Warriors of the Deep [TV/1984.1.5 ~ 1.13]

★☆☆☆☆

  The one star's for Peter Davison (an A for effort, if you will)... and for Pennant Roberts for at least trying to be better at directing action at the very end of the first episode. Roberts doesn't get as big a star, though, because all that goes out the window for the majority (read: the other three episodes) of the serial. 

  Where to start with Warriors of the Deep... its incredible dedication to being the most boring piece of Dr. Who in existence? I don't like the term 'so bad it's good', because for me, if it truly is so bad that it's good, it's... well, simply good. I don't go about claiming Time and the Rani's actually terrible, do I? I really enjoy it, so I say it's great. I bring this up because Warriors of the Deep is one of those serials that cannot even be defended as such; it's completely devoid of imagination and excitement, so excruciatingly slow in its pace and all too willing to get rid of any truly interesting ideas it had (Maddox, for instance). Then comes the execution, which brings along a whole new heap of problems. Johnny Byrne's original ideas for the base and the Myrka thrown into the bin in favour of the blandest set and monster design conceivable, Pennant Roberts bringing in a very stale directiorial hand, the absolute dearth of things to do for the Doctor and his friends leading to what I can only describe as desperate performances from the leading cast... the list goes on. I feel sorry for everyone who actually gave a damn about the serial, because it seems only the main star himself was really concerned about bringing his A-game to the floor. Peter Davison really should be recognised for his heavy lifting here; I don't think this would have even been remotely palatable without his giving his all for a lacklustre script. I feel sorry for Johnny Byrne somewhat as well, since the end product was so drastically different from the script he envisaged (he apparently took inspiration from Earthshock, which makes Warriors look even more dire in comparison). I feel sorry for the guest cast as well, even though quite a few of them honestly don't look like they gave a single damn. Warriors of the Deep is a truly dreadful Dr. Who serial, one I can't imagine revisiting out of my own free will.