The Underwater Menace - Production

Production

Working titles for this story include Doctor Who Under the Sea and The Fish People. The history of this script is particularly troubled. After its commission, it was dropped from the production schedule, partly because of concerns that it would require a higher budget than was available. A new script by William Emms, "The Imps", was commissioned to replace it; Emms, however, subsequently fell ill. When it was realized that it was unlikely that Emms would be able to complete changes to the script, which was due to begin shooting in a month, the original script, now titled "The Underwater Menace", was brought back into the schedule. A further complication arose because Frazer Hines was brought on as a regular member of the cast barely a month before the serial was due to start production, and his character, Jamie, had to be worked into the script. Because of all of these problems, the individual episodes were recorded just a week before they were due to be broadcast.

In December 2011, the BBC announced that Episode 2, previously thought to be lost, had been discovered among material bought by former TV engineer Terry Burnett with only cuts from Australian censors missing. The missing pieces, still held by the National Archives of Australia, will be re-incorporated for a future DVD release.

Actor Patrick Troughton was reputedly particularly unhappy about the production. He is reported to have described the show as having "ridiculous costumes and make-up of the fish people". Producer Innes Lloyd appeared to concur, admitting "it did look like something from a '50s American 'B' movie".