The Silurians are back! Except now they are speaking like robots and have a strange light bulb on their heads. Hmm oh well...that doesn't matter because the Sea Devils are also back! Except now instead of wearing the strange blue fish netting they are dressed like Samurai warriors...for some reason.
Also something that bothers me about the Sea Devils is the fact that they are now referring to themselves as Sea Devils. When they first appeared, the name "Sea Devil" was a name given to them by the humans who had seen them rise out of the oceans so it's not the actual name of their race. It's similar to the Ice Warriors really. That isn't their real name. Or if it is then its a bloody great coincidence!
The TARDIS lands in an underwater sea base approximately 100 years into the future where two great powers stand on the brink of war. The Silurians' plan is simple, they will break into the base and set off the first missiles that will cause the other power to retaliate and the humans will mutually destroy each other and the Silurians and Sea Devils can then reclaim the planet for themselves. Nice plan! And the cool thing is the Silurians can claim that they never killed anyone and that the humans destroyed themselves.
I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. It has a reputation of being pretty bad but I think the story itself is fairly sound. The factors that let it down are the effects. Now, normally I don't mind a few ropey effects but when we see the giant reptile known as the Myrka break into the base then I'm afraid to say that its just...well...not good. Basically, for those of you who haven't seen Warriors Of The Deep, imagine a pantomime horse situation, it's that unconvincing!
Apparently the problem was that the costume department believed the construction of the Myrka was the responsibility of the effects department and the effects department thought it was the responsibility of the costume department. As such it was all a bit of a rush job and I'm afraid it shows. They could have maybe got away with it if Michael Grade, the future head of the BBC, hadn't tuned in and thought "What the hell is this crap?!!" and with that we heard the first death toll for the show.
There's a cool scene where the Doctor gets knocked over a railing and falls in a massive tank of water. In fact this is the first cliffhanger of the story when Turlough decides, pretty much within 10 seconds of the Doctor falling into the water, that he must have drowned and therefore they should abandon him and scarper back to the TARDIS. What great support the Doctor has from his companions! Still I suppose I mustn't grumble, it wasn't that long ago that Turlough was actively seeking to kill the Doctor. Also I noticed that when Peter Davison is underwater, he looks very similar to the way he does now which is rather strange. I think it's the hair.
The story concludes with everyone on the base dead apart from the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. As the Doctor surveys the room fall of dead humans, Silurians and Sea Devils he sadly reflects that "there should have been another way" You think????
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