Many of the series' classic adversaries were resurrected for Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor era, though as it was the 80s, these returns always became jut a little bit weird. He re-encountered the Silurians and the Sea Devils (last seen in the days of Jon Pertwee) in Warriors of the Deep, in which the Time Lord battled the amphibious double act of evil at a military base beneath the ocean. Bright studio lighting was never going to hide a multitude of sins but the producers might have considered turning them off for the Myrka. Fulfilling the requisite "monster of the week" quota, writer Johnny Byrne intended the enemy's pet to be a terrifying Creature from the Black Lagoon. Instead, he got a pantomime horse made out of seaweed. The late, great Queen of Hammer Horror Ingrid Pitt guest starred as the calculating scientist Solow, the victim of this entry. Sabotage plans thwarted, her luck finally ran out when she met the Myrka in the Sea Base corridors. Performing an extraordinary martial arts move resembling a Tracy Brother dancing on a hot plate, she reckoned without the menace's ability to shoot lightning from its eyes and promptly bought the watery farm.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
