(region 1. pub: 20th Century Fox B000FFJ87Q. 3 double-sided DVDs 821 minutes 16 * 50 minute black and white episodes plus extras. Price: $24.99(US))stars: Richard Basehart and David Hedison.

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The second half of Season One of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' carries on much in the same vein as the first half. A lot of human stories and only a few SF orientated ones but, boy, when they do them they are memorable. 'The Invaders', guest-starred Robert Duvall, as a past-man-like creature menacingly wanting to bring back the rest of his people. Thing is, he carries microbes that would wipe out humans.

'The Indestructible Man' is, I think, the robot prop from the film 'TOBOR'. It goes rampant on board the Seaview after a space mission to the music from 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'. 'The Amphibians' is the first time that aqua-humans are used in a TV series. Although they don't swim dolphin-like as in later series, clever photography avoids showing the actors breathing oxygen.



Oddly enough, the best episodes are two of the non-SF ones. 'Doomsday' when a failsafe with their nuclear missiles risks one exploding is handled with beautiful logic. 'The Human Computer' has the Seaview ran by computer control with Captain Crane on board as an observer when he discovers an enemy spy as a second passenger.

'The Secret Of The Loch' has Crane dismissing Nessie which is a bit odd considering that he saw actual dinosaurs in an early episode. If you ever wondered about how people believe there is a secret channel into Loch Ness then this is the episode that sank into their consciousness.

Of the worst science episodes, I think I have to put 'Cradle Of The Deep' in there, mostly cos the organism might be growing but it wouldn't be capable of changing the overall mass inside the Seaview let alone upset its buyancy. This is closely followed by 'The Condemned' where the rules of putting people inside a decompression chamber get violated a few times. However, as this is Earth-Irwin, it follows its own consistency with pressure problems.

The extras include interview snippets with actor David Hedison, a bloopers reel that none of the cast saw at the time and a stills gallery showing the Gold Key comicbook covers.

There's a lot of new merchandise being released based on this TV series about now. Despite the occasional oddball science, the special effects for 1965 are truly remarkable and I'm sure as you work your way through the seasons with me that the extras will show more of how it was done. It's all a matter of model scale to water. Whether its my generation wanting to re-live the past without any adverts or younger generations wanting to see an interesting old TV SF series then I don't think you'll be that disappointed.

GF Willmetts