Fury from the Deep - Episode 3

Today is the 200^th episode of Doctor Who. It’s an impressive achievement and the 100^th episode came in the middle of ‘The Daleks Master Plan’ and so felt like a bit of a celebration whereas here in episode 200 we just get the Doctor fighting some seaweed. There is a moment when the idea that the seaweed is feeding of the gas from the North Sea and giving off toxic gas is quite a big one when you consider how much gas there must have been in 1968. There seems to have been a return to form from the first episode where not much seems to happen. I say this as my attention was drifting again and I wondered what happened to the pace from the previous episode.

I’ve not noticed before but Jamie seems to sneeze before they notice the seaweed/foam. Don’t know whether this happened before episode three or even whether it was something suggested by the cast but it doesn’t really seem like a particularly good idea because it cheapens what’s going on. The music is doing its best to keep my interest but I’m struggling. To be positive about this story I must say that this is the story that has suited being on audio.

Finally we get the start of Victoria’s departure from the show when she’s quite vocal about always being in trouble and this is the first time that she’s shown any sort of desire to leave and quite why its taken until episode three is a mystery. Deborah Watling puts in a good performance for the first time for several episodes and its probably the wise thing for her to leave the show because she’s been inconstantly used since she appeared in episode two of ‘Evil of the Daleks’. The only thing that Frazer Hines does in this episode is sneeze which is the sort of thing I would have expected to be given to Deborah Watling. Patrick Troughton does seem to be walking through these episodes but being him he makes it better that what’s clearly on the page.

The only moment that is quite good is the end where Maggie and Robson stand by the sea and Maggie walks into the sea and keeps going until she is completely submerged in the sea. This is a cliffhanger and a half which would have been really creepy were it on DVD. It’s clear that I would be enjoying this story more ahd it been on DVD but as it is I must say that I am finding this story rather flat and only the sound effects are keeping me interested. Hopefully more will come from Deborah Watling and she will get the ending that perhaps she should be given but I doubt it.