Oh, so many things happened in today's episodes of Fury from the Deep! I very nearly had another unexpected day without Doctor Who, but fortunately a window of opportunity opened up this afternoon and I was able to fit it in amidst visits to the vet, mowing the lawn during the first break in the Florida rain for nearly a week, and other family emergencies. But hey, at least my home wasn't overrun by sentient seaweed and foam, so it's all good.

Let's talk about that.

Fury from the Deep - Episodes 5 & 6

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Episode five is basically a full-on assault of the pipeline command center by the evil seaweed, with foam and weeds erupting out of the pipes and the air vents plus weird humanoid seaweed creatures attacking the crew. Amidst the chaos, Victoria is captured by Robson (who is under the control of the seaweed), and carried off to one of the drilling rigs via helicopter. There's a great moment earlier on where Robson has been put under house arrest in his quarters, but he disables the guard by sneaking up behind him and grabbing him with his weedy hand and then breathing the poison gas into the guard's face. It's all very creepy. By the climax of the episode, the Doctor and Jamie have been summoned out to the drilling rig by Robson, under threat of Victoria's death. 

In the final episode, Victoria is rescued almost immediately. It turns out that the sound of her screams is deadly to the seaweed, and so the Doctor and Jamie are able to spirit her away. There then follows an overlong scene in which the Doctor is flying the escape helicopter badly, and even manages to do a complete loop-de-loop. Once back on land, the Doctor weaponizes Victoria's scream by recording it and then amplifying and modifying it into sonic devices. It turns out that the sonic screwdriver in the first episode was actually some clever foreshadowing of the big finish, kind of a Chekhov's gun. By using the natural echoing and channeling of the pipes, the Doctor is able to wipe out the the central core of the invading seaweed, and the day is saved. Then there is a surprisingly long denouement in which Victoria struggles with her choice of what to do, ultimately deciding to stay behind and to try to find a peaceful life without all the running and screaming and such. It was very well done, and nice to see her get a proper and thoughtful send-off.

Overall it's not a bad story. Certainly it is the weakest of the fourth season, but only by comparison against some truly great stories. On its own merits it is pretty dang good and has some memorably creepy moments. 

Tomorrow, the Cybermen return in The Wheel in Space and we get a brand new companion. Yay!

STATS:

Doctor(s): Second
Companion(s): Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield
Episode(s): Fury From the Deep - Episodes 5 & 6
Steps Walked: 6,942 today, 696,844 total
Distance Walked: 3.66 miles today, 334.68 miles total
Weight: 276.00 lbs (five day moving average), net change -31.30 lbs