Fury from the Deep Episode 6

The one where the seaweed creature is defeated by Victoria's screams...

Ah, the old new theme tune is back! That feels better. This revamped theme feels much more energetic, which suits the Troughton era better I think (just as I much prefer the galloping version of the theme tune in 2008's Series 4 to the earlier Eccleston version).

It's a blissful irony that what finally defeats the weed creature is Victoria's ear-piercing screams. The Doctor notices that the possessed Robson shrinks away when he hears Victoria's scream, and realises that sonic power is the key to defeating this underwater menace. After 11 months of listening to the power of Deborah Watling's formidable lung capacity, I can well believe that it would destroy just about any alien menace! It's actually a really poetic way to bring the adventure to an end, especially as it is Watling's swansong.

It's a really nice idea by writer Victor Pemberton to have Victoria as the hero of the piece in a way. She's been expressing her disenchantment with her time-travelling adventures for some weeks now, and it's pretty obvious that she's going to leave soon, so to have her at the heart of the creature's downfall is a beautiful way to bring things to an end.

But before all that, there's a stupendous action scene to behold, as director Hugh David dedicates a generous amount of screen time to the Doctor's terrible attempts to fly a helicopter. It all sounds really exciting, and probably looked amazing, but it does drag a little bit on audio only as we can't see how death-defying it all undoubtedly is (I mean, does the helicopter really do a loop the loop?). Still, the glee with which the Doctor jumps into the pilot seat ("I've been dying to get my hands on one of these") is wonderfully Second Doctor-y, and there's a lovely little reminder of the last time he was in a helicopter, alongside Astrid Ferrier in The Enemy of the World.

At the refinery, Frank Harris and Megan Jones are at odds over how to handle the situation. Harris seems to be a man of extremes: he wanted to bomb the rigs, and now he wants to evacuate the refinery as soon as possible. Megan, meanwhile, is more level-headed, and thinks they must take every last opportunity to try and defeat the creature - and her faith in the Doctor is vindicated by his sudden return with a plan!

The plan is to record Victoria's scream and loop it endlessly on playback to overwhelm the weed creature. That would be enough to send any threat fleeing, I'm sure. It's funny that Victoria finds it hard to scream on cue, but then shrieks her lungs out at the slightest glimpse of the creature breaking out of the pipeline. The Doctor seems to add a "toy of his own" to the contraption he rigs up, and I'm wondering whether that was the sonic screwdriver, seeing as its sonic abilities would help amplify the recording. It's hard to tell from the telesnaps whether the sonic screwdriver is plugged into the machine, but I like to think it is.

It's also interesting to learn that Mr Quill has recovered from his possession in hospital and is bemused by the whole experience. No doubt Mr Oak is the same, wherever he ran to. So they are both alive and well, which is the same for every other character at the end of the story - nobody actually dies in Fury from the Deep, as we learn at the end that Robson and Maggie Harris are well, and Van Lutyens too. Everybody lives! For once, everybody lives! I'm still not 100% clear why Maggie Harris walked out into the sea at the end of episode 3 though. Where did she go, and why? What happened to her? I mean, if she was literally walking/ swimming to the rig (which is where she ends up, with Robson), that would have had a terrible effect on her physical body, wouldn't it?

Best not to question it. Pemberton obviously wanted a happy ending and couldn't bring himself to kill off any of his characters, which is fair enough. The warmth Pemberton feels for his characters is obvious by the delightful dinner party that takes place at the end, a rarity in Doctor Who, and especially for the Second Doctor. He doesn't usually hang around for very long at all once things have been wrapped up, but this time they spend a few hours with the Harrises, Megan Jones and Robson eating dinner on the patio.

And that's where Victoria makes it clear she isn't going with the Doctor and Jamie back to the TARDIS. She's decided she wants to stay behind, in 1968, and seek a quieter, safer life, away from Daleks, Cybermen and Yeti. The Doctor is very understanding and encouraging, keen for her to make up her own mind and take control of her own life. Jamie is understandably upset and concerned, and it's true that Victoria will probably find it quite hard at first, living in the 20th century, full of its pop music, jumbo jets and television. And culturally, Britain in the 1960s was vastly different to how Victoria would know it, with abortion and homosexuality now legal, and a generally much more open sexual freedom. It's hard to imagine a Victorian girl wading through it all, but Adam Adamant managed it, and Victoria has the Harrises to help her too (I wonder if she will actually tell them she is from 1867?).

Pemberton allows time for the three regulars to say their goodbyes, and Victoria's departure feels organic and natural. Nothing is rushed, every feeling is considered. It's perhaps one of the most heartfelt and truthful companion departures the classic series did, and let's face it, some companion farewells were utterly diabolical (Dodo, Leela, Tegan). But Victoria is shown to be doing something very brave, perhaps the bravest she's ever been, by walking away from the three things that were certain in her life (the Doctor, Jamie and the TARDIS) and making a new life with strangers in a strange world. It's probably for the best, as Victoria Waterfield, after everything she's been through, definitely deserves better.

We'd see Victoria again, but not in the series proper. She pops up in Dimensions in Time, but it's hard to count that as mattering, and then gets her own spin-off in Downtime, where we learn she is now a university vice-chancellor possessed by the Great Intelligence. But for now, we wave goodbye to Victoria on a beach on the south coast of England. And despite having my reservations about the character at first, I'm sad to see her go. Because I was fond of her too...

Fury from the Deep is a fantastic, scary, eerie, spooky, action-packed, intelligent and heartfelt story which deserves to be recovered and enjoyed anew and afresh. I think it would knock the socks off fandom, just as The Enemy of the World did, and it is now officially the Doctor Who story I want recovered the most. Over to you, Philip Morris...

First broadcast: April 20th, 1968

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Victoria's farewell, and the time devoted to dealing with it, brought a tear to my eye.
The Bad: The shenanigans with the helicopter sound great, but without being able to watch it, it can get a little tiresome.

Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★ (story average: 8.8 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The Wheel in Space...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5

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.