Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: bbc, chris chibnall, doctor who, Ella Road, Haolu Wang, jodie whittaker, sea devils

Doctor Who: New Sea Devils Easter Special Writer & Director Confirmed

The new writer and director of the next Doctor Who Special, "Legend of the Seas Devils" have been confirmed. The special is expected to be broadcast on Easter Sunday in April. The writer is acclaimed playwright & screenwriter Ella Road and Haolu Wang, the first Chinese-born female director to helm an episode of Doctor Who.

Of course, Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, and John Bishop are back, and the episode also stars Crystal Yu, Arthur Lee and Marlowe Chan-Reeves – and Craige Els will be playing a Sea Devil named Marsissus. Els played the alien poodle Karvanista in series 13, or "Flux" as in acid reflux, which was the effect the last season had on many viewers. Going from playing a good boy to a fish boy is certainly a lateral move.

"The next Special, Legend of the Sea Devils, is a chance for all the design departments to totally show off," Producer Matt Strevens said in an interview with the latest Doctor Who Magazine. "We built these massive, full-size galleon ships in the studio, the costumes are exquisite – John [Bishop] had great fun dressing up as a pirate… And Chris [Chibnall] is a superfan, as we know, so for him, it was really important that we did the Sea Devils justice. He was really keen to stick close to the classic design."

The plot seems to involve a female Chinese sea pirate in the 19th Century. There have in fact been at least 2 successful Chinese female sea pirates in history who led massive fleets of pirates who actually got away with it and died peacefully in their bed of old age. It will also be filmmaker Haolu Wang's first television directing work. It's fitting that the producers would hire a Chinese-born female director to oversee the episode. Hopefully, this will offset any cultural mistakes and accusations of Orientalism and racism since Doctor Who has a chequered history when it comes to Asian representation, including the yellowface and Orientalist parts of the classic 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".

Haolu Wang is not the first Asian or female director to helm Doctor Who. The original pilot "An Unearthly Child" was directed by Waris Hussein, who is both South Asian and LGBTQ. The late Paddy Russell directed episodes of the show in the 1960s and 1970s with the 1st (William Hartnell), 2nd (Patrick Troughton), and 4th (Tom Baker) Doctors. American director Rachel Talalay, who directed Tank Girl back in the 1990s, directed several episodes of the new show in the 2000s. Chinese-British Wayne Yip was the first ethnic Chinese director on the show who has also directed episodes of spin-off Class, Preacher, Happy!, Doom Patrol, The Wheel of Time, and the upcoming Amazon TV series of Lord of the Rings.

Doctor Who has always been at the forefront of diverse representation, previously more behind the camera but making up for lost time in the 21st Century. It seems close-minded fans only complain when it's the Doctor who changes gender, but that's a fight and a discussion for another day.

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