Directed by Hugh David Script editor Derrick Sherwin Executive producer(s) None | Written by Victor Pemberton Produced by Peter Bryant Incidental music composer Dudley Simpson | |
Fury from the Deep is the completely missing sixth serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 16 March to 20 April 1968. This story is the last to feature Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. It also marks the first appearance of the sonic screwdriver. Although audio recordings, still photographs, and clips of the story exist, no episodes of this serial are known to have survived.
Contents
Plot
When the TARDIS lands in the sea off the eastern coast of England, the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria investigate a nearby beach, which seems to have an improbably large amount of sea foam as well as a major gas pipe marked “Euro Sea Gas”. When the Doctor examines the pipe, he thinks he hears a heartbeat from within. The trio are captured and put in a cell by Robson, a ruthless gas refiner who heads a pumping operation with a network of rigs spanning the North Sea. His assistant is Harris. Robson is unnerved by the loss of contact with gas drilling Rig D at sea, plus an unexplained drop in the feed line from the rigs. The Doctor suggests that the supposed heartbeat could be a creature inside the pipe and suggests that the gas flow be suspended while he investigates, but Robson refuses to do so.
Harris has prioritised the capture of Robson, who is found sedate in his room, and Megan Jones demands to see him. He has sunk into a depressed state but briefly rallies and begs his old friend to help him. They leave him and he rests. On awakening, the heartbeat sound returns to his head, and he heads off. Within minutes, he finds Victoria and takes her hostage. He forces her into a helicopter and flies it out to sea.
The seaweed has pumped itself up into the impeller pipe in the impeller room and is soon expanding and throbbing. It bursts the pipe and starts to fill the rooms. The Doctor commandeers a helicopter and travels with Jamie to the rig where Victoria has been taken, where they find Robson mostly transformed into a seaweed creature. He says humanity is doomed and tries to gas the Doctor with his breath. Jamie has meanwhile found Victoria, and they all escape.
Victoria decides to leave the TARDIS crew, as she is tired of the constant peril. The Harrises welcome her to their home and though the Doctor accepts this, Jamie is heartbroken. The Doctor and Jamie stay another day to check that she is sure and then depart in the TARDIS after Victoria and Jamie bid farewell to each other, leaving Victoria watching them from the beach.
Continuity
At the beginning of Episode 1, Victoria mentions that the TARDIS always seems to land on Earth. Episode 1 marks the first appearance of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. Its initial design is a simple penlight.
Production
Working titles for this story included The Colony of Devils. The footage of the TARDIS landing in the sea in episode 1 is later reused in episode 10 of The War Games in the next season.
This story marked the switch from 35 mm film to 16 mm film for its location filming. This film stock would be used until 1985's Revelation of the Daleks, though 35mm would still be used for model and effects shots.
Episode 4 and 5 on the soundtrack starts with the original theme, instead of the version used for most stories since The Faceless Ones episode 2.
Missing episodes
None of the six episodes of this serial is known to exist in full or known to have survived in the BBC Archives (see Doctor Who missing episodes). The master videotapes for the story were the final 1960s Doctor Who episodes to be junked; they were authorised for wiping by the BBC in late 1974. This is the latest chronological Doctor Who story of which all episodes are missing from the archives. A few seconds of the start of episode 1 (the TARDIS descending vertically to land on the sea) survives due to it being used a year later in episode 10 of The War Games, as do the scene where Oak and Quill launch their toxic gas attack, the Weed attacking Van Lutyens and the Doctor and Jamie approaching the foam in episode 4, which survive because they were cut from Australian broadcasts by the censors, and never returned to the BBC.
Cast notes
Roy Spencer had previously played Manyak in The Ark. Hubert Rees later played Captain Ransom in The War Games and John Stevenson in The Seeds of Doom. June Murphy later played 3rd Officer Jane Blythe in The Sea Devils. John Abineri later played General Carrington in The Ambassadors of Death, Richard Railton in Death to the Daleks and Ranquin in The Power of Kroll. Margaret John later played Grandma Connolly in "The Idiot's Lantern".
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by the series scriptwriter Victor Pemberton, was published by Target Books in May 1986. The cover advertised the volume as a special "bumper" edition, referring to its increased length in comparison to other Target novelisations and as explanation of the consequently higher retail price.
Home media
The visual material that has remained (very short clips from episodes 1, 2, 4 and 5, behind-the-scenes 8mm colour film, and raw film trims from the recording of episode 6) was released on VHS as part of the "Missing Years" documentary. They also appeared on DVD as part of the Lost in Time boxset. A fan-made documentary entitled The Making of Fury from the Deep was released in 1999 as part of a telesnap reconstruction of the story. Edited by Richard Bignell, it lasts fifty minutes and includes interviews with key members of the production team.
The audio soundtracks have been released commercially. In 1993, an abridged audio cassette version was released featuring linking narration by Tom Baker in character as the Doctor. In 2004, a newly remastered CD version was released with linking narration by Frazer Hines. The unabridged novelisation reading by David Troughton was released by AUDIOGO on 7 July 2011. The reading, complete with new music and sound effects, is presented over six discs, and is available for digital download from AUDIOGO.