Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 634: Warriors of the Deep, Episode Four
Dear diary,
When Turlough first arrived last season, I commented that he and Tegan together was always a TARDIS pairing that I enjoyed… but that I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. They travel together for much of this season, but it’s lots of stories that I’m not as familiar with as the Fifth Doctor’s earlier adventures. I’ve been looking forward to reaching this stage, because I wanted to try and put my finger on it. If I’m totally honest, I still don’t really know what it is that’s working so well for me, I think I’m starting to get some ideas. The pair didn’t really make that much of an impact during The King’s Demons, and they only get a little bit of time together at the start and end of The Five Doctors, but in this story we get to see them interact once more.
Both of the characters feel very rounded - certainly more so than Adric or Nyssa felt towards the end of their respective stays in the TARDIS. Tegan has settles into being someone who travels with the Doctor simply because that’s what she’s done for a while - like someone taking on a temporary position at work, and finding themselves still there several years later because it’s just what you do. She doesn’t always enjoy her travels, but she’s absolutely loyal to the Doctor, and has grown to have absolute faith in him. There’s the lovely moment in yesterday’s episode when the Doctor has already told Tegan to ‘close her eyes and make a wish’ to shield her from his Myrka-destroying ray. Several scenes later, he’s able to use almost the same phrase to keep her safe while freeing her from kidnap. They spark off each other nicely, and I think there’s a genuine affection here. Considering the look we got when Tegan invited herself back into the TARDIS in Arc of Infinity, their relationship has come a long way!
Turlough, on the other hand, is slimy. Obviously, he was given his place aboard the ship in order to kill the Doctor, and even if he’s over that phase of his life now, he certainly still comes across as a bit self-serving, and somewhat cowardly. There’s plenty of chances to see it throughout this episode - from the Doctor being pushed over the gantry and into the water (in which Tegan is determined to help, while Turlough simply decides that the man is probably dead and is ready to abandon him to his fate), and in today’s episode, where he’d much rather escape captivity and return to the TARDIS, because going after the Doctor will mean heading further into danger. This sounds like I’m being incredibly harsh on the character, but I’m really not, because this story also gives us the flip side of all that. Turlough is happy enough to pick up a gun and defend the Sea Base when he needs to, and he goes out of his way to try and get the Doctor and Tegan freed from the grip of the Myrka when they’ve been shut in. It’s moments like this that make him seem so very real, and I like that.
The dynamic between the companions and the Doctor is also an interesting one, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it might develop over the next few stories. We had a team that didn’t exactly get along during Season Nineteen, but there it was just petty squabbling that could easily get tiresome (not that I didn’t enjoy it, but I wouldn’t want much more than we actually had). Tegan and Turlough bicker in a more ‘grown up’ way, whereby she doesn’t trust him, and he doesn’t particularly care for her. And yet, when they both end up in the same cell in today’s episode, they’re both so pleased to see that the other is alive. I’ve seen it suggested that these two are ripe for a romantic pairing, and I think I can see that. The Doctor’s not overly sure on Turlough either at this stage, which is nice, because I’d really worried that the Black Guardian would be defeated and they’d all forget about the attempts on their lives!
As for the episode today… Well, I’ve been discussing the TARDIS crew because it’s a fantastic story in terms of their characterisations. I can’t say that I’ve really noticed this in either of Johnny Byrne’s other scripts for the series, but it’s something that’s shone through Warriors of the Deep, even when everything around it has been going a bit… wrong. I think part of the problem is that the Myrka turns up so early, and as I said the other day, everything around the creature goes so wrong, that it shattered the illusion for me. The story was never going to claw its way back up in my estimations, because it has been too thoroughly damaged by that attack.
On the whole, it’s been a bit of a disappointment. I went in to this story knowing that it wasn’t going to be the best one I’d ever seen, but hoping that I’d be able to find it better than general opinion would have it. As it is, I’ve come away with a sad sense that this really is one of the low points in the programme’s production. Still, we’re back to a two-part story tomorrow, featuring period pieces, and it’s one I seem to remember enjoying before. As ever with Doctor Who, there’s something completely different just around the corner…
