characters, like the Sontarans or the Ice Warriors from Mars, not every classic Who villain’s design works in the modern show, as seen by the return of the Sea Devils in Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor era.

Doctor Who’s Authentic Sea Devils Design Didn’t Work In Jodie Whittaker’s Era

The Sea Devils Old Design Should Have Stayed In The Past

The issue comes down to the way that these monsters are represented on Doctor Who. In the classic series, some of the most outlandish aliens to appear were created using prosthetics, large rubber suits, and other props. This served a purpose, and allowed the show to create a variety of aliens, but there was a disconnect between these foreboding creatures who appear organic, but have no real range of movement. To get around it in the case of the Sea Devils, the classic series established that these creatures communicate telepathically, which meant they didn’t need to have moving mouths.

When these classic monsters were brought back in 2022, they retained their classic design and telepathy, but with updated technology and costume designs, the creatures have mouths that could be functional. It resulted in a weird disconnect between creatures who have no real purpose for this telepathic communication, and could have had more expressive faces with modern tech. While the design stayed authentic to the original, it would have been worth considering how these creatures could have been updated.

The New Sea Devils Design Will Make Them More Expressive

Sea Devils Were Long Overdue An Update

Fortunately, the Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, appears to be doing exactly that. The show is set to follow important events and developments between the humans, specifically represented by UNIT, and the Sea Devils, one of the original sentient species that inhabited Earth before the humans became the dominant species. Even this connection means that both humanoid creatures have reasons to share similarities in their look over the course of their evolution. And in order to better communicate this, and make the Sea Devils a more engaging and interesting species in the show, the design has been updated to become far more human-like.

Similar to the Silurians, which is another race of lizard-like humanoids, the Sea Devils will now have a very similar facial structure, with unique ear shapes, skin colors, and the texture of their skin, judging by the leaked set photos. Obviously, the design could change again before the show is released, and with the images coming from set leaks, it’s hard to say for certain that this is a new design, but it appears to be the equivalent to the missing link between classic Sea Devils and humans.

Authenticity Is Usually A Good Thing In Doctor Who, But Not Always

Doctor Who Has Always Changed With The Times

When it comes to creatures like the Sontaran, it’s worth it to retain the same design for a race of aliens who have reached the peak of their evolution. The warrior species are perfectly adapted to their primary objective, and unless the species undergoes a radical change, there is no real need to change it. On the other hand, there are enemies like the Cybermen and Daleks who retain the same core design, but as hybrid robotic creatures, they can change and be updated in small ways over time.

With a show like Doctor Who, the entire of time and space is up for grabs, so the show can show the beginning, middle and end of an evolutionary cycle. For audiences to recognize these monsters as being versions of the same species, all the show needs is to have the Doctor speak this information out loud, or discover it in some database. There is no real reason to stick with one design that was built in one way for practicality in the 1960s or 1970s, when modern methods could improve these designs and make something more realistic, more authentic, and more fun. Thankfully, the Doctor Who spin-off appears to be on the right track.