20 Worst Moments In Modern Doctor Who

11. Sea Devil Sword Fight (Legend Of The Sea Devils)

Doctor Who Yaz Legend of the Sea Devils
BBC Studios

The climax of Legend of the Sea Devils is a confusing mess and basically the whole episode could go on this list, but if I have to pick one moment, it’s the ‘thrilling’ sword fight that happens near the end.

And yes, ‘thrilling’ is in quotes.

Choppily edited, badly directed and confusing as hell, it’s a neat summation of the episode itself, which, to be fair, was a bit of a rush job as we were coming out of the pandemic, which no doubt impacted production. Oh, and it was also written in basically three days, which, I mean… you can tell!

This should’ve been a grand, epic return for the Sea Devils after decades away, and this sequence should’ve been awesome. But it wasn’t. And what makes it extra rubbish is the painfully obvious ADR’d line from the Doctor "Don’t let the swords touch your skin!"

Really? Gee, thanks for that Doc, I was totally gonna let them whack me before you said something! Frankly it’s a relief when Ji-Hun finishes off that Sea Devil on the floor, as it meant we didn’t have to watch any more of this scene, and the episode itself was over quicker.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.