Classic ‘Doctor Who’ Story “The Underwater Menace” Readies Its November Animated Debut
by Erik Amaya
As Doctor Who fans know, a shameful amount of its early episodes — 97 to be exact — are missing. And though we often hear positive signs (as recently as this week) that some of the material will be recovered, the hardest hit seasons starring Patrick Troughton in the title role opted for something else: restoring the missing episodes via animation.
The last of these releases, for the moment, is “The Underwater Menace.” Originally aired in 1967, it stared Troughton with Fraser Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, Anneke Wills as Polly, and Michael Craze as Ben. It is the first of three explanations the show has provided for the sinking of Atlantis over the years and though it may be one of Troughton’s lesser stories, it is still worthy of preservation.
Per the Radio Times, all four parts have been animated in glorious color (with optional Black and White) using preserved audio recordings from the time of broadcast. The two surviving live-action episodes will also be included on a second disc. Other features on the DVD and Blu-ray release include archival bonus material from the story’s initial — and incomplete — DVD presentation, a making-of documentary, and Hines’s video introduction to Episode 2 from a VHS complication of orphaned episodes. Presumably, his commentary for the episode will also carry over.
Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace will be available in the UK this November. Based on the usual pattern, the US release will likely occur in early 2024.
