The Underwater Menace Episode 1

The one where the TARDIS lands in Atlantis...

As this adventure opens, Jamie is introduced to the wonders and marvels of the TARDIS and its impossible interior, although the Scotsman seems to get over it all and accept things quite quickly. I suppose he had to, seeing as he was written into this serial rather hastily at a very late stage. This TARDIS scene is very grounding, as the new four-strong team seem to be very happy in one another's company, and keen to get on with things.

One particular joy about this scene is Patrick Troughton's Doctor, who so far has been something of a moveable feast. Cold and scheming in The Power of the Daleks, but a complete buffoon in The Highlanders, here he's much more the Second Doctor we recognise, and his child-like excitement is deliciously reassuring. The viewers share the excitement and mystery of the TARDIS landing in a brand new place, so it's lovely to have that expressed on screen, endearing this new Doctor to us. Not knowing where or when they've landed is fun, he says, and when we overhear the Doctor, Ben and Polly's thoughts about where they might have landed, the Doctor's hope for "prehistoric monsters" is delightfully innocent and wide-eyed. It puts me in mind of the Eleventh Doctor and how excited he'd probably be in the same situation.

Polly's hoping to get back to Chelsea in 1966, which is a little odd seeing as she seems to be the one who enjoys the adventuring. Ben simply hopes it isn't the Daleks, which is also odd, but characteristically pessimistic! Jamie doesn't wish for anything or anywhere, but he does seem to be a little uncomfortable inside the TARDIS, expressing keenness to get out and explore straight away.

This is the first of several times the TARDIS will materialise on a beach in the Second Doctor's era (see also The Enemy of the World and Fury from the Deep, although we also get a beach vibe from The Dominators). It's interesting that Geoffrey Orme's story tends to follow the companions more than the Doctor, as while he is examining rock pools, his trio of trusty sidekicks are scrabbling about on the rocks and climbing the cliffside. Typically, they soon get separated, with first Polly, then the boys, and finally the Doctor getting captured by mysterious inhabitants and sent down into the depths of the earth in an elevator.

I do like how this Doctor comes out with random bits of trivia, as if voicing his observations. It's a nice little quirk that he carries around his 500-Year Diary (a trait quickly dropped, like his habit of dressing up, his recorder and his stovepipe hat), and here he warns his companions of caisson disease (aka the bends), and mentions troglodytes, which is a clever link to the fact they've sunk a fair way underground, as the word troglodyte derives from the Greek for "cave diver".

I'm also pleased to see Polly, who so far has not shown any of the spunky promise developed in The Highlanders, solve the problem of dating the period they've landed in by finding a piece of jewellery which places them in 1970 or later. It's also a revelation that she knows how to speak at least four languages (our Polly is a polyglot!). What a girl!

Our heroes are soon trussed up and readied to be sacrificed to the great goddess Amdo until the Doctor manages to halt the ceremony by convincing resident scientist Zaroff that he has a secret he must share with him. The Doctor knows of Zaroff (who went missing 20 years previously) and his professional achievements and appeals to the scientist's pride ("the greatest scientific genius since Leonardo") to get the four of them out of a sticky situation. He signs his note to Zaroff as "Dr. W", reinforcing the generally unpopular belief that his real, actual name (or at least his assumed one) is Doctor Who, as per the programme. In The Highlanders he referred to himself as Doctor Von Wer and in The War Machines, WOTAN called him "Doctor Who". This would be picked up on 50 years later in World Enough and Time, but let's not go down that rabbit hole right now...

The four of them are split up by the end of the episode, the Doctor accompanying Zaroff to his laboratory, Ben and Jamie sent to the mines (I'm assuming this plot strand is going to be the dullest of the three!), and Polly sent to Damon's surgery, where she gets the shock of her life. After learning that there are submarine farmers who collect plankton to feed the population, Polly is horrified to learn that she is due to have the operation to have plastic gills fitted so she can join the watery workforce. It puts a whole new complexion on plastic surgery! And Anneke Wills gets to deliver the immortal line: "You're not turning me into a fish!"

We also find out that we're in Atlantis, the ancient (and supposedly mythical) city lost to the ocean, which is pretty exciting in itself. It's not the first time the Doctor has got embroiled in events which may or may not have been real (see also The Myth Makers), but this late revelation - and a pretty upsetting cliffhanger - gives the story a real boost. A lot happens in 25 minutes, it's a busy episode, and has the feel of one of those old 1930s Flash Gordon serials, or a George Pal adventure movie. Doctor Who in Atlantis has got to be exciting, surely?

First broadcast: January 14th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The four regulars get on well from the off, and Troughton is finally hammering a reliably consistent characterisation for the Doctor into place.
The Bad: It's obvious already that there are too many companions to make the story flow convincingly. Having two capable, strapping young men seems needless, and as a result, both Jamie and Ben suffer.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 2...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-underwater-menace.html

The Underwater Menace is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Underwater-Menace-DVD/dp/B00URM3EWW