VHS : Doctor Who - Warriors Of The Deep [1984]

Rating: - warriors of the deep it is a classic if you have to go deep ?
this is a super deep episode think beyond what you can see go beyond what is on the screen and see the rearl doctor

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Rating: - fun with dodgy production values.
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!

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Rating: - What a waste of time
I am a huge fan of Doctor Who. In fact I own over 100 stories. But I have to say that this is possibly the worst story in its history. Since there are no good points, I'll go straight to the bad ones.

Firstly there is the overall look of the sets. O.K so, it's all clean and shiny, but when you know that the original scripts described it as more like the sets from Alien, then you feel a tad cheated.

Secondly, there is Ingrid Pitt as a germanic dropkicking medical doctor. The only thing to say about that is 'why?'.

Thirdly there is the Myrca. Described in the original scripts as being a tall, menacing monster that was always in the shadows picking off the cast one by one, you again feel cheated when it turns out to be a green panto horse, with the paint still wet. Are we supposed to be scared - only if you hate panto horses!

Even the regulars look depressed when on the screen. The Silurians were interesting villians back in 1970, yet here they are actually quite boring, and as for the Sea Devils - you can't understand a word they say, as they whisper so quietly, yet they're supposed to be terrifying warriors - hence the title.

To sum up - this is the sort of Doctor Who that non-fans see and are put off. For anyone who is starting to collect, I say steer clear of this rubbish!

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Rating: - A Dismal Beginning to Season 21
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!

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Rating: - A fine start to Season 21...
The first story of the twenty - first season of Doctor Who, 'Warriors of the Deep', is no way as bad as some fans make it out to be. The story begins with Peter Davison's Doctor and his companians Tegan and Turlough making an emergency landing in an underwater Sea Base in the year 2084, where they encounter a stressed out crew constantly under the threat of nuclear war, and poised to launch missiles at any moment on an unseen human foe.

In addition to those problems, the base soon comes under attack from a squadron of reptilian Silurians and their Sea Devil cousins (their first appearance in the series for 12 years), who intend to trigger the base's missiles and start a war that would wipe out all humans from Earth, leaving the reptiles free to take over the planet...

Although not quite an all time Doctor Who classic, 'Warriors of the Deep' still has some good points - the action sequences are very well done, and the scene where the armed guards are waiting by the Air-Lock door for the Sea Devils to break through is very tense. Turlough is also given a lot to do, at one point even picking up a gun and issuing threats to people in order to save the Doctor and Tegan from certain death at the hands of the Myrka, the giant sea beast used by the Silurians to break into the base.

Ah yes, the Myrka - perhaps not the most convincing monster costume ever used in Doctor Who, but if you can forgive this minor flaw then you will be rewarded by enjoying a good, exciting adventure with excellent performances from the cast all round, and an unusually emotional ending showing the Doctor almost on the verge of tears.