The Enemy of the World Episode 6

The one where Giles Kent is exposed, and the Doctor finally meets Salamander...

Mary Peach is given lots to do in this closing episode, essentially doing what a companion might do in other stories and eras. Astrid is the one who finds the injured Swann, and promises to help get the people trapped in the bunker back to the surface. She is the one who goes down in the tunnel to the shelter to find them all, and she is the one who breaks it to them that their lives have been an entire lie.

The clash of revelations throughout this episode is breathtaking, and it grows in size until the grand finale. It starts with Swann, just one man, discovering the truth about Salamander as he lies dying in Astrid's arms. Then it's an entire community of people who find out the truth, thanks to Astrid's thrilling infiltration of the shelter. "War? What war?!" she replies, flabbergasted at what she's discovered, and appalled at what Salamander has been doing. Peach is fantastic in these scenes, fending off marauding attackers, and then bursting their bubble by showing them that everything's been a fake - even the anti-radiation scanner.

And when she finds out that Salamander's partner in crime all this time has been her own boss, Giles Kent, she's as stunned as the viewer is! David Whitaker pulls a masterstroke by having Kent, who for the last five episodes has been devoted to his cause but relatively benign, turn out to be just as bad as Salamander. It's revealed that five years ago, Kent and Salamander jointly planned the whole scheme, and it was Kent who took the people down into the bunker. Now he wants to take advantage of the Doctor's likeness for his old frenemy to destroy him, and take his place as world ruler.

I mean, gosh! What a shocker! Whitaker has sprinkled these revelations throughout his six-parter judiciously, keeping the story's momentum and never giving it time to sag. After the initial revelation that the Doctor has a lookalike, we learn in episode 4 all about the secret bunker, and now this! It's expert, thoughtful and professional serialised plotting which Doctor Who rarely did as well as this.

Now Kent has been exposed as a power-crazed nutter, Bill Kerr steps up to the mark and delivers a rousing performance, all wide-eyed and gritted teeth. He's had to wait six weeks to get his moment, but Kerr milks it for all it's worth and pulls it off wonderfully. And when Kent goes down into the tunnels and has the final confrontation with Salamander, the tension runs high. The Mexican has no hesitation in shooting his old comrade point-blank. Twice. But Kent has one final move to play, and activates the explosives as he collapses to his death.

Of course, where would the Troughton era be without an apocalyptic explosion to end it all? The effects of this big bang are felt keenly though, as the records room above collapses on our heroes, and the Doctor, Astrid and Bruce struggle to clamber out of the wreckage (do Colin and Mary survive? It's hard to see, and they don't appear again).

Everything's wrapped up so well in just 22 minutes. Benik tries to escape but is arrested by Bruce's pal Forester* ("Don't shoot, don't shoot!" he pleads like a frightened child. "I demand a fair trial"). Astrid leads a troop of men to the bunker to rescue those trapped below (and I love how nobody, either here or through the entire story, questions Astrid's ability to do so). And Kent is murdered at the hands of the one man he wanted dead.

And then there's Salamander. Stumbling concussed onto the beach following the explosion, he is mistaken for the Doctor by Jamie, who is waiting for him by the TARDIS (on a gorgeous, and very rare, night shoot). Once inside, Salamander tries to trick the companions into taking off, but the Doctor gets back in the nick of time: "Welcome to the TARDIS!" he says. The scene is electric, the first time the lookalikes have come face to face in the entire story. "We're going to put you outside, Salamander," insists the Doctor, matter-of-factly. "No friends, no safety, nothing. You run, but they'll catch up with you." A threat wrapped neatly in a statement.

Salamander lunges at his arch-nemesis, punching him and throwing him onto the console. And then that killer camera shot of Salamander and the Doctor's faces just inches apart, a fabulous achievement for the time. Jamie pulls the Mexican off the Doctor, levers are pulled, and suddenly the TARDIS is trying to dematerialise with the doors still open - and Salamander is violently sucked outside and into the void. It's horrible and fist-punchingly thrilling all at the same time, the perfect final face-off after all these weeks.

And then the credits roll immediately. There's no neat tying up of the plot, no goodbyes or cheesy laughter. The way the story ends, you'd think there was a seventh episode next week.

The Enemy of the World is a story that has benefited enormously from being rediscovered, so that we can see it as well as hear it. On audio, it dragged, it was talky and pedestrian, but with the visuals, it came alive and can now be regarded as one of the very best Patrick Troughton stories of all. David Whitaker's script is intelligent and thoughtful, peels back layers which keep the plot moving, and has some wonderful characters, some of which break the Doctor Who mold. They're so well drawn and played that you don't want to leave them behind. I want to know what becomes of Benik, and how Donald Bruce and Astrid cope after everything dies down. Did Colin and Mary survive? And will Griff ever get to take a walk on a sunny day?

The story has its weak spots - Barry Letts shows much flair as a director, but also reveals his relative lack of experience at times, especially with the abrupt editing and eccentric music cues, while the cliffhangers are really very weak - but overall, it's a sprawling, ambitious, action-packed thriller which does not disappoint.

* Another character beginning with F. What was David Whitaker's obsession with the letter F? There's also Astrid Ferrier, Fedorin and Fariah, all quite similar names!

First broadcast: January 27th, 1968

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The final confrontation between the Doctor and Salamander in the TARDIS, but Astrid's discovery of the bunker people is a close second.
The Bad: Jamie and Victoria are bundled off to the TARDIS very early in proceedings, removing them from the action, just as Victoria was in the last story. A lot of what Astrid does in this story could have been done by Victoria and/ or Jamie, but maybe Whitaker was just too taken with his own creations?
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★ (story average: 8.7 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The Web of Fear...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5

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/.