The Enemy of the World Episode 2

The one where we get to see for ourselves just how unpleasant Salamander is...

It's remarkable how good an actor Patrick Troughton was. Doctor Who was so lucky to get him, and lucky to have him for so long. He was the consummate British character actor, able to take on almost any role and utterly convince, whether it be bumbling fools, scheming villains, foreign spies, kindly uncles, or magical wizards. He plays two characters in this serial, but actually has to give three distinct performances - the Doctor as himself, Salamander as himself, and then the Doctor pretending to be Salamander.

But even within those three turns, there are nuances to pick out. In episode 1 we see Troughton playing the Doctor trying to perfect the Yucatan accent. Here, in episode 2 we see Troughton playing the Doctor pretending to be Salamander, but with a subtle sprinkling of vulnerability not present in his performance as the actual Salamander. We can see that the Doctor is still himself underneath, struggling a little to stay afloat of the deception. A lot of thought has obviously gone in to every scene Troughton plays, because it would be all too easy just to play "Salamander" here the same way he plays the real Salamander later on. But there's a difference, a weakness in the disguise. Patrick Troughton was simply masterful, a true genius of his art.

Sadly, there's very little subtlety in Colin Douglas's performance as Donald Bruce, who he makes pretty two-dimensional, a gruff, shouty, humourless bully boy. That may well be the impression Douglas took of Bruce from reading the script, but the rest of the cast have picked up their characters and gone somewhere with them. I don't know what it is about Douglas, because I've always found him fine in Horror of Fang Rock, but here I think he's struggling a bit, and is certainly a little unsure of his lines at various times throughout the story.

We get to meet a host of new characters in this episode, starting with the slimy Benik. Milton Johns seemed to get typecast as oily, unctuous, reptilian characters, and Benik is no exception. Plus, he has one of the most atrocious haircuts ever to grace Doctor Who, which I'm not sure is Benik's "futuristic" style or just what Johns' hair was like in 1967. I think it's the latter because his hairstyle is very similarly appalling when he appeared in The Saint the same year!

But enough of hairdos. Johns turns in a lovely little performance laced with the nuance and consideration sadly lacking in Colin Douglas's effort. He's plainly a man with oodles of pride, a man who is most pleased to be appointed Salamander's second in command at the research station in the leader's absence. He lovingly sets the table ready for his meeting, which he is obviously very pleased to be chairing. The bit of business at the end of his scene with Bruce is fab. He puts down the phone, gracefully walks over to the table, carefully smooths out his agenda papers, and sits down with an air of immense self-satisfaction. Benik is so very pleased to have been left in charge!

The international feel of The Enemy of the World gives it another James Bond flavour. We have characters and events happening in South-West Australia, but then people can get to the Central European Zone by rocket in two hours - that's 4,250mph! However, it's not as ridiculous as it sounds. The fastest manned aircraft is the North American X-15, which reached a speed of Mach 6.7 (7,200km/h or 4,473mph) on October 3rd, 1967. Coincidence? Well, it's hard to tell... David Whitaker was commissioned to write The Enemy of the World in July 1967, months before that record was set. But episode 2 was in studio on December 9th, so there was certainly time to tweak Astrid's line to have it reflect recent achievements.

At Alexander Denes's Presidential Palace in Hungary (and doesn't Christopher Pemsel do a grand job of dressing this set?), we meet the anxious Fedorin, who Salamander bribes into becoming his servant by drawing up a fake file of accusations against him. Salamander has warned Denes that the Central European Zone will suffer a great catastrophe very soon, but seeing as Denes is slow in taking his word, the Mexican decides to discredit Denes, have him arrested, then assassinated, and finally replaced as Zone Controller by Fedorin, his lackey. Already we're getting to see what a nasty piece of work Salamander is.

More proof of this is witnessed in the way he interacts with Fariah, his food taster servant. There's something very unpleasant at the heart of this relationship. Fariah is plainly very bitter about how she came to be in Salamander's employ. He gave her this job because she was hungry, apparently. What a rotter. The way he speaks to Fariah and orders her about is deeply disrespectful. She thinks of him as a sorcerer or male witch ("Brujo!" she spits), and there's obviously more to Fariah's background than we're seeing. And Carmen Munroe is magnificent in the part, full of fire and vinegar while also managing to look utterly stunning. It's rare at this stage in Doctor Who's development to have a black female character who actually speaks and takes an active part in the story, and I warmed to her immediately simply because I was both intrigued by her story and felt sorry for her. She is a strong woman, but one who obviously feels compromised by her situation. I hope we learn more about her.

While David Whitaker has written some top-drawer guest characters in the likes of Benik, Astrid and Fariah, he's taken his eye off the ball a bit with the companions, Jamie and Victoria, who both seem a little out of character. Jamie seems more forthright and confident, while Victoria isn't as anxious. In my review of The Tomb of the Cybermen I noted how it seemed the writers were slightly dumbing down Jamie by making him seem more cowardly and hesitant, but that's a world away from the action hero Jamie we see here, leaping over walls, unconvincingly rendering guards unconscious by barely touching them, and cockily inveigling his way into Salamander's employ. It feels like Whitaker is writing for companions he's known before, like Ben and Polly, or Ian and Barbara, and not the very different characterisations of the Doctor's current companions.

Troughton's performance as Salamander is deliciously nefarious. He's plainly a very nasty man, a stark contrast to the Doctor. Troughton must have been in his element, and grateful for the chance to stretch his acting muscles pretty much exactly halfway through his three-year tenure as the Time Lord. For an actor so used to flitting from role to role (and many of them), spending three years playing the same character must have felt pretty unnatural at times. He makes Salamander a bullying tyrant. Look at the way he delivers the line: "You will stay for dinner, huh?" to Fedorin. On paper, that's a question, but there's no question of Fedorin not staying for dinner in the way Troughton delivers the line, jabbing a finger at him and essentially telling him he's staying.

As the volcanoes erupt, he regards the crumbling streets and buildings of Hungary with awe, rather than horror. "It's very pretty," he says. "The history of Hungary is about to be rewritten!" Fedorin and Bruce look on in horror (with Colin Douglas managing to give the character a glimmer of truthfulness when he says: "Those poor people!") as the landscape of Hungary is demolished in a deluge of stock footage. It's amazing that such destruction happens within binocular distance, but there's absolutely no damage or danger to the Presidential Palace!

We're left with another underwhelming cliffhanger when Salamander has Denes arrested and states that Fedorin will be the chief witness at his trial. Director Barry Letts treats us to a series of cheesy close-ups of the characters' rather blank faces before the end credits roll. Ho-hum.

First broadcast: December 30th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: David Whitaker expands his story by travelling halfway across the planet and introducing a series of fascinating new characters. His treatment of Astrid and Fariah is commendable.
The Bad: Colin Douglas continues to trail behind the rest of the cast, giving much less than 100%.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 3...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; 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/.