Fury from the Deep (TV Story) Review

Title: Fury from the Deep
Writer: Victor Pemberton
Original Broadcast Date: 16 March 1968 - 20 April 1968

Coming in right towards the end of Season Five, Fury from the Deep tells the tale of a gas refinery under siege, home to a boss who shouts everything he says and creatures invading from below, and when the Doctor and his friends arrive they are not believed of the dangers until it is too late. Wait - haven't we seen this one already?

Fury from the Deep follows closely the basic Troughton story blueprint and unfortunately it isn't particularly spectacular in its execution. While it does nothing bad, it doesn't do anything good either, making this story incredibly and remarkably average.

The only real problem with this six-parter is the fact the enemy is seaweed and seafoam, which you'd think would be a lot scarier by the amount of screaming Victoria does around them. On the subject of Victoria, after a season of adventuring, we see her bow out, which was probably the only unique thing about this story. Her exit - unlike Polly, Ben, and Dodo's before her - is hinted to throughout and is really rather good, while - again, nothing spectacular - its sweet and heartwarming.

Troughton is brilliant, especially in a particular scene in the final episode involving a helicopter without a pilot, and Jamie is as good as ever. Some dialogue in the third and fourth parts gives some great insight into his character, showing his complete trust for the time lord.

Absolutely unspectacular, but good fun; Fury from the Deep is a decent base-under-siege that sits towards the top end of Season Five.

7/10

Season 4 - Ranking and Stats

Doctor Who - Season Four (1966/67)
10 September 1966 - 1 July 1967

William Hartnell's last and Patrick Troughton's first, Season 4 of Doctor Who was a roller coaster throughout, providing us with unforgettable moments such as the first Cyberman appearance and the first ever regeneration. Season 4 is undeniably one of the biggest game-changing seasons, second only to the very first.

Ranking

1. The Tenth Planet (9.5/10)
2. The Evil of the Daleks (9/10)
3. The Moonbase (9/10)
4. The Highlanders (9/10)
5. The Power of the Daleks (8/10)
6. The Macra Terror (8/10)
7. The Smugglers (7.5/10)
8. The Underwater Menace (6/10)
9. The Faceless Ones (5/10)

Averaging these out means Season Four has an average rating of...                  7.89/10

And a range of                                                                                                        4.5

From my ratings we can see Season Four had:
4 Amazing Episodes (9+/10)
2 Great Episodes (8+/10)
1 Good Episode (7+/10)
1 Okay Episode (6+/10)
1 Bad Episode (4+/10)
1 Terrible Episode (2+/10)

Here is a graph of my ratings:

The red line is the average. Click to enlarge.

Comparison

So far in our marathon we rated all over Season One, Two and Three's episodes, par the missing ones, so the averages could change when I get around to listening to the surviving audio or watching orphaned episodes.

In terms of average quality, Season Four comes in at second place, behind Season Two.

1. Season Two - 7.94/10
2. Season Four - 7.89/10
3. Season One - 7.79/10
4. Season Three - 7.5/10

In terms of range, it is in second as well. As so many Season Three episodes are missing, the range is counted from the only three surviving serials, so this is bound to change.

1. Season Three - 2.5
2. Season Four - 4.5
3. Season One - 5.5
4. Season Two - 8

That's all folks! Join us in two days time for a review of The Legends of Ashildr, the book, and following that: the first episode of Season Five: The Tomb of the Cybermen!

The Faceless Ones (TV Story) Review

Title: The Faceless Ones
Writer: David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
Original Broadcast Date: 8 April 1967 - 13 May 1967

The TARDIS lands in Gatwick Aiport, 1966, where Polly discovers a murder in a nearby hangar, before she is kidnapped. Jamie and the Doctor attempt to find her when they uncover a series of mysteries, all revolving around Chameleon Tours: planes full of thousands have people have arrived in their destination with no one on board!

From what I heard about this story I expected it be an early Troughton masterpiece; that, it certainly was not! The episode starts off with a great chase scene, where the Doctor and friends all separate as they are chased by the police around the runway of an airport. I regret to say this was the most enjoyable part of the story. After that it all goes downhill.

The Faceless Ones, with such an intriguing concept behind it, failed to capitalize on its potential, leaving us with a rather unpolished, inconsistent story that dragged on too long. Perhaps it would have worked if it was reduced to four parts, but pacing is not its biggest problem. Instead that lies in how it handles (or fails to) the characters, with Ben and Polly completely sidelined for most of what is their final appearance, only present in the first two and last episodes. While not as bad as Dodo's departure, it feels more offensive mainly because of the fact no one liked Dodo (sorry Jackie Lane!); Ben and Polly were a fantastic duo that brought some lovely charm to many adventures across the two Doctor's eras they featured in.

Adding to the already ridiculous situation, the lovely Pauline Collins (who I'm afraid can't pull off a Liverpool accent) takes their place for the rest of the episode, but even then, she is completely underused and forgotten about for large periods of time throughout.

Even with complications such as this stripped away, The Faceless Ones still lacks in quality, with a menace that never really felt menacing and (as two episodes remain intact) sloppy direction, making this story feel like it never took off. (Get it? Because its set in an airport? Ah forget it!)

5/10