The Enemy of the World Episode 1

The one where the Doctor goes for a swim in the sea, survives an attempted assassination, and then impersonates a dictator...

As the episode opens and we see the TARDIS materialise (rather noisily - it sounds like it needs servicing), I can't help feeling instantly grateful that we're actually able to watch this story in whole now, thanks to its recovery in 2013. It still astonishes me that nine whole missing episodes were discovered in a dusty old storage room in Nigeria after 45 years. Doctor Who fans are so lucky to have these episodes back.

I mean, take this first episode, of a story which, before recovery, was overlooked, forgotten, disparaged and maligned by much of fandom. But now we can see it, The Enemy of the World has taken on a whole new lease of life, going from the black sheep of Season 5 to one of the series' all-time highlights. Episode 1 is a tour de force for director Barry Letts, who turns in some stunning location filming with real flair and style. What a pity Barry never got to see it again before he died.

Letts shoots Climping Beach like a sweeping vista, giving scale and depth to the production which would be imossible in studio (rather like Morris Barry with The Tomb of the Cybermen's first episode). To see the Doctor frolicking on the beach, stripping off and running into the sea in his longjohns is a joy (he says "the water's lovely", but seeing as they're filming in November, I very much doubt it!), while the use of a hovercraft and a helicopter is just as breathtaking.

This is the sort of action-packed sequence you expect from a James Bond film, or an ITC TV show, and although scenes like this would become more common in the Pertwee era (under Barry Letts' producership), to see it done in black and white with Troughton and friends is truly special. This episode is like none that went before - it's got hovercraft, a helicopter, gunfights, fist fights, explosions in mid-air, and high speed chases. It's easy to say this is 007 on a BBC budget, but you really couldn't differentiate between what Letts achieves, and what Terence Young was doing for the Connery Bonds of the period. It's simply breathtaking. I mean, that shot where the camera takes off in the copter and zooms away as the guards look up is stunning. One of the best in Doctor Who's history?

It seems the story is set in the future. Well, the future from the contemporary perspective, because it's actually 2018, and we've all caught up with it! It's not a bad stab at portraying a future 50 years hence: the technology isn't too far-out (they've got Skype with trimphone ringtones, but still have bullet-firing pistols, not laser guns). Giles Kent even has a huge wall-mounted TV! But designer Christopher Pemsel doesn't forget that, even in the future, people still need their comfort, so we see that Astrid's bungalow is furnished with sofas and bookcases, vases and armchairs. It's so strange to see modern Earth portrayed in Doctor Who at this time that the very mention of a kitchen or bathroom feels unusual! Astrid's decor hurts my eyes a bit though.

Talking of Astrid, what a woman! Our first sight of her is from the rear (and of her rear!). She sports a cool stylised outfit and chic hairstyle, and is obviously based upon Emma Peel from The Avengers. Mary Peach gives Astrid an inner strength and bags of character, making her a woman not to be trifled with, but who has a personality of her own too (that's also called good writing, so thanks also to David Whitaker). I think it's clear Patrick Troughton found Peach attractive (and who wouldn't?) because the scene between Astrid and the Doctor as he tends her wound is charged. Troughton is at his most charming and flirtatious, and Peach responds with the right amount of tease. The chemistry between these two is electric! "Will you do something for me?" asks Astrid, to which the Doctor coyly replies: "Anything. Anything at all!"

What a flirt!

The setting is different too. We're in the "Australasion Zone", 10 miles west of Cape Arid on the south-west coast of Australia - surely one of Doctor Who's most far-flung Earth settings yet? Again, the location Down Under gives the story a scale and breadth rare in this era of base-under-siege claustrophobia.

Among all the action-packed scenes though, there's plenty of exposition, and Whitaker sets the story up remarkably well, with plenty of detail and intrigue. It seems the Doctor is a dead ringer for a man called Salamander, a man who is apparently attempting to become an international dictator by using his success at feeding the planet's ever-growing population to control the world. Salamander, if nothing else, has made some remarkable progress in defeating famine, by finding a way to store the sun's rays and force-growing up to four crops a year. No wonder the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria find it hard to believe Giles Kent and Astrid's assertion that the man is evil and must be stopped.

But as Kent says, Salamander has a darker side which he suppresses. If anybody close to him gets suspicious or learns too much, he sacks them (or has them killed), and replaces them with somebody loyal to him who won't speak out of turn. This story is set in 2018 and feels as depressingly relevant as ever, as the world comes to terms with having a Leader of the Free World who uses very similar tactics.

The Doctor seems unusually reluctant to get involved, at first declining Astrid's request for him to meet Kent, and later demanding hard evidence of Salamander's misdeeds before he agrees to impersonate him. There's a delightful scene where the Doctor tries to master Salamander's Yucatan accent, reflecting how Troughton must have been trying to get it right for the screen ("See, it's very difficult").

The Doctor says it'll take him four weeks to master the accent, but Kent secretly calls in security supremo Donald Bruce to force the Doctor's hand and corner him into impersonating Salamander in two minutes flat, which he does admirably. The cliffhanger isn't the most riveting, but shows that the Doctor is now very much involved... whether he likes it or not.

First broadcast: December 23rd, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The location filming on the West Sussex coast is stunning.
The Bad: Colin Douglas is a bit shouty and brusque in his delivery.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

NEXT TIME: Episode 2...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 6

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-enemy-of-world.html

The Enemy of the World is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Doctor-Who-Enemy-Special/dp/B079MQBNB7/.