In Earth of 2084, The TARDIS is forced to land on Sea Base Four where The Doctor (Peter Davison)
and his two companions (Tegan and Turlough) are accused of being enemy agents. Two
global superpowers hover on the brink of war. The Doctor soon finds that there are enemies within and outside of the base. The Silurians and The Sea Devils want to start a nuclear war between the two superpowers
while enemy agents want to sabotage the base.
WARRIORS OF THE DEEP was a disappointment. It was
a rushed production with a poor script. THE SILURIANS and THE SEA DEVILS were
much better than WARRIORS OF THE DEEP. Even the original costumes were better
than the new redesigned ones where the actors moved very slowly in. Somehow,
The Doctor knows about Silurian Battle Cruisers (maybe it is all that Time Lord knowledge that was restored to him in THE
THREE DOCTORS). Then the Silurians don't use their third eye to kill anyone and
somehow their murdered leader from THE SILURIANS is alive again. Writer
Johnny Byrne's script (rewritten by script editor Eric Saward) is full of holes and contradictions to the two previous serials
with the Silurians and The Sea Devils. Johnny Byrne did a better job at writing
scripts for SPACE 1999 and even DOCTOR WHO- THE KEEPER OF TARKEN is better than WARRIORS OF THE DEEP.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The audio commentary by Pater Davison (the 5th Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), script editor
Eric Saward, and visual effects designer Matt Irving is far more entertaining than the story itself. It is a funny and full of memories. I like Janet's "Cat
Suit Acting" comment the best.
THE DEPTHS is the 31 minute making of documentary. It
tells the story of how the script was rewritten after being too big for the budget and Ian Levine pointing out problems with
the continuity. Then the production was bumped up. The Myrka monster didn't quite work. Many of the cast and
crew are interviewed. Peter Davison and Janet Fielding make a great team together
for interviews. Some people in the crew feel that Pennant Roberts wasn't the
right director for this story.
CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA- the 13 minute featurette looks at the costumes for the Silurians, The
Sea Devils, and the poorly conceived Myrka.
SCIENCE IN ACTION is a vintage late 1980s interview with Matt Irvine as he discusses what materials
he uses for various Doctor Who alien costumes and other effects work.
The trails and continuities show a season trailer that has clips from a few of the stories from
that season (WARRIORS OF THE DEEP, FRONTIS). The photo gallery is a 7 minute
slide show. Also among the extras are the Radio Times Listings (DVD-ROM
required), the very entertaining production notes subtitles for the story, and the isolated music score track.
FINAL ANALYSIS: WARRIORS OF THE DEEP is the
weak story in the BENEATH THE SURFACE set. It is a rushed story with a badly
written script. The DVD extras are more entertaining than the story itself.
This DVD Review is (c)6-21-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
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