History Recap / DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsoftheDeep

The one where Creator/IngridPitt karate-kicks a pantomime horse, and Creator/PeterDavison is caught deciding to quit the show mid-filming.

The base crew is less than amused; also, Maddox seemingly going berserk and dying after taking out several important missile-launching computers doesn't help matters. But the Silurians attacking Sea Base 4 en masse really pushes the base into panic mode. The Doctor charges onto the bridge of Sea Base 4, [[OhCrap and promptly realizes what's about to happen]]. He [[{{Infodump}} quickly explains]] to the crew of Sea Base 4 who's about to attack them all, and that they need to get ready for the worst: a Silurian weapon called [[PantomimeAnimal The Myrka]]. The large, lumbering beast rips through Airlock-1 like it was badly supported plastic. This bio-engineered weapon is so fearsome that humans run up to be embraced by its [[{{Narm}} deadly hugs]] and random spurts of electricity. Meanwhile, a contingent of Sea Devils, resplendent in their {{Samurai}} armor, begin shooting circles of light at soldiers from Airlock-5. The Doctor is able to [[BlindedByTheLight destroy the Myrka]] with a bright blast of UV Light, but not before it [[WimpFight kills Doctor Solow]] [[SarcasmMode in a remarkable display of hand-to-hand prowess]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that was never ever rolled out before the public as a valid reason to kill off the show]].

* ChekhovsArmory: A rather obvious one in the hexachromite gas, which is lethal to marine and reptile life.

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: The Sea Devil taskforce Elite Group One armor were similar to samurai (especially the helmet.)

* {{Samurai}}: The Sea Devils' armor invokes this image.

This serial was a nightmare behind the scenes. As production was starting up, then-Prime Minister UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher announced a Parliamentary election, which resulted in the production for this serial losing two weeks to election coverage. Rather than cancel the serial and funnel the leftover money into the other productions that season, it was decided to push ahead anyhow.

The green paint on [[PantomimeAnimal The Myrka]] literally didn't have time to dry before its scenes were filmed. The lighting, which the script called for being lowered to "dark" levels, was instead cranked up to maximum brightness. [[ExecutiveMeddling Because someone upstairs figured the elderly would call in, complaining the TV was on the blink.]]

* DirtyCoward: Turlough.

* TooDumbToLive: Solow attempts to karate kick the Myrka. It does not end well.

Mild panic ensues, but the Doctor is able to drop the TARDIS off somewhere mildly safer: an undersea military nuclear missile launch base known as Sea Base 4, also currently under threat of nuclear attack. The Cold War has somehow started up again by the year 2084, [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp or maybe it's still going]]. The best we get from the Doctor is that "two power blocs" are engaged in a Cold War of sorts, but the entire story remains deliberately vague about it all.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Averted since we're never explicitly told much of anything about either of the power blocs, just that there's two of them, which was a deliberate decision to avoid dating the politics.

The one where Creator/IngridPitt karate-kicks a pantomime horse, and Peter Davison is caught deciding to quit the show mid-filming.

Again, [[SarcasmMode it certainly would be handy]] at this point to have a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E6TheKingsDemons shapeshifting robot]] on the team, wouldn't it?

This serial was a nightmare behind the scenes. As production was starting up, then-Prime Minister UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher announced a Parliamentary election, which resulted in the production for this serial losing two weeks to election coverage. Rather than cancel the serial and funnel the leftover money into the other productions that season, it was decided to damn the torpedoes and push ahead anyhow. [[TroubledProduction Many have said this was a mistake]], in retrospect.

The green paint on [[PantomimeAnimal The Myrka]] literally didn't have time to dry before its scenes were filmed, which got a bit silly when it rubbed off on just about everything. The lighting, which the script called for being lowered to "dark" levels, was instead cranked up to maximum brightness. [[ExecutiveMeddling Because someone upstairs figured the elderly would call in, complaining the TV was on the blink.]]

Finally, BBC head Michael Grade hated this serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as "proof" that the series has had better days.

The one where Creator/IngridPitt karate-kicks a pantomime horse, and Peter Davidson is caught deciding to quit the show mid-filming.

Meanwhile, old Doctor Who enemies [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians the Silurians]] and their sea-cousins [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E3TheSeaDevils the Sea-Devils]] are waking up from a long rest. They're now also calling themselves "Silurians" and "Sea Devils", despite both those terms having been made up by the Doctor (and despite "Silurian" being technically wrong anyway, as the Doctor had already pointed out years before). One of the Silurians, Icthar, is in charge as one of the remaining survivors from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians the last time]] the Doctor ran into them. However, time has not been kind to Icthar, or the others in his charge, as the Silurians now mumble incoherently with a [[ThirdEye little flashing light]] to tell us who is talking to whom. The Sea Devils, meanwhile, [[EvilSoundsRaspy whisper menacingly]]... while seemingly bobbing about with their heads tilted to one side. (As Janet Fielding says in the commentary, it always looks like they're going "...you wha?") The Silurians and Sea-Devils have plans and these plans involve Sea Base 4.

Finally involved in the story again, the Doctor and his companions decide to meander around the top secret undersea nuclear missile base for no reason, exploring the area and getting a feel for the future. Since they landed in a storage closet, the Doctor decides that pointing out the barrels of hexachromite gas, [[ChekhovsArmory which is a gas that's lethal to all marine and reptile life]], would be a cool fact of the day for his companions to know. And then they're immediately chased around by guards, because [[GenreBlindness Turlough]] accidentally sets off some alarms. While trying to provide a distraction ''by intentionally triggering the nukes'', the Doctor is shoved into a giant pool of water. [[FantasticRadiationShielding Inside the reactor]] everyone was just running through. Tegan frets about the Doctor for about two seconds, after which Turlough decides that the Doctor's dead because "[[MemeticMutation HE'S DROWNED.]]" Tegan and Turlough are then quickly captured by the soldiers of the "Us" Bloc, and the ''Series/DoctorWho'' franchise ends in the death of the Doctor.

The one where Creator/IngridPitt karate-kicks a pantomime horse.

* EternalRecurrence: Humanity has once again divided into Eastern and Western power blocs with the power to destroy the world.

Finally, BBC head Michael Grade hated this serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings.

* DownerEnding: The story concludes with massive character slaughter on the magnitude of a Shakespearean tragedy and, famously, ends with the line "There should have been another way."

BBC head Michael Grade also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the ultimate downward spiral of the show]], or at the very least the near-cancellation of 1986. It's not quite that simple, though - there were additional factors outside of it, most importantly Creator/JohnNathanTurner and Eric Saward's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor being disastrously handled, an eighteen-month hiatus, and the problematic first season of Sylvester [=McCoy=]. Quality would start to pick up again in Season 25 under new script editor Andrew Cartmel (once he got rid of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Pip & Jane Baker]]) but by then it was too late.

Finally, "Warriors of the Deep" is noted for being the last appearance of the Fifth Doctor's "first" outfit. The Doctor [[ChangedMyJumper changes pants into something more creamy-pink and adds a stripe to his sweater]] for the next serial.

BBC head Michael Grade also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the ultimate downward spiral of the show]], or at the very least the near-cancellation of 1986. It's not quite that simple, though - there were additional factors outside of it, most importantly Creator/JohnNathanTurner and Eric Saward's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor being disastrously handled, an eighteen-month hiatus, and the problematic first season of Sylvester [=McCoy=]. Quality would start to pick up again in Season 25 under new script editor Andrew Cartmel (once he got rid of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Pip & Jane Baker]] but by then it was too late.

BBC head Michael Grade also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the ultimate downward spiral of the show]], or at the very least the near-cancellation of 1986. It's not quite that simple, though - there were additional factors outside of it, most importantly Creator/JohnNathanTurner and Eric Saward's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor being disastrously handled, an eighteen-month hiatus, and the problematic first season of Sylvester McCoy. Quality would start to pick up again in Season 25 under new script editor Andrew Cartmel (once he got rid of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Pip & Jane Baker]] but by then it was too late.

BBC head Michael Grade also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the ultimate downward spiral of the show]], or at the very least the near-cancellation of 1986. It's not quite that simple, though - there were additional factors outside of it, most importantly Creator/JohnNathanTurner and Eric Saward's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor being disastrously handled, an eighteen-month hiatus and an only-barely-successful Hail Mary Pass in "The Trial of a Time Lord". Quality would slowly start to pick up again in Season 24 under new script editor Andrew Cartmel (once he got rid of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani the final Saward-commissioned Pip & Jane Baker script]]), but by then it was too late.

BBC head Michael Grade also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of the series' failings. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the ultimate downward spiral of the show]], or at the very least the near-cancellation of 1986. It's not quite that simple, though - there were additional factors outside of it, most importantly Creator/JohnNathanTurner and Eric Saward's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor being disastrously handled, an eighteen-month hiatus and an only-barely-successful Hail Mary Pass in "The Trial of a Time Lord". Quality would slowly start to pick up again in Season 24 under new script editor Andrew Cartmel (once he got rid of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani the final Saward/Baker script]], but by then it was too late.

Michael Grade, a notorious detractor of the series who despised its inability to live up to the visual quality of big-budget sci fi cinema (apparently ignoring the BBC's paltry budget), also took notice of the poor quality of the serial, screening the infamous karate-kicking scene to BBC executives upon taking the reins of the network as proof of why the series deserved to be cancelled. Consequently, some credit this serial's production for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero singlehandedly leading to the cancellation of the show]] in December of 1989 (though there were additional factors outside of it, such as Creator/JohnNathanTurner's approach to the series rapidly turning against itself once Peter Davison left, resulting in Creator/ColinBaker's tenure as the Doctor and the first year of Creator/SylvesterMcCoy's being disastrously handled, and the fact that Grade had such a heavy vendetta against the show that he would've tried to get it canned regardless of what happened behind the scenes).

The paint on [[PantomimeAnimal The Myrka]] hadn't even yet dried before the scenes involving it were filmed, which got a bit silly when the green paint of the costume rubbed off on just about everything. The lighting, which the script called for being lowered to "dark" levels, was instead cranked up to maximum brightness. [[ExecutiveMeddling Because someone upstairs figured the elderly would call in, complaining the TV was on the blink.]]

The one where a lady karate-kicks a pantomime horse.

* FinalSolution: The Silurians decide the best course of action is to wipe out humanity entirely, by triggering the war Sea Base 4 was designed to fight. Vorshak even outright refers to it as a "final solution."

** Veers into [[IAmAMonster I Am a Monster]] territory when the Doctor looks over his best efforts to stop the fighting.

Creator/PeterDavison and Janet Fielding both [[ArtistDisillusionment announced their intent to leave the series]] during the production of this serial. It is entirely possible that, had this serial not been done, Davison [[WhatCouldHaveBeen could have stayed on for another season]], potentially becoming the Doctor with the third-longest tenure by season count (behind Creator/JonPertwee's five and Creator/TomBaker's seven; everyone else had been on for three seasons at most). Janet Fielding's contract may not have been renewed, however, as she had been on for three years by this point.

* KillTheCutie: The death of [[spoiler: Karina]].

Creator/PeterDavison and Janet Fielding both [[ArtistDisillusionment announced their intent to leave the series]] during the production of this serial. It is entirely possible that, had this serial not been done, Davison [[WhatCouldHaveBeen could have stayed on for another season]] (although Janet Fielding's contract may not have been renewed, as she had been on for three years by this point).