Review of Warriors of the Deep (#130)
DVD Release Date: 03 Jun 08
Original Air Date: 05 – 13 Jan 1984
Doctors/Companions: Five, Tegan Jovanka, Vislor Turlough
Stars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson
Preceding Story: The Five Doctors (Five, Tegan, Turlough)
Succeeding Story: The Awakening (Five, Tegan, Turlough)
One of the unintended benefits of this year’s “Everything Else” themed reviews is that I get to talk about the Sea Devils, who are slated to appear in the next special some time this spring. (My guess is on or around Easter, which is April 17.) In fact, I get to review both of their on-screen appearances, first this month in Warrior of the Deep and then at the end of April (presumably shortly after the aforementioned special) in their debut story The Sea Devils.
Somewhat ironically, while the Sea Devils are the eponymous warriors here, what most people remember about this story (when they bother to remember it at all) is the non-sentient monster of the piece, the Myrka. Before listening to the recent Verity! podcast episode about Warriors, I had forgotten pretty much everything else myself. But the Myrka is actually a relatively small player in the overall story, while humanity’s willingness to annihilate itself, and individual humans’ willingness to exploit each other, are more immediate threats.
Watching Warriors nearly forty years after its broadcast (which makes me feel really old), I get a strange sense both that I completely agree with Tegan’s point that very little has changed in the 100 years since her time (~60 years from now) and that things are quite different. To wit, the last time I watched it, I have a vague recollection of having felt much more sympathetic angst about the destruction of humanity.
Because here’s the thing: I’m a child of the ’80s. My major childhood fear was that there would be a nuclear war with the USSR. (See? Not even “Russia,” it’s been so long…) The kind of horrific event the Silurians are trying to precipitate using Sea Base 4 is exactly the kind of thing that terrified me to my core during the first two decades of my life. But maybe living through a global pandemic takes the edge off of that particular flavor of existential dread…
Instead I picked up more of a “base under siege” vibe (not exactly odd, since that’s literally what it is). I was focused more on the interpersonal machinations, and the direct assault on Sea Base 4, than I had previously been on the more global threat. As I think about it, that really is consistent with the shift in mindset since COVID hit; I can’t do much about the global threat, and so I have to concentrate on what’s right here inside the place I can’t leave. Talk about life experience shaping the way one approaches media!
The most tragic part of the whole story, from my current perspective, is the way the poor intern Maddox was exploited (again, feeling a little too real). Add to that the fact that no one else noticed until it was already too late—the humans have become the real “devils” here—and the calamities begin to pile up. In the end [SPOILER], with the possible exception of one crew member who remained off-screen so that we don’t know his fate for certain, no one but the TARDIS crew leaves the Sea Base alive. It’s not exactly what I’d call a “comfort watch.”
Despite its somewhat depressing nature, though, the story is actually decent. Most of it makes sense; the premise is sound; and the Doctor gets to do some clever, Doctor-y things to save the day, even if the final result is still grim. I came out of my re-watch thinking more highly of the story than I had before.
As for the Sea Devils themselves, they come across as mostly-competent fighters, even if they are simply taking orders from their evolutionary cousins the Silurians. I will grant that their necks are not strong enough to support their choice of headgear, but that detail can get filed under “Sets, Wobbly, etc.” If that aspect of Classic Who is a deal-breaker for you, you may find these Sea Devils a bit hard to take (I actually found them more distracting than the oft-reviled Myrka, which didn’t really bother me).
If you can overlook the production values, I’d recommend giving this one a shot. It is, after all, one only two chances to see the Sea Devils on-screen—at least until they meet up with Jodie. But that’s a post for another time.