Fury From the Deep
Previous: The Web of Fear
Fury From the Deep
Pat, I love you, but the sooner I finish up these recons the better. So let's do our FINAL completely-missing serial: Fury From the Deep!
Well, yes technically there are still some surviving clips like...the TARDIS falling out of the sky and landing on the surface of the ocean?
"Trust ye to bring us RIGHT down in the middle of the sea!" Jamie, YOUR HAIR. Two, YOUR HAT.
If there's one thing you see a lot in the TCP, it's publicity stills from this serial. Because of Two's hat.
Aaaaand there's Jamie and Victoria calling the Doctor out on always landing on Earth/England. Also, JAMIE'S REVERSIBLE COW-VEST.
Awwww, foam-fight!
"What's this?"
"It's the sonic screwdriver. Never fails."
Except on wood. But I digress. SONIC SCREWDRIVER!
Jeez, what is it with people aiming crosshairs at Two when he's trying to have a nice day at the beach?
And this time it actually hits him!
Awww, puppy-pile. Which would be a lot more adorable if they didn't have guns pointed at them.
Well, I think we know who the Snarky Asshole Commander of this story is going to be...
Ah, hello Mrs. Harris! I don't think we get to see the spouses of important supporting characters in Classic serials very often.
The more these guys talk about stuff getting into the pipelines, the more I think playing around in the foam was a bad idea.
("In the bunk room, Jamie is standing on the Doctor's shoulders.") As per usual. They must have nice views from there. #stupidkiltjokes
Victoria's lockpicking skills > all of Jamie, apparently. Ouch.
Stinging seaweed in your folder? Ouch. That must be like accidentally grabbing a jellyfish. In your underwear drawer.
Huh. I thought Victoria was supposed to be a nervous wreck by this story. She certainly still seems spry, witty, and active.
See? She's even trying to fix the sabotage in the oxygen valve room. Where she's now trapped.
VENTILATION SHAFT, YOU ARE DRUNK.
Victoria is rescued and...Jamie what do you have pressed against your face?
Aaaaand Mrs. Harris' sting mark has mysteriously vanished. How convenient. For the seaweed.
Ugh. That bubbling sound from the seaweed is actually making my stomach feel queasy...
Wow. That's some surprisingly intricate wall design for a pantry. Especially a pantry in Classic Who.
("Cut off from the influence of the weed...") Umm...did you guys stop and think about how that would sound?
Oh wow. Thanks to Turn Left, apparently I can't hear "the south of England" without thinking "flooded with radiation."
Ah, hello Suspicious Looking/Sounding Maintenance Workers! (Oh crap, one of them must be Mr. Quill...)
Dear Mr. Oak, you have the creepiest voice ever. -Hannah
You know what this scenario kinda reminds me of? Inferno. All this talk about pressure build-ups and gas, etc.
*shudder* Maybe it's the music, but that image of Mr. Oak's arm covered in seaweed freaks me out WAAAAY more than it really should.
OH DEAR GOD NOT THIS SCENE. THIS. SCENE.
Okay, so that wasn't as bad as Miss Evangelista's warped face in Forest of the Dead, but still pretty damn creepy.
Well, looks like we may finally have someone sensible besides Mr. Harris trying to convince the higher ups that something's wrong here.
Ah. FINALLY Two and company find the malicious seaweed. 'Bout time. (Yes I know it's only the second episode, but still.)
"Why should anyone want me to get stung by a piece of seaweed?" #curiousquotes
Okay, maybe NOW Robson will believe that there's something alive down there. Alive and foamy.
So naturally when Victoria mentions "like a spider," my eye is drawn to my old high school graduation tassel swaying in the breeze...
Wow. WOW. Robson, you are a stubborn ass. A REALLY REALLY stubborn ass.
Huh. I think this is one of the few times in Doctor Who that the crew gets back to the TARDIS with stuff to Do Science To It.
(I mean that in the sense that the TARDIS is usually inaccessible for most of the story for one reason or another.)
"A harmless old man and a couple of teenagers?" ...You know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard Team Two referred to like that.
I know Jamie's and Victoria's ages are never specified on screen (correct me if I'm wrong), but I always thought they were young adults.
Well...okay, seventeen or eighteen at the youngest.
Huh. Usually takes until about the penultimate episode for the crazy boss to finally lose it, but Robson seems to be jumping on that early.
Okay, so maybe he hasn't "finally lost it" yet, but he's certainly yelling more intensely in this scene than he has so far.
"He's cracking up, Harris." Or maybe I was right the first time.
And the solution is found not just by science, but my mythology. Well, not really the solution, but certainly an answer.
Ohhhhh yes, Robson is definitely losing it. Rapid-fire cured ham.
Seriously, Mr. Oak and Mr. Quill are some of the biggest creeps to ever creep on this show. And that's saying a LOT.
Okay, so I have to ask: if Victoria has such proficient lock-picking skills, why haven't we seen her use them before? Or have I forgotten?
Finally, companion screaming is good for something: fending off the Monster of the Week.
Another one of those action scenes I REALLY wish had survived. I want to see Jamie standing on a kitchen table D:
"Doctor why is it that we always end up in trouble?"
"Victoria, it's the spice of life, my dear!"
"Well I'm not so sure."
Uh oh, first sign.
So now Two's finally gotten to announce to everyone about the monster seaweed. Maybe now they can actually DO something about it.
Despite what just happened, that might be one of the calmest Who cliffhangers I've ever seen.
The music in this scene is sounding particularly 8-bit. Or maybe that's just the main melody line.
Awwwwww, sleeping Jamie.
I really REALLY wish I could see this scene. Jamie's sounding even more empathetic than usual and I just wish I could see his FACE...
"He looks so peaceful out there, doesn't he?" ...you mean Jamie sleeping? Aww.
Poor Victoria. Once in a while we get a companion who truly, deeply just wants to go somewhere *nice* for a change.
Evelyn made this same speech in Arrangements For War and Sarah Jane had a similar one right before she left. Who else...?
Aw crap. Mr. Oak and Mr. Quill are still running free. When is someone going to realize that they're, well, toxic?
Suddenly, FOOTAGE! ...Yikes, what a way to go.
"Jamie, you wouldn't let me go down there on my own, now would you?"
"Well, ye...uh...well...well, noooo...oh..."
#comealongpuppy
Fact: Mr. Oak and Mr. Quill will never not be creepy as hell. Ever.
Jamie's Scotty Senses are tingling. They're saying, "EVIL."
Mr. Oak, please. never. speak. again.
I just realized: Jamie's face and respiratory system may be safe from the gas and the seaweed but his legs certainly aren't.
A mass of bubbling white foam surges up the shaft. (And that was my one dirty joke for the evening.)
Okay. I've officially concluded that Oak and Quill are the kind of villain I hate because they're SO GOOD at being really nasty.
Actually, I feel the exact same way about the Dream Lord. Maybe that's why Amy's Choice made me feel so...uncomfortable.
On the other hand, I'm on the boat of fan theorists who want him to turn out to be a pre-Valeyard.
FINALLY they've got more concrete confirmation of foam-invasion. I think that's the first time I've ever heard "fantastic" used negatively.
Oh hey, look who decided to come back to the party! Hello, Robson! My my, you're not looking or sounding very sane at all, are you?
"I'm afraid that Mr. Robson is being controlled by some force that emanates from this weed." #roesloveddrugs
"Victoria! ...Victoria...say something...no...no, ye can't be dead...Victoria...oh, if anything happened to you I'd never forgive myself."
"...Jamie, I didn't know you cared." #allofmycreys #also #moodwhiplash #emotionallycockblocked
Seaweed invasion? Natural reaction: GROUP CLING!
"It's begun. The battle of the giants!" *DUN DUN DUUUUUN*
Okay, NOW I think we finally know what Oak and Quill's original roles on the rigs were.
"Now supposing that person was under the control of the weed..." I'm not even going to make the joke because you all know what it is.
I love it when bad guys' weaknesses are just an overdose of some mundane thing, like oxygen.
Actually, wasn't oxygen how they drove out the Marshmen in Full Circle?
Nice helmet, dude. Put some red on that and you could try out for the guards on Gallifrey.
Aw, this scene between Ms. Jones and Robson might even be sweet if I could actually see it.
Wait, never mind, she's being strict again.
Wait, never never mind, he's actually responding to her now.
Jamie, don't hush the lady when she has a legitimate concern, especially one like this.
Was that a vent's-eye-view we just got? Don't see those all the time on this show.
More footage! So I have to ask, how did they account for all the deaths in the overseas edit if they censored all the shots of actual death?
Did they just...leave the screen black or something? I dunno, I think that's what they did in the German edit of Naruto...
Jamie to the rescue again! This time, taking down the creepers at last!
"Eh, there's a wee bit o' power left in the ol' McCrimmon punch yet." The O'l McCrimmon Punch. #theolmccrimmonpunch
So. I guess this means that Jamie Punch is canon now?
Wow. This story really isn't treating Victoria very well, is it?
Although I honestly don't understand what Robson hopes to achieve by kidnapping her. A hostage for bargaining, maybe?
FOOTAGE!
Yup, she's his hostage. And Robson is somehow slightly less of a Shouty Man now.
Hello, looks like we're about to have an aerial chase!
"Come on in! The water's lovely!" And by "water," you mean "deadly mind-control foam" oh god Two why are you jumping into that.
Come into my parlor, said the Robson to the Doc.
"Matter will never conquer mind! It's against the law of nature!" Really? I thought that was just philosophy.
So after all the clings Two gets, he very nearly gets a Hug of Death.
Ahhhhhh, that's right: Victoria's screaming actually has some legit effect on the monsters in this story.
You know you might conceivably be screwed when your best chance for escape is someone who's never flown a helicopter but REALLY wants to.
Especially when he calls it a "primitive" machine and STILL can't fly it properly.
WOAH. Now I have to wonder if this footage of the helicopter in flight was just stock footage the reconner found.
(To clarify the "WOAH," the copter just flipped upside down for a couple seconds.)
"Well I was under the impression you couldn't loop-de-loop in a helicopter." OR MAYBE THAT WAS SURVIVING FOOTAGE WHAT.
This is a nice 3-D recon, though. Kinda like Flight Simulator in black-and-white.
Ah, yes, thank you: some much-needed backseat piloting from the other guy.
Okay, I know I've said this a bajillion times already, but I REALLY WISH I COULD *SEE* THIS SCENE.
"Just one thing: I've got it up alright...and it should be encouragingly simple to propel it forward...erm...however...how do I land it?"
And the solution to defeating this foamy, weedy menace? NOOOIIIIIIIIIISE.
And not just any noise, but Victoria's screaming. For once, not a nuisance, but a WEAPON. #awwwyeah
Oh FFS Victoria, WHAT'S THIS ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO SCREAM WHEN WE ACTUALLY NEED IT? ...oh. Thank you, that's better.
More surviving footage of the foam! But wait, why would THAT clip need to be censored? No one died or got attacked or anything...
Ahhhh, so THIS is what those gajillion pictures of Team Two making weird faces come from!
Oh wow, lots of surviving footage from this scene! :D
Screaming as a weapon...I'm kinda glad I'm watching this episode in broad daylight.
Hey, it's Mrs. Harris! And Robson is...completely sane again? Okay, I'll admit I wasn't expecting that...
Awww, happy celebration dinner! Also, dayum, the Harris' have a FINE house.
"And to think, I wanted to keep you locked up, Doctor!"
"Well, lots of people have tried."
Here it comes, the decision to leave...any minute now...
Oh wow. This is going very cordially and Two seems to be taking it pretty well. Jamie, I'm not so sure about.
"Now, Jamie, she must make up her own mind, it's her own life, it's her decision."
On another note, I'm ASTOUNDED that Robson was allowed to return to his post after all this. I mean, seriously.
"Jamie...you wouldn't go...without saying goodbye, would you?"
"Of course not. That won't be till the morning, anyway. ...Goodnight, Victoria."
"Goodnight, Jamie."
#ohgod #mycreys
Okay. I swear to god I heard a kiss in there. There's nothing in the narration about it, but I HEARD SOMETHING THAT SOUNDED LIKE A KISS.
("Victoria watches as her friends disappear out of sight and out of her life. Back in the TARDIS, Jamie looks sadly at Victoria's image...")
"Oh, come on, let's go."
"Well, where would you like to go?"
"I couldn't care less."
"I was fond of her too, you know."
Goddammit. That didn't make me cry, but it sure made me feel things. #feeeeelings
Well, goodbye, Victoria. You will be missed. Actually, you get to meet up with the Brig and Sarah Jane in Downtime, don't you?
Next: The Wheel in Space