Doctor Who: 15 Most Disastrous Stories Of All-Time

2. Warriors Of The Deep

Writer Johnny Byrne would have been better off creating an original monster for his purposes, as his script and the series history to not link at all, despite novelisations and reference books being available. Byrne writes his script around an unseen story, which introduces all number of continuity headaches. One aspect of this is the Silurians have a pet cyborg called the Myrka. It's a great big rubbery thing that knocks down a great big rubbery door and is immune to great big overacted judo kicks. Like 'Underworld' the guest cast may as well have been played by sacks of potatoes as they spurt abysmal dialogue. This is one of the few stories where nobody other than the regulars survives to the end, yet if anything it's a blessed relief. The biggest plotting issue by far is in the first 10 minutes of episode 1 after the reptilian Silurians and Sea Devils are introduced, the Doctor spots canisters of gas and states the following, "Hexachromite gas is lethal to marine and reptile life.". In no programme would dropping such an unsubtle plot point like that be excusable. 'Warriors of the Deep' is said to be one of the worst produced stories of Doctor Who, due to various industrial and indeed political disputes going on at the time. It's a miracle that this story was made, but I think some would prefer it never had been.