Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Episode Guide Year 3

Mysterious Undersea Mound

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Production information and notes by
Mark Phillips
Story synopses, Mike Bailey

Death From The Past Original Airdate: January 1, 1967

Seaview's sensors detect an unexpected signal and upon investigation, the magnification hydrophone (???) picks up heartbeats coming from within the undersea base; someone within is apparently still alive. Seaview soon strikes a mine and is laid low on the bottom.

Seaview strikes mine and havoc ensues.

Crane & Kowalski attempt to revive Von Neuberg.

As repairs are conducted, Crane and Kowalski dive out, discover an old undersea installation, gain access, and find a bunch of missiles and other weapons along with an unconscious man lying on the floor. As they revive him, they're taken captive by another man, Von Neuberg, who informs them they're prisoners of the Third Reich. Von Neuberg and cohort have remained in their secret undersea lab in a state of suspended animation imposed by a nerve gas accident there, and they're ready to come bubbling out of the place to take over the world.

Much cat and mouse see-saw action takes place. Crewmen are shot and at one point Nelson and Sharkey are held captive. Before the Nazis are subdued by the last fleeting seconds of the final reel, Von Neuberg manages to fire a missile, then dies. Nelson orders an intercept missile fired and the threat is put to rest, along with two lethargic Nazis, who, thanks to a cheap dissolve, turn gray-haired, quite dead.

1945--undersea facility fresh and new.

Set dressers have done their bit to add to ambiance.

1980--a bit worse for aging.

Something Voyage's production team almost always did well, was set dressing. Check out the attention to detail of aging the set. Many shows of the period just didn't put out this kind of effort.

Written: Sidney Marshall
Story: Sidney Marshall, Charles Bennett
Directed: Justus Addiss
Guest Cast:
Gustav von Neuberg........John Van Dreelan
Erich Froelich..............................Jan Merlin
British voice________________

Mike Says: This episode has nothing to recommend it. Boring. No social comment (it's hard to do a story about Nazis and not have some implied moral point or subtext -- sorry, nothing here.) Van Dreelan is bored and Jan Merlin is wasted. Compare this effort to season one's The Last Battle (which also stared John Van Dreelan as a Nazis,) and you get the difference between night and day. The Last Battle attempted to do much more than just fill 53 minutes of air time. I'll shut up now. ***HOLD THE FORT! This episode must have at least one thing to recommend it. No rubber suited monsters.

Mark Says: This could have been a contender but its storyline is so unimaginative and by-the-book that it’s extremely boring. It’s also annoying that the Nazi duo don’t show any real surprise or interest in the fact that they’ve awakened in 1980. They simply want to rule the world. Talk about one-dimensional.

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