Title of the work
Studio / Production Company
Country of the First Edition
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Dr Who: The Underwater Menace (Serial GG, Doctor Who Series 4): Episode 1 (5:50pm, January 14, 1967); Episode 2 (5:50pm, January 21, 1967); Episode 3 (5.50pm, January 28, 1967); Episode 4 (5.50pm, February 4, 1967)
Running time
Date of the First DVD or VHS
Genre
Science fiction
Television series
Time-Slip Fantasy*
Target Audience
Crossover
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Elizabeth Hale, University of New England, ehale@une.edu.au
Daniel A. Nkemleke, University of Yaoundé 1, nkemlekedan@yahoo.com
Gerry Davis
Script Editor
Geoffrey Orme
, 1904 - 1978
Geoffrey Orme (1904-1978) was an English screenwriter for television as well as film. His earliest credits were feature film scripts of the 1930s and ‘40s – including Sunshine Ahead (1936); Hearts of Humanity (1936); four Old Mother Riley films (1941-3); and Here Comes the Sun (1946) – before turning to the new medium of television in the 1950s. Work on six episodes of the ITV (Independent Television) adventure/drama series Ivanhoe (1958) gave him an entry into writing for family entertainment; and he wrote episodes for other ITV series – Interpol Calling (1959); The Avengers (1963); and No Hiding Place (1965) – before being commissioned to write a four-episode storyline for the BBC’s Doctor Who. The Underwater Menace (1967) turned out to be his last major work, and after the feature film The Long Duel (1967), Orme retired; dying in 1978.
Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au
Julia Smith (Director)
Casting
Patrick Troughton – The Doctor,
Anneke Wills – Polly,
Michael Craze – Ben Jackson,
Frazer Hines – Jamie McCrimmon,
Joseph Furst – Zaroff,
Colin Jeavons – Damon,
Tom Watson – Ramo,
Peter Stephens – Lolem,
Gerald Taylor – Damon’s Assistant,
Catherine Howe – Ara.
Sequels, Prequels and Spin-offs
Robinson, Nigel, Doctor Who – The Underwater Menace, London: Target, 1988.
Summary
‘The Underwater Menace’ was typical of mid-1960s Doctor Who (1963–1989; 2005–present) and its turn away from the strictly historical, and educational, storylines of the early ‘60s, towards purely science-fiction and adventure stories. The story sees the crew of the TARDIS (the time/space machine) materialise on an island inhabited by the survivors of the lost city of Atlantis. The Doctor (an alien ‘Time Lord’ from the Planet Gallifrey) and his companions (Ben, Polly, and Jamie) are threatened immediately by High Priest Lolem, and are to be made human sacrifices to the god Amdo, but are saved just in time by renegade scientist, Professor Zaroff. Zaroff intends to raise Atlantis (actually by draining the seas), and enslaves Ben and Jamie, to assist in his plans; while Polly is to be surgically converted into a Fish Person. Through a series of misadventures (again avoiding sacrifice, murder, and the like), the Doctor and his companions foil the nefarious plans of Professor Zaroff, with the help of the Atlanteans and the Fish People. Atlantis is ultimately doomed, but the Doctor is confident that the survivors will go on to lead profitable lives elsewhere.
Analysis
‘The Underwater Menace’ is a key example of mid-1960s British television entertainment. Watched by between 7 and 8 million viewers during its four-week broadcast, the serial is a notable example of a science fiction appropriation of Classical myth, in imitation of the B-movies of the same period (e.g. 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts). The time travelling theme of the program was a handy device for justifying the incursion into mythical Atlantean history; and the Doctor and his companions serve as useful avatars for the young audience-members as they are introduced to and familiarised with the pseudo-historical and mythical context of the storyline (or, rather, reacquainted with matters with which they were supposed to be familiar; with such themes still being central to British elementary-level schooling in the 1960s).
Further Reading
BBC Online, Doctor Who – The Classic Series: ‘The Underwater Menace’ [Archived website], at bbc.co.uk (accessed: August 17, 2018) [comprises analysis and details from: Paul Cornell, Martin Day & Keith Topping, The Discontinuity Guide, 1995; David J. Howe & Stephen James Walker, Doctor Who: The Television Companion, 2003].
Harmes, Marcus K., Doctor Who and the Art of Adaptation; Fifty Years of Storytelling, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, esp. pp. 68 ff.
Howe, David J., Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor, London: Virgin Publishing, 1994.
Howe, David J., Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker, Doctor Who: The Sixties, London: Virgin Publishing, 1992.
Keen, Anthony G., "It's about Tempus: Greece and Rome in “Classic” Doctor Who", in David C. Wright, Jr., and Allan W. Austin, eds., Space and Time: Essays on Visions of History in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010, 100–115.
Keen, Anthony G., "Sideways Pompeii! The Use of Historical Period to Question the Doctor's Role in History", in Ross P. Garner, Melissa Beattie, and Una McCormack, eds., Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things: Cultural Perspectives on Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010, 94–117.
Addenda
Soundtrack CD released (all episodes), February 2005.
Recorded viewers:
Episode 1: 8.3 million
Episode 2: 7.5 million
Episode 3: 7.1 million
Episode 4: 7.0 million
