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Product Description
Product Description
Patrick Troughton stars as the second Doctor in this 1967 adventure, which finds him stumbling across the lost city of Atlantis The TARDIS arrives on an extinct volcanic island, beneath which lies a fantastic subterranean world inhabited by the primitive Atlanteans. The Doctor and his companions move from the frying pan to fire when they are rescued, from death at the jaws of hungry sharks, by the mad Professor Zaroff - whose plans involve nothing less than the destruction of the whole world. Ben and Jamie are sent to work in the mines, and Polly looks set to be transformed into a water-breathing Fish Person unless the Doctor can intervene. Will the travellers be able to engineer the revolution which is needed to save Earth? This long-awaited release also features a bonus interview with Anneke Wills, who played Polly in the story and who also provides linking narration for the soundtrack. Only one episode of this story currently exists in the BBC Television Archives.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Underwater Menace is my first experience of the BBC missing adventures audio releases. As indicated above, only one episode of this story survives, and my experience of the adventure was based on listening to episodes one, two and four and catching episode three on the DVD box set Lost in Time.
Anneke Wills provides linking narration for the audio release of the story, and the first thing I noticed was how much like stage directions Wills' narration sounded, occasionally taking over and spelling out events that could easily have been inferred simply from listening attentively to the soundtrack. However, the level of narration settles down from episode two onwards as the level of dialogue increases and the story begins to hit its stride.
And the story? Well, it's all a bit silly, to be honest, with Professor Zaroff as the ultimate comic book / James Bond villain ("Nothing in the world can stop me now!") - but it's an enjoyable romp even in audio format. The companions are good fun even if Ben's Cockney accent grates, and there is a range of quirky supporting characters.
Most interesting, however, is the design on display in the surviving third episode, with good costumes and decent sets. Episode three also features an excellent and unusually populous party scene - although the long Fish People "dance" sequence feels somewhat over-long and redundant.
Overall I enjoyed listening to this missing adventure, and as a bonus feature, the CD features an interview with narrator Anneke Wills on the making of the story.
Anneke Wills provides linking narration for the audio release of the story, and the first thing I noticed was how much like stage directions Wills' narration sounded, occasionally taking over and spelling out events that could easily have been inferred simply from listening attentively to the soundtrack. However, the level of narration settles down from episode two onwards as the level of dialogue increases and the story begins to hit its stride.
And the story? Well, it's all a bit silly, to be honest, with Professor Zaroff as the ultimate comic book / James Bond villain ("Nothing in the world can stop me now!") - but it's an enjoyable romp even in audio format. The companions are good fun even if Ben's Cockney accent grates, and there is a range of quirky supporting characters.
Most interesting, however, is the design on display in the surviving third episode, with good costumes and decent sets. Episode three also features an excellent and unusually populous party scene - although the long Fish People "dance" sequence feels somewhat over-long and redundant.
Overall I enjoyed listening to this missing adventure, and as a bonus feature, the CD features an interview with narrator Anneke Wills on the making of the story.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There are many evil masterminds in Doctor Who, but none quite like Professor Zaroff who is something out of a James Bond movie. He is just like a classic mad scientist, with an absolutely ridiculous plot. There are the mysterious fish people, who look awful, but are good fun, and there's Atlantis. And this is bad. No doubt about it, this is one bad story, but it is wonderfully bad, and very enjoyable. Absolutely unique, and enjoyable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This may well be the weakest storyline BBC handed poor Patrick Troughton, the very finest actor ever to portray the good Doctor, but, notwithstanding the loss of three of its four episodes on film, Troughton's skill and uniquely irresistable charm manages to save the day, just as the Doctor, Jamie, and the wonderful Polly manage to save the world, once again. The mad scientist with the German accent may go a bit over the top (or so Troughton and his sidekicks felt, as we are told in the excellent behind-the-scenes narration by Polly), and the Atlantean "fish people" may dangle a bit too crudely from their obvious cables (shown all-too-clearly in the restored surviving episode, available in the indispensible DVD set, "Lost in Time"), but this is really must-listen Doctor Who. Frazer Hines gives his usual excellent performance as Jamie, and the teaming of the Doctor, Jamie, and Polly, which shines so well in this adventure, really was one of the strongest in the series. (Polly's early departure from the show is something of a tragedy, as is the near-total loss of her fine work on film.) The plot, in a nutshell: mad scientist who has found Atlantis and set up shop there (converting some of the populace to "fish people" through gill-insertion operations - from which Polly is narrowly rescued) decides to create a fissure in the earth's crust, destroying the world in a gigantic magma flow, just to prove he could do it. Doctor blunders onto scene and stops him, in the nick of time, and mad scientist drowns rather than let go his grip on the detonator (rather spectacular, that). Actually, it's much better than it sounds, and with Troughton's rich voice (Polly calls it "chocolate" at one point, aptly), superb acting skills, and irresistable charm as the Doctor, it's well worth adding to your collection. This may be the solitary case in which the loss of the filmed version might actually boost the quality of the production, given BBC's cheesy special effects and criminally "thrifty" budgeting. Apparently, the regulars realized this would be something of a white elephant, but actually it comes out quite well, large thanks to the great Patrick Troughton. Glad I bought it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lost story so very good
Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace is the first full adventure for the quartet of the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie. Read more
Published 12 months ago by CJC
A Fistful of Zaroff!
On January 18th, 1967, the first blockbuster spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars' was finally released in the US. Read more
Published 19 months ago by S Maslin
fishy story
this is the soundtrack of a doctor who story from 1966. it has four twenty five minute episodes, spread over two discs. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by Paul Tapner
Nothing In The World Can Stop Me Now!
What we have in "The Underwater Menace" is a fast paced, exciting and indeed entertaining adventure. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2005 by M. J. Lewis
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