Teeth and Curls: Nobody can produce an ominous tone quite
like Tom Baker and his talents in this area are utilised to the full in
Phantoms of the Deep, as all manner of underwater nasties are thrown at our
heroes. The Doctor is very proud of the latest version of K.9 that he built,
prompting Romana to suggest that is why he needs repairing so much. Their
destinations are supposed to be random, which was why he fitted the Randomiser
in the first place but he does seem to have a preoccupation with the planet
Earth. Once he landed the TARDIS in the heart of a star and it barely dented
the paintwork – chucking the old girl a few thousand fathoms beneath the ocean
was never going to do her any harm. When he thinks Romana is dead he curses
himself for ever letting her get involved with an inveterate old trouble maker
like him. The Doctor takes great exception to K.9 being called a gadget, he’s
his second best friend after all!
Posh Girl: One day Romana intends to write a thesis on the
Doctor, in particular exploring his levels of sanity. When Romana attempts to
resuscitate the Doctor she asks that he surely wont do anything as mundane as
dying.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘It’s like a cross between the inside of
an oyster and being back in the womb!’
‘Just because something’s imaginary it doesn’t mean it can’t
hurt you.’
Great Ideas: Just hearing the acronym DSV (Deep Sea
Vehicle) is enough to give me the shudders (as I’m sure anybody with a passing
familiarity with Jonathan Brandis will testify to) but Doctor Who has always
managed to piggyback on the success of other shows and play about with their
ideas for an adventure. I really like the idea of an underwater adventure and
since Warriors of the Deep (and I would argue Cold War too) failed to capture
the claustrophobia of such a location it is still wide open for Morris to
exploit. There’s a pleasing reference to one of Morris’ companion chronicles,
The Great Space Elevator, which ties this story nicely into the same time
period. Super intelligent squid capable of communicating through symbolic
logic, a pleasing concept given that we have barely explored the depths of the
ocean and there could be anything in existence down there. Discovering a
derelict submarine under the water excites me because by exploring its rusting
interior the Doctor is potentially looking into what the future holds for the
crew of the Erebus. The phantoms of the ocean are an illusion, created by an
alien spacecraft nestled on the seabed. The submariners are being tested for
their psychic potential, just as the squid were and their brain power is being
massively increased. It was built to reconstruct a race memory of a long
extinct race, programmed to find the most intelligent species and increase
their mental capacities to a point where they can be used as receptacles. The
phantoms are the ghosts of species that built the ship, whispering in their
minds. The spacecraft gave Jack the power of telekinesis and kept him alive for
over a 100 years. With his powers his fears can become a reality and could
potentially tear the Erebus apart. I don’t know what a vampire squid looks like
but it sure sounds nasty (googles…ooh nasty!).
Audio Landscape: Underneath the sea, bubbling waves rolling
past, sonar scanner, the Erebus churning through the water, along the sea bed,
a robotic claw grabbing hold of the TARDIS, the creaking hull as the pressure
drops, water dripping, K.9’s nose blaster, water filling rooms, characters lost
beneath the waves, the screaming phantoms of the ocean.
Isn’t it Odd: Trying to squeeze what would have been a four
parter back in the day into two means that something has to give and in the
case of Phantoms of the Deep, which gets just about everything else right (its
setting, plot, atmosphere and tension at the very least), it is the
characterisation of the guest cast. Don’t get me wrong they are all perfectly
serviceable characters (I would expect nothing less from a dab hand like
Jonathan Morris) but nobody really stands out as unique or breaks their
stereotype. Morris’ other contribution to the season had a terrifically
memorable guest cast but a slight plot, so this reverses the trend. Perhaps if
each release was three episodes long we would get ample time to explore both
narrative and character with equal depth.
Standout Scene: I always loved that moment in The Invasion
of Time when it appears that K.9 has gone rogue and heads off to bring down the
transduction barrier and allow the Vardans to invade Gallifrey. There is
something very dramatic about the way that Gerald Blake shoots the metal dog up
close and personal that makes him appear alien and unknowing. Jonathan Morris
taps into that sense of menace with his excellent cliffhanger, K.9 suddenly
turning on Romana, first trapping her in the airlock and then expelling her out
into the ocean. It’s all wonderfully exciting and the metal mutt has lots of
explaining to do.
Result: With some startling atmospherics, it is very easy to
slip beneath the waves with Phantoms of the Deep and enjoy the stifling
ambience of a tale set beneath the ocean. Jonathan Morris has always been a
versatile writer but the gulf in genre and tone between this and The Auntie
Matter establishes his ability to turn his hand to any type of story more
effectively than ever. Where he opened up the season with a sunny, light and
blissfully funny tale, here he indulges in the claustrophobia, terror and
crushing horror of a base under siege adventure in an enclosed location.
Between the two stories he has covered what must surely appeal to every Doctor
Who fan. It’s a story that isn’t afraid to present some exciting set pieces
despite the fact that there are no visuals (the underwater sea walk is very
impressive) and Ken Bentley is more than up to the task of bringing these
ambitious sequences to life. The first episode lays down all the individual
elements (the intelligent jellyfish, the derelict submarine, the large
underwater body) and then the concluding part cleverly weaves them all into a
satisfying narrative. In storytelling terms there is nothing here that hasn’t
been done before, it is the location that sets it apart but even on those terms
this makes for highly enjoyable night time listening (turn all the lights out
and press play, trust me it’s fantastic). It is probably the story that
relies on the Doctor and Romana the least, at least in terms of their
particular personalities. You could happily switch them for any other
Doctor/companion combination with the minimal of tweaking, which is certainly
not something you could say about The Auntie Matter but is often the way with
such a traditional Doctor Who story. Regardless, Tom Baker seems to be having a
blast and his enthusiasm for the material is quite infectious. Well paced, full
of excitement and evoking a malevolent flavour, Phantoms of the Deep is another
winner for the second season of fourth Doctor adventures: 8/10
5 comments:
Joe - with you on this, another good story in the 4DA range
Oh, it is nice to see a new audio review from you! I missed them!
I think you rated this a tad bit high, personally. I thought K9 got way to much dialogue, and that the explanation about the spaceship was just a strange and rushed way to tie it all together, itlike something out of a new who episode and not a good one, in my opinion. but, to each there own, I guess. (the cliff-hanger was good, though)
I may be late to the party here but I really enjoyed this one. I love the Deep Sea and ocean life in general and this TARDIS team happens to be one of my favorites - the writing and rapport between them is *marvelous*. As a squid-fan I love the Super-Intelligent squid as well, very Douglas Adams-y in feel.
And above all, this simply felt so very different from any other Doctor Who adventure I've heard, it felt almost like a documentary that also happened to feature some of my favorite characters in fiction having an adventure along the way.
The problem is that the first part of the story is SO good (10/10 for me in fact) that when Morris or the script editors remember that this is a good old Doctor Who story and give us the good old traditional Doctor Who explanations, I kind of felt...not let down, exactly, but I felt like it drives the story off-track. Since it's set in such a weird, unique, and fantastical environment, I would have preferred if the nature of the threat had been...well, those adjectives also, and perhaps more specific to the Deep Sea. Heck, I'd have been fine if there was no overarching threat (or if it didn't seem apparent at first), and instead they'd spent the majority of the story just encountering the wonders of the deep :P (That being said, the imagery conjured up with the spaceship was still fantastic, and the story never ceased to be entertaining.)
Also: am I the only one who groaned at the "twist" concerning the nature of the Erebus's mission? It isn't built up at all, but it is also somehow predictable - not a good combination. Ultimately, it's purpose seems to be to give meaning to Dr. Sawyer's sacrifice, as though giving her life to save her crew and allies wasn't noble already. But what kind of meaning - is it supposed to make us feel reassured that Dr. Sawyer did "bad things" and thus it was okay for her to give her life? In which case, how stupid is that?! To add extra depth, as though her facing her arrogance at disregarding the squids' warning wasn't enough? I don't know. It's not a big issue - I'm just analyzing for fun/analysis's sake - but it adds nothing to the story, and since it was obviously supposed to it failed in its purpose.
Still, I can't complain too much when a story ends with K9 saving the day by asking a bunch of squid for help, and this is still one of my favorite audios that I've heard.
I had a really hard time taking seriously the idea that a vampire squid, with its weak musculature and low metabolism, or a lion's mane jellyfish, which barely has muscles at all, could crush a submersible or drag people to their deaths. At any rate, the first part was way better than the second.
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