Fury From the Deep

Fury from the Deep is yet another ‘base-under-siege’ story and seems to have all the concomitant clichés- an unstable authority figure who mistrusts the Doctor, a subordinate who disagrees etc. The concept is unusual- malignant seaweed, but the realisation makes it something else entirely.

The guest characters are not exactly well drawn- as stated before, a fair few of the stock 'base-under-siege' characters are employed. From the evidence of the surviving footage Roy Spencer is a bit bland as Harris (although vocally he is fine) but Victor Maddern puts his all into the unstable Robson. A refreshing difference is having two strong female characters in the form of June Murphy as Maggie Harris and Margaret John as uber-boss Megan Jones. John Abineri is his usual reliable self as VanLutyens.

However, there are some truly stunning images and scenes most, unfortunately, lost to the ether. One which does survive, thankfully, is the attack of Messrs Oak and Quill, which is - they appear first as a camp comic duo, but then open their mouths to exhale the noxious gas. With their bulging eyes and blackened lips, together with some effective editing, the effect is truly terrifying. There is also the end to episode 3, which has Maggie Harris walking into the sea, a scene which is more like something from a horror movie. The Weed is an unusual, but effective threat that is efficiently realised. A foam machine, a recording of a heartbeat and a few fronds are all that is required to create one of the most unnerving Doctor Who monsters of all time.

Again, this is a case of a 6-parter that would have worked far better as a 4-parter. There is far too much padding in the script, too many arguments about drilling speeds and quotas with writing not sophisticated enough to sustain it. The solution to the threat is telegraphed very obviously half-way through the story and it's amazing that the Doctor doesn't pick up on it.

There is great work from the regulars on display here. Troughton and Hines are again brilliant- there is a touching and funny scene where Jamie believes Victoria to be dead. This is Victoria's final story and Deborah Watling puts in her finest performance. Victoria is given clear reasons for leaving- she is tired of all of the horrors they have to face and this is made evident from the start. Troughton. Uniquely, the travellers do not sneak off after the menace is defeated, but stay on for a party and then decide to stay a couple more days in case Victoria changes her mind about leaving. It's very different from other leaving scenes, but is very well written and played.

Despite its many flaws, the famous scenes are genuinely as effective as they were reputed to be and, while it is not the classic of repute, it well worth a listen.

NEXT: The Wheel in Space

The Highlanders

The TARDIS arrives in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden, the British army triumphant over the rebel forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie. They are entangled in the ‘mopping up’ operation by the redcoats, where the brave highlanders must choose between death and slavery. This story is hardly the most historically accurate one the programme has made, but it must be remembered that this was broadcast only two years after Peter Watkins’s ground-breaking Culloden, the definitive television exploration of that event. The Highlanders simply gets on with telling a good story, and succeeds admirably.

There is an undercurrent of brutality in the story- characters are threatened with hanging and drowning and the sense of horror at the fact that defeat is only the beginning. However, there is a great deal of humour in the story, especially where the Doctor is concerned. Here, the Doctor dons all manner of disguises and silly voices- a German doctor (Doktor von Wer, no less!) who is fond of bizarre astrological and holistic remedies, a Redcoat and an aged Scottish crone. In fact, he spends more time pretending to be someone else than he does as himself. However, it is notable that it is his new-found fondness for headgear (‘I would like a hat like that!’) that gets them all into trouble. He also seems to have a new-found violent streak- witness his subduing of Grey, with the great quip ‘I've never seen a silent lawyer before’. Fortunately, these are played for laughs.

The guest characters are very memorable, especially David Garth as the loathsome Solicitor Grey, who refers to the Scottish prisoners as ‘Highland cattle’. Michael Elwyn puts in a funny, but sympathetic performance as the foppish Lt Algernon Ffinch ('...with two "f"s!') a man who illustrates the perils of ‘buying a commission’, but proves to be honourable in the end. I must also mention Dallas Cavell as Captain Trask, who seems to have wandered in from The Smugglers!

Ben and Polly are also on fantastic form- in fact Polly has never been better than here, where she schemes and uses her feminine wiles on the hapless Ffinch. However, this story contributed something very important to the legacy of Doctor Who- Jamie McCrimmon. Surprisingly, he doesn’t take centre stage at any point here, but is still engagingly played by Frazer Hines throughout.

The Highlanders marks the end of another era in Doctor Who, that of the pure historical. There would be trips to the past after this, but there would always be an alien or monster waiting there. Whatever the motivation behind this decision, it is a real shame- all of them are well worth watching/ listening to, and some rank as among the finest examples of 1960s television. They were also very varied in tone, from the doom-laden Massacre to the farcical Myth Makers. The Highlanders is a very entertaining story to end this era.

Next: The Underwater Menace