A perfectly fine story, but nothing to write home about.

The Doctor, Ben, Polly and new companion Jamie discover the long-lost city of Atlantis hidden below the surface. While there, they meet with a professor Zaroff, who is planning to return the majestic city to the surface. However, he has very little qualms about the destruction such an operation might bring.

First things first, this episode is missing. Which seems like a bit of a given for this season. We are now 13 episodes into our new doctor, and this is the first chance you have to actually see him in the flesh. And even then, only for half of the story. It’s kind of interesting how I’ve never really seen that as a talking point. Still, there is a new and pretty decent animation that covers the gap. It does the job. I’d recommend watching the live action episodes between the animated ones for the best experience.

As for the story itself, as mentioned at the start, it is nothing really exemplary. Professor Zaroff is the clear highlight with his insane ramblings and his famous “NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP ME NOW”. But other than that, it is a story that has trouble standing out.

Sure, there’s ideas! We are in Atlantis, that alone should bring out some creativity. But the city has no real consequences. There is also some religion vs. science discussion hidden in there, but nothing concrete enough to make it a true talking point. And, most disappointingly of all, there is a race of artificially made fish people that get one real scene and are never seen again. What a waste!

At points it feels like this story deliberately chose the easy (and more boring) route instead of doing something interesting. A particular scene I noticed was the climb with Ben and the Doctor at the very end. As Atlantis is crumbling at their feet, they climb to save themselves from the rising water. This would have been the perfect moment to redeem the fish people. Why not have them show up to save our heroes, as thanks for their freedom? Or why not show a shot of them living in Atlantis now that it is completely submerged? It would give the ending a little more weight.

There is plenty of other moments just like that, where it would’ve been relatively easy to make a change that would make the story a bit more impactful. Little moments that make the whole package shine. But very few of those little moments actually make it to screen.

Our cast isn’t exactly at their best either. The Doctor gets one moment, where he tries to go back to save Zaroff. Doing the right thing even in dire circumstances. Other than that, we are completely defaulting. Polly is a damsel. Ben is action guy. Jamie has no personality yet because he was hastily written in. Except for the first Tardis scene at the beginning. It is nothing to write home about.

And that sentiment goes for the whole story. It is a story of averages. Some good ideas, but a failure to really take them anywhere. The only thing that raise it up a bit are some neat effects on the fish people and the batshit insane villainy from Doctor Zaroff. Other than that, it really is one in a million. A drop in the ocean.