Doctor Who: Legend Of The Sea Devils Trailer Breakdown - 13 Things You Must See

3. Sea Devil Voice Translator

Doctor Who Legend of the Sea Devils trailer breakdown
BBC

Like their visual rework, the Sea Devils' vocal rework is faithful to the classic version, while simultaneously being a major upgrade.

In classic Who, the Sea Devils were capable of speaking human languages, but this time around, it appears as though their leader is using some sort of translation device worn like a necklace (at the bottom of the image above).

This device flashes along with the Sea Devil leader's voice when he's talking to the Doctor, almost like the translation spheres held by the Ood.

Doctor Who Series 13 (Flux) Ood
BBC

This does beg the question though: if the Sea Devils could already speak English in the classic series, why would they need a translation device now?

Well, Legend of the Sea Devils is set in the 19th century, and in a much more exotic location than an English quarry. Maybe the translator is so the leader can communicate with the pirates? When the TARDIS shows up, language barriers will no longer be an issue of course, but it's not like he'd just take his translator off.

Alternatively, that flashing white device might have nothing to do with Sea Devil communication, but that feels like a strong possibility right now.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.