The Story In the midst of a cold war in the year 2084, Silurians and Sea Devils attack an undersea nuclear missile base. The Moment All of it. Why It Hasnt Aged Well Of all of 1980s Doctor Who, Warriors Of The Deep is arguably the story that has aged the most poorly. The story is certainly of its time and has its flaws but it isnt out and out bad and certainly had the potential to be a decent adventure. But it was dealt a killing blow by a surprising factor: Margaret Thatcher. While Warriors was still in the earliest stages of production, Thatcher called an early general election and studio time that would have otherwise been allocated to Doctor Who was given over to election coverage. Because of this, Warriors lost an entire two weeks of studio time and was fatally compromised as a result. A lot of scenes were under-rehearsed and, not unlike the earliest years of Doctor Who, some had to be performed in a single take. But most notably, the costume for the much reviled monster the Myrka was completed less than an hour before it was needed on set. This prevented any rehearsal for scenes where it featured from happening and meant that the paint on it was still wet and rubbed off on sets and costumes in takes that appear in the final edit. Warriors Of The Deep stands out as one of the moments that has aged the most poorly simply because it never had a chance right from the start. The flaws may not have stood out as much when it was made but time hasnt been kind to it in the thirty years since then because of both the compromised production values being outclassed and the troubled production it underwent now being public knowledge.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
