The Underwater Menace [3.3]

The Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie arrive on a mysterious island, which turns out to be the tip of Atlantis – a submerged city populated by a random mish-mash of wrecked sailors, tribal shamans, fish people and a mad Eastern European scientist. Professor Zaroff has a pet octopus, a marvellous hairstyle and a plan to blow up the world.

With Ben and Jamie put to work in the mines and Polly threatened with genetic transformation into a fish, it's up to the Doctor to foil Zaroff and save the world.

The Majesty

For the first time we see full episodes with Patrick Troughton's Doctor. Everything previous to this is completely missing. So that's a good point. We also meet an Irish man and a black man who are good supporting characters, demonstrating a hint of growing diversity in the series. But other than that, 'majestic' is hardly a word to fit this story.

The Misery

Zaroff's ludicrous plan – to drain the oceans of the world into the core of the world – has no clear motivation, beyond the simple fact that he is mad. The unfolding plot, as the Doctor attempts to stop him, proceeds in a very erratic, random fashion. There is little or no logic to anything that is going on. Even the setting – a submerged prehistoric island civilisation that somehow has access to 20th century technology and materials – makes no sense.

Magical Moments

• Ben: “Polly, you speak foreign! Go speak to them” An unpromising start. Jamie speaks his Gaelic line fluently, but spoils the effect by then calling it 'Gay-lick'
• Zaroff: “I could feed you to my pet octopus, yes?” Surely one of the classic lines on the televisual age, especially when followed by a prodigious length of cackling laughter!
• Polly: “You're not turning me into a fish!” Zaroff certainly has no monopoly on the classic lines, but these would have been terrible last words.
• In episode three, Zaroff shoves the Priest of Amdo. Rather than falling, the priest gently lies down on the most comfortable piece of ground he can see.
• The Doctor tries out another disguise – this time a pair of sunglasses and an enormous flowery scarf.
• The interminable 'mermaid ballet' sequence where actors swing about on the end of ropes making slow motion swimming gestures has to be seen to be believed. It is certainly otherworldly, but perhaps not quite in the way intended. Also, they only seem to have had the budget for two costumes, with the other 'mermaids' only wearing masks and overalls...
• Zaroff gets another spectacular line at the end of episode three: “Nothing in the world can stop me now!” You have to give the actor credit for the sheer excitement he manages to convey here!
• Ben: “Doctor, do you know what you're doing?” -“Oh what a question! Of course I don't... No rule against trying, is there?”

In Summary

This is one of these classic “so bad it's good” stories that are peppered throughout the Dr Who series. To be precise, episodes 2 and 3 are in this category, but episodes 1 and 4 are sadly missing and are simply bad. But overall, there is a surprising amount of fun to be had in watching this ridiculous, nonsensical melodramatic farce.

Overall: 3.3