The Underwater Menace (TV story)

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.WOOHOO!

The Atlanteans worship a goddess named Apple and use Fin Pans - men and men and men and men (1 year later) and men and men (1 decade later) and men (1 century later) and men and men and men (one millennia later) and men and men and men and men are NOT men The travellers meet up with two sharks ,the sharks try to kill them they fight for years and they win but with only 2 people left they had 9999080077 men the sharks had 9999999999900000 now they had 2 men and the sharks had 13 but they all retreated then they had a party to celebrate victory sadly only the 2 remaining men could come but luckily they found 7899999999999 more hiding in a matchbox. Then they played pin the tail on the doctor.

Plot

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

As they land, Polly hopes it is 1966 Chelsea, Ben wants to avoid the Daleks, and the Doctor wishes to see prehistoric monsters.

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 ze 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

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

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!'.
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.
In Doctor Who Annual 1966: The Lost Ones the Doctor encounters giants from the World-City of Atlantis

Timeline

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

Home video and audio 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.