Warriors of the Deep

130 – Warriors of the Deep
Doctor Who serial
The Silurian leader, Icthar, gives the Sea Devil commander, Sauvix, battle plans to attack the humans.
Cast
Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor)
Companions Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough)
Others Tom Adams — Vorshak Ian McCulloch — Nilson Ingrid Pitt — Solow Nigel Humphreys — Bulic Tara Ward — Preston Martin Neil — Maddox Nitza Saul — Karina James Coombes — Paroli Norman Comer — Icthar Stuart Blake — Scibus Vincent Brimble — Tarpok Christopher Farries — Sauvix
Production
Directed by	Pennant Roberts
Written by	Johnny Byrne
Script editor	Eric Saward
Produced by	John Nathan-Turner
Incidental music composer	Jonathan Gibbs
Production code	6L
Series	Season 21
Length	Four episodes, 25 minutes each
Date started	5 January 1984
Date ended	13 January 1984
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Five Doctors The Awakening
List of Doctor Who serials

Warriors of the Deep

Author	Terrance Dicks
Cover artist	Andrew Skilleter
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	87
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	16 August 1984
ISBN

Warriors of the Deep is the first serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 5 January to 13 January 1984. This story started the 21st season of the Doctor Who series and it marked the return of the Silurians and the Sea Devils.

The human world is divided into two opposing super power blocs. One of the blocs have created a secret underwater base, Sea Base 4, which is strategically positioned and has nuclear weapons aimed at the opposing bloc. As a security measure, the Seabase nuclear weapons cannot be activated unless a trained human operator can "sync" their mind with the computer and authorize their deployment.

The base's crew is led by Commander Vorshak and his senior officers, Nilson, Bulic, Security Chief Preston, and Lt. Michaels, the base's sync operator. Lt. Michaels is mysteriously killed before the start of the story, and as a result, his inexperienced apprentice, Ensign Maddox, is forced to assume Michaels' official responsibilities. The story begins on the bridge of Sea Base 4. Vorshak and Bulic noticed something strange on their long range sensors, but dismiss it as being a trivial glitch. In reality, the glitch is a Silurian battleship led by Icthar, the sole survivor of the Silurian Triad and his subordinates, Tarpok and Scibus, who are monitoring Sea Base 4.

Inside the TARDIS, Turlough has changed his mind about going home, and the Doctor plans to show Tegan something of Earth’s future. As the TARDIS materialises in space, it is attacked by Sentinel Six, a robot weapons system. In a blink of an eye, the Doctor manages to save the TARDIS by materializing on to Sea Base 4.

Sea Base 4 undergoes a practice missile run, but Maddox, the temporary sync operator, is uncertain of his skill at the job. When Maddox faints after the practice run, Vorshak begins to realize that the function of the base will continue to be compromised until either Maddox lives up to his duties or a replacement is assigned. Nilson and the Base’s chief medical officer, Doctor Solow, who are enemy agents for the opposing bloc, plan to program Maddox to destroy the computer circuitry. To do this, they ask Vorshak to release Maddox’s duplicate program disk under the pretext of helping the sync operator cope with his job. Vorshak does so, and Maddox is programmed in the Base’s psycho-surgery unit.