Doctor Who (TV Series) Fury from the Deep: Episode 2 (1968) User Reviews

This contains one of the show's best ever sequences.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 8 November 2015]

Harris returns home to find his wife Maggie ill and confused, something nasty is affecting her.

An absolutely brilliant continuing episode, further building up what was already a rich story, so many elements about it I love, it's great how Jamie is very much in character, learning the concept of oil rigs. I love the thumping sound heard throughout, a simple but brilliant idea, creating a huge amount of tension, you keep waiting for something to happen.

Two brilliant characters in Mr Oak and Mr Quill, so menacing, scary because they are just people. Their turning on Maggie has to be one of the darkest and best moments in the entire show's history, thankfully we still have a clip of it, so full of terror, brilliant!

June Murphy is fantastic as Maggie Harris, I can only imagine how good they made the scenes of her attack look. She played her part fantastically.

van Lutyens delivers one of my favourite lines in the show too, 'It's down there in the darkness, in the pipeline waiting.' Absolutely wonderful.

Pretty much a perfect episode. 10/10

Attack of the Killer Seaweed!......plus a debut for the Sonic Screwdriver!

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 17 September 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

Fury From the Deep is an enjoyable story from writer Victor Pemberton with tension, scares, convincing acting and good dialogue. It is quite similar to some of the Third Doctor stories like Inferno in many ways.

It involves the TARDIS landing on the surface of the sea (which is a good, fun idea and well executed) then the crew getting involved in a nearby refinery where strange goings on are revealed to involve a form of parasitic seaweed which gives off poisonous gas, can kill people in a couple of ways and can influence people to fall under its control if they touch the foam it produces. This power to influence, whilst a bit far fetched, provides the best scares with the technicians Quill and Oak (Bill Burridge and John Gill) carrying out a brilliantly terrifying attack in episode 2, making it the best part of the story. This is preserved for us to see (most of the story's video is lost) by virtue that it was cut by the censor in some countries and therefore remained as an excerpt in their collection. It is really chilling! This is not the only striking image in this very good 6-parter. A character walking out to sea as if committing suicide and the tense heartbeat pulse of the seaweed in creepy scenes of imminent attack are suitably gripping.

The story idea concept with the use of foam and seaweed as the threat leads to occasionally slightly unconvincing scenes of menace which just make the thrills fall a little bit short of what they could have reached if they had been able to produce a more convincing threat. Seaweed and foam is cleverly made to work as well as possible but is just is not the best, most convincing form of threat possible.

There are high standards in all areas, Patrick Troughton is great as usual and Victor Maddern (Robson), John Abineri (van Lutyens) and Margaret John (Megan Jones) are very convincing. This is also the last story to feature Deborah Watling as companion Victoria.

The very first appearance of The Doctor's sonic screwdriver provides another point of interest for fans. Funnily the sonic screwdriver is used to....... wait for it..... UNDO A SCREW! A task it would be seldom used for in the future but explaining why it is called a screwdriver in the first place!

All in all a very good adventure with great atmosphere. Though perhaps not reaching the classic proportions achieved by some of the other stories in the incredible series 5, but still excellent.

My Ratings: Episodes 1, 3, 4 and 6 - 9/10, Episode 2 - 10/10, Episode 5 - 9.5/10

Easter Egg

[angelmuk · 18 November 2023]

Is nobody doing to comment on the wanted poster in the pipe room. Such a great tribute to Roger Delgado 3 years prior to his appearance as the Master.

Although I'm sure this was unlikely to have been in the filmed version, I'm loving that it's in the animation.

Regards the episode, cute story and very classic Doctor who as he follows the clues, fights the menace and deals with the bureaucracy of the tin pot dictator or the week.

Frazier Hines at his best as the trying to be macho Jamie trying to impress Victoria while ending up as the one in distress.

Some bad and some good acting but worth it fir the storyline.