11 Things Doctor Who Wants You To Forget

6. Enter The Myrka

This list has carefully avoided poking fun at unconvincing monster costumes because it just isn't fair. Given the real world constraints of producing Doctor Who, there are bound to be monsters that don't work quite as well as was originally hoped. Sometimes, though, the results are so disastrous and they make a mockery of the entire episode as a result. When thinking of the most awful monsters, the Myrka is the first that springs to mind. This monster "starred" in a couple of episodes of the four-part serial Warriors of the Deep, which had to be completed in less than the usual time causing much strain throughout the production team. Keen to keep viewers happy after the successful 20th anniversary year, producer John Nathan-Turner wanted a season opener with both the Silurians and the Sea Devils. The story, rather ambitiously, also called for a third type of monster: the Myrka. This third monster proved to be a monster too far, stretching the capabilities of the visual effects and costumes teams beyond their limits. When filming began, the paint on the Myrka costume was literally still wet (some of it got on the series regulars during shooting) and the costume operators (famously, the pair who operated the pantomime horse, Dobbin, in Rentaghost) hadn't had time for a proper fitting. The costume was so cumbersome the operators could barely move and one of them was dangerously close to getting high on the paint and glue fumes. It is hardly surprising, then, that the Myrka was slow and unthreatening. Worse, the lighting of the set was so bright that every defect in the costume was ruthlessly exposed to the viewers. The nadir of this poor prehistoric beast was its entrance into the seabase, pushing down doors that were obviously polystyrene. In some cases an effect is so bad, it's good. Not this time, though.