The Myrka

[Saber]

I thought special mention should go to what has to be one of the most dreadful things to ever leave the minds of the people working on Doctor Who. I can only imagine that the people working in the costuming department were annoyed about something and decided to make it known through this little creation because it is hideously bad. The thing is though, as is often the case with Doctor Who, there was potential there for something great that just didn't get realised. I know money was often an issue with the show, but this was a new low of bad

[Peri-Peri]

Ah, the Myrka. So bad it's... just bad. I don't know what they were thinking, but it wasn't happy thoughts that's for sure. Probably one of my least favourite creatures on the show. It even makes the Zarbi look cool

[Nyki]

Ah, the Myrka. So bad it's... just bad. I don't know what they were thinking, but it wasn't happy thoughts that's for sure. Probably one of my least favourite creatures on the show. It even makes the Zarbi look cool

The difference is that the Zarbi did look cool (to a 10-year-old in the 60s, at least, however badly they've dated) whereas the Myrka looked ridiculous at the time it was made.  Apparently, the BBC gave them an impossible deadline to finish this story, and JNT just rolled over and agreed to do it.  They didn't have the time (or probably the budget) to design the Myrka, so they just threw something together and (quite literally) got two guys who normally played pantomime horses to portray it.

[Tardis-Console]

I always try to make allowances when watching the classics for the lack of a decent budget, but this was beyond anything I have seen before on the show. It was as though they had it made by kids or something. I understand time and money may have been an issue, but that is no excuse, really

[Vampyros Adric]

The DVD extra is really illuminating on the making of the Myrka. The two actors inside were actually most famous for playing a magical pantomime horse on a kids show of my younger days called Rentaghost!!!

I think the effects team were put in an impossible position. One of my all time heroes of Doctor Who is the Special Effects guy, Mat Irvine and he said that when designing a monster like the Myrka, you need either lots of time to get it just right, or (if you are in a hurry like this production was) you need to chuck a bucket of money at it. Unfortunately, Doctor Who of this vintage had neither and you see the result.

I kind of disagree with TC (which is unusual for me). The Myrka was awful, it was cheap and it was laughable - and the person to blame was JNT for not jumping in and saying "This isn't possible - rethink this aspect of the story". The reason it was so bad was the lack of time and money. The effects people had no alternative - they were doing the best they could given the available resources. That it wasn't good enough, was the fault of those in charge of the creative decision making.

[Tardis-Console]

That was sort of my point. A lack of time and money is one thing, but that can't be to blamed for the fact it still ended up on screen. Once they rolled that out someone should have stepped in and said 'let's just make it human' or something. Even before it was made and the little time and money they had was wasted, someone should have said 'we just can't make what you need', but it still ended up being made and put on screen. If something that bad ended up on screen now and we were palmed off with 'we didn't have the money or budget', the fans just wouldn't buy it

[Vampyros Adric]

That was sort of my point. A lack of time and money is one thing, but that can't be to blamed for the fact it still ended up on screen. Once they rolled that out someone should have stepped in and said 'let's just make it human' or something. Even before it was made and the little time and money they had was wasted, someone should have said 'we just can't make what you need', but it still ended up being made and put on screen. If something that bad ended up on screen now and we were palmed off with 'we didn't have the money or budget', the fans just wouldn't buy it

Ah, I take your point TC and definitely agree - after all it doesn't take a lot of reworking to have it as a Sea Devil Weapon or an automated box on wheels (which would have been a bit naff but not as bad as the Myrka turned out to be).

When JNT took over from the previous producer Graham Williams he said that there was too much "Oh, that will do, its only Doctor Who" and consciously decided to put more effort in. Yet the Myrka was the apotheosis of "That will do". It was the first time that I (watching it as a 12 year old) was conscious that something in Doctor Who looked rubbish. On reflection, I wonder if this disengagement from such a crucial production decision was the first signs that JNT was sick of working on the show and looking to move on?

[Exterminate]

I do like this story, but there really is no excuse for just how rubbish the Myrka is. I pretty much agree with all the points made above

[Aneurin]

It was awful yes, but I would say we have seen worse in other stories. I always hated the Axon monster things. And Chop Suey man from Morbius. Or the bee people on Zarbi planet. The Myrka is terrible yes, but I wouldnt say it's the worst.

[Aneurin]

Ignore the rubbish terminology in the post above btw

[Roranicus]

It was awful yes, but I would say we have seen worse in other stories. I always hated the Axon monster things. And Chop Suey man from Morbius. Or the bee people on Zarbi planet. The Myrka is terrible yes, but I wouldnt say it's the worst.

They may have been bad also, but they looked better I think. The Zarbi fitted its time and the story, and though they were sort of rubbish, they didn't look thrown together five minutes before filming. The Morbius monster was actually pointless, but I think it's look reflected the story really well. I can't remember what the axons looked like. I thought they were gold people