Fury from the Deep Episode 4

The one where the seeds are sewn for Victoria's departure...

Quite randomly, this episode opens with the William Hartnell version of the theme tune rather than the new one. It makes me feel quite nostalgic, as do the sound effects used for the refinery computers, which just remind me of WOTAN and his War Machines!

Deborah Watling is on great form here, given some meaty dialogue by Victor Pemberton relating to Victoria's state of mind and how she feels about her aimless wanderings with the Doctor and Jamie. Throughout her time with the Doctor Victoria has been a nervous traveller, simply because she is an inexperienced Victorian teenager who had previously led a sheltered life. To suddenly be thrown into a world full of metal monsters, silver giants and hissing reptilians would be equally thrilling and terrifying. Now, at last, Victoria is starting to tire of the terror, and I'm pretty sure is expressing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Victoria seems genuinely rattled and upset by what's going on around her in this story, and is afraid the Doctor won't be able to solve it. Already she's survived two attacks by the shapeless, formless seaweed creature, coming quick on the heels of deadly encounters with the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Great Intelligence and its Yeti, and the Ice Warriors. And let's not forget the frighteningly human evil she's witnessed in the shape of the possessed Maxtible, the twisted Kaftan, the monstrous Padmasambhava, and a dark embodiment of her most trusted friend, the Doctor, in Salamander. To put it plainly, Victoria's been through a lot of shit, and here we're witnessing the fall-out.

Watling is super in her tender scenes with Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton, making Victoria more vulnerable than ever by expressing her confusion. She's happy to be with the Doctor and Jamie, but not happy about the places they end up and the terrors they face. "Why can't we go anywhere pleasant?" she asks a slumbering Jamie. "Where's there's no fighting?" Everything from Victoria's 19th century life has been ripped away from her - first her mother, then her father and the place she lived, as well as her friends Ruth and Theodore Maxtible, and finally her entire time period. Nothing is familiar to Victoria; everything is alien. It would have been nice to have a chat between Jamie and Victoria in which they compare their similar journeys - both have been taken out of Earth history by the Doctor and confronted with things they barely comprehend, even things as simple as trains and aeroplanes. As it is, Victor Pemberton is setting up the end of Fury from the Deep expertly, rather than have Victoria's departure (for that is the case) happen out of the blue (sideways squint at Eric Saward here).

Pemberton has a good knack with character, and finding the truthfulness of humanity. Frank Harris is essentially in charge of the Eurogas refinery in Robson's deranged absence, but he is far more interested in finding his missing wife Maggie than trying to deal with whatever's in the pipes. It would be wrong of Harris to ignore the absence of his wife, so his desperation is felt more keenly as he tries to juggle both responsibilities.

The foray into the impeller shaft makes for eerie drama too, with the apparent loss of Van Lutyens to the seaweed menace particularly well realised (I love Dudley Simpson's use of piano during this scene). John Abineri's guttural, almost primeval screams are chilling, and I got the same chill later when we see Chief Baxter consumed by the seaweed creature on the communication screen ("Get us out of here!"). Director Hugh David has a great eye and ear for translating the scares from the script onto the screen.

The arrival of Megan Jones - rather wonderfully, a female director from Eurogas HQ - brings some much-needed common sense to proceedings (she comes with a secretary called Perkins, which means there's a Perkins in both Doctor Who stories directed by Hugh David - see also The Highlanders). Of course at first she responds to stories of sentient seaweed with the scepticism of an outsider, but at least she has the manners to listen to her colleagues, however mad they may sound. She orders that helicopters are sent to Rigs A, C and D to try and regain contact, which is exactly what a real, responsible manager would do (far more realistic than Harris's bonkers plan to blow the rigs up!). The fact they report back with news that the platforms are writhing with seaweed and foam is enough to convince her something is wrong, and when she sees the creature in the pipeline through the inspection window, all her doubts are scuppered.

After a strong start, Fury from the Deep is only getting better and more terrifying, and the cliffhanger promises much more to come. "It's begun," murmurs the Doctor with dread. "The battle of the giants!"

First broadcast: April 6th, 1968

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Victor Pemberton's treatment of Victoria is beautifully written.
The Bad: I'm not clear quite what Oak and Quill did to Victoria when they were left alone with her. If they did a Maggie Harris on her, then why weren't we shown it? As it is, she just comes round from being unconscious for no explicable reason.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 5...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 5; Episode 6

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/fury-from-deep.html

Fury from the Deep is available on BBC soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fury-Deep-Doctor-Radio-Collection/dp/0563524103.