The Underwater Menace

"You're not turning me into a fish!"

Writer: Geoffrey Orme

Format: TV (Animation)

Released: November 2023

Series: 4.05

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends find themselves in the lost city of Atlantis, where the crazed Professor Zaroff has convinced the people of Atlantis that he can raise their sunken city from beneath the sea. However, the Doctor discovers a terrible secret behind Zaroff's plan – a secret that could destroy all life on Earth. As the countdown commences to the end of the world, can the Doctor defeat the underwater menace?

Verdict

The Underwater Menace was a great animation of the partially lost fourth series story! I was delighted to hear that this story would be animated when it was announced last year but that's not a surprise as I get excited whenever any story is revealed to be getting the colourful reconstruction treatment. Of course, the animation is far from perfect but this presented me with the first time I have watched the story in a full and consistent form. Sure, the Target novelisation is a brilliant thing to have and gives a complete version of the adventure, but there's nothing quite like the on screen visuals. I always choose to watch the animations in colour format where available as I've now tried to distance myself from these being pure reconstructions and almost like an alternative perspective or interpretation of the story which is itself complete. It's not so weird now to be watching a Troughton era story in colour as there have been several animations of this kind, and the style of animation certainly does take a little while to go on. I don't want to sound too harsh but when I watched the trailer for this release I thought it did look a little amateur-ish which is a bit of a shame. But when there's a full moving story and flow it definitely works. It's fun for this to be Jamie's first adventure after arriving in The Highlanders and he really doesn't take long to get to grips with the travels in the TARDIS. I don't remember them picking up in the attire he was wearing right at the start of this story though. The colour in this animation was very well presented and that's the beauty of the format. It's ironic that the search and desire for completeness actually makes the missing serials the ones I have delved into more often than others. This is the third time I've blogged this story but each one has been in a different form and I really like that. I feel like from my two previous bloggings that I knew the story pretty well although I couldn't quite believe it's been eight years since I read the novelisation! So my focus was all on the animation and seeing the story in complete and colourful form. I thought the Fish People were presented well and I enjoyed the use of animation to present the underwater elements. That was definitely an improvement on the original version and I think the costumes also looked better here, not that it's much of a surprise given the technology available and just the fact it's in colour. The highlight of the story for me is Professor Zaroff as his mad and deranged villain is just magnificent. That famous cliffhanger of nobody being able to stop him now is just as good in coloured animation and is definitely one of my favourites. I think the story itself is really solid and was probably even more enjoyable in a complete and modern version. I do think some of the animation is awkward when nothing is happening as we wait for the next bit of dialogue. Surely some stage directions or a shooting script would indicate something better than just a stare? I did notice that on a couple of occasions which was just odd. I watched most of this in the presence of my young boy who was feeling very sick and I was delighted with how much he was paying attention considering he is only two. I feel like I can now say that Albie's first Doctor Who was this which is very fun and unique! He does like fish and the sea so Atlantis is a fine setting for his first one. It's a nice touch and just made my viewing experience better looking after him with a well deserved cwtch. Overall, a sheer delight to have this story in a completed form and the animation definitely works after a little while of getting used to it. A fine use of colour also and as a whole a great and worthy watch! Keep them coming. 

Rating: 8/10