| THE UNDERWATER MENACE by Geoffrey Orme |
| Story 32 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a deserted beach, where the crew soon make their way to a cave. Shortly after, they find themselves in a subterranean land, Atlantis, ruled by Professor Zaroff. Though Zaroff is interested in the Doctor as a man of science, his companions are considered mere fodder. Ben & Jamie escape sacrifice when Polly impersonates the goddess, Amdo Whilst Ben and Jamie are sent to work as labourers, Polly is designated for conversion into being a Fish Person, an aquatic race also subjugated by Zaroff. When the Doctor learns of Zaroff's plan to raise Atlantis, at the cost of the rest of the planet, he tries to stop him. Ben and Jamie rescue Polly, and help foment a revolution amongst the Fish People. The Doctor traps Zaroff in a room away from the controls for his explosive device, as water begins to flood the underground city. The Doctor and friends return to the surface, leaving Zaroff to his watery doom. |
| Review:- From the Scottish highlands to an undersea kingdom, Jamie's first full adventure sees a chance to meet a mad scientist - and a famous one, according to the Doctor... Atlantis is a popular European myth which has held fascination for many English writers, who seem compelled that there might be another land where people live, yet which we cannot visit. Here, Orme shows us a community cursed by an intruder from the overworld, whose brilliance is only a short step away from madness. The story covers scientific experimentation, as well as religious doctrine, and finds both topics wanting. The Fish People are well handled as victims of Zaroff's insane work, and their status as lowly serfs is made palatable by their eventual insurgency. It shows that even if the oppressed are not human-like, there is no assuming that this denies them the right to freedom. Sometimes the series favours human beings regardless, and here that is far from the case. Polly, Ben and Jamie get plenty of subplot to work with, whilst the Doctor is busy trying to bring down the regime from the top. For many, this is a one-man story, that man being the mad Zaroff. For many years, his infamous line "Nothing in the World can stop me now!" has been held up as a zenith of silliness, from a woeful story that has nothing of worth to speak of. This is far from fair, and I find it to be rather dramatic and moving. |
| Disclaimer: I have read the novelisation. |