Why I like the Myrka
The Myrka is justly famous for being the worst effect in all of Doctor Who. Doctor Who effects have, over the years, attracted some degree of derision, particularly in the 20th century portion of the show, but in fact they run the entire gamut from truly excellent, to as good as it was possible to make them at the time, to good enough, to on a budget, to we lost our funding 2/3 of the way through and had to get creative, to actually embarassing, to, well...the Myrka. And that's okay. Some things just don't work - but if yu stick to what you know is going to work, you never try anything new. It's Doctor Who's creativity and willingness to take risks that has kept it vibrant through 30+ seasons - and hopefully as many more. Not all of these ideas pan out, but it's still very much worth doing.
The Myrka is actually a really cool idea. The sea is full of terrifying things, many of them only fractionally understood. The Myrka is one such, a servant of the Sea Devils in much the same way as the Silurians use dinosaurs as guard dogs and such. It's a good old fashioned monster, which is always fun. I actually really like some of the design on the Myrka, because it is built to look like the Sea Devils, particularly in facial structure. It's not yet another plesiosaur - if anything it resembles those ancient antarctic amphibians - giant salamanders. And it is amphibious, like the Sea Devils themselves - it needs to be to invade the undersea base. It's also electric - which is awesome. An enemy that can kill you ust by touching you is super effective, especially against martial arts experts.
The Myrka is big, scary, and unstoppable - it clears the way for the Sea Devil invasion. There's something very effective about sending in a big unstoppable monster in first. For one, it's unstoppable, so... But also there's a huge psychological advantage. Fill the enemy with dread and hoplessness, and make them spend what defensive resources they have on an unwinnable fight before ever engaging your people. And it works, up to a point - the Myrka has this inexorability that the defenders of the base cannot stand against. It thereby provides a fine opportunity for the Doctor to step up and prove both his helpfulness and his expertise. And the "make a wish, Tegan," bit is honestly pretty great - desperation and triumph all together. There's no sense of the Myrka going down too easily - it's hard-fought and grim just like everything else in this episode. The Myrka does what it's there to do. It kills some people, it ups the stakes, and it's a glimpse into a wider bestiary and culture underlying what little we see of the Sea Devils.
The Myrka is an interesting idea that sadly failed in a lot of its execution. But failure is a hallmark of trying, and it's always worth trying. And it accomplishes what it needs to in the story, and is actually kinda cool, if you can look past the fact that the costume just doesn't ultimately work out. And I do like straight-up monsters now and again, contrasting the negotiation and politicking of the rest of the episode. So here's to the Myrka. Something's got to be at the very bottom and the Myrka is it, but Doctor Who has never been made or broken by its effects, but rather by the creativity of its ideas and the cleverness of its writing - its willingness to take risks and keep a-going.
The Myrka is actually a really cool idea. The sea is full of terrifying things, many of them only fractionally understood. The Myrka is one such, a servant of the Sea Devils in much the same way as the Silurians use dinosaurs as guard dogs and such. It's a good old fashioned monster, which is always fun. I actually really like some of the design on the Myrka, because it is built to look like the Sea Devils, particularly in facial structure. It's not yet another plesiosaur - if anything it resembles those ancient antarctic amphibians - giant salamanders. And it is amphibious, like the Sea Devils themselves - it needs to be to invade the undersea base. It's also electric - which is awesome. An enemy that can kill you ust by touching you is super effective, especially against martial arts experts.
The Myrka is big, scary, and unstoppable - it clears the way for the Sea Devil invasion. There's something very effective about sending in a big unstoppable monster in first. For one, it's unstoppable, so... But also there's a huge psychological advantage. Fill the enemy with dread and hoplessness, and make them spend what defensive resources they have on an unwinnable fight before ever engaging your people. And it works, up to a point - the Myrka has this inexorability that the defenders of the base cannot stand against. It thereby provides a fine opportunity for the Doctor to step up and prove both his helpfulness and his expertise. And the "make a wish, Tegan," bit is honestly pretty great - desperation and triumph all together. There's no sense of the Myrka going down too easily - it's hard-fought and grim just like everything else in this episode. The Myrka does what it's there to do. It kills some people, it ups the stakes, and it's a glimpse into a wider bestiary and culture underlying what little we see of the Sea Devils.
The Myrka is an interesting idea that sadly failed in a lot of its execution. But failure is a hallmark of trying, and it's always worth trying. And it accomplishes what it needs to in the story, and is actually kinda cool, if you can look past the fact that the costume just doesn't ultimately work out. And I do like straight-up monsters now and again, contrasting the negotiation and politicking of the rest of the episode. So here's to the Myrka. Something's got to be at the very bottom and the Myrka is it, but Doctor Who has never been made or broken by its effects, but rather by the creativity of its ideas and the cleverness of its writing - its willingness to take risks and keep a-going.