Fury from the Deep

 

The TARDIS materialises at sea, descending from the sky before settling on the waves.

The Doctor and his friends, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, make their way to the beach via dinghy.

The Doctor's spotted great lumps of seaweed and sea spray on the beach...

The Doctor finds a pipeline, drawing gas from the sea, presumably to a refinery somewhere near.

The sonic screwdriver makes its' first appearance as the Doctor examines the pipe.

Chris@KosmicKris even from the off, this has quite a dark feel to it!

The friends are observed - through the sights of a hi-tech rifle!

Are rumblings of a possible copyright claim on the screwdriver from writer Victor Pemberton the real reason Capaldi has the shades now?

Richard Grant@richyg360 can't really get on with the sunglasses bring back the screwdriver

Paul Cooke@paulpcooke Or, even better: Don't rely on either!

The friends are stunned, and wake to find themselves in the refinery.

Chris@KosmicKris weirdly, I think this story - with only a little fettling - could drop straight into Nu-Who

Definitely! Probably any of the base under siege stories could really - the simple structure helps!

They find themselves under guard - and under interrogation!

Chief Robson suspects they're saboteurs & won't listen to his deputy, Harris.

Harris excuses Robson's brusque behaviour by telling them that he's under pressure.

Chris@KosmicKris I think Robson's descent into madness is really well done - adds another element of peril

Harris' wife, Maggie, finds she's not as free to move around the base as usual due to the security flap.

The Doctor explains to Harris that he heard something in the pipes, which might explain why the pressure is down.

 Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly If it turns out to be Fifi from The Happiness Patrol, I'll be disappointed.

Harris tells him that Robson will never agree to stop the gas so as to investigate.

Robson tries to communicate with one of the other rigs, but they seem to be whispering...

Harris tries to back up what he says but his file seems to have gone missing.

The Doctor & his pals try to escape confinement. Seems this version of the sonic doesn't work on doors!

Bumping into Maggie, Harris asks her to retrieve the file.

But the file contains a surprise intended for her husband: a piece of stinging seaweed!

Van Lutyens, a member of the Dutch government, comes to Robson with his concerns regarding Rig B.

Chris@KosmicKris Really liked the way that they expanded the parameters of the base under siege here - enemy at the gates is always powerful!

Robson dimisses Van Lutyens. "When I want your advice, I'll ask for it."

Now Robson's own people are reporting a sound in the pipeline; like a heartbeat...

Victoria is trapped in the oxygen store by an unseen figure in a gasmask...

Gas begins to flood in through an open vent...

The Doctor can hear the sinister heartbeat in the pipes of the refinery too...

As the sea foam floods through the vent, Victoria sees tendrils of seaweed slither in!

Chris@KosmicKris forgot how much I enjoyed this audio - it works really well in this format!

The Doctor and Jamie dash through the corridor, desperate to locate Victoria. 

Smelling gas, they arrive at the Oxygen store and free her in the nick of time!

Robson ignores the fact that Victoria was locked in from the outside.

It's Van Lutyens that notices the ventilator has been opened...

Maggie has begun to feel the effects of the seaweed's sting.

Maggie is distant, then delirious, then collapses.

Nearby, the weed creature twitches...

As soon as Harris leaves to get help, she rises, seemingly under the creature's control.

Robson is still unwilling to contemplate that the sound in the pipes is anything other than a mechanical fault.

Van Lutyens again urges Robson to turn off the supply so they can investigate the pipe, but is again dismissed.

Harris is granted one hour by Robson to attend to his wife.

Chris@KosmicKris far sighted! Robson pre-empting the legislation allowing time off for families and dependents.

Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly "An hour to see to my wife? What will I do with the remaining 55 min?

*Ba-dum-tish!*

Maggie is visited by odd two maintenance men, Messrs Quill and Oak...

Quill & Oak are (deliberately) a twisted version of Laurel & Hardy.

Chris@KosmicKris Quill and Oak: a bona fide iconic scary Who moment!

Van Lutyens forecasts a huge explosion if the pressure problems aren't resolved quickly.

Oak & Quill continue their mock inspection of the oven, the cover to let the weed in.

Oak & Quill bear down on her...

...breathing the creature's gas at her to overpower her.

That is quite disturbing, actually; you can see why the Australian censors cut it.

Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly Creepy as Hell and the best thing about the story.

Robson berates Van Lutyens for "trying to tell me my job". But the impeller begins to slow...

The Doctor examines the unconscious Maggie; Harris recalls her saying she was stung by seaweed.

Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly Pipes, weed, uptight blokes dealing with pressure and a frustrated housewife ... there's some interesting themes at play.

Van Lutyens pillories the refinery crew for being afraid of Robson.

"Can you not blow your nose without his approval?"

Robson won't even listen to the Chief Engineer any more.

Chris@KosmicKris Base under seige again re-focused onto the boss under seige. Brilliant writing!

Van Lutyens' warning chills to the bone. "It's down there, in the darkness, in the pipeline, waiting..."

The Doctor warns Jamie not to touch the clump of Weed in the Harris' quarters.

The seaweed creature has already begun to manifest itself physically on Maggie...

When Jamie spots "wriggly things" in the seaweed, the Doctor realizes it's alive!

Robson is still trying to pass off the heartbeat as sabotage on the part of the Doctor.

Robson's outburst leads Van Lutyens to tell the others he's "cracking up".

Chris@KosmicKris Again, great sub plot within the overall scheme of things! This is a brilliant story!

Victoria confirms this is the creature that menaced her in the oxygen room earlier.

Feeding on the gas, the weed in the tank thrashes about, until they get the lid back on.

"I'm in charge!" Robson rants, storming off to his cabin.

Van Lutyens manages a titanic effort not to say "I told you so."

The sinister Oak & Quill reappear to feed gas into Robson's cabin...

By the time Harris hears Robson's cries, the Chief has already been affected...

Seaspray foams in, terrifying Victoria, but it retreats as her screams bring the others running.

Van Lutyens urges Harris to take command.

Victoria laments that wherever they go they seem to land in danger...

The Doctor & Harris are horrified to learn that Maggie is not in the infirmary at all...

In fact, she's on the beach, giving orders to the now possessed Robson...

...before simply and relentlessly walking into the sea, disappearing beneath the waves.

As Maggie is engulfed by the sea, contact has been lost with the other rigs...

Victoria wonders how Jamie can sleep knowing the horrors they continually face.

As she tries to fathom the answers to the questions posed by the creature's attack...

...she's startled by the Doctor's arrival.

"Every time we go anywhere something awful happens. Daleks... Cybermen... Yes, and Yeti. Why can't we go anywhere pleasant, where there's no fighting? Just peace and happiness?" 

Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly Wish Vicki was still around; She'd give whiny Victoria a well-deserved slap!

Barbara would've gunned down the lot of them by now.

On the beach, Robson promises Harris he'll find his wife "very soon"...

Van Lutyens volunteers to go down into the pipeline himself.

The Doctor thinks it's a bad idea.

Sure enough, he's soon overcome by the pulsating weed...

The Doctor & Jamie take the shaft...

...much to the amusement of Oak & Quill.

Megan Jones, chief executive of the board, has arrived at the refinery.

Jones is predisposed to support Robson, as she handpicked him for the job.

She's also highly sceptical of stories about a creature in the pipes.

As the Doctor & Jamie flee the thrashing tendrils, Oak & Quill attempt to lock them in...

...but they make it to the safety of the impeller room.

Megan sees that Harris is right when Robson rages in, screaming that the rigs are "mine", "my own flesh & blood!"

For a moment Jamie thinks Victoria's dead; he'll never forgive himself if any harm's come to her...

But Victoria is alright, if overcome once more with feelings that she's tired of all the horrors they encounter.

The Doctor believes the weed aims to cut off the gas supply to Britain and take control. 

As the creature travels up the pipe, the Doctor calls it "the first part of the invasion"!

None of the other rigs are responding now.

The Doctor fears it's taken over the crews of the rigs, but warns against blowing up the rigs...

Megan hopes she can get through to Robson to gain some advantage against the weed.

Megan tries to shake Robson out of it. "Pull yourself together, man!"

Absolutely appalling attitude to mental health displayed here by the top brass.

As soon as Megan is gone, Robson answers the call of the creature...

Robson overpowers the guard outside his quarters...

The Doctor has sussed Oak & Quill, but it's not Jamie's punch that overpowers them as the highlander thought...

Too late, they realize that Robson has taken Victoria hostage to aid his escape.

Robson has stolen a helicopter, and Victoria is with him!

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Must... resist... "chopper"... gag...

Yes, Jamie, that is a big one...

Robson answers their desperate calls; he'll release Victoria if the Doctor will "come over to us!"

Harris asserts his authority, overruling Megan Jones.

The Doctor & Jamie take off after Robson & see the other rigs, overcome by the creature.

The Doctor & Jamie descend into the nerve centre...

"We're already in the lion's den. What we've got to concentrate on is keeping our heads out of his mouth!"

But Robson stands there waist deep in the sea spray: "Come in, Doctor. We've been waiting for you."

Robson breathes the gas at them...

...but recoils from Victoria's screams.

The Doctor fancies a go at flying the helicopter so as to make their escape...

The Company pilot comes on the radio to talk the Doctor through landing the helicopter. Phew!

Harrison is getting twitchy & wants to abandon base, but Megan wants to give the Doctor his time.

The Doctor & his friends arrive back in the nick of time...

...and the Doctor corrects their previously mistaken tactic - it's not oxygen the creature can't stand, it's noise!

It was the pitch of Victoria's screams that drove the creature back, and freed Oak & Quill from its' influence.

But the creature isn't about to take this lying down & attacks through the airlock...

The Doctor's recorded Victoria's screams so he can focus and direct the sound down the pipes...

The creature bursts into the room, sea spray flooding in as it thrashes towards them.

They retreat to a higher platform as the creature battles forwards...

At last, Victoria's electronically enhanced shrieks drive the creature away for good.

Freed from the creature's influence, both Maggie and Robson are safe and sound!

Unusually, instead of hurriedly sneaking off, the Doctor agrees to stay for dinner...

Simon Threadgold@dimwittedly Things turn awkward when Robson puts his car keys in a bowl.

The Doctor's ulterior motive soon becomes clear: he knows the time has come for Victoria to leave.

The Harris's offer to take the orphan in.

All is back to normal at the rig; Robson back in charge in full prickly stickler mode!

MAW Holmes@MAW_H The Reverend Spooner would have loved that... ;-)

Jamie visits to try to persuade Victoria to change her mind...

...but she's decided to stay...

...so the Doctor & Jamie return to the TARDIS without her.

"I was fond of her too, you know, Jamie."

Chris@KosmicKris this was a lovely farewell scene.

We'll see where the Doctor & Jamie go next soon, in The Wheel in Space...

TTFN! K.

Coming Soon... Horror of Fang Rock