THE HAUNTED SUBMARINE Airdate: Nov 27, 1966 Writer: William Welch Director: Harry Harris Music: Hugo Friedhofer (stock music from The Young Lions)

Many fans have fond memories of just one scene in this episode, where the foam covered Sharkey walks into the control room not knowing where the foam came from, while Nelson is fully aware and can't hold back laughter. Great scene. But fans mostly trash this tale, which I think is very wrong. It is a wonderful all-male remake of The Ghost And Mrs Muir (1947) and music lifted from The Young Lions (1958) add to the old Hollywood appeal.

The action footage of the old vessel blasting away at Seaview give the show a Time Tunnel at sea feeling. On top of all this is two Baseharts which means twice the fun. Watching them together is like watching well scripted live theatre, well scripted but fantastic in the extreme. But I have said it once and I will say it again, this was year three, when Voyage was now an action/ fantasy comic book or cartoon, this tale fits in very well with the other episodes of this season.

If Voyage were made in this century, year three would be known as a "new vision" of Voyage, which means comparing it to the first season "vision" is simply not that clever.  However, I am not saying the hour is perfect, I have two problems with it. One, the first act where writer William Welch, yet again, makes the characters go frozen in time. This story element became such a trademark of Irwin tv (Welch used it for a minute in LIS's Space Creature) that it was used on the sub in Irwin Allen's The Amazing Captain Nemo (1978). Secondly, Robert Dowdell as Chip. Despite this actor doing quality acting in Voyage year one, he blows it here when trying to look confused at the events that take place. Granted, when Dowdell joined this series it was far removed from a cartoon so maybe Dowdell was simply all wrong for performing in this "new vision" of Voyage.

At a 1990s UK sci-fic convention, Paul Zastupnevich (Irwin's always present pal) blasted Dowdell's acting, saying the cast attempted to "help" Dowdell, but it would seem nobody could save Dowdell in The Haunted Submarine. Perhaps Dowdell should appear at one of Ray's conventions and give his view of the situation, there are two sides to everything and I am fully aware that Irwin treated SOME actors badly. But remember, Irwin created a style over content method of film making that even played a role in "modern" block busters such as Batman (1989). You would have to be a bit funny in the head to create what Irwin created. But back the ghosts. Two negative elements can't wreck the Sky Is Falling/ Day Of Evil-type thrills we get when those two Baseharts start performing together! And Terry Becker is in fine form when he walks into Nelson's cabin and asks about the odd things going on aboard the ship. Nelson gives away a hint of what is going on but does not actually say that a ghost is on the ship.

In the final frames of the hour, Crane has a dozen questions for Admiral Nelson and Nelson's response is one of Welch's best writing moments. Nelson gives no response, he just walks away. The whole encounter was a private affair with the two Nelsons and everybody else is left in the dark. That is great story telling. This is all great material so well acted by most of the cast, The Phantom Strikes, The Haunted Submarine and Time Tunnel's The Ghost Of Nero are my favorite filmed ghost tales of all time. Speaking of Time Tunnel, the series had a two Whit Bissell's episode (General Kirk & Kirk's ancestor) called Reign Of Terror, scripted by William Welch. It is a must see. A must listen to is the Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen CD where there is a 1960s radio interview with Richard Basehart, and the topic is The Haunted Submarine. Basehart sounds thrilled with the episode, however, he could of been just responding to the Fox boys wanted no negative comments. Then again, Basehart once went on record as saying he enjoyed the William Welch script style, so who knows?

Whatever the situation and despite two problems, The Haunted Submarine is a classic, you heard it from Down Under. And Ray has recently informed me that my voice from Down Under is being enjoyed on his site. To those who sent the emails to Ray, I say thank you.