Production Code: GG
First Transmitted
1 - 14/01/1967 17:50
2 - 21/01/1967 17:50
3 - 28/01/1967 17:50
4 - 04/02/1967 17:50
Plot
The TARDIS arrives on a extinct volcanic island. Before long, the travellers are captured and taken into the depths of the Earth, where they find a hidden civilisation - the lost city of Atlantis.
The Atlanteans worship a goddess named Amdo and use Fish People - men and women operated upon so that they can breathe under the sea - to farm the plankton-based food on which they survive. A deranged scientist, Professor Zaroff, has convinced them that he can raise their city from the sea, but actually he plans to drain the ocean into the Earth's molten core, so that the resultant superheated steam will cause the planet to explode.
The travellers meet up with two shipwreck survivors, Sean and Jacko, who manage to persuade the Fish People to rebel and stop work. The Doctor eventually manages to foil Zaroff's plan, but only by breaking down the sea walls and flooding the city. Zaroff drowns, but everyone else escapes.
Episode Endings
The struggling Polly is held down on an operating table as the Atlantean scientist Damon tells her that after she is injected she will know nothing more until her conversion into a Fish Person is complete. He advances on her with a syringe...
King Thous tells the Doctor and the priest Ramo that he has given much thought to their words and come to a decision. His attendants open the doors and Zaroff enters with a group of guards. Thous tells Zaroff that he can do what he likes with the two men.
Zaroff shoots Thous and has his guards do likewise to the King's attendants. Triumphant, he announces 'Nothing in the world can stop me now!'
As the Doctor attempts to materialise on Mars, the TARDIS suddenly goes out of control.
Roots
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Conan Doyle's The Maracot Deep.
Burroughs' Pellucidar books.
Flash Gordon.
The Republic serial.
Undersea Kingdom.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
The Island of Dr Moreau.
Dr. No.
Robert Burns is quoted in the opening scene.
Dialogue Triumphs
Zaroff : "So you're just a little man after all, Doctor, like all the rest. You disappoint me."
The Doctor : "You disappoint me, Professor. I didn't think that a man of science needed the backing of thugs!"
The Doctor : "Let's not say goodbye Professor. We'll be seeing each other again."
Zaroff : "Not in this world, Doctor!"
The Doctor : "Zaroff, I think you ought to know the sea has broken through and is about to overwhelm us here."
Zaroff : [To his assistants.] "Don't listen to him! The man lies!"
The Doctor : "Then perhaps the distant roaring that we can hear is just the goddess Amdo with indigestion."
Ben : [On the Doctor] "Look at him - he ain't normal, is he?"
Dialogue Disasters
Polly : "Urgh, saltwater!"
The Doctor : "Well, this is Atlantis..."
Zaroff : [Plea to Polly] "Help me to stand at your sides so I may feel ze aura of your goodness!"
Zaroff : "Nothing in ze vorld can stop me now!"
Double Entendre
"I get a queer feeling."
"They share everything with me."
"Oh, have I dropped a brick?"
"Some people get most upset when they find they're to have the operation."
Zaroff : "So, you're just a little man after all, Doctor, like all ze rest. You disappoint me!"
Continuity
Atlantis is located near an extinct volcanic island, its people eking out a living from the sea (they eat plankton). Their god is Amdo, and they are about to celebrate the Vernal Equinox. Most Fish People came to live in the waters after the city sank 'centuries ago', but others are artificially augmented humans.
As they land, Polly hopes it is 1966 Chelsea, Ben wants to avoid the Daleks, and the Doctor wishes to see prehistoric monsters. The Doctor carries a magnifying glass.
QV
Location
Atlantis, south of the Azores on the Atlantic ridge, close to 21 March, some time after 1968 (a commemorative vase of the Mexico Olympics is found).
Links
When the TARDIS lands Polly thinks they're in Cornwall again (The Smugglers).
Trivia
In the opening TARDIS scene, Polly, Ben and the Doctor are each heard 'thinking' about where they would like to land next. (Polly hopes for Chelsea in 1966, Ben wants not to meet the Daleks and the Doctor relishes the idea of encountering prehistoric monsters.) This was achieved by prerecording the actors' voices and playing them back during the making of the episode.
Noel Johnson, appearing here as King Thous, was better known as the voice of Dick Barton in the famous radio serial Dick Barton: Special Agent. He would later play Grover in the season eleven story Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
Zaroff has a pet octopus!
Zaroff is described as 'the greatest living scientist since Leonardo'.
In Orme's original draft scripts, Zaroff's motivation was explained as being a sort of warped revenge for the deaths of his wife and children in a car crash. This was edited out before recording.
Myth
Joseph Furst adopted an outrageous East European accent in his portrayal of Zaroff. (Furst spoke in his own normal accent.)
Technobabble
Zaroff has a 'plunger' with which he intends to destroy the world.
Goofs
At the start of episode three the director can be heard.
Polly hits Zaroff with an enormous boulder and he goes 'Ooh!'
Fashion Victim
The Doctor impersonates a gypsy wearing cool 60s shades.
Cast & Crew
Cast
The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
Ben Jackson - Michael Craze
Jamie - Frazer Hines
Polly - Anneke Wills
Ara - Catherine Howe
Damon - Colin Jeavons
Damon's assistant - Gerald Taylor
Jacko - Paul Anil
Lolem - Peter Stephens
Nola - Roma Woodnutt
Overseer - Graham Ashley
Ramo - Tom Watson
Sean - P G Stephens
Thous - Noel Johnson
Zaroff - Joseph Furst
Zaroff's guard - Tony Handy
Crew
Director - Julia Smith
The Underwater Menace