Started 10-NovLC recon time again. But after a file corruption problem we resorted to a JV recon after ep2.
The second thing I noticed was Dudley was back with his electronic kazoo. After 3 serials this season with stock music, 1 with none at all and just 1 (Ice Warriors) with Dudley's 60's synth this is not the refined, classic stuff of Dudley in the 70's.
First rule of incidental music is it should not interfere or be too noticeable. Er, well...
Dudley will get it right next series (Seeds of Death, Space Pirates, War Games) but it will be Spearhead from Space that is the start of his best work.
The Sonic Screwdriver appears in ep1 and it is used to undo a large bolt!!
This has a massive reputation and I feel like I'm testing myself against it.
Well other people's reviews are mixed at best:
http://geekbat.blogspot.com/2012/04/doctor-who-fury-from-deep.html
But I think this comes across awfully poorly as a recon.
The horror (Oak's and Quill's creepiness, Robson's battle against the weed takeover, the end of ep2)) and the action (helicopters, weed creature movements, people falling in drains) are both nearly entirely missing from the show because there are no moving pictures. The little clips that do exist do have a immediate, video-y, exciting look but they are all too brief.
We're left with a very 'base under siege' tale with a fairly ill-defined threat. Confusingly it even looks like the foam-y stuff from the previous story (Web..)
The Doctor (in ep4) describes the weed creature as like a human (it's clearly not).
What is the Weed creature (in fictional terms)? What is it's reason for attacking gas rigs? Why is it 'deadly'? Plus the gas is described as 'poisonous' yet *no one* dies. (Except maybe Van Luytens?)
The gas being extracted is natural gas (as Harris describes it, rightly enough, it is non-'toxic'.) BTW natural gas is mostly methane and apart from being flammable is not dangerously reactive or poisonous. In high concentrations it is asphyxiating, however. Also 'toxic' is a very ill used term. Most science-y/medical people try to avoid it these days because it has confusing connotations.
'Toxic' recently made OED's 2018 Word of the Year. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2018 That article explains how confusing....
What is the gas that the creature's taken over people breath out that debilitates? It's not methane.
At one point the rig staff use all the oxygen to 'stop' it. (I'm not sure what they're doing to it....)
If a flammable gas and pure oxygen are combined then there would be a risk of explosion and fire I reckon. These rig staff are engineers are they? Oh yeah....
The SF concept is not well thought out in my view.
Characters are kinda dull and less than innovative. Especially Robson and Harris. There are at least some ladies in this (Maggie and Megan) but they have pretty much sketched in characters.
I think I missed what happened to Oak and Quill who were bizarre and commanded interest and attention. Their actions and motivation seem separate from the weed creature's. This contributes to the poor story.
The Doctor pilots a helicopter in ep6 while name checkin Astrid from Enemy of the World. Wow...
Victoria's character is weirdly wild. Of course it's not consistent with previous stories... (welcome to DW!!) but she's turned into a frustrated academic (she was interested in dresses and politeness before this....)
Apparently there's a rumour that Jamie kissed Victoria goodbye (in that scene in ep6). The 'evidence' for this is an indistinct 'smack' sound on the soundtrack. I guess this is crap but it's another example of how much the story loses from missing the pictures...
In conclusion, we've marked this one down. The story isn't so great and the action is indiscernible. If it were ever recovered then *maybe* it would be redeemed some.
I'm really disappointed in Fury From the Deep.
ABM Rating 3.00/4.00
LJM Rating 2.00/5.00
SPJ Rating 3.80/10.00
No. 35 (out of 42)
Link to Cumulative Rankings
Rankings Scoreboard
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