In Derek Martinus’ The Tenth Planet, we’re introduced to the ‘nefarious’ Cybermen – courtesy writers Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis – and witness The Doctor’s (William Hartnell) first regeneration.

The TARDIS materializes in 1986, within the vicinity of the South Pole Space Tracking Station; as helmed by the authoritative Gen. Cutler (Robert Beatty), and scientists like Dyson (Dudley Jones), and Barclay (David Dovimead). Naturally, “Doctor Who”, Ben Jackson (Michael Craze) and Polly Wright (the sincere Anneke Wills) have a wander, and find their bumbling selves captured, interrogated, accused, and socially accepted by the outgroup. As coincidence is the very fabric of the Who universe, the villains simultaneously appear on the scene, seeking out Earth’s resources to replenish their own planet: Mondas. This establishes the forthcoming Troughton Era’s general plot paradigm.

This could’ve been one of my favourite stories, due to the debut of the Cybermen and regeneration alone. Sadly, despite a promising premise, – if a painting-by-numbers plot – there isn’t much to it. The Cybermen - Doctor Who’s #2 alien race, in terms of popularity – aren’t used effectively enough; only appearing significantly in two episodes. Despite promising photographic stills, as published in various literature, they look pretty daft in action: karate-chopping opponents in almost exaggerated slow-motion. When they don’t move, they do look impressive… and sinister, thanks to Sandra Reid’s parsimonious costume design. Although later known to ‘regenerate’ themselves de temps en temps, the aliens are presented in their most humanoid, and subsequently unsettling ‘incarnation’ here. Their cloth masks erase the face and all observable intragroup distinction – the Cybermen have been ‘feminized’ by their technology. Their visibly human mitts trail cold, limp, and seemingly uselessly alongside their waists… Portrayed by Gregg Palmer (Shav / Gern), Reg Whitehead (Krail / Jarl), Harry Brooks (Talon / Krang), Bruce Wells, John Haines, John Slater, and John Knott – and voiced in bizarre fashion by Roy Skelton and Peter Hawkins – this race has potential. Additionally, this is one of those rare times the Cybermen actually do what is implied on the tin: act impassively, devoid of emotion! They aren’t ‘nefarious’ per se, merely driven by survival; forming an interesting parallel with Cutler’s primary motivation: ensuring his legacy’s survival. Relatedly, Terry Cutler (Cullen Angelo) reminds me loosely of Dustin Hoffman’s character in The Graduate (1967)… Foresight or hindsight?

Contextual stereotypes are both unused and applied, here: there’s a black astronaut and aide, yet Polly makes the coffee…

Wills is genuinely likeable, yet sadly not given sufficient screen-time. The rambunctious Ben, in stark contrast, is integral to eliminating the first wave of alien visitors… thanks to a dexterous contrivance utilizing a film projector!

Hartnell doesn’t get much off a send-off, mainly due to his absence in episode 3. He was a good Doctor, and it’s regrettable his illness prevented him from resuming the role in future multi-Doctor stories. I’ll particularly miss his Yoda-inspiring chuckle.

As he collapses on the TARDIS floor, his countenance inexplicably begins to glow… TV history. Next?: The Monster Doctor! **[/5]

Back when I reviewed 'The Mutants', I said that it was a story that I'd always underrated and that watching it again I appreciated it more than I ever had before. This is also true of 'The Tenth Planet'. Furthermore, I've noted on several occasions that I wish I could have watched several Doctor Who stories without foreknowledge of what is to come, and this is very true of this story. 

'The Tenth Planet' is a first in that it is the first real “base under siege” story in Doctor Who; the action takes place almost exclusively in the Snowcap base, which is under siege from the Cybermen. This scenario is an effective story-telling device, creating a sense of claustrophobia, since the base personnel have nowhere to escape to and the Doctor and his companions also remain trapped, isolated from the TARDIS, which remains outside the base, with the Cybermen. The base personnel are unfortunately fairly forgettable, and there are some dodgy accents on display in episode one, but fortunately Robert Beatty's General Cutler more than compensates for this. Initially just hard-bitten and with a no-nonsense attitude, he eventually becomes an internal threat to the Doctor and his companions as he blames them for the apparent death of his son and intends to have them shot. Whilst I have doubts that a man willing to risk irradiating half of the planet to save his son would have been allowed to reach the position of power that he occupies in any military organization, he is nevertheless an excellent character; for all his short-sightedness and obsession with saving his son, his motivations are always understandable (if not entirely sympathetic) and Beatty plays the part with conviction. His frank confession to Dyson that he is scared in episode three helps to make him more than just a paranoid megalomaniac willing to go to any ends to achieve his own aims, in defiance of direct orders. Dudley Jones' Dyson and David Dodimead's Barclay provide adequate support, although neither is particularly memorable, and the rest of the base personnel are little more than cannon fodder. 

Ben and Polly continue to impress, with Ben again taking the majority of the action, especially in episode three when the Doctor falls ill. Of particular note is his confrontation with the Cyberman in the projection room, which he is forced to kill with his own gun. The look of anguish on his face at the fact that he has had to resort to this tells the viewer more about his character than any amount of dialogue. Later in episode four, it is Ben who realises that the Cybermen are vulnerable to radiation, a discovery that allows the base personnel to defeat that particular wave of Cybermen and buy enough time for Mondas to burn up. Polly unfortunately gets very little to do and even gets relegated to the role of coffee maker, although she is instrumental in persuading Barclay to help Ben sabotage the rocket and therefore (probably) save the Earth. 

Of course, 'The Tenth Planet' is particularly notable for the debut of the Cybermen, arguably Doctor Who's second most popular monster. 

The Cybermen are chillingly effective in this story, due to their towering stature and their clear vestiges of humanity. At this point, they resemble far more than just marauding alien robots, with human hands and the implication of a skull beneath their cloth-covered faces. I've never noticed this before, but the whites of the actors' eyes are visible through the eye sockets in their masks; this may be unintentional, and probably wouldn't have shown up on a 425 line television set, but it is curiously effective, showing a stark glimpse of lost humanity in the midst of their impassive faces. They even have individual names. Appearance aside, they are also impressive as a species. Their lack of emotion is conveyed well here and most crucially, they seem neither cruel nor vengeful. They calmly inform the humans in the base that they will take them to Mondas to become Cybermen and later they explain that Earth must be destroyed so that Mondas can survive. Their matter-of-fact statements of these facts make them all the more chilling, and emphasize the horror of the potential fate of the base personnel and the TARDIS crew. Polly's almost hysterical response to Krail's announcement that their emotions will be removed perfectly conveys the horror of dehumanizing technology that inspired Kit Pedler when he created the Cybermen. What also fascinates me about the Cybermen here is their scientific interest; Krail is genuinely puzzled when Polly asks him why he doesn't care about the fact that the astronauts are going to die, simply pointing out that people all over the planet die every day, but Polly doesn't care about them. It's a perfectly logical response, which only an emotional perspective can rebuke and is the first, and most effective, demonstration, of just how different from humans the Cybermen have become. This characterisation is maintained throughout the story, even when Mondas is nearing saturation point; the Cybermen become slightly more urgent in the execution of the their plans, but this always seems true to their logical imperative to survive, rather than becoming panic or anger, which it so easily could have done had they been less well scripted. 

If I have any criticisms of 'The Tenth Planet', they are of Mondas and the Z-bomb. The idea of a twin planet to Earth drifting through space and of a bomb capable of destroying either planet just sitting in the basement of Snowcap base feel too much like they have been lifted from a comic book. In particular, I'm suspicious that, even if Mondas had the same continental structure as Earth, it would have undergone such similar patterns of continental drift after floating around out of its orbit for so long. These are minor quibbles however. 

Finally, there is the Doctor. For the first two episodes of 'The Tenth Planet', the Doctor is his usual self, imperious and commanding whether dealing with the obstreperous Cutler or the Cybermen. Interestingly, he knows of Mondas and it seems also the Cybermen, perhaps hinting at the unseen adventure mentioned in Keith Topping's 'Byzantium!'. Even when he asks the Cybermen questions, he gives the impression that he already knows the answers and is merely teasing them out of Krail for the benefit of everybody else. Then suddenly, at the start of episode three, he collapses without explanation. Whilst not originally planned for this episode, his sudden illness and absence from the story during this episode (brought about by Hartnell's real life illness) sets the scene perfectly for episode four, as he briefly recovers and challenges the Cybermen once more, only to rapidly deteriorate once on board the Cybermen's ship. By the time the Cybermen have died and Ben arrives at the ship, he is a mere shadow of his former self. Having never watched this era of the series in order from the beginning before, the impact of what follows has never really been impressed upon me before. Since I started watching '100,000 BC' all those weeks ago, William Hartnell has been “the Doctor”, rather than “the First Doctor”. I actually felt a (slightly embarrassing) pang of regret as, during the superb final scene in the TARDIS, he collapses to the floor and changes his appearance. For the first time in the series history the program's star changes, leaving the TARDIS itself as the only remaining constant from the first story. It is a hugely effective moment, particularly since it is not explained here, but instead fades straight into the closing credits. I really wish I'd seen it at the time. 

In summary then, 'The Tenth Planet' as well as being memorable for introducing the Cybermen and ending William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor, is an effective and gripping story in its own right and a fine end to the era.

Power of the Daleks is easily one of the better Dalek stories, both in terms of plot and characterization. I recently listened to the BBC audio with Anneke Wills providing narration where needed to cover the missing visuals. I’ve also read the novelization and seen the existing clips from the story, along with the telesnaps. All of it falls somewhat short of actually watching the story, which is sadly impossible, but regardless I found that Power easily held my attention over the entire six episodes. This has to be attributed in large part to the variety of plot threads present in the story. A lot is happening, leaving little need for story padding. There are the Daleks of course, who spend the majority of the story biding their time until they can get the power they need. There is the political unrest in the colony and the power struggle between security chief Bragen and deputy governor Quinn. There is Lesterson, the scientist determined to unlock the secret of the Daleks and put them to work for the colony. And there is the newly regenerated Doctor.

It would be interesting to see this story without being as comfortable with the idea of regeneration as I am after seeing most of the series. As it is, it’s not difficult at all for me as the listener to accept the new Doctor right away. Had I been watching in 1966 I might have felt differently. The dialogue given to Ben and Polly in episode 1 is very good, since it has to mirror the reactions from the audience. Polly is ready to accept the new man as the Doctor while Ben is determined not to believe that it’s possible. The closest I can come to understanding the feeling of the contemporary audience is perhaps experiencing the switch in actors playing James Bond. I really like Pierce Brosnan in the role, and I’m not eager to see someone else play it, but the new actor will probably do well and I’ll end up enjoying his performance. I imagine that there was a similar reaction to Doctor Who’s change of lead actor at the time. It’s a credit to all involved in the show that the switch from Hartnell to Troughton was successfully executed. 

Ben and Polly both get strong roles, even though both are missing for an episode. Ben is the voice of disbelief for the first two episodes. He’s very strong in his denunciation of the "impostor", but once he’s convinced of the Doctor’s identity, he’s as loyal to him as he was to his previous incarnation, even attempting to draw off the rebels at one point so that the Doctor can remain free. Polly accepts the Doctor’s change far more easily than Ben, and shows here, as in The Faceless Ones a strong sense of moral indignation and disdain for the violent and self-serving actions of the rebels.

Troughton plays the Doctor far differently in this story than he does later on in his mostly intact third year. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about his performance is the utter conviction he brings to the role, and that is very evident in Power. You can really believe that the Doctor hates and fears the Daleks, and considers them to be a major threat. When it comes to other topics he’s evasive, often dodging questions about himself or his actions, even from Ben and Polly. He is single-minded in his purpose of thwarting the Daleks, even to the point of ignoring the politics of the colony. Some scenes of note in this regard are his warning to the Dalek at the start of episode 3 (ТI will stop you. I will!") and his solution at the end of the story, where he is not content simply to cut the power to the Dalek capsule, but instead overloads it and destroys them. "I prefer to do things my way" he says at the time. He also adopts some of his eccentricities, such as his recorder, five hundred year diary and very tall hat, which thankfully seems to have been lost rather early on in his tenure. I liked his very loud checked trousers though, and it’s a shame they toned those down.

The Daleks are at their best here. This story showcases their arrogance and xenophobia better than almost any other, as well as their almost joyful exuberance at the thought of exterminating the humans in the colony. They are hardly emotionless, and can barely conceal their real feelings, slipping up several times. "Daleks are bett... different than humans" being one example. Another occurs when the three Daleks join in a chorus in front of Lesterson saying "We will get our power!" over and over again. They also look forward to the coming exterminations at the end of part five when the Daleks sit around in a group and chant "Daleks conquer and destroy!" over and over again. One of the few clips we have from part two shows the Dalek chanting, "I am your servant" over the Doctor’s insistence that they be destroyed. There is slyness in the Dalek’s voice in several other places in the story that would not readily be apparent if the visuals were there to distract the viewer.

The other subplots keep the action moving along well. The rebels are, for once, not rebelling against an oppressive regime, but are themselves simply hungry for power. They want to use the Daleks to their advantage. The scientist Lesterson also wants to use them, though for more benevolent reasons. The main flaw in the story is that no one realizes for the longest time just what a danger the Daleks are. You could argue that each side is so caught up in their own agenda that they are blinded to the danger, and this is reasonable enough to make the story work until the light starts to dawn. Lesterson in particular undergoes a role reversal when he finds out for himself just what is going on and is pretty much driven mad with fear. As an aside, since no one knows what Daleks are, I have to assume this story takes place before Dalek Invasion of Earth in 2164, though the date of 2020 mentioned in the trailer seems unlikely. The Dalek Invasion trailer gets the date of that story wrong, so it’s easy to assume this one does too. Perhaps the Daleks learn of humanity in this time period and this leads to the invasion of Earth.

Mention has to be made of Anneke Wills’ narration, which is uniformly good throughout the story. I greatly enjoy Fraser Hines’ narration on the other audios, and he does an excellent job. However, it’s refreshing to hear Anneke for a change of pace, and she does have a lovely speaking voice. Power of the Daleks is unique among the Troughton stories in that it doesn’t feature Jamie and so she’s certainly appropriate here, but I hope that this is not her only narration job for the Troughton audios. 

In my opinion, this is a better story than Evil of the Daleks, even though both are stories that put the Daleks in their best light. Power of the Daleks stands out strong even in a season that featured both the debut and return of the Cybermen, the first regeneration and another excellent Dalek tale in Evil. I’d highly recommend this story. Get the audio, download the telesnaps from the BBC website, and enjoy a lost classic.

Doctor Who’s final historical story, ‘The Highlanders’ is in much the same vein as ‘The Smugglers’. Like ‘The Smugglers’ it is populated by well-drawn supporting characters and is draws more on romantic fiction than specific historical events. Also as with ‘The Smugglers’, it is neither serious historical drama like ‘The Crusade’ or ‘The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve’, but nor is it a out-and-out comedy like ‘The Romans’ or ‘The Gunfighters’. Overall however, it is wittier than ‘The Smugglers’, thanks largely to Troughton. 

If the Doctor clowned round during the first two episodes of ‘The Power of the Daleks’, here he goes on step further. Near the beginning of episode one, he cowers from a cannonball, and later in the episode he is nearly hanged, but after this he gives an impression of being in complete control of his situation. From the moment he meets Solicitor Grey, he cheerfully sets about extricating himself and his companions from their predicament, and is clearly enjoying himself all the way. In ‘The Power of the Daleks’ he was frequently tense thanks to the urgency of the threat presented by the Daleks. Here, he clearly realises that he is smarter than his enemies, and runs rings around them, enjoying himself enormously in the process. He adopts disguises, including the outrageously accented “Doctor von Wer” (oh, very funny), a washerwoman and a Redcoat, and does so with relish. His over-the-top performance as the German doctor is very entertaining, my favourite scene being the one in which he repeatedly bangs Perkins’ head on the desk and then asks him if he has a headache. His ludicrous washerwoman voice is very Monty Python, and the scene in episode four where an escaped and exhausted Ben climbs out of the sea and bumps straight into a Redcoat who turns out to be, by coincidence, the Doctor, is almost farcical, but Troughton plays it with such panache that it works. His eventual defeat of the arrogant Solicitor Grey first by baiting him with the Prince’s seal and then by picking his pocket resulting in his arrest is delightful. His first meeting with Jamie and the Laird, when he treats Colin’s wounds and orders Ben to surrender the pistol, is a very typical Doctor moment; Alexander has just threatened him, but he’s always prepared to help those in need. 

Ben and Polly get arguably their best roles here since ‘The War Machines’. Despite his English accent, the ever-likeable Ben soon manages to earn the trust of the Highlanders and takes the initiative on board the Annabelle, an action that gets him keelhauled. By utilizing an old Harry Houdini trick, he then escapes, demonstrating once more his considerable resourcefulness. Polly meanwhile gets perhaps her finest hour in the series so far, as she puts the pompous and cowardly Algernon ffinch at her mercy and forces him to help her and Kirsty out on several occasions. She clearly makes quite an impact on him, since when he finally gets the chance to get revenge for being manipulated, he instead arrests the scheming Solicitor Grey and gallantly bids Polly farewell. 

The guest cast is uniformly excellent, with the arguable exception of Dallas Cavell as Trask; for the most part, his OTT performance is rather entertaining, but there are occasions when his ridiculous cries of “ye scurvy swaaaabs!” grate somewhat. Then again, this is more the fault of the script than Cavell. David Garth as Solicitor Grey makes an interesting villain, motivated purely by money rather than power as such. It’s an understated performance and rather fine, helped along by Sydney Arnold’s rather comic Perkins, Grey’s foil for most of the story until he rebels at the end and joins the Highlanders purely to save his own skin. Of the Highlanders, Hannah Gordon’s Kirsty and Donald Bisset’s Laird are both decent characters. Kirsty provides a nice contrast to the increasingly doughty Polly, as she struggles to live up to her far more confident friend’s expectations whilst helping to save her father and the others. Frazer Hines as Jamie doesn’t actually get much to do here, but he’s immediately likeable and plays the role with ease. His last minute joining of the TARDIS crew is not signposted in the story, and might have been quite a surprise on first broadcast, since this current TARDIS crew was hardly crying out for a new member (a problem that is evident in the next two stories…), but at least he has promise. 

Overall then, ‘The Highlanders’ ends Doctor Who’s tradition of historical stories on a merry high and sees Troughton cement an already assured performance.

The most surprising thing about The Underwater Menace is its appalling reputation. This is hardly one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever, its not even the worst story of season four (that belongs to the horribly dull The Faceless Ones) and taken as a whole (I listened to the audio of episodes one, two and four with Anekke Wills excellent narration with the aid of telesnaps from DWM and of course I watched the infamous episode three on DVD) it is actually a great deal of fun. Of course it is impossible to take the thing seriously for a million and one reasons but it has some effective moments and the story flows along nicely and (surprisingly considering how cheap this story is known for) there are some lovely visuals too. I kid you not. I put of listening to this BBC audio for quite some time and only surrendered when I was so bored one day there was no other options. 

Most terrifying of all is Joseph Furst’s stratospheric performance as the evil and misguided Professor Zarroff. Isn’t he great? Finally a villain who is bad because he just totally around the twist, a Master before his time and just like the Doctor’s arch fiend his motives are just as crazy. He wants to destroy the entire world (and Atlantis)…just because! Why not? It would make him the most amazing scientist in the world to achieve such a feat…although he doesn’t seem to realise he himself will be destroyed along with everyone else because he…is on the Earth himself! Furst plays the part as OTT as it is possible to get, screaming like a loony, brandishing guns in as camp a fashion as possible and laughing like a totally loon even when he is real trouble. His eventual fate is a shame, drowning along with Atlantis as this denies us a re-match with this most memorable of baddies. A mad scientist with a big bad octopus as a pet who wants to blow up the entire world for a laugh…what a guy!

Setting a story in Atlantis is always a dubious idea but they manage to pull it off with a reasonable amount of style, certainly with more effort than the Doctor’s next visit to the esteemed lost city, The Time Monster. I quite like the sets overall even if they are a bit cramped in places. Especially good are the fish people tank which helps to convince this is underwater (whilst they do their crazy underwater ballet you can actually see water bubbles floating towards the surface) and the temple of Amdo, which is full of echo-ey and full of shadows and pretty creepy. Even the market place with its stalls, springs and a host of extras is pretty good. 

Most distracting of all is the horrific incidental music, which accompanies the story. It sounds like it has been performed by some mad drunk Australian on a kazoo! It is really distracting in places plink, plink, plonking its way through the marketplace and the fish person dance…you can squeeze your buttocks together and let rip some delicious farts that sound just like it! Hardly good for building up the atmosphere, the music I fear does contribute to this stories silly reputation. 

The regulars however all come across very well, including Patrick Troughton who is still clearly finding his feet at this stage. It would be in the next two stories, The Moonbase and The Macra Terror where you would see Troughton finally settle and become the dangerous little imp he would always be known as but there are strong signs of that here too, its just the script doesn’t let him play to all his strengths. He gets to fight the system as always but he is still a little muted, still dressing up in silly costumes (I’m glad this was dropped…although his old woman gypsy persona is probably his best yet!) and still holding back from really letting rip on the bad guys. Still his scenes with Zarroff are a delight, pampering to the nutters ego and then trying to foil his schemes however possible. I love his attempts to go back and save Zarroff at the end, that feels very right and his boasting at the end that of course he can control the TARDIS before to spirals madly out of control is classic Troughton clowning. 

In a story packed with companions somebody has to be left out and this time it is Jaime, who was never supposed to be included anyway and was added to the script at a late stage. Who cares, he looks damn hot in divers gear so I’ll forgive him anything. Polly finally succumbs to the helpless screamer state the 60’s demand of its female companions (she has been surprisingly resistant until this point) and wails and moans as scientists surround her attempt to turn her into a fish person. I love it when she dresses up later and gets in on all the fun of chasing around and getting tricked by Zarroff, it is proof of how good the combination of her and Ben was before they were abruptly written out. As for Ben, what can one say. What a babe. If there was ever a TARDIS crew I would like to dive into naked…oh sorry, distracted for a second. Ben is cool, a mouthy cockney years before Rose, a muscle brain who is fiercely loyal…there really isn’t much to not like about Ben. Michael Craze seems to be aware of how absurd the script is but still gives 100% and gets a fab moment when he pretends to be the false God Amdo. He dresses up too, so they are all in the fancy dress mood in this one! 

Most of the other guest performances are pretty subdued but then any acting would seem mil mannered next to Fursts! You get a nice turn from Noel Johnson, Tom Watson and Catherine Howe as Leader, High Priest and Slave…all trying their hardest to salvage some dignity from the absurd script and lend some believability to Atlantis. They don’t really succeed but all praise for their efforts. 

Did director Julia Smith (creator of Eastenders and this…ooh she’s got a lot to answer for!) fall asleep during the production and let her actors just carry on? There are a number of hilariously bad sequences that never fail to make me chuckle! What about when Zarroff pretends to be dying and asks is he can be helped up by his captor Ramo so he can ‘feel the goodness of his aura!’ and then he subsequently spears him to death! Or Zarroff’s mad laughing through the caves as he drags Polly along to be his hostage? Or best of all…his “You are a fool! You are a fool!” mad man speech at the end of episode three climaxing with (well it had to get mentioned sooner or later) “Nothing in the world can stop me now!” In fact all the rubbishy scenes involve Zarroff in one way or another but considering he is so damn likeable because of it I cannot bring upon me to condemn the story. 

And the script? Who on Earth would write a story containing Atlantis, an Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman, a cross dressing Doctor, Fish People, a mad sacrificing cult and big camp scheme to blow up the world? What was Geoffrey Orme on and can I have some please? 

Ridiculously fun throughout and played mostly tongue in cheek so you don’t die of embarrassment whilst watching/listening, The Underwater Menace is a pretty silly story in a time when Doctor Who was consistently good. Saying that, its never boring and has some scenes in it that you will never forget the rest of your life. Just don’t go into it expecting a masterpiece of drama and you may just have a lot of fun with it.

You’ve got to feel a little sorry for ‘The Underwater Menace’. Here is a story that is never quite hated, but then again it is never really respected. It’s a story that is treated with acceptance rather than anything else: “It’s there, it was made, now deal with it!” Why is it then that I happen to rather enjoy it? Also, why is it that my enjoyment of it is marred by a sense of ‘I know I shouldn’t like you, but I cannot help it…’; why is this a guilty pleasure?

Perhaps it’s the fact that it is shameless in its stupidity, that for the most part it’s never trying to be anything other than fun (only the occasional educational fact popped in changes this), or maybe it’s because I have a secret love for B-movies: this is just that- ‘Doctor Who’ does B-movie.

Taking even a brief look at the plot is surely enough to confirm this. Under the sea in the world of Atlantis, genetically engineered Fish People go about their every day business. Despite being surrounded by salt, food cannot be preserved (silly, I know, but there you have it) and so things are on the unhappy side of things. But all is not lost- the world renowned Professor Zaroff has vowed to raise Atlantis from the seabed onto the surface… but is that really his plan, or does he simply wish to cause a massive explosion that will destroy the planet, thus earning him fame for life? Well, obviously the latter. Thank goodness the Doctor and his merry crew are at hand to save them all, with the help of some Zaroff-hating people and a hefty dose of common sense that seems to have avoided the good people of Atlantis. Throw in a false goddess (Amdo), a fish revolution and the Doctor dressing up as a Sailor (apparently- looks more like a sixties’ groovy Gypsy to me) and there you have ‘The Underwater Menace’ in all its glory.

It’s daft, but at least it’s fun and daft.

As mentioned above, the moments that briefly halt it from being totally silly are when they attempt to inject educational moments into the story. We get a short piece on Robert Burns in Episode 1 and a brief Science Lesson in Episode 2, both of which jar a little with the rest of the story, though the latter is needed to convince people that Zaroff is as ‘mad as a hatter’.

One of the things that makes ‘The Underwater Menace’ as strangely enjoyable as I find it to be is its dialogue. There are so many memorable lines throughout the story, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous:

“I could feed you to my pet Octopus!”

“May the wrath of Amdo engulf you!” / ”I’ll take my chance!”

“Look at him- he ain’t normal is he?”

and then, of course, we have the famous ending to Episode 3: “Nothing in the world can sop me now!”

It’s a line so good, we get it delivered in a different way at the start of Episode 4, but nothing quite matches the insanity of the first time.

Amongst all the madness too, there are some truly nice moments, especially in Episode 3, which at the time of writing is the only one to exist in the BBC archives. A throwaway line concerning the madness in Zaroff’s eyes in Episode 2 is carried on over briefly into Episode 3; there is a nice part where the Doctor, Ben and Jamie pop up from behind a stone, each wearing a Fish Mask to disguise themselves; the Market scene in this Episode also looks great. Considering how poor crowd scenes can sometimes look in ‘Doctor Who’ stories owing to budgetary restraints, poor Directing and lacklustre set design, the Market looks brilliant. Julia Smith brings the Market place to life with lots of talking, animated citizens and a general feeling of claustrophobic busyness. Another visually stunning part of Episode 3 is the sequence with the Fish People swimming to tell one another about a forthcoming rebellion. Again, Smith uses Jack Robinson’s excellent set design to full advantage, making these moments really impressive. There are two things, however, that let this part down: firstly, it is simply too long, which is party forgivable due to how nice it looks but despite this is still a problem; secondly, the Fish People themselves vary in quality. Those in full Fish-garb look brilliant, but they are sadly overshadowed by the fact that several of the actors are blatantly just wearing goggles and some plastic ‘gills’.

There are some other disappointing moments; Zaroff’s escape in Episode 3 for example makes the TARDIS crew look very foolish indeed, especially Polly, fooling as they do for the age old ‘pretend-you’re-ill-and-collapse’ trick. Also, in Episode 3, I’m amazed that the Doctor and Ramo were able to flee the sacrifice, considering how noisy they are when making their escape. Episode 2 suffers from the overlong and rather dull sequences in the mine, with the only value to the overall story being the introduction of Sean and Jacko, two supporting characters that are rather fun but not as likeable as either Ramo or Ara. The worst Episode of them all is the final one; Episode 4 is very slow compared to the rest of the story and also quite dark. The death of Zaroff by drowning is visually impressive but rather at odds with everything else seen in the story; also, the ending is surprisingly dull, with the TARDIS crew leaving without any real farewells to the rest of the cast. In short, it comes across as a bit rushed and boring.

The acting on the whole is good here; the regular cast play everything well. Patrick Troughton is never anything less than great and he plays the Doctor here with a real sense of fun; Michael Craze and Anneke Wills also impress, sustaining the thus far enjoyable pairing of Ben and Polly. Frazer Hines as Jamie is also great; when considering how this is only his second story in the part, it is impressive to see just how comfortable Hines is in the role; there is no sense of him finding his feet or seeming decidedly new. Instead, he comes across as if he has been doing the part for a far longer time than he had been- a sign, if nothing else, of him being a really good actor.

The supporting cast are also quite strong; as Ara and Ramo respectively, Catherine Howe and Tom Watson give their roles everything they’ve got. As Thous, Noel Johnson is also good, as is Peter Stephens as Lolem, though I couldn’t watch him or listen to him without thinking of his performance as Cyril in ‘The Celestial Toymaker’.

However, all of these actors are overshadowed- and rightly so- by Joseph Furst as Professor Zaroff. Taking the script at face value, Furst invests a remarkably large amount of energy into the role, playing it totally over-the-top and exactly as it should be played. He takes the stereotypical Mad Scientist role and plays it with all the eccentricities and craziness that it warrants. He is, easily, the highlight of the story, and it is a pity that he never returned to ‘Doctor Who’.

‘The Underwater Menace’ is not as bad as everyone makes out. Sure, it’s very, very silly indeed and is certainly a little lacking in parts- the ending is out of place compared to the rest of the story for example- but it is on the whole a fun affair. Zaroff is a great creation, and Furst plays the role superbly; everyone seems to having a lot of fun and Julia Smith’s Directing is excellent. Geoffrey Orme’s script is not going to win any awards, but it fulfils the fun-but-flawed category amply.

So daft it encourages you to laugh along with it, and so B-moiveesque that Ed Wood could have written it, ‘The Underwater Menace’ isn’t bad at all. It’s just a bit silly.