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 | Reviews for Beneath the Surface |
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There are 3 reviews so far. To add a review of your own for this item, visit the voting page.
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 23 May 2008 |
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| Rating: |   9 |
Thumbs up for the Pertwee story's. Thumbs down for Warriors. Recommended
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| "Revive... the warriors!" |
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| By: | Huw Davies, Taunton, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 30 August 2009 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Yes, we know - apparently Warriors of the Deep is rubbish. Well, I actually find it reasonably entertaining. More on that later, though...
'Doctor Who and the Silurians' is long by name, long by nature - the first of Season 6's 7-episoders. As highlighted in the super documentary What Lies Beneath it is a super portrayal of 1970s Britain, and with a homegrown threat this a reasonably unique story.
'The Sea Devils' is my personal favourite, simply because it is much more action-packed and fluid. The Navy's involvement boosts the story to the max, with hovercrafts, diving bells and warships taking to the sea to combat the Sea Devils, a cooler version of the Silurians from the depths of the ocean. Plus a welcome return from the Master - his Clangers scene is certainly not just that. Also a mention of "reversing the polarity of the neutron flow" - now we've never heard that before!
'Warriors of the Deep' isn't (in my opinion) as bad as everyone says - the Myrka is god awful, yes, but elements of the story are good, and considering this was broadcast in 1983 when nuclear strikes weren't exactly a distant fear it must have had an added sense of realism. My favourite of the extras package is the BBC Schools feature with Kjartan Poskitt about Doctor Who's visual effects, mainly because I met the guy recently - a fascinating chap.
| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 June 2011 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The Silurians always has been a giant of a Doctor Who story, in that it packs so many good elements together in an easy to follow and engrossing way. We have the extremely high calibre of acting from cast members such as Fulton Mackay and as usual Peter Miles, who are both excellently cast in their respective roles. This story also has one of the strongest moral fibres of any Doctor Who story ever. If their were these creatures in the distant past, it would be good to work with them and not blast them off the face of the planet. And also the film work on this story is highly credible and seriously brilliant. And Jon Pertwee already gleams and steals every scene he's in. Hes such an immense presence in that flowing cape of his that no one else really gets much of a chance, but they all truly give it their all! Liz Shaw is a brilliant companion, played to perfection by Caroline John. The particularly effective disease plot thread is startlingly realistic, and in some places quite awful and harrowing. Doctor Who gets increasingly more and more mature during the Third Doctor's tenure on the show. The Silurians is a real high quality story.
The Sea Devils follows on very strongly indeed. The Sea devils are very well realised in deed, and Roger Delgado as the Master is absolutely at the hieght of his powers as the charming and evil Master. The Story also again has a high moral content and Jon Pertwee again gleams like a tall light bulb and glitters somewhat all the time.
Warriors of the Deep has always had stick for the rediculous Myrka. But that is all that is lamentable about this tale. What is striking is their are no really black and white characters, just a bunch of grey and sometimes offensive people, but one still feels sorry for the female parts of this story. And yet maybe there is one other lamentable section, where Ingrid Pitt tries karate on that stupid pantomime horse. But the silurians redesign is superb, and the Sea Devils are just as good as in their first appearance on our screens all those years before. JNT certainly had some sense in bringing back faces from the past. The final scene of this tale is highly engaging and ends on yet another moral high, with the Fifth Doctor's famous "There should have been another way" line of real importance. One feels sad that the new series silurian tale just lifted wholesale elements from these three stories, and didnt bring much new to them either. But these tales overall are all very good pieces of Doctor Who. Yeah, I dont care about things like the Myrka if the story itself is still rescuable from the performance of all the other cast members. Brilliant overall indeed. Great three linked stories!
