Fury from the Deep [3.7]

The TARDIS lands in the sea. Undaunted, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria get out a little dinghy and paddle to the shore. There they discover huge mounds of strange foam under the shadow of a looming power station. Just as they start to investigate a strange noise in the pipes, they are shot by an unseen sniper.

Waking up inside the base, the trio are immediately thrust into the highly charged world of a massive drilling operation. Something is going wrong – unexplained power shortages, rigs losing communication, animal noises in the pipes and a strange creeping mist. Robson, the power-mad controller, refuses to shut down to investigate, and as people start disappearing, the fate of the base lies in the Doctor's hands.

The Majesty

It's a classic horror story, made all the more chilling for it's abstraction. There's no buckets of blood and guts; but seaweed has never looked so sinister. Hallucinations, mind-control, madness, invisible death, non-animal intelligence and unsettling moments abound.

Victoria's departure is also handled well, with her despair at finding a happy life in the TARDIS seeded in regularly. (And after all, who can blame her, with all that she's been through!) The Doctor gives her time to think over her decision and makes sure she is set up properly before leaving. It's so much more responsible than the other “Oh you're leaving? Well cheerio!” departures that occur frequently over the show.

The Misery

Sadly, as a completely missing story, the majority of the tension leaks out of “Fury”. Certainly it's hard to find my CGI reconstruction particularly tense and I'm not sure the photonovel would be much better.

Magical Moments

• Mr Oak and Mr Quill are particularly chilling villains. The way they just smile silently, then open their mouths and blow out toxic gas is very sinister.
• The slow cut-off of the communications from the oil-rigs is a simple way of increasing tension. We feel the walls closing in around the base.
• “You have to bomb the rigs!” - It's easy to see why this outrageous suggestion meets with a raised eyebrow from the ministry. But then Robson comes screaming down the corridor (“No! Not my babies!”) and puts the whole thing into perspective.
• After five episodes stuck inside the base, the Doctor suddenly grabs a helicopter and takes to the skies. He even manages to loop the loop. (“I didn't know you could do that!”)

In Summary

It's a real shame that this story is missing as it's managed to achieve a certain legendary status. It's original; it's iconic; it's memorable; and we can't see any of it. It's incredibly frustrating! The reconstruction simply doesn't do it justice, and we are left relying overmuch on our imaginations to patch the story together. It's just about cohesive, but in it's current state it's not much of a watch.

Overall: 3.7