The Enemy of the World

This is often said to be like a Bond adventure. Certainly it has that type of feel. It involves various locations around a near future Earth, political intrigue, spies, helicopters and chases, glamorous women and a Bond villain type enemy who is played by Patrick Troughton in a fabulous dual role. As the Doctor, Troughton is a genial, clowning and mercurial character. As Salamander, Troughton gets the chance to play a ruthless, slimy and powerful villain.

Throughout its 6 episodes this is solid, enjoyable and intriguing but it has some strange, awkward, slightly badly done moments in the first 3 episodes. The near future setting is not particularly convincingly realised. Jamie and Victoria are also given dialogue and actions not in keeping with the characters they are meant to be portraying (i.e. people from the many years in Earth's past). This happens a little bit in other stories but happens a bit more blatantly in this story. The final 3 episodes really crank up with great material for Troughton, interesting story developments and exciting action.

Overall a very good story, a bit below the extremely high level of series 5 brilliant standards in the first 3 parts but with an excellent final 3 episodes.

My Ratings: Episodes 1-3 - 8/10, Episode 4 - 9/10, Episodes 5 & 6 - 10/10

In 2013, two missing stories were recovered by a missing films hunter called Phil Morris; one was complete, the other missing only one episode out of six. The complete one was Enemy of the World, a story featuring Patrick Troughton playing two characters: the Doctor himself and a ruthless dictator called Salamander.

The plot is a relatively simple one. The Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria arrive in the near future (2018), where the Doctor is mistaken for Salamander by a group of spies and is persuaded to use his uncanny resemblance to bring him down before he causes the end of the world through creating natural disasters. The first thing to note is this doesn't feel like a Doctor Who story; it is a strange entity as it feels more like a spy thriller. Salamander is more 'Bond villain' than one who usually appears in the show. Also, the story has a surprisingly dark ending where
Hide SpoilersWARNING: spoilers below
the TARDIS doors are opened and Salamander falls out into the time vortex
. It's a nice break from the usual but it never feels quite as engaging as a typical Doctor Who story.

The best thing to watch this serial for is Patrick Troughton in his dual role. Patrick Troughton does a fantastic job as both his incarnation of the Doctor and Salamander; it's amazing how he manages to make both characters different from each other even though he is having to juggle playing both. He slips effortlessly back into playing the Doctor after taking a turn at Salamander and vice versa. It feels like watching two different actors rather than just one; I think it is a shame the new series didn't attempt this in series 9 by having an episode set in Pompeii so Peter Capaldi could play both the Doctor and Caelicius because it would be interesting to see how the new series would handle it.

The settings and production work are also great. Earlier I was complaining about the special effects in The Invisible Enemy; the production values here however are great. The serial feels expensive, especially with location filming on a beach and the stuff with the lift that goes underground to the people who believe a nuclear war has devastated the Earth. Everything feels like it cost more than other serials at the time and alongside that you can tell the production crew put in a lot of work.

Overall, The Enemy of the World isn't quite as engaging as your average Doctor Who story but it's still a recommended watch due to Patrick Troughton's fantastic dual performance and the impressively high production values. There is even a helicopter.

It's so great that this was rediscovered. Troughton gives a really fun performance as both the Doctor and Salamander. Jamie and Victoria are adorable pretending to be a couple. The backstory bit is pretty dumb and cheesy, but it's still serviceable. The final scene, while it cuts off unexpectedly, is surprisingly cool and kind of intense, reminiscent of NewWho's style. Overall, a highly recommended story.

This rediscovered story is a gem.. The Doctor finds himself thrust into international intrigue over his doppleganger, a scientist called Salamander.

This has some great action scenes, with Mary Peach in particular turning in a strong performance. The story moves along at a solid pace and has several suprises along the way, making for a very smart thriller. The story gives a very good preview of what the best of Doctor Who would be like when Director Barry Letts took over in Season 7.

However, the best of the story is Patrick Troughton's performance as the charismatic and enigmatic Salamander, easily one of the best human villains in Doctor Who. It's a very unique story and we're very fortunate to have it.