Doctor Who: Warriors of the Deep [VHS]

The Sea Devils and Silurians return in a story which should - and could - have been much better. The whole affair is rendered completely unbelievable by being set in a seabase lit like a supermarket and containing monsters which sadly don't live up to the reputation of their 70s counterparts. Most of the cast try their best but are let down badly by the production standards. The Myrka has to be one of the most embarrassing "Who" monsters ever, looking exactly like a huge green pantomime horse. There certainly should have been another way!

Warriors of the Deep is in truth a much-maligned Fifth Doctor story that brings together both The Silurians and The Sea-devils. Memorable (unfortunately) for unarguably the series' lamest attempt at a monster - The Myrka - ostensibly a fearsome sea creature that electrocutes its enemies but in reality that pantomime horse from Rentaghost with some green paint and seaweed laid on! Only the infamous `Taran Wood Beast' rivals this monstrosity for sheer crapness - and I'm speaking as a die-hard fan!
More overtly political than many of the shows' stories, this is set in the late-21st Century and features two warring `blocs' under the sea. Featuring Hammer Horror stalwart Ingrid Pitt as Doctor Solow and `The Onedin Lines'' Tom Adams as Vorshak, The TARDIS crew (The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough) arrive on the base and The Doctor recognises a `Silurian battle cruiser' approaching. Inevitably The Doctor becomes the meat in a human/reptile sandwich (again) and eventually has to sacrifice his principles in order to save the day.
Overall the story is okay but several glaring continuity errors and rushed production (forced by Margaret Thatcher's calling of a parliamentary election - so The Myrka is her fault, hah I knew it wasn't just the milk snatching we hated her for!) leave a disappointing end product. By this time, Peter Davison had already announced he was leaving the show and the weariness with which he delivers his final line is perhaps a clear indication of the end of another era in the show's history.

Everyone knows Dr.Who is cheap and was made in a hurry and therefore you have to overlook some sloppy stuff and bad FX/cheesy monsters etc. This story is a case in point. You do have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit at times and a lot of fans just don't want to cut this story any slack. I think that's a pity as the script and story are supposed to be what counts and while this one is pretty sad in some production areas (there was a strike mid-production, apparently!) the fact is this is a fast paced, suspenseful story with a very, very good script. And the sets are impressive and the model work is good and the Silurians look quite good at times, too, so it aint all bad. Yes, there's some dodgy stuff, but if you focus on the story and just have fun, you may find it entertains. It has a great cliffhanger to part one and the final episode ends on a surprisingly hard note, too. Best of all, Peter Davison is terrific here as the underdog Fifth Doctor, he is dashing and heroic and determined to win, but faced with a moral dilemma. He dresses in a radiation suit which gives him the look of James Bond in Dr.No, and if you watch this to see a different side to the Fifth Doctor, you'll be impressed as he gets some great lines. At one point he tells Tegan to ask a huge green monster "nicely" to "go away". When she demands to know what she can possibly accomplish by staying out of the way, he tells her, "my peace of mind!" he also gets stuck into the war-mongering humans and says "I sometimes wonder why I like the people of this miserable planet so much". Yes, it lacks atmosphere, but it is still a good script and Davsion shines through. I watch it for him and the Silurian leader is strangely sad and sympathetic as non-human characters go. Overall, not as bad as its reputation, if you can focus on the good part, the Doctor and the script!