Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace DVD Review

Doctor Who:

The Underwater Menace

By Geoffrey Orme

“Nothing in the world can stop me now!”

The Doctor, Polly, Ben and new companion Jamie McCrimmon find themselves on a beach near a cave that looks somewhat mysterious and begs to be explored.  Upon investigation they group ends up getting captured and finds themselves far underground in what is the missing city of Atlantis. There The Doctor finds himself in the crazy graces of Professor Zaroff.  Zaroff’s dream is to destroy the world and plans on doing it with the Atlantian technology and their unwitting help.  The Doctor is horrified that a man of science would want to blow the world up just for the sake of doing it and has devised a plan to try and stop him.  But first he must get Ben and Jamie freed from the mine and prevents Polly from being turned into a fish person.  It will be tough as Zaroff is just that type of crazy that will not be stopped from his destiny.

Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace DVD Details

BBCWW have released the details for The Underwater Menace which is to be the last classic Doctor Who story on DVD to be released.  It also looks like the missing episode one and four will be telesnaps as the animation was cancelled last year.  Fans will be able to see the recovered episode two which was returned back in 2011.  Finally this DVD and the extras will finally be seen and hopefully someday we will get the missing parts found.

The Underwater Menace
Release date: 26 Oct 2015 UK 

Starring Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who, with Michael Craze as Ben Jackson, Anneke Wills as Polly, and Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
Written by Geoffrey Orme
Directed by Julia Smith

Broadcast: 14 Jan - 4 Feb 1967

The TARDIS lands in the lost city of Atlantis, where the crazed Professor Zaroff has convinced the Atlanteans that he can raise their city from beneath the sea. But the Doctor discovers the terrible truth behind Zaroff’s plan – he intends to destroy the entire planet. With the doomsday clock ticking, the Doctor and his companions must battle to prevent the apocalypse...

The Underwater Menace is the fifth serial of the fourth season, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 January 1967 to 4 February 1967. The story introduces Jamie McCrimmon's (Frazer Hines) on his first journey with the Doctor as a travelling companion. This special release will contain the two re-mastered existing episodes, with the two missing episodes represented with restored audio and surviving stills, as well as over an hour of extras.

Special Features:
Commentary - For episode 1, Interview with actor Michael Troughton Part 2 (from The Ice Warriors). For episodes 2 and 3, a commentary with actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Catherine Howe, special sounds supervisor Brian Hodgson and floor assistant Quentin Mann. For episode 4, archive material featuring Patrick Troughton, directors Julia Smith and Hugh David, and producer Innes Lloyd. Moderated and linked by Toby Hadoke.

A Fishy Tale (Feature, dur. 28’ 30”) – cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Catherine Howe, AFM Gareth Gwenlan, production assistant Berry Butler and new series writer Robert Shearman. Narrated by Peter Davison.

The Television Centre of the Universe – Part Two (dur. 32’ 10” ) – Yvette Fielding continues her tour of BBC Television Centre in the company of actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson, with contributions from former colleagues along the way. With senior camera supervisor Alec Wheal, AFM Sue Hedden, former BBC producer and writer Richard Marson, exhibitions assistant Bob Richardson, production assistant Jane Ashford and videotape engineer Simon Anthony.

The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Menace - Parts 1 and 4 Only

The Release of The Underwater Menace

Is this the wind blowing in the right direction?

By Ken Parker

It has been a long time since we have looked at the Doctor Who missing episode situation and for good reason.  Nothing has changed. Since the big reveal in 2013 there has been nothing officially reported. The final DVDs were released and "The Underwater Menace" cancelled, but that has changed.

A quick recap (okay not that quick)–

Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace DVD To Be Released After All ???

It appears that The Underwater Menace will surface on DVD after all.  The Patrick Troughton story seemed to be cancelled and would not see the light of day but apparently something happened to change the minds of those in charge of DVD releases.  The news came yesterday when the BBC Shop put the Underwater Menace on pre order on their site. People waited to see if this was a mistake and that the listing will be removed but it hasn't.  You can see for yourself and pre order it this link The Underwater Menace BBC Shop Pre Order Page .

This is good news for 2nd Doctor fans as part two was found back in 2011 and was not released yet. Only parts two and three are the only episodes surviving from this story and it would seem the missing two episodes parts one and 4 will be reconstructions as the animation was canceled. But who knows maybe it will be animated or better yet the missing episodes have been found and will be included on this release.  We can only hope.  The much delayed and canceled last Doctor Who Classic Series DVD will be released on October 26th 2015.

The Underwater Menace - Doctor Who DVD Petition

As you might be aware, there was one more classic Doctor Who DVD set for release but for some reason it keeps being postponed and now canceled.  Not sure what the reason is.  One is that the range of Doctor Who does not make enough money - this is totally false due to the money that the previous releases made.  Could it be that the BBC are giving up on DVD and going for a digital release, or that they are waiting to see if Phil Morris has more episodes to return or there is a plan to release other stories that are missing a couple of episodes?  Whatever the reason, The Underwater Menace is being held up and it is making a very people upset.

One of those persons is Anneke Wills, who played the companion Polly during the First and Second Doctors.  This is one of her episodes and recently she tweeted that she has recorded a commentary and extras and wanted to sign a petition to get the release going.  Well, here it is folks.  Let's go ahead and get this released and perhaps others will follow.

https://www.change.org/p/bbc-worldwide-please-release-doctor-who-the-underwater-menace-on-dvd

Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace: The On Again Off Again On Again DVD Release Update

Fear not Zaroff old chap. It looks like our DVD might finally see the light of day.

The mystery of the last Doctor Who DVD to be released has taken another turn.  It appears to be back to being released and this time with the missing episodes one and four to be animated.   Yes animated. You know the same animation that was cancelled earlier this year now seems to be back on again.  This has been a weird release which had a trailer made for it and put on The Moonbase DVD. So fans will be able to own episode two which was found back in 2011 and this will see the release of the only classic episode that hasn't been released at all. Airlock which was found with episode two of The Underwater Menace is on The Aztecs Special edition DVD.  Here is the official statement from BBC Worldwide.

We hope to release ‘The Underwater Menace’ in 2015. We delayed the release to ensure that our publishing schedule is phased appropriately across the year and the episodes will be animated.

Notice they say hope. Hope to release in 2015.  With all the twists and turns this release has been given so far I file this one under I'll believe it when I see it.

The Underwater Menace is NOT the Final Doctor Who DVD - It Has Been Cancelled

Well, this is a bit of a shock.  Apparently the DVD range is dead according to Steve Roberts -

Again, does this mean that preparations are being made to handle all the missing episodes that were found OR has the BBC just given up?  I am wondering if the Restoration Team is getting upset with the lack of information one way or another because I don't think everyone of the team is out to deliberately give out mis-information.

The Final Classic Doctor Who DVD release

By Ken Parker

Well, we all knew it was going to happen eventually. Since there are a limited number of classic Doctor Who episodes we all knew that someday the classic DVD range would come to an end. But look what we got!  Not only did we get everything we thought we would but we got hundreds of hours of extras including commentaries, documentaries, interviews and so on. In addition we had several incomplete stories released with animation for the missing episodes. 

Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace DVD Trailer

The trailer for The Underwater Menace which if you believe the rumors has been postponed to later this year and the animation has been halted still gets its trailer released on The Moonbase DVD.  This Patrick Troughton story has two surviving parts in episode 2 and three and would have episodes 1 and 4 animated. We'll post any news on this future release when it becomes available.