The Enemy of the World part 6

[Craig @craig Emperor]

The final part. And it’s full of twists and turns.

With Bruce’s suspicions aroused and Astrid’s discovery of Swann, the man from the underground base, things don’t look good for Salamander.

It’s 2018 and Jamie and Victoria are told, if they escape, to find a phone box. I’m guessing the development of mobile phones was halted under Salamander’s rule.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

I really like this story. It gives Troughton a chance to show his range as an actor. I also enjoy the 60’s spy film vibe it gives off, it sort of reminds me of the early Connery Bond’s. I much preferred it to the found at the same time Web of Fear which I felt started off with two excellent episodes and quickly lost steam.

There’s only two things that stop it from being perfect, episode 3 is painfully dull making it easy to see why the story had a bad reputation when it was the only surviving episode, and the fight between The Doctor and Salamander is too short (although this is probably due to budget constraints)

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

Well, that was fun.

@thekrynoidman It wasn’t budget constraints that made the Doctor v. Salamander so short; it was a technical problem with the split screen (the film jammed). I entirely agree that the only reason this story had such a bad rep was the surviving episode (until the rediscovery) was the worst one of the lot. The rest of the story feels very different to most Who, but still rackets along at an exciting pace. It is very Bond-like – the would-be world dictator who has a machine that can create natural disasters. The other 60’s icon it riffs off would be The Avengers.

Anyway, nice to see Benik getting his comeuppance; also nice to see that the guards really did despise him. The Doctor’s mistrust of Giles Kent proves justified as well; Kent was in it with Salamander until he got double-crossed. I like the way the script shows Salamander as a sadistic so-and-so by having him first shoot Kent in the shoulder.

@craig – we’ll just have to imagine that the Research Station is a mobile free zone (bit like Jodrell Bank), so they have special public call boxes just outside the gates. 🙂

[janetteB @janetteb]

@bluesqueakpip

we’ll just have to imagine that the Research Station is a mobile free zone (bit like Jodrell Bank), so they have special public call boxes just outside the gates.

A scientific research instillation in Australia that is mobile phone free! Ah sounds very familiar. Our technological institutions are getting increasingly paranoid about technology. (My SO will be happy to know that Jodrell Bank has the same regs)

Just finished watching the episode this morning. I was amused that Kent just walks in but it does make narrative sense that a man with his connections would be able to acquire the required fake id without too much difficulty. I think the problem is with the way that scene is written. He just appears in the research centre after being essentially “on the run” so it isn’t very convincing.

Jamie and Victoria are really relegated to the back seat in this episode, which is rather disappointing. I thought it unfair that the Doctor sends them to safety after they had contributed so much but it is clear just how much he cares for them. Troughton’s Doctor is very much a father figure. His relationship with his companions is very close and very caring. I don’t think that kind of Doctor Companion relationship is seen again until Doctor 7 and Ace. More to say on this when we discuss the next story…

Cheers

janette

 

[Barbara Lefty @barbaralefty]

Very good! But yes, bit confused by Kent’s appearance. Did they not do lampshading in the olden days?

Salamander played as such a git, ambling after the wounded Kent. Props to Troughton.

But could Astrid not have just have sent all the other shelter dwellers who weren’t seeking a dramatic confrontation up the tunnel? They didn’t really get an onscreen resolution, so their peril was all a bit unnecessary.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Late to the party but I got here in the end!

I really enjoyed this. It had a very different feel to it, an entirely human threat which was already unusual in DW even by Troughton’s time. (He must have really enjoyed playing Salamander. I do enjoy “evil alter-ego Doctor” stories!) It had an almost cinematic air and a great soundtrack. Interestingly, I had almost forgotten I was watching Doctor Who until we saw the underground base and its oddly-dressed inhabitants!

I wonder if the modern show would be allowed such a departure from the usual tropes of the show? But I always enjoyed it when the Doctor had a break from fighting alien monsters, and got to go up against simply bad people from time to time.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@thekrynoidman Good to hear you like it, always interesting to know what younger fans make of the old stuff.

And agree with the various posters that #3 is the weakest episode – the downside to multi-part stories, especially the 6-parters. Mostly this rattles along nicely. Troughton is great (and thanks @craig for @htpbdet‘s old avatar as the ID for this page. 😥  ), it’s a good story – yes, very James Bond/Avengers but with a Doctory twist.  Agree with @juniperfish‘s earlier comment (and @arbutus‘s) would be nice to see a political thriller type story  in AG Who, where the real enemies are the humans.

The tech developments are funny – complicated disaster-causing tech, presumably complicated set-up underground for air, water etc and what looks like computers… but no mobile phones, basic tracking devices etc. Maybe the “find a phone box” comment is also a wink to the audience 😉

Astrid does well though, she’s fast on her feet, obviously bright and capable of taking the intiative.

[Juniperfish @juniperfish]

<Pours some especially sparkly and be-jewelled glitter on the re-watch sofa for @scaryb> I’ve got some catching up to do! Looking forward to seeing the end of the story. Troughton is great and I want to watch more of him in action now.

I think Capaldi would be great in a thriller-spy style Who story – I’d love it if they filmed one episode in black-and-white for some spurious time travel reason or another – it would look great!

Waves thanks at @craig for putting these episodes up.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

YAY!!

Glitter!!! 🙂

Thanks @juniperfish for added sparkle.

*looks round cautiously for grumpy @fatmaninabox, hehe*

I think Capaldi would be great in a thriller-spy style Who story – I’d love it if they filmed one episode in black-and-white for some spurious time travel reason or another – it would look great!

Great idea, and wouldn’t he just!

[Anonymous @]

@scaryb

‘Grumpy’ is ‘happy’ for us miserable old gits 😉

[ScaryB @scaryb]

😈 @fatmaninabox

So true

[jamesknox8273 @jamesknox8273]

Hay Everybody, If you like the old series of Doctor Who with William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton and would like to see every episode in color done by me. Than just come over to my site on internet archive to view or download the episodes under the player on the right were to says download option. The link is…….https://archive.org/details/@jamesknox817

[The Idiot From Gallifrey Base @dalekbuster523]

@craig

It’s 2018 and Jamie and Victoria are told, if they escape, to find a phone box.

Not the 2018 I remember!

[The Idiot From Gallifrey Base @dalekbuster523]

@arbutus

I wonder if the modern show would be allowed such a departure from the usual tropes of the show?

 

Well the Torchwood episode Countrycide famously didn’t have an alien or non-human villain, so I’d say it is possible for Doctor Who post-2005 to do the same.

[johnnybear @johnnybear]

You can still find a phone booth here! We’re not all Cybermen with inbuilt communication equipment yet!

JB

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