Looking back on 2013, it was undoubtedly an
exciting time for fans of Doctor Who both new and old. As well as the
lead up to Day Of The Doctor and Matt Smith's exit in The Time Of The
Doctor, 2013 also saw a piece of news that was particularly exciting
for fans of the classic series. It's hard to believe that it's been over six years since the BBC announced that not one episode, not
one story but effectively two stories from the Patrick Troughton era
had been returned to the BBC forty-five years since they were last
aired in the UK. The two stories were of course the much talked about
Yeti adventure, The Web Of Fear, and its immediate predecessor, an
often overlooked story called The Enemy Of The World, for which we
previously had only episode three and the audio from which to judge
the story. So how did this lost story fare when finally brought back
into the light of the day?
Besides the fact that it was missing, The Enemy Of The World had previously been remembered for two reasons. The first is that it was the story that gave Patrick Troughton the chance to play a dual role by also having him play the villain: the would be dictator of the world Salamander. Perhaps no other element has been better served by its rediscovery than Troughton's performances. We get to see all sorts of little moments he has as the Doctor, such as running into the sea for a swim or the toothy grin he gives when Astrid calls him wonderful and how it drops when she asks him to do something potentially dangerous.
What really stands out about Troughton is his
performance as Salamander. On audio, all we ever had to judge was his
vocal talent - though the surviving episode three hinted at there
being far more to the performance that couldn't be seen. Now, with
the entire story back, it is far easier to judge and the results are
surprising. As the New Series showed us with David Tennant in the
two-parter Human Nature/Family Of Blood, playing a dual role can give
the actor portraying the Doctor a chance to shine and reveal just
what else they can do. Troughton clearly milks this for all its worth
as he presents a man with many faces: the charming and likeable
public figure, the politician who manipulates and schemes, and lastly
a combination of the two who keeps a group of people underground, who
he uses as puppets, by claiming a nuclear war has taken place. By the
time we see Salamander lighting up a cigar towards the end of episode
four, there is no doubt in our minds that this man is every bit the
villain we were told he was and it's Troughton's portrayal that
really sells that. Between the two, this is one of Troughton's best
stories - from a performance perspective at least.
The other thing The Enemy Of The World has been known for is a strong James Bond influence. With the visuals of the story returned, that influence is in no doubt as the many action sequences in have a strong Bond feel to them. The extended action sequence on the beach and in Astrid's bungalow in episode one could have come out of a James Bond film of the period and indeed has interesting pre-echoes of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (which wasn't released until more than a year later), while the underground base can't help but bring to mind the SPECTRE volcano lair of You Only Live Twice (released earlier in 1967). Weirdly the plot of the Doctor and companions infiltrating the organization of a Central American leader, sowing seeds of doubt and ultimately being responsible for his downfall echoes a Bond film not made until 22 years later: Timothy Dalton's second and final 007 adventure Licence To Kill. It seems that what we're ultimately presented with then is Doctor Who's attempt to do a somewhat futuristic pseudo-James Bond film as a six part serial on a 1960s BBC TV budget.
Moving on from those points, there's more to this
story as well. It's got some great performances from the companions
with Jamie in particular getting plenty of time to shine, while
Victoria is also given some good moments, especially comedic ones,
yet she is also plagued with scenes such as her odd paralyzing fear
about getting into a helicopter in episode one. The supporting cast
are strong as well, from Mary Peach's feisty heroine Astrid to Bill
Kerr's Giles Kent (a character best served upon multiple
listens/viewing of the story) to Colin Douglas as Donald Bruce and
the first of three strong Doctor Who performances from Milton Johns.
Meanwhile the direction from Barry Letts, who made his first
contribution to Doctor Who when he directed this, can be superb
at times, especially when it comes to episode one's action sequence
on the beach (and a fantastic POV shot from the helicopter looking
back as it flies away) or the final scene in the TARDIS. His choice
of stock music tracks though lets the story down (no pun intended) as
they often come across as too loud and a bit over the top.
Where The Enemy Of The World is mainly let down is through its key selling point in 1967-68: the futuristic setting. There's something rather odd about watching a story set in 2018 as depicted by 1960s thinking. The costumes in particular are laughably dated and actually don't serve a couple of the actors well at all, while the idea of people taking rockets from one side of the world to the other in two hours speaks more of 1960s optimism about the course of spaceflight then about our world where NASA space shuttle fleet had been retired. Much the same can be said of the underground bunker and its inhabitants kept there by the fall-out from a “nuclear war”. All of which makes the story an interesting artifact from a time that seems increasingly removed from the here and now, with results that often seem clumsy and dated today.
Ultimately then, with the ability to judge
The Enemy Of The World on the whole, what are we to make of it? It certainly
features Troughton in one of his best performances, the James Bond
feel suits the story well, there's a talented cast and some good
direction despite the issues caused by its setting. Is it the best
story of the era? Perhaps not. What it is though is a welcomed
return, a chance to see more of an era that had seemed by and large
lost to us.
Matthew Kresal lives in North Alabama where he's a nerd, doesn't have a southern accent and isn't a Republican. He's a host of both the Big Finish centric Stories From The Vortex podcast and the 20mb Doctor Who Podcast. You can read more of his writing at his blog and at The Terrible Zodin fanzine, amongst other places.
