Day 96 — April 6th 2021
The Enemy of the World Episodes Three and Four
The Enemy of the World — Episode Three
For a long time this was the only episode we still had from The Enemy of the World. When you watch it you realise very clearly why the story was so often overlooked, because this isn’t a patch on the episodes I watched yesterday. It doesn’t feature any of the expansive and impressive location filming that so boosts Episode One (indeed, this episode is entirely studio-bound) and it doesn’t contain any particularly innovative production techniques like the mixing of back-projection and live performances that were present in Episode Two. As such, I’ve gotten to the end of this one with really very little to comment on.
While it might not look all that impressive on screen (I mean, most of the episode is set in a single corridor, and even that’s adorned with some of the most hideous wallpaper I’ve ever seen!), there is a fair amount of innovation taking place behind the scenes. This episode might look simple, but it’s probably got one of the most complex recordings we’ve yet seen in the programme.
It’s often said that 1960s Doctor Who was made very tightly, and that chances of taking a recording break were rare. Directors had to plan around the fact that they couldn’t afford to stop. This episode — and director Barry Letts — throws caution to the wind, though. We’ve got five recording breaks marked in the camera scripts, with a further six occasions of recording ‘pauses’. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t record the exact reasons for the breaks, although the final one is self explanatory (as we’ll see in a minute).
I think the most interesting thing to do is to compare the production of this episode to another. This one was in studio on Saturday December 16th 1967, so let’s go back almost an entire year, to Saturday December 17th 1966 and The Highlanders Episode Three. That evening’s recording had three scheduled breaks — one for actors to change costumes, one so that Camera One could be repositioned, and a final one so actors could move to another set and allow the camera’s cables to be untangled. It feels a world away from the production we’ve got for today’s episode!
This episode also sees the rare occurrence of filming taking place out of order. Following the fifth recording break (taken so that Patrick Troughton could be swapped out from looking like Salamander to looking like Doctor Who) taping resumed with scenes five, six and seven. These scenes would need to be cut into the episode afterwards.
As if all this wasn’t enough to keep track of, the camera script indicates that during recording there was to be 35mm filming to be used as an insert into Episode Four as well. Letts must have planned it all meticulously to keep track of everything on the evening in question — I don’t envy him!
The episode itself… oh, I really don’t have a lot to say. It’s not a great one. There’s the character of the chef, who feels like he should be really funny, but the jokes all fall a bit flat. I wonder if it’s in the performance? I think they’re lines you probably have to play against, while actor Reg Lye seems to play into them all.
There is one shining highlight to the episode, though, and it’s Doctor Who’s dialogue following the destruction of Kent’s caravan;
‘Sad really, isn’t it? People spend all their time making nice things, and other people come along and break them.’
In most cases, I think today would be scoring a five. But it feels like such a comedown from the highs of yesterday that I’m going to knock another point off, and drop this one down to a 4/10.
The Enemy of the World — Episode Four
This is a bit of an unusual episodes in terms of structure, and I’m not entirely sure I can get my head around it. The first half makes it seem as though we’re switching focus a little, with Troughton on hand as Doctor Who again for a fair while (he’s been playing Salamander with brief cutaways to Doctor Who for the last two episodes). We get some action and the plot moves forwards a little… And then the second half of the episode is almost a total departure. Most of the guest cast seen before the 15 minute mark are dispensed with and we’re introduced to a whole new cast of characters instead.
I’m not complaining as such — it’s interesting to discover what Salamander is really up to, some of it at least — but it means I’ve come away from the episode not really knowing what to think. It feels like it’s been cobbled together from two different episodes, and we’re left with a slightly odd edit.
For example, the sequence of Salamander getting into his single-person elevator and travelling underground feels like it should be a cliffhanger; a reveal that he’s got all these people hidden away down there. But it just sort of happens in the middle of the episode and then we move on. The revelation that he’s able to genuinely control the volcanoes and earthquakes equally feels as though it should be a big revelation, but it feels oddly divorced from the accusation two episodes ago that he had such power.
Overall, the entire episode is a bit of an oddity, and I think that hurts it.
It’s also not helped by my own slightly dodgy recollection of the events here. I could remember the sequence of the guards taking position outside Kent’s office — including some gorgeous high and low angles looking at the guards as they make their way up the fire escape, and as a woman with a pram wanders through the square outside — but in my head I’d extrapolated these into much longer film elements. I remembered much of the ‘battle’ being staged on film and looking fantastic, where in reality we get a few dodgy brick corridors set up in Lime Grove.
It’s not all bad, though. The death of Fariah genuinely shocked me — I’d completely forgotten that she wasn’t along for the rest of the story. And although I struggle to take Benik seriously — largely because of his hair — he’s wonderfully callous about her death, and gets to have a brilliant sparring match with her as she lays dying in the street;
Fariah: ‘You can’t threaten me now, Benik. I can only die once, and someone’s beaten you to it.’
Benik: ‘Who was the other man?’
Captain: ‘Sir, She’s dead.’
Benik: ‘Good.’
It reads as extremely brief here, but on screen it’s played so well that it feels like a real moment, and I think it’s probably one of my stand out bits from the story. It’s just a shame that it has to fall in this episode.
There’s two final things I want to touch on for this one. The first is the cliffhanger, which was clearly altered during rehearsals to provide a little mystery. On screen, Doctor Who is in the middle of his makeover to more accurately impersonate Salamander when someone enters the room. We only get to see their feet and then cut to Doctor Who’s look of worry as the credits begin to roll. As I watched I said out loud ‘that’ll be Bruce’ and a look at the camera script confirms that. The camera script lacks any ambiguity about who’s feet we’re seeing, and Bruce even has a couple of lines to close out the episode. I can only assume that they decided during production that it needed a little more ‘oomph’ than it has on the page.
The cliffhanger also gives us a good look at another ‘lost’ photo, this time of Troughton as Salamander. It’s a lovely shot and a shame that it no longer exists. I managed to try and recreate the image from what we see on screen for use on a comic cover a few years ago (I think the issue saw the return of Salamander?).
I think I’m going for another 4/10 on this one. I was so full of hope for The Enemy of the World yesterday, but the story feels as though its gotten a little lost in the middle here. I’m hoping it can pull itself back together again for the final third tomorrow.
