Day 74 — March 15th 2021
The Underwater Menace Episodes One and Two
The Underwater Menace — Episode One
I’m excited to be back on another vinyl adventure, but I still find it amazing that this was the story they chose to release given the reputation this one has. I like to imagine it was a case of Demon Records testing the waters — if they can make enough money selling The Underwater Menace on vinyl, then they can make money selling any of them. The same goes for The Web Planet!
And yet as much as I’m saying that, I’ve really enjoyed this opening episode. I’ve spent a few weeks now dreading Jamie’s arrival as it naturally takes away from Ben and Polly, but he seems to fit in quite nicely here, which is especially impressive given the speed at which he had to be added to the script. Ben’s gentle teasing of the highlander (‘My old Haggis,’ he calls him at one point) is a particular highlight.
And the opening scene with them all in the TARDIS together is really fun. Much gets made of the fact that we hear the character’s inner monologue, which is something of an oddity for Doctor Who, but on audio it doesn’t necessarily come across like that. The four of them could be speaking aloud in response to each other for all you can tell, and the narration doesn’t draw attention to it being internal rather than spoken. And there’s something rather pleasing about Doctor Who’s thought simply being that he’d like to meet ‘prehistoric monsters’; it really suits his new characterisation.
Something the narration does draw attention to is another in the series of ‘the character’s name is 100% “Doctor Who”’. Here the evidence is in the form of the note he writes to Professor Zaroff, which he signs ‘Dr. W’. The script goes one further, indicating that the note should be signed with the full ‘Doctor Who’. And it’s as if John Cura knew how much joy it would bring me, because the tele-snaps for this episode include a nice big close up of the note.
Something else noted in the script which doesn’t come across as well on audio is the way the Doctor remembers Professor Zaroff. Listening to the soundtrack, and following along with the tele-snaps, it looks like Doctor Who just knows about Zaroff, and it’s all a big coincidence that he happens to have rocked up here on his doorstep. That wouldn’t be a particular issue, as we’ve seen him familiar with famous scientists in the series before, but the script indicates that he has to look up the details in the 500 Year Diary, and furthers the impression that he’s simply playing for time while he formulates a plan.
It’s fitting, too, because it was during the production of this story — as far as we can ascertain — that some of the most famous photographs of Troughton were taken, which prominently feature the Diary;
At this stage it’s still a key part of his character, as is that hat, but I don’t think it gets much airtime after The Underwater Menace. I think the fairly direct references to his name being ‘Doctor Who’ are pretty much phased out at this point, too. We’re still in the early days where Troughton — and the production team as a whole — are trying to pin down who the character is. It’ll be getting a lot more settled from here on.
Oh he’s great fun in this episode, though, isn’t he? I love his ‘confrontation’ with Zaroff, where he sheepishly admits he made the note up as a bid to escape being sacrificed.
Doctor Who: ‘Now here you are, the greatest scientific genius since Leonardo, under the sea. You must have a fantastic story to tell?’
Professor Zaroff: ‘Perhaps I tell you someday, if you will live long enough to hear. Now this vital secret, what is it? I must know.’
Doctor Who: ‘I haven’t got one.’
Professor Zaroff: ‘How dare you!’
Doctor Who: ‘But I’m sure a that great man like you wouldn’t want a modern scientific brain like mine to be sacrificed to a heathen idol?’
The two men play off each other brilliantly, and it’s clear they’re both enjoying the chance to ham it up a little. Of course we know Joseph Furst will be taking it even more over the top as the story progresses, but it somehow works really well here, and I’ll admit to enjoying the performance.
Other things to like in this episode include the location filming, which looks great in the tele-snaps, and has a suitably alien appearance even though we turn out to be on Earth. I love them using the (then) upcoming Mexico Olympics as a touchstone to make this story seem slightly futuristic, and it’s no surprise that Russell T Davies used the same trick 39 years later, because it’s a great conceit.
And as much as people like to mock it, I really enjoy Polly’s ‘you’re not turning me into a fish!’. You only get the slightest glimpse of the creatures so far, which perhaps helps, but it’s a genuinely scary cliffhanger, with some very real looking surgeons preparing for her operation. I think I’m right in saying that this caused complaints from parents and medical professionals for upsetting children and making them scared to visit the hospital, and you can sort of see why!
A really strong start for The Underwater Menace, and I’m going with an 8/10 for Episode One.
The Underwater Menace — Episode Two
Ooh, this is exciting! My first full Troughton episode! This episode turned up in 2011 alongside Air Lock from Galaxy 4, and that one proved to be a brilliant piece of television hidden away in the middle of a story with a poor reputation. Can the same be said for this one?
Well, the answer is ‘yeah, sort of’. I think it’s perhaps fairer to say that while this isn’t some undiscovered gem, it’s a hell of a lot better than reputation would have you believe. I don’t know if I’m projecting onto this one because I know it’s now the earliest surviving Troughton episode, but I think he looks so young here. There’s something about his entire look here which feels more ‘right’ to me than his later appearances which have been around in the archive for longer.
And being able to see him means you get to appreciate lots of little bits of business. Facial expressions, movements… the moment in which he’s given the opportunity to wear the robes of a priest is brilliant, and it’s something which I think would have been largely lost on audio.
I have to admit that, for me, this episode has always existed. What I mean to say is that the first time I did The Underwater Menace was for my marathon in 2013, and thanks to having some contacts within the Doctor Who world via my work I was able to get hold of a copy to watch in context with the other episodes. I’d never listened to the story before, so I’ve never done this one just on audio.
It’s also brilliant to actually see Troughton and Furst on screen together, and a particular highlight is the scene in which our hero teases out Zaroff’s plan;
Doctor Who: ‘Destroy all life, maybe even blow the planet apart...’
Professor Zaroff: ‘Yes! And I shall have redeemed my promise to lift Atlantis from the sea. Lift it to the sky! It will be magnificent!’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes. Bang!’
Professor Zaroff: ‘Bang! Bang, bang! That’s all.’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes. Just one small question. Why do you want to blow up the world?’
Doctor Who: ‘Why? You, a scientist, ask me why? The achievement, my dear Doctor. The destruction of the world. The scientists’ dream of supreme power!’
It’s a great scene to watch, and while everyone fixates on Furst’s over the top performance from the end of Episode Three, I think this is the perfect example of where elsewhere he’s perfectly restrained. It’s a great little scene, and one where once again Troughton’s mannerisms make all the difference.
Also telling, I think, is that when I checked my words here on two different Doctor Who transcript websites, they both missed that the first exclamation of ‘bang’ in that exchange came from Doctor Who and instead attributed it to Zaroff. Another little thing which has perhaps only become clear with the recovery of the episode.
Ironically, this is perhaps one of the (previously) missing episodes we may have been able to follow along with pretty well, as it’s one of the most densely-packed camera scripts I’ve seen so far in this marathon! Every shot carefully planned. Julia Smith’s camera scripts for her previous story — The Smugglers — weren’t as thorough as this, but given we know she had a fairly miserable time making this one, and was the second director assigned after the first deemed it impossible to film, perhaps she was determined to make it work however she could?
A 7/10 for me today, with lots to enjoy in this often maligned story.
