Episode Guide, Year 1

The City Beneath The Sea (Airdate: September 21, 1964)

Storyline:

Seaview prowls the Aegean for clues as to what's happened to a research vessel and rescue ship sent out looking for her, both gone missing. Nelson, crew, and the sub narrowly avoid death and destruction when Kowalski, while investigating a suspicious graveyard of lost ships, retrieves a body, which turns out to be booby-trapped. It's dumped back into the water in the nick of time; the bomb explodes, damaging Seaview's left elevator.

Realizing it may not be safe on the surface, Nelson orders Seaview submerged while they effect repairs. In disguise, Crane then infiltrates a town on a nearby island intent upon finding out if any of the locals have a clue as to what's going on. Turns out they do. He encounters Dimitri, a diver who recently washed up on the beach after apparently diving too

Excellent underwater miniature of the "City Beneath the Sea."

deep. The man can no longer speak and the townspeople believe Dimitri's no longer quite right in the head--the man claims there's a city beneath the sea and leads the curious Crane to a point on the coast to dive for it.

From ashore, Crane informs Nelson of wild stories the locals tell of a mysterious city beneath the Sea. The Admiral sends out the mini-sub to reconnoiter, and it's not long before contact is mysteriously lost with the wayward vehicle.

The soon submerged captain encounters Melina, Dimitri's daughter, and they surface to find the girl's father dead--murdered. Thus motivated, Melina helps Crane find the underwater city. They are, of course, quickly captured by bad-guy Zeraff who announces plans to use his domed underwater base to conquer the world (yes, you read correctly, to conquer the world). After the two finally escape, Nelson, who has been on their trail all the while, administers several torpedoes which act as the coup de grace. Boom! No more City Beneath The Sea. Fade to black.

David Hedison & Linda Cristal.

Written: Richard Landau
Directed: John Brahm
Guest Cast
Melina......................Linda Cristal
Leopold Zeraff........Hurd Hatfield
Dimitri...........................Al Ruscio
Round Face............John Alderson
Zanthos....................Peter Brocco
Nicholas...............Peter Mamakos
Malone.......................Mark Slade
Clerk.......................Athan Karras
Atlas...........................Joey Walsh
Starfish.....................Dennis Cross
Georgio.....................Paul Kremin
Guard.........................Paul Stader
Diver...........................John Lamb

Mark Slade: "Irwin’s prime focus was on the special effects and the spectacle. He was way ahead of his time with that kind of thing. As for the characters, he expected actors to be prepared and have their character all ready. He was no-nonsense. Having a sense of loyalty and professionalism was very important to him."

At right, an effects shot that really works - Mike.

Beautiful miniature shot of Seaview. Perfectly set-up underwater miniatures often surpasses CGI.

Murky water...just like the real thing because it was. Made the business feel much more realistic in Voyage's first season.

Mike says: A limp outing, caused perhaps by a maladjustment of the intake valves, thus allowing seawater to collect on the writer's brain. Seaview would need to wait until her third outing for the series to catch fire.

In Season One, many of Voyage's underwater scenes were shot on location in the Bahamas, which meant that they actually looked real, rather that like they were shot in a tank. Verisimilitude for a reason.

Mark says: This belongs to the seedy realm of B-movies, with a one-dimensional villain and a boring underwater city. Linda Cristal adds some pep as the courageous Melina but it’s slow going until Seaview battles the weaponry of the hostile metropolis.

Linda Crystal as the courageous Melina

Linda Crystal played well against David Hedison.

The Fear-Makers (Airdate: September 28, 1964)

Written: Anthony Wilson
Directed: Leonard Horn
Guest Cast:
Dr. Arthur Kenner.............Edgar Bergen
Martin Davis...................Lloyd Bochner
Captain Jeffrey Anders..William Sargent
Enemy Chairman...........Martin Kosleck
Philip James.........................Ed Prentiss
Dan Case.........................Walter Brooke
Pryor.................................Robert Doyle
Murdock...........................Robert Payne
O’Brien..............................Derrik Lewis
Scientist..............................Paul Kremin
Seaview crewmen..............Patrick Colby
                                          Robert Beech
                                    Chuck Courtney
Plainsman.........................Ray Didsbury
Polidor exec......................George Spicer
Polidor crewman.........William Burnside

For complete photo-synopsis of this classic episode, click here

Grit, tension, content--Voyage and its cast take off like a rocket in their third outing.

The Fear Makers. Tough, gritty, claustrophobic.

Upclose and personal, the black & white photography of Winton C. Hoch.

Biography Alert: Writer Anthony Wilson was a descendant of John Hart, one of the Declaration of Independence signers. Wilson's father helped found the Academy of Arts and Sciences for Motion Pictures in 1927 but as a teenager, Anthony's first love was chemical engineering. But when he wrote his first script for a live TV production in the 1950s, he was hooked on show business. His single Voyage script so impressed Irwin Allen that Wilson soon became story editor for Lost in Space. He later produced shows such as Lancer and Immortal. He admitted that one TV show he watched and greatly admired was Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek series.

Mark says: The first great episode of Voyage. A tense mystery with the emphasis on psychology. This story was inspired by the real-life disappearance of the USS Thresher in 1963 and is gripping and well written. Good performances by all, with Lloyd Bochner outstanding as the villainous Dr. Davis. Edgar Bergen was a good, off-beat choice to play Dr. Kenner.

Mike says: With a shot over the port bow, this episode signalled Voyage's potential. The sets, the effects, the acting talent and the developing chemistry were already on the table; excellent writing is what made it all come together. I second Mark's comments on the casting of Edger Bergen as Kenner--he was an excellent dramatic actor. And this was surely one of Lloyd Bochner's most effective efforts.

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