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.

Fury from the Deep Episode 5

The one where the Doctor goes to the Weed's nerve centre...

Ooh, it's the Hartnell theme again! Has the production team decided the 1967 version of the theme tune just isn't up to scratch, and ditched it in favour of the original? Is it just the music that's different, or is the title sequence too? Was it the 1963 title sequence, or was it the 1968 titles with the 1963 theme over the top? Well, the telesnaps for episode 5 show Troughton's face, so this combination of 1963 audio and 1967 visuals refers back to The Macra Terror and the first two episodes of The Faceless Ones, where it was old music with new titles until the debut of the updated theme in episode 3. Still, it's odd that this aberration occurs in the middle of a story.

This is another excellent episode, written with balanced pace by Victor Pemberton, who manages to squeeze in jeopardy and action alongside some real human scenes too. The scene where Megan Jones goes to Robson's room to try and convince him to help them is so well written and acted, a moment of tenderness between the two which hints - nothing more - at a possible past between the two. They revert to calling each other by their first names (Megan and John), which is one subtle way of showing that both have let their guard down a little.

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.

Fury from the Deep Episode 3

The one where the sentient seaweed really starts to take control...

So far, I've felt episodes 1 and 2 of this story have been just shy of meeting their potential, but episode 3 comes blazing in and surpasses all expectations by really upping the ante. We join the Doctor and co in the Harrises' apartment, where Frank is understandably very concerned about his ill wife Maggie. But what's most disturbing, at least for an arachnophobe like me, is that Victoria describes having seen the frond of seaweed on the floor as moving like a spider. I mean, how utterly terrifying is that? Seaweed that stings to the touch which scuttles about like an eight-legs?

Another surprising turn this episode is that our heroes take a detour back to the TARDIS, now having very conveniently washed up ashore (so why have it land in the sea in the first place, hey?). The telesnaps don't show much detail of the TARDIS laboratory (I spy no roundels), but I love that writer Victor Pemberton has Victoria rolling her sleeves up and getting involved, running a Bunsen test and showing herself to be just as capable as the Doctor in these situations. Jamie, the 18th century troglodyte, is left to ask all the questions for the viewer!

Fury from the Deep Episode 2

The one where we meet Mr Oak and Mr Quill...

Deborah Watling really goes for it in the scene where Victoria is trapped with the seaweed in the oxygen room. She's got the most piercing scream of any companion, and almost shattered the speakers on my CD player before she was rescued by the Doctor and Jamie! As Robson says of Victoria, she's hysterical!

Most of this episode is spent in the company of the guest cast, with the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria sidelined slightly in favour of building up the story elsewhere. Fury from the Deep is a slow-burning horror mystery, but I quite like spending time with the Harrises, as they seem such nice people, and utterly devoted to one another. It's a very sweet, loving marriage, and both Roy Spencer and June Murphy give the pair a lot of heart. They've got a seriously questionable taste in kitchen decor though, judging by the telesnaps!

Fury from the Deep Episode 1

The one where the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver for the first time...

OK, so why does the TARDIS materialise in mid-air and then descend to float on the surface of the sea? It seems so random, and goes unexplained, as if that was the plan all along. It also begs the question of how the Doctor manages to get an entire dinghy out of the TARDIS doors. It's all so wonderfully strange, but in a way, kind of wasted because there's no explanation. There's very little reference to what's happened generally, except for the Doctor saying that the TARDIS can float.

There's a fascination for the TARDIS landing on beaches in the 1960s. Off the top of my head I can remember the Ship landing beside open water in The Keys of Marinus, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, The Smugglers, The Enemy of the World, and now Fury from the Deep. In fact, since Victoria joined the TARDIS, it's only landed on a planet which isn't Earth once (Telos). She's one of the Doctor's least widely travelled companions. And we get some delightful larking about from the regulars once more, as we have in several Season 5 stories, proving just what a fun team Troughton, Hines and Watling were.