Fury from the Deep

"Matter will never conquer mind - it's against the law of nature!"

Writer: Victor Pemberton

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 16th March - 20th April 1968

Season: 5.06

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria

Synopsis 

The TARDIS lands on the surface of the sea, just off the east coast of England. The time travellers use a rubber dinghy to her ashore but after the Doctor tampers with pipes with his sonic screwdriver, he, Jamie and Victoria are introduced to the terrifying threat of the weed creature, and it may just prove too much for Victoria...

Verdict 

Fury from the Deep was a fantastic serial to continue this fifth (and monster) season along splendidly. During the season the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria have found themselves coming up against Cybermen, Yeti (twice!) and Ice Warriors. Now we've got the less recognisable weed creature terrorising the TARDIS trio and who would have thought that's where Victoria would draw the line and call it quite in her travels through time and space. Now, I liked the creature a lot and I loved how just the fear of its arrival acted as the main threat rather than it actually appearing. My assumption is that was down to special effects perhaps not being as might be hoped but if it wasn't then I truly admire Victor Pemberton's writing for this story's enemy. With it came the foam which provided some humorous looks on people but again with the creature, the threat of its arrival more than sufficed. The arrival onto the beach was unique I must say with the materialisation occurring high above the beach and then the TARDIS flying down into the sea. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria got to shore via boat! Surely the TARDIS could have just landed on the beach, no? This story is remembered for obviously being Victoria's departure but also for the debut of a certain sonic screwdriver that would play a big role in many future adventures with nearly every incarnation of the Doctor that followed the Second Doctor. Speaking of which, this was another great performance from Patrick Troughton as always and he really does perform well in the role. I wouldn't say he does anything to threaten my top five ranking of each incarnation but whilst he's in the role it's hard not to enjoy the Doctor. He gets along so well with Jamie which I think is just magnificent. I liked how Jamie and Victoria mentioned the continued arrival on Earth in England with terrific references to The Evil of the Daleks, The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Web of Fear to follow. The story had some brilliant guest cast with Harris and Robson the standouts in my opinion but I loved the mischievous looks of Quill and Oak and the fact they were the inside source being controlled by the weed creature. The design of the creature was simple - it was just seaweed - but so effective! It did look capable of causing harm and the fact that it had the power to overcome people and even move is frightening enough! I liked the hints dropped from episode three onwards that Victoria wasn't happy with being frightened at every destination the TARDIS landed on. Since her arrival, and particularly after The Ice Warriors, I've really grown to love the Victorian companion but I do wish the female members of the TARDIS crew didn't continuously scream. It happened with Susan and now Victoria is also synonymous with being a screamer. It's not an appealing quality in a companion but despite that, and the fact it was basically the resolution to defeating the creature, I was really sad to see her depart. I liked how it was portrayed with her finding it such a difficult position but after her father was killed by the Daleks I think it's lovely that she's leaving with the Harris family to look after. The climax leading up to her departure was good and I found it funny when Victoria found herself unable to scream even though she'd been doing so for most of the serial! It was also wonderful to see how much Jamie cared for Victoria with his reaction when he thought she'd died and his hoping that she wouldn't stay and instead continue her travels. However, her mind was made up and the Doctor respected that and embraced her decision. It was her life and even if he and Jamie were fond of her, if she wanted to leave they had to respect that. But Jamie really was crushed which was something new to be seen. Overall, an excellent story though I'm not convinced it needed to be six parts. Some comical scenes - especially with the helicopter! - and a very good guest cast went along nicely with a unique enemy. I just think the cliffhangers and resolution could have been improved, but that doesn't really take much away from the quality of the story. Farewell Victoria Waterfield, you will be missed! 

Rating: 8/10