10 Huge Questions After Doctor Who: Legend Of The Sea Devils
9. Who Was Madame Ching?
Apart from the fact that she was a pirate queen who ruled the seas during China’s Qing Dynasty, there is very little historical basis to the character in Legend of the Sea Devils. Her Red Flag fleet became the biggest in history thanks to her leadership.
Although plenty of research went into bringing the character to life, there is little that could be used in a family show like Doctor Who. She married her adopted son and, after finally being defeated by the Portugese navy, she retired to run a gambling house and a brothel.
The fearsome pirate is instead given a backstory that is supposed to make the audience sympathetic to her quest to find the treasure. This fictional pirate has two young sons who will die unless she can hand over the treasure to the Black Flag fleet. She also ends up adopting the recently orphaned Ying Ki (who gets over his father’s death far too easily), favouring her motherly qualities over her leadership and pirating prowess. We are left to wonder why they bothered to base the character on the historical figure. Turning her into a mother whose sole aim is to save her children could be viewed as just as much a betrayal as her being side-lined from history.