Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

An underrated Dr Who story from 1967, this one is largely ignored or dismissed by many because, I suspect it doesn't have the visceral thrills of a shambling alien menace like Ice Warriors or Yeti with which the good Doctor can do battle.

Nevertheless ENEMY OF THE WORLD is an enjoyable yarn with plenty of rather more subtle things going for it. First of all there's a great double performance by Patrick Troughton, both as the Doctor (version no. 2) and also as the titular villain: Salamander. The latter is a Mexican politician in the not too distant future, on a mission to take over the planet. His methods? Predicting earthquakes and volcanic eruptions all over the world(which he himself is causing)and then annexing the beleagured areas. Troughton's Salamander is a ruthless, conscienceless tyrant who bears much resemblance to many a Bond villain in his ambitions and deeds. It is he as well as the exotic foreign locations of the story (Australia and Eastern Europe) that causes many fans to proclaim it an attempt by the show's creators to "do James Bond".

This, though is not really an adequate way to explain the appeal of the tale. For a start, it's evident to anyone who has seen the sole surviving episode on film (episode 3), that the show's budget is not up to the glamour or action set-pieces of Sean Connery's contemporary outings as 007. Furthermore it lacks lots of other ingredients that go into making your average spy romp: there's no love interest, no high speed car chases, no climactic gun battles, no living it up in 5-star hotels or casinos.

So what are we left with? Well, it's more like a futuristic version of the historical Who stories during the Hartnell period (e.g.THE CRUSADE, THE AZTECS or MARCO POLO) where the emphasis is on interesting and often colourful characters vying with each other to gain power within an enclosed court or society. If you're up for it then it's lots of fun. There are many cracking performances to hold the attention. Particularly good is Milton John's sadistic Benik. My favourite moment is when he is threatening the Doctor's companion Victoria (played by Deborah Watling). The other companion, Jamie(Frazer Hines), says: "You must have been a nasty little boy."
"Oh yes," agrees Benik, "but I had an absolutely wonderful childhood!"

We also get Salamander's resentful food taster Fariah (slightly maddeningly, we never discover the reasons for Salamander's hold over her), the grumpy palace chef Griff and the rebel Astrid; an action babe very much in the mould of THE AVENGERS.

The cast of underground slaves who are manipulated by Salamander into doing his manufactured "Acts of God" are a bit colourless and difficult to care about, but this is a minor quibble when the rest of the plot is so engaging. In the end, it's Troughton's show; and you can really tell, even on a soundtrack, just how much work the actor put into making both his parts as credible and as distinct from one another as possible.

ENEMY... will never receive the acclaim of say, THE WEB OF FEAR, but it is a surprising little gem nonetheless. A further proof of DR WHO's ability to be inventive and format-breaking, even during a period where lots of its peers were just variations on the base-under-siege-by-alien-menace theme.

It has been commented many a time that this story is the nearest sixties Dr who got to James Bond, while this may be true there is a lot more to recommend it. Firstly of course there is Patrick Troughtons dual role. He is absolutely brilliant as Salamander, a better villian than many other guest stars from other stories while as the Dr he is great as usual. Bill Kerr as Giles Kent also stands out, Colin Douglas as Bruce is a bit wooden while Griff the aussie chef you will either love or hate.
However the stand out performance for me other that Troughton is Milton Johns as Benik, this may be surprising to you if you remember him as the astronaut in "The Android Invasion" with Tom Baker but in this story he gives a great performance as the creepy and slightly camp security chief. I love the way he delivers the line "Do you mean did I stand there waving my handkerchief". Frazer Hines narration is up to the usual high standard and the CD is well packaged with another great cover. A great addition to any true fans collection

Special is the kind of word that comes to mind when I think of The Enemy of the World. This serial is one of my absolute favourite Patrick Troughton stories. Mind you, come to think of it, pretty much all of Pat's stories are my fav's. Well, this is something special anyway, no monsters, no evil mind controlling aliens, just good old fashioned DICTATORSHIP. Salamander is unique, never before have we had such a colourful human villain, {apart from Tobius Vaughn of The Invasion} - {another Pat classic}. I fell in love when I first watched this story a few years ago and it has continued to go up in my estimations with every viewing. Patrick Troughton is truly displaying the unbelievable acting talents he had here, the accsent of the great dictator Salamander is fantastic. It really is so different from Pat's normal homely tone. Also, Barry Letts directs one of the most action-packed Doctor Who stories ever made here with great flair and overall the story just exudes expense. Alot of people have stated that this stands out as Doctor Who's go at doing 007, well, they are not wrong. We have a lunatic dictator, exotic countries and settings, futuristic gadgets, gorgeous babes and fast transport. In fact, the only thing we are missing here is Q. Never mind, I'm sure Desmond Llewelyn had better things to do.

Moving on to the plot itself, we have a would-be dictator's plot to control the entire world, this serial is set around the year 2000 and earth is in trouble. An inventor, Salamander comes along with the answers to all the worlds demands and requirements and hey presto, he's running everything now. His former worker and associate, Giles Kent wants to overthrow this evil bloke and save the world, or does he?, you'll soon find out. As usual The Doctor lands and straight away gets caught up in events and to nobody's suprise, it turns out he look's just like Salamander, No Way!!!, what a coincidence. Although this seems a little tacked on, it works really well, mainly because the Doctor and Salamander don't meet at every turn, in fact they only meet at the pivital final scene in the TARDIS.

Funny enough, The Enemy of the World is the only story of season 5 that does not feature monsters and the typical base-under-siege type scenario. This is probably why the serial is so high up in my estimations, it gives me a break from the norm. The Tomb of the Cybemen had the Cybermen, the Abominable Snowmen had the Yeti, the Ice Warriors had the Ice Warriors {of course}, the Web of Fear had again the Yeti, Fury From the Deep had the Weed creature and the Wheel in space had the Cybermen yet again, so its no wonder the production team wanted a unique and special little 6 part story to break from all these monsters and bases in trouble that we had been subjected to for the past 9 months.

And so on to the story's main man, Salamander, he is a perfect foil for the Doctor, truly one of the best written villains for the series, I love his speech mannerisms, flamboyant style and overpowering ego, as well as that imfamous piercing gaze, the eyes of the devil himself no doubt. His cunning and clever atributes are what have propelled him to the top and were it not for the Doctor, Salamander would have succeeded. This creates a great feeling of power in the story and kept me glued to the screen for all 6 episodes. The story is greatly supported by the heavy calabre of guest actors, they really add something special and carry the story beautifully, not forgetting Pat of course who is after all the main man, in more ways than one. I can't say the same of Victoria though, this is probably her worst outing. Here, she does not develop at all, unlike all the other opponents of this classic tale who all get jucier as the story progresses. I will admit however that Victoria, Jamie and the Doctor were my favourite trio during the troughton years. But as ever Victoria is just the screaming companion asking questions and looking pretty. I can fully understand why Deborah Watling left the role at the end of Fury from the Deep, her character was never going to be allowed to develop by the producers in to anything other than a nervous wreck. It's a shame.

On a brighter note, quest star Mary peach looks stunning in this outting, truly Bond girl stuff, as was the gorgeous Carmen Munroe, every bit the dolly 60's girls that we all love. I enjoyed their subplots, they were quite interesting and very deep, especially Carmen's. Also worthy of note is Bill Kerr's Giles Kent, a man with underlying ambitions that make his character all the more interesting. In the end we find out what kind of a man he really is. I'll let you find out that one for yourselves. Colin Douglas is another fine example of the great acting talent Doctor Who had in its arsenal over the years, his portrayal of security chief Donald Bruce was every bit as powerful as Pat Troughton's Salamander. Good stuff.

The BBC must also be praised, not for junking all but episode 3 of this television masterpiece, but for releasing it with great care and restoration. Mark Ayres yet again puts in a great performance cleaning up this great adventure for us all to enjoy for years to come. Thanks Mark!

In the end, The Enemy of the World stands as not a fan classic, but a classic nonetheless, I have loved this story since first viewing it quite some time ago. The only thing that I truly hated about it was Salamander dying, now we can never have a sequel. Damn.

Many thanks for you precious time in reading this humble opinion, its greatly appreciated,

M.B.