Revisiting Old Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World

[Broomstick]

The Enemy of the World
(Back to the present - so this is what the 1960's thought the 20-teens would be?)

:::: note to self: 1960's black and white low-def TV shows do not translate well to modern size screens ::::

Oh, man, I just love that original theme music.

Let's see – hover cars, funky clothes, funky wallpaper, 2-hour rocket from Australia to the “Central European Zone” (because I guess we're supposed to have zones instead of countries now). I suppose they didn't get the memo that at this point in the 21st Century we'd have more countries in the world, not fewer. Also, they don't seem to have direct dialing or mobile phones. I find predictions of the future/present from decades back in the past to be fascinating.

But most of all, I am absolutely delighted that we have rediscovered a Second Doctor adventure.

Pat Troughton pulls double-duty as both the Doctor and the lead villain, and I hope he was paid double for his efforts. The differences in appearance was mainly combing his hair differently and a different costume, but the personality he injected into the two characters was starkly different. I thought there was some very nice use of the concept of a doppelganger. In keeping with the low budget most of the time we don't see the Doctor and Salamander together, in fact, not until the very last scene, yet you really do get a sense there are two different men in the story. It really was nicely done. Once again, I wish less of Troughton's era had been lost, more and more he's becoming my favorite Doctor.

I liked Action Girl Astrid, definitely ahead of her time. She's smart, able to take care of herself, and is an integral part of the plot. Oh, and she's a pilot, among other talents. Also, Fariah the official food tester was also well done and fairly well rounded. I wish more women in Who were portrayed this well. Heck I wish a lot of the other male characters were this three dimensional, the writing was better than average for this story.

Is it just me, or do the guards/security guys' helmets look vaguely Time Lordish? Of course, this is before the audience is introduced to the Time Lords, that didn't happen until the very end of the Second Doctor's timeline, but the helmets remind me of Gallifrey for some reason. Also, there seem to be quite a few costumes with high, stiff collars, though not the extravagances we see later on. Hm... beginning of a trend?

Interesting twist in part 4 that I wasn't expecting. It explains the natural disasters, but makes me wonder when Salamander finds time to sleep. It also makes him even more evil than he appeared to be up to that point.

In part 6 we get yet another plot twist, one where the Doctor explains the foreshadowing but it was subtle enough that I missed it.

[mr friendly guy]

I actually also enjoyed this story. I had read it before when I was a kid, but the memory had faded, so I knew that both Kent and Salamander were villains, but I forgotten just how close they were at one stage. Also the book could never convey Pat Troughton's acting as Salamander. I had always imagined him talking like the Doctor, unlike the pseudo accent and mannerisms Troughton concocted.

[Broomstick]

The pitch of Salamander's voice was different, too. Complete change of body language. When he was in Salamader costume/hair and dropped back to the Doctor voice and mannerisms it was a remarkable change. There was no trouble distinguishing which character he was playing when he did that.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I got this for Christmas and found it highly enjoyable. It's best feature is undoubtedly Troughton's acting for two. Especially impressive is the start of Part 2 where he is the Doctor trying to impersonate Salamander. That was really great to see.

As for the rest of the story, it was interesting to have a six part story without a monster, especially one that wasn't set in the past.

And Broomstick, I know what you mean about the guard's helmets. That's not the only thing from this story that turns up on Gallifrey. That snivelling little git, Salamander's deputy at the research station, he turns up as Castellan Kellner, and Dennish as Castellan Spandrell.

[Broomstick]

So that's why they look so familiar!

Then again, the BBC "recycles" its actors much more than American TV seems to. I wonder if they have a smaller pool of actors overall? It's not just that, though, British TV seems much more inclined to cast people in different roles over different shows, I think the US typecasts actors much more quickly.

[Eternal_Freedom]

So that's why they look so familiar!

Then again, the BBC "recycles" its actors much more than American TV seems to. I wonder if they have a smaller pool of actors overall? It's not just that, though, British TV seems much more inclined to cast people in different roles over different shows, I think the US typecasts actors much more quickly.

That's probably partly true, but since I tend to watch my Dr Who DVDs with the production subtitles, I keep seeing references to different directors/producers building up a "repetoire" of actors they will use across multiple stories, precisely because the staff know the actors can turn in a good performance in a given role. Douglas Camfield was probably the most prolific at this but he certainly wasn't the only one.

Also, a lot of actors are represented by a much smaller number of agents. So an agent will put up, say, John Levene (Benton) for a role, and also throw up a half-dozen other UNIT troops, a couple of monsters and a TV presenter.