The Underwater Menace - Episode 4

Nothing in the world can stop him now…except for the lack of videos.  Before this episode I must say that I just cant find it in myself to dislike this adventure despite some of the problems that there are with it. This is one of those stories that I wish existed in full now that lost episodes have been found (though rumblings suggest this isn’t the case). I think that this episode would have looked quite good. Judging by the sounds that is on this part it seems that this final episode could have been quite the fitting end to the story. The final episode sees Zaroff’s plan of trying to raise Atlantis come to fruition and also the Doctors plan to try and flood the place.

The central performances are all pretty solid. Troughton is a good as he always is (hard to believe this is only his 10^th episode as the Doctor). Anneke Wills and Michael Craze come across as the old pros and at this moment in time they are the longest serving regulars in the TARDIS crew and it shows because they act like they have been doing this for a long time. There’s a lovely moment when Jamie calms Polly down who has just gone a bit hysterical. It’s a moment which I wouldn’t have thought would have happened in the previous story and it shows that the character had well and truly become part of the show.

Aside from the great performances, a major factor as to why I like these four episodes so much is that the story and dialogue has been really good. This was Geoffrey Orme’s only contribution to Doctor Who and it’s a shame really because he’s managed to take a situation like Atlantis and take some silly costumes and yet manage to give a great vibe is a testament to the writer.

The final scene is a rather good one as they seem to quite a happy family and it ends on a good note and a good cliffhanger and as an episode I have enjoyed it despite feeling that it was starting to run out of steam in the middle. But four episodes is the right length and it’s a solid story with good characters and also it shows that the Troughton era has put some new life into Doctor Who and the stuttering start at the beginning of the series is a distant memory.