Q is for... Quill, Mr

A technician working with Euro Sea Gas at its distribution centre on the south coast of England. He and his colleague, Mr Oak, were the first to be mentally enslaved by the Seaweed Creatures which had been stirred up by the gas drilling operations. As technicians, they knew the layout of the complex and its systems, and so were ideally placed to sabotage any attempts to hinder the weed from taking over.

In appearance Quill was tall and cadaverous, in stark contrast to the short, corpulent Mr Oak. He rarely said anything - letting Oak do all the talking for the pair.

As well as taking over their minds, the weed slowly transformed the bodies of its victims. They could breath under water and seaweed-like fronds began to sprout from their skin. They could also produce a toxic gas on which the weed thrived - exhaling it through their blackened mouths.

Quill was recognised by Victoria as the person she had earlier seen tampering with oxygen supplies and so Jamie pursued him. In a violent struggle, Quill attempted to overpower him with his toxic breath - but Victoria's screams caused him to collapse. The weed was susceptible to sound of a particular frequency. 

The Doctor later checked on him in the centre's medical bay and found that he was now free of the weed - confirming his theory that sound could be used to repel it.

Played by Bill Burridge. Appearances: Fury from the Deep (1968)

• Quill and Oak were based on Laurel & Hardy, whom writer Victor Pemberton had once met in the 1950's during one of their British tours. 
• He had hopes of reusing the characters at some point, believing them worthy of a spin-off.
• Burridge had been a background artist on Doctor Who for a number of years, beginning with The Romans in which he plays a palace guard. There then followed roles in The Savages and The Underwater Menace (as the executioner in episode 3). Later, he was one of the Master's followers in The Daemons, and his final appearance was as a Draconian in Frontier in Space.
• It was claimed by a fellow actor that Burridge fell seriously ill due to some adverse reaction to the Draconian make-up resulting in him having to retire into a nursing home, and he died soon after.