No DVD Release for The Underwater Menace?

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Prepare to get annoyed, flabbergasted and suspicious: it seems that partly-missing classic, The Underwater Menace, may not get a DVD release.

Those following the “missing believed wiped” saga will know that episode two of the Second Doctor serial was found and unveiled to eager Whovians in 2011 alongside “Airlock,” episode three of Galaxy 4. With two of the four now in the archives, we were all expecting animation to accompany them and for a DVD release to be issued to the Classic line later this year. Amazon even listed it for pre-order.

However, Steve Roberts, project leader of the much-loved Restoration Team, seems to have dashed all hopes when he told TVShowsOnDVD:

“[W]e’re the team that remasters the episodes for DVD release and even we don’t have a clue what’s going on with TUM now. From where we’re standing, it’s looking like the range is dead.”

Previously, the last we heard, animation was being halted as the studio doing it “having other higher priority projects.” Even more mysteriously, the above trailer for The Underwater Menace was included on The Moonbase DVD.

So what in the name of Rassilon is happening?!

There are a few options to ponder. Perhaps the range is dead and we won’t get to see it alongside our Second Doctor collections after all. If so, we should all be very disappointed with the BBC. But realistically, would they do that to us?

Perhaps the Restoration Team aren’t being used for this release. It’d certainly be an odd move, if so.

And finally, here’s fuel for the Omnirumour (ongoing rumblings that a vast amount of previously-missing Who has now been found, including Marco Polo): that the other two episodes have been found and they’re still trying to make a deal with Phillip Morris so have delayed the DVD.

Smoke and mirrors, or bitter disappointment? I know which I’d prefer…

(Thanks to Joe)

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