The Underwater Menace (TV story)

"What have I come upon?"

- Jamie McCrimmon

The Underwater Menace was the fifth story of Season 4 of Doctor Who. The third episode of this story is currently the earliest surviving Second Doctor episode.

Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on a extinct volcanic island. Before long, the travellers are captured and taken into the depths of the Earth, where they find a hidden civilisation - the lost city of Atlantis.

The Atlanteans worship a goddess named Amdo and use Fish People - men and women operated upon so that they can breathe under the sea - to farm the plankton-based food on which they survive. A deranged scientist, Professor Zaroff, has convinced them that he can raise their city from the sea, but actually he plans to drain the ocean into the Earth's molten core, so that the resultant superheated steam will cause the planet to explode.

The travellers meet up with two shipwreck survivors, Sean and Jacko, who manage to persuade the Fish People to rebel and stop work. The Doctor eventually manages to foil Zaroff's plan, but only by breaking down the sea walls and flooding the city. Zaroff drowns, but everyone else escapes.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * Ben Jackson - Michael Craze
 * Polly - Anneke Wills
 * Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
 * Professor Zaroff - Joseph Fürst
 * Ara - Catherine Howe
 * Ramo - Tom Watson
 * Lolem - Peter Stephens
 * Damon - Colin Jeavons
 * Damon's Assistant - Gerald Taylor
 * Overseer - Graham Ashley
 * Zaroff's guard - Tony Handy
 * Jacko - Paul Anil
 * Sean - P. G. Stephens
 * Thous - Noel Johnson
 * Nola - Roma Woodnutt

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Gareth Gwenlan
 * Costumes - Sandra Reid, Juanita Waterson
 * Designer - Jack Robinson
 * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware
 * Film Cameraman - Alan Jonas
 * Film Editor - Eddie Wallstab
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Gillian James
 * Producer - Innes Lloyd
 * Production Assistant - Norman Stewart
 * Script Editor - Gerry Davis
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - George Summers
 * Studio Sound - Bryan Forgham
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Story Notes

 * This story had the working titles of; The Fish People, Doctor Who Under the Sea, Under the Sea, Atlanta.
 * Professor Zaroff utters the timeless line "Nothing in the world can stop me now!". Davros would say a similar line in Journey's End.
 * In the opening TARDIS scene, Polly, Ben and the Doctor are each heard 'thinking' about where they would like to land next. (Polly hopes for Chelsea in 1966, Ben wants not to meet the Daleks and the Doctor relishes the idea of encountering prehistoric monsters.) This was achieved by pre-recording the actors' voices and playing them back during the making of the episode.
 * The name of the mad scientist, Zaroff, is similar to that of Dr. Zarkoff, a scientist featured in the classic Flash Gordon adventures.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 8.3 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 7.5 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 7.1 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 7.0 million viewers

Myths

 * Joseph Furst adopted an outrageous East European accent in his portrayal of Zaroff. (Furst spoke in his own normal accent.)

Filming Locations

 * Winspit Quarry, Worth Matravers, Dorset
 * Winspit Beach, Worth Matravers, Dorset
 * Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
 * Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * At the start of episode three the director can be heard.
 * During the underwater scenes in episode 3, the Kirby wires holding up the fish people are clearly visible
 * Polly hits Zaroff with an enormous boulder and he goes 'Ooh!'
 * Why are some of the Fish People more "fishy" than others? On some you can see they have scales and fins, but on others, they look like humans with goggles on! Stages of mutation/chang'e? Also, as their adaptation is a surgical procedure, there is no reason they should all be fitted with exactly the same set of implants, particularly since some of them (the less adapted ones) are seen in the marketplace. Quite possibly they are given different configurations of implants to carry out differently allotted tasks, some requiring greater amphibiousness than others.
 * When Zaroff fires his pistol (an ordinary, non-futuristic 9mm) at the end of episode three, he quite clearly does not: there is a sound effect, but no smoke, recoil, or discharged cartridge.

Continuity

 * It is mentioned in DW: The Dæmons that Azal destroyed Atlantis, and in The Time Monster Kronos also destroyed Atlantis.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DW: The Highlanders
 * This story occurs before DW: The Moonbase

DVD, Video and Other Releases

 * The surviving episode (episode 3) was released on the Lost in Time DVD
 * Editing of surviving episodes DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Novelisation

 * Main article: The Underwater Menace (novelisation)


 * Novelised as The Underwater Menace by Nigel Robinson in 1988.