Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep

Inexplicable malfunctions and behaviours in the coastal control hub for a number of deep-water drilling platforms leads the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) to believe that something menacing from the abyss has been disturbed. Need-less to say, other than companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling in her last seral), no one believes him. The story has a strong beginning (the open scene of the TARDIS' arrival is novel) and initially sets up some nice claustrophobic tension but, as the plot unfolds, it makes less and less sense, and the sudden, and extremely convenient, 'reveal' of the killer kelp's weakness makes for an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. This serial introduces the Doctors iconic 'sonic screwdriver (although at this juncture the soon-to-be hyper-versatile gadget seems to be simply what its name implies). All of the original episodes were disposed of by the BBC so this is a fully animated recreation set to original audio recordings. Like the other recreations I have seen, the animation is simplistic (especially when the character is in motion) but serves to move the story along. Although some hints can be found in surviving stills and scraps of video, imagining what the original images (especially the special effects) is difficult.

Fury from the deep is perhaps my favourite black and white story, it is brilliant, fun, exciting and emotional. You get to see The Doctor and his two young companions battle The Seaweed monster.

Possibly the most accomplished dvd release to date, it is superb, the animation seems to have gone up a notch since even The Macra Terror.

I had said for many years that I wanted this to be animated, I am so glad it has been, and to such a high standard. People said this would never be done, as it's quite complicated, the fact that The Macra Terror has been done gives me hope for the likes of Dalek Masterplan and Marco Polo.

BBC, thank you, you've done well here. 10/10.