It has been a while but Doctor Who returned to NFT1 at the BFI Southbank yesterday for another fantastic event. Celebrating the upcoming release of Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 21 was a screening of a new version of ‘Warriors of the Deep’. Plus of course there were more special guests than you could find on Seabase 4!
Attendees from across the UK but also the Netherlands and the USA were not disappointed with another brilliant event hosted by the BFI and supported by BBC Studios. Hosts Justin Johnson and Dick Fiddy began festivities with Al Dewar from Character Toys the first guest on stage to discuss the recently released Tegan action figure. It was revealed that the figure was a completely new sculpt and construction, with actors having two strikes available if they dislike their likeness. Dewar had also very generously provided a couple of those figure sets as prizes for the traditional quiz. James Sutton also showed off the recently acquired Silurian communicator and Pete McTighe made his first venture up onto stage to tease the new, special edition version of ‘Warriors of the Deep‘.
‘Warriors of the Deep’ special edition
The new version of ‘Warriors of the Deep’ centres around a new edit of the four episodes. For example, some of the needless scenes of Silurian dialogue have been trimmed out. This is what has made the biggest impact, in my opinion. There’s simply a bit more pace to the narrative. However, the most significant change is of course the reimagined Myrka. Although I personally felt the wider shots of the full creature made it look a bit square and stocky, the head was far more dramatic and impressive. I won’t spoil the death of Dr Solow (played by the iconic Ingrid Pitt), but the reaction from the audience was euphorically positive.
Alongside the new Myrka, additional new material was also filmed of Sea Devils and Silurians to add more shots which could be added to the new edit, allowing for the action sequences to be more dynamic. Other tweaks included new model work and removing the Silurians third eye flashing when they spoke, more consistent with the creature’s original appearance. Some changes were even more subtle. For instance, Sea Devil heads and helmets which slip and lean to one side in later parts of the story have been corrected. ‘Warriors of the Deep‘ had a notoriously difficult production and whilst these changes can’t hide all the flaws in the final product, this is an excellent version of what is underneath a rather good story.
Guests
In between episodes 2 and 3 of the story Dick Fiddy invited Matthew Sweet up on stage to discuss some of the upcoming ‘In Conversation’ interviews. The intention of those is to delve deeper into the lives of individuals beyond Doctor Who. Season 21 of The Collection range will therefore feature new interviews with Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson and Matthew Waterhouse. A few clips from those interviews were later shown and they will I’m sure be a fascinating watch. Sweet also had high praise for the set design by Tony Burrough for ‘Warriors of the Deep‘ and highlighted writer Johnny Byrne‘s Space:1999 experience. If only they’d had a bit more time to work on this production…
Following the conclusion of the story Pete McTighe was back on that stage alongside Mark Ayres and Chris Thompson discussing more details of the new ‘Warriors of the Deep’ edition. Ayres has done some very subtle work on improving the audio, such as making the Silurian voices sound better. Thompson worked on the reimagined Myrka, much like he had done on the Rutan for ‘Horror of Fang Rock’ back for the Season 15 release. The result was far less of the pantomime horse shuffling through the sea base, and instead was something far more dynamic. Of course, there are scenes where individuals have to fall in the vicinity of the deceased creature and so they couldn’t veer too far away from the original. But ultimately the results of the new Myrka were excellent and fans should look forward to seeing it on the new box set.
The Trailer
After a screening of the launch trailer for the Collection Season 21 box set, McTighe was back up on stage again, this time with James Sutton to explain how that trailer came together. This included the lead actress being injured and the mix of Daleks used to menace the Doctor and Tegan. Also showcased were the new sonic screwdriver for the Fifth Doctor and the Trion beacon, both created by Sutton. The lengths which McTighe and so many creative people go to for these boxsets, creating new versions of stories and new stories for trailers, demonstrates how lucky Doctor Who fans are when it comes to these releases.
Even more excitingly the adventure which begins in the trailer and sees the Daleks capturing the Fifth Doctor and Tegan will continue in the pages of a Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. Will the Doctor and Tegan be taken to Trion? Will they find Turlough? Can they triumph over the Daleks once again? Pick up DWM in a few issues time to find out…
The Headliners
Finally the headline actors for the event were invited onto stage. As usual Peter Davison and Janet Fielding continued their verbal sparring with Sarah Sutton surprisingly added to the line-up to act as mediator. This trio have united once again for a ‘road trip’ special feature on the new box set. But this time they’re going by boat! By the sounds of it that journey was not without its difficulties, much like ‘Warriors of the Deep‘, namely due to the boat not fitting up the intended waterway. Then came debate regarding Davison’s boat saving the filming but which Fielding described as “skanky”. The neutral Sarah Sutton neatly navigated the two actors through that particular disagreement like a skilled therapist. She has clearly had years of practice!
Also joining the TARDIS trio was Tara Ward who had played Preston in ‘Warriors of the Deep‘ and recollections turned back to that particular story. Despite the production difficulties the memories of the cast were the director Pennant Roberts always seemed to be calm on the outside. The regulars were of course already used to the pressure of needing to complete filming before the electricity was switched off at 10pm! Ward also shared the story that Ingrid Pitt had been taking karate lessons around the time of the filming. As a result the infamous karate fight with the Myrka was allowed to take place and television history was made.
This panel was highly entertaining and brought the event to a lovely conclusion.
Next time…
Another exciting announcement was that there are plans for a screening of the newly remastered version of the 1996 TV Movie at the BFI. That would be a perfect way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Paul McGann’s debut as the Eighth Doctor. I’m looking forward to it already! Before then there is the new collection boxset to devour when it is released in a few weeks time. If the new version of ‘Warriors of the Deep‘ and the clips from the bonus features are anything to go by this will be another stellar boxset.
It’s the worst Davison story.
I’m looking forward to this release!