The Doctor and Ramo are summoned by Thous to learn if he will take action against Professor Zaroff - but he has betrayed them to the scientist...
The Doctor tries to warn Thous a final time, but he and Ramo are led away - to be handed over to Lolem. However, once they have gone the King catches a glimpse of Zaroff's obsession. The scientist assures him that Atlantis will rise again with his help, so Thous' concerns subside.
At the temple, the Doctor and Ramo find that they are to be beheaded in sacrifice to Amdo. His companions are watching from the secret chamber behind the idol and have discovered that there is a speaking tube leading into the temple. Polly pretends to be the deity, ordering Lolem and the assembled worshippers to bow their heads in supplication. The Doctor has recognised her voice, and he sees Ben open a door beside the idol. He and Ramo slip into the chamber - and Lolem believes that they have been spirited away by Amdo. He rushes to the throne room to tell Thous of this miracle, but Zaroff realises that the priest has merely been duped.
He orders his guards to search for the Doctor. He will lead them himself.
In the chamber, the Doctor tells his companions and their friends that the only way to prevent Zaroff's plan from being completed is to abduct the scientist, giving them time to come up with a permanent solution. At the same time they must cause a diversion which might help undermine Zaroff. Atlantis relies on the Fish People providing a constant supply of fresh produce from the sea. They cannot keep this long, having no refrigeration units, and the food spoils quickly and needs to be replenished. Were the Fish People to go on strike, it would bring the city to a standstill. Sean and Jacko agree to go and speak with them.
Zaroff, meanwhile, must be lured into a trap. The Doctor disguises himself and positions himself in the marketplace. Polly is given Atlantean clothing by Ara and they watch him from a nearby stall, run by a cloth seller named Nola who is a friend to Ara. Ben and Jamie don wetsuits and pretend to be part of Zaroff's own guard unit.
Soon Zaroff enters the market with his men, and the Doctor lets himself be spotted. The real guards are diverted away and Ben and Jamie take their place as Zaroff pursues the Doctor. Once they have got him alone, the Doctor stuns him with a powder blown from his recorder and they take him to the chamber behind the idol.
Sean and Jacko convince the Fish People that they are being treated like slaves and should rebel for better conditions. They agree and spread the news amongst all of their kind.
Word quickly spreads that Atlantis will shortly run out of food, which panics Thous.
Zaroff appears to collapse as the Doctor heads off with Ben and Jamie to permanently sabotage Zaroff's laboratory. Ramo agrees to remain behind with Polly to look after the stricken scientist.
However, this is all a ruse. After they have been left alone, Zaroff stabs Ramo then takes Polly hostage.
The dying Ramo is able to warn the others, and Jamie is able to rescue Polly - though Zaroff manages to escape.
Damon and Thous discuss the Fish People strike, and the King agrees that he must hear their grievances.
Just after the Labour Controller leaves, Zaroff marches into the throne room and refuses to heed the King's pleas that they should give in to the Fish Peoples' demands. His scheme is about to enter its final phase, and he no longer needs the support of the Atlanteans. Realising too late that the Doctor and Ramo were right to warn him, Thous and his guards are shot down by Zaroff and his men.
The scientist triumphantly declares that nothing in the world can stop him now...
Written by Geoffrey Orme
Recorded: Saturday 21st January 1967 - Riverside Studio 1
First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 28th January 1967
Ratings: 7.1 million / AI 45
Designer: Jack Robinson
Director: Julia Smith
Additional cast: Roma Woodnutt (Nola), Bill Burridge (Executioner)
Critique:
For many years this was the only surviving episode of this story - specifically preserved in the BBC archives as an example of the 1966/67 season.
Like Episode 3 of The Enemy of the World, it tended to inform opinion as to the serial as a whole.
It is a notable instalment for a number of reasons - primarily the underwater "ballet" of the Fish People, with its bizarre musical accompaniment, and Joseph Furst's scenery-chewing performance as the series' definitive mad scientist.
It is one of the criticisms levelled at this story, that it harks back to the sort of stereotypical science-fiction characters of the 1950's B-movies, which in turn owed their origins to the old Saturday matinee serials of the 1930's and early '40's.
As broadcast, Polly is assisted by both Ara and Nola - yet neither character featured prominently in the original drafts. There was another character named Ebon who was deleted in order to strengthen Ara's role, whilst Nola was almost written out altogether at one point, with her action given to Ara.
The Doctor was to be disguised in ragged clothes at the market (later described as sailor's garb), and he was seen to be playing his recorder by the fountain - though not any recognisable tune. The market sequence was longer, with a bit of slapstick thrown in as the Doctor fell over when nudged by Ben.
The Fish People sequence was left open-ended in the script. It could either be a single shot of one of the beings whispering to another, or expanded to multiple Fish People swimming about should the technical facilities be available.
The final scene had Zaroff in a jovial mood, joking with Thous who doesn't realise he is being serious about feeding his life to Amdo. The scientist's final lines, addressed to his guards, were more understated:
"Come, we have much to do. Kill these two men, and follow me to the laboratory. Nothing on Earth can stop me now".
The highlight of the episode is the aforementioned underwater sequence featuring the Fish People. This was filmed at Ealing on Thursday 15th and Friday16th December. After tests with the Kirby flying harness had been carried out on the Wednesday, the first day saw the actual swimming scenes filmed.
There were eight performers in all - four male and four female - and these were credited as either "Full-Fish People" or "Half-Fish People".
The performers were suspended on wires and floated above a seabed set, dressed with shells, seaweed and anchor chains. The cameras, with a soft focus lens, were positioned behind a 12" high fish tank, and the film slowed down to give a slow-motion look.
More swimming scenes were filmed on the Friday, which was also the day on which the sequence with Sean and Jacko at the underwater grotto was shot.
For the "Full-Fish People", the costume was a fabric body stocking covered in sequins. A hood covered the head, covered in larger sequins and to which the plastic fins or gills were attached. This cowl included a half-mask which had the large staring fish-eyes attached, as well as other small sequins. The lips were made-up to give the upturned look of a real fish's mouth.
Two "Half-Fish People", a male and a female, wore simple tights and leotards, with swimming goggle masks. This was to illustrate the different stages people went through to be transformed into the Fish People.
Publicity images of the new creatures were taken on the Friday morning. The grotto was set up in the water tank which had been used to film Zaroff's flooded laboratory earlier in the week.
There are clearly two different kinds of guard in Atlantis - native ones and those presumably recruited from shipwrecks. Whilst the native ones have the distinctive bushy eyebrows of the Atlanteans and wear outfits derived from flotsam and jetsam, arming themselves with tridents, the others - which Zaroff seems to employ as his personal guard - are ordinary looking people, who wear wetsuits and are armed with revolvers.
Ben and Jamie are seen to impersonate member of Zaroff's guard. Polly, meanwhile, dons an outfit similar to that worn by Ara.
This is based on seashell shapes. Anneke Wills reported that the larger shells were repurposed plastic ashtrays which dug into the skin and were very uncomfortable to wear. There's a seaweed skirt, and a larger shell-shape used for a helmet, decorated with real shells.
The regulars missed some of the rehearsals for this episode as they were at Ealing filming sequences for The Moonbase.
BBC photographers were present during the afternoon of recording to take publicity shots of Furst with Noel Johnson.
Sandra Reid had stood down as costume designer on the story, to be replaced by a member of her team - Juanita Waterson - who continued to work to Reid's designs.
The sole recording break was scheduled just before the market scene, as this was when everyone would be seen wearing their different disguises. Troughton donned a short cape, head scarf and dark glasses.
This would be the last time he was seen to resort to costumed disguise, this aspect of the new Doctor's character being phased out.
Before putting on his wetsuit, Jamie wears his original 18th Century Highland dress for the final time, as first seen in his introductory story.
The market set included a small fountain with electric pump, around which some Atlantean children play. They had also acted as child acolytes in the temple scenes. As with previous episodes, the extras were all called upon to play several different characters - priests, guards, market traders. Three of the people in the market scene had played Fish People at Ealing the previous month.
The fight scenes between Zaroff and Ramo, and between the scientist and Jamie, were staged by Derek Ware.
Sound effects only were used for the pistol shots at the cliffhanger, with no blanks being fired in studio.
Personally, I have always been rather fond of the Fish People ballet. Dudley Simpson's music is so odd, and the imagery so weird that I've always found the whole sequence compelling. It was the first scene I ever saw from the story, having featured prominently in the 30 Years in the TARDIS documentary back in 1993 as an example of the series' more surreal moments. One of its criticisms is the fact that it slows down the plot - but when seen in context it actually forms an important part of the narrative, with the Doctor trying to disrupt Atlantis whilst he tries to put a stop to Zaroff's plans.
The other criticism is the obvious use of the flying harnesses. Improved screen definition was only a few weeks away when this was broadcast, but this episode would only have been seen, just the once, on a tiny 405-line TV set, where things like harness wires would have been virtually invisible.
As for Zaroff's cliffhanger dialogue? It's perfectly in keeping with his descent into madness and absolute conviction that what he is doing marks the triumphant crowning glory of his career.
Context - be it narratively or in broadcast / production terms - is everything.
Trivia:
- The ratings continue to slide, as does the appreciation figure. However, in terms of position in the weekly Top 100 chart, there is actually a slight improvement on the previous instalment.
- This was Simpson's first attempt at electronic music on the series, and he collaborated with Brian Hodgson of the Radiophonic Workshop. Simpson used their new monophonic multi-colour tone organ.
- There was considerable interest in the Fish People from the general public - especially from girls wanting to know about their costumes. The costumes worn by Ara and Polly were also of interest.
- When recreated for the DVD making-of documentary (A Fishy Tale) the Fish Person outfit was predominantly orange. This is not reflected in the original costume designs.
- Bill Burridge is best known for playing Mr Quill in Fury From The Deep - his only credited role. He first featured in the series as a soldier in The Romans, with his final appearance in Frontier in Space when he portrayed a Draconian. It was later claimed by a fellow extra on that story that Burridge suffered from a brain seizure, brought on by the metallic make-up he wore entering his bloodstream - an incident which brought his career to an end.
- Most of the fight between Zaroff and Ramo was cut by the Australian censors.
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