Warriors of the Deep by Johnny Byrne
5 - 13 January 1984
I've always had a particular soft spot
for the Silurians and the Sea Devils. Their conflict with humankind is
inherently different from that of the various alien races that populate
this show, and lends itself to some interesting drama.
It's unfortunate that their appearance here, their first since Pertwee's
early days, is wasted on a story that fails its promising foundations
and is all around just a bit unpleasant.
The way this story looks has been remarked upon many times, from the
wobbly sets to the Myrka, problems which were probably unavoidable for
the most part. I can't help feeling, however, that some different
directorial decisions could have patched up most of these issues and
made the story more visually pleasing.
My chief issue with the story lies more in its unremitting pessimism and
its level of violence. Not to go all Mary Whitehouse on you or
anything, but some moments felt excessive, like the Sea Devil melting in
the latter part of the story. The "everybody dies" ending left a pretty
bad taste in my mouth. It is arguably a good fit for the theme of
mutually assured destruction that permeates this story, but I wasn't in
much of a mood for it and thought it was done in a bit of a tacky way
regardless.
I don't have much else to say about this one at present except that I'm a
bit disappointed that a great story could have been made from this.
Alas.
The Awakening is next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 28 April 2024.)
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