The Fantasy Review’s brief history of the Silurians in Doctor Who.
With the Sea Devils returning in the upcoming Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, we thought it would be fun to take a look at their evolutionary cousins: the Silurians.
Who and What Are Silurians?
Silurians are a reptilian species native to Earth who ruled an advanced civilisation, long before humans turned up. They are humanoid reptiles, so have scaly skin and cold blood, and are very strong.
Despite ruling a civilisation on Earth, the Silurians (along with the Sea Devils) went into hibernation when they believed the atmosphere of the planet would be destroyed. They went far underground into hibernation chambers for millions of years, but the apocalyptic event never happened.
Silurians have strong traditions and are an honourable species. Their hibernation was a sacred duty to them, providing us with the best example of how they had a great love and respect for order and science.
In the Classic episodes of Doctor Who, Silurians were telepathic, using a third eye to communicate with each other, hypnotise others, and even control physical objects. In more recent years, we have met a new subspecies who have venomous tongues and only two eyes.
Previous Adventures with the Silurians in Doctor Who
Pre-2005, the Silurians had several run-ins with the Doctor, including:
- Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970)
- Warriors of the Deep (1984)
In Doctor Who and the Silurians, a colony of Silurians are brought out of hibernation under a nuclear research centre. The Third Doctor does what he can to broker a peace between humans and Silurians, but humans panic and a Silurian is killed.
Because of this, UNIT destroys the base, killing all the Silurians to protect humanity. This is a tough one to watch.
The Fifth Doctor comes up against a similar issue in Warriors of the Deep. In this story, the Silurians and the Sea Devils are working together to destroy humanity and take back the planet.
This time, it is the Doctor who stops them, not UNIT, by using toxic gas.
Post-2005 Revival
The Eleventh Doctor came with the return of the Silurians, if a slightly different subspecies. This story was told in the two-parter, The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood (2010).
Much like the previous stories, the Silurians woke beneath a mining project in Wales and the Doctor is forced to try and broker a peace between humanity and the Silurians.
Despite mistakes on both sides, the Silurians opt for postponing negotiations, rather than all-out war, setting a timer for 1000 years, hoping peace might yet be possible. This was the most hopeful ending to one of these stories.
Madame Vastra
In the modern era of Doctor Who, we also got a series regular who was a Silurian; Madame Vastra. She was woken from hibernation during Victorian excavations, and became a loyal ally to the Doctor.
Silurians and the Sea Devils: The War Between the Land and the Sea
Silurians and Sea Devils are evolutionarily linked – like cousins. The main “villains” of The War Between the Land and the Sea are the Sea Devils. It will certainly be interesting to see if any links are made to Silurians in the new show.
