Treasure and terror

The Doctor and the gang take on pirates and sea monsters in a swashbuckling new adventure

- STEVEN PERKINS

NEW SCI-FI

Doctor Who Easter Sunday, 7.10pm, BBC1

From Autons and Sontarans to Daleks and Zygons, the classic era of Doctor Who gave rise to many memorable monsters that have since been revived to great effect in the rebooted series.

Now it’s the turn of the Sea Devils to return to the ‘Whoniverse’, after an absence of almost 40 years, in Easter Sunday’s new one-off adventure Legend of the Sea Devils.

Last appearing in 1984 (see panel, right), the Sea Devils are amphibious creatures who occupied the Earth before humans existed. This week, we see them causing chaos on the high seas in 19thcentury China, where the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) have landed during a slightly botched attempt to solve the mystery of the treasure of the ship Flor de la Mar.

In addition to the Doctor’s sub-aquatic enemies, the episode also sees the TARDIS team coming up against a band of pirates – led by the real-life historical figure of Madam Ching (Crystal Yu).

Here, Whittaker, 39, and Bishop, 55, reveal what’s in store in this all-action adventure…

What can viewers expect from Legend of the Sea Devils?

Whittaker We’re a few centuries off where the Doctor was aiming for, and the gang stumble across a period in history that is a first for the