The Enemy of the World

Last updated

040 –The Enemy of the World
Doctor Who serial
Cast
Others
Production
Directed by Barry Letts
Written by David Whitaker
Script editor Peter Bryant
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Executive producer(s)None
Music by Stock music by Béla Bartók
Production codePP
Series Season 5
Running time6 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast23 December 1967 (1967-12-23)
Last broadcast27 January 1968 (1968-01-27)
Chronology
← Preceded by
The Ice Warriors 		Followed by →
The Web of Fear
List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)

The Enemy of the World is the fourth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968.

Contents

The serial is set in Australia and Hungary in 2018. In the serial, the time traveller the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) work with the spies Giles Kent (Bill Kerr) and Astrid Ferrier (Mary Peach) to expose the Doctor's Mexican doppelgänger Salamander (Troughton) as having created natural disasters on Earth.

The story is a break from the monsters and "base under siege" of season five, highlighted by a dual role for lead actor Patrick Troughton.

For over forty years, only Episode 3 of The Enemy of the World was known to exist in the BBC's film and TV archives, having been saved from being wiped and junked. However, on 11 October 2013, it was announced by the BBC that the other five episodes had been found and were back in their hands again. [1] [2]

Plot

The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are enjoying themselves on a beach in Australia in 2018 when the Doctor is subject to an assassination attempt. The boss of the would-be assassins, an agent named Astrid Ferrier, rescues them by helicopter and takes them to her boss Giles Kent. There, the Doctor learns he is a physical double of Salamander, a ruthless megalomaniac. Kent's home is surrounded by troops led by Security Chief Donald Bruce. The Doctor is persuaded to impersonate Salamander to save his companions and to gather more information. The Doctor's companions infiltrate Salamander's palace in Hungary to gather evidence against him.

Jamie and Victoria use their new roles in the palace to get close to Fariah, Salamander's food taster, hoping to gather information. Fariah reveals she was blackmailed into her role. Jamie causes a diversion to try to facilitate an unsuccessful rescue attempt on Denes by Astrid. Denes is shot dead. Though Astrid escapes, Jamie and Victoria are arrested.

Salamander discovers he is being impersonated and returns to his research station to confront the impostor. Fariah tells the Doctor that Jamie and Victoria are prisoners in the Research Centre. Before they can act, the building is raided by Salamander's deputy Benik and his troops. Fariah is killed and the others escape.

It is revealed that Salamander has trapped a group of scientists below the Research Centre and is using their knowledge to create natural disasters in order to destabilise the world and increase his influence.

Bruce and the Doctor have Jamie and Victoria released from the centre, and the Doctor sends them back to the TARDIS. He then goes to the records room, where Kent, believing the Doctor to be Salamander, accidentally reveals that they conspired together to trap the scientists below ground. Astrid arrives, incriminating Kent further as people from the bunker identify him. Kent flees into the cave system beyond the Records Room. There, he encounters the real Salamander, who shoots him in the back. As he falls, Kent sets off a set of explosives that destroy the bunker and damage the research centre.

A shaken and bleeding Salamander takes refuge in the TARDIS, pretending to be the Doctor. The real Doctor arrives, and expresses his intention of turning Salamander to the authorities. Salamander attacks the Doctor, but he fights back with Jamie's help. In a panic, Salamander pulls the dematerialisation switch while the TARDIS doors are still open, and falls out into the time vortex.

Production

EpisodeTitleRun timeOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)  [3] 		Archive  [4]
1"Episode 1"23:4523 December 1967 (1967-12-23)6.8 16 mm t/r
2"Episode 2"23:4830 December 1967 (1967-12-30)7.616 mm t/r
3"Episode 3"23:056 January 1968 (1968-01-06)7.116 mm t/r
4"Episode 4"23:4613 January 1968 (1968-01-13)7.816 mm t/r
5"Episode 5"24:2220 January 1968 (1968-01-20)6.916 mm t/r
6"Episode 6"21:4127 January 1968 (1968-01-27)8.316 mm t/r

This was the last story to be produced under the aegis of Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman, who left his position as Head of Drama at the BBC upon the expiration of his contract at the end of 1967. The four key production roles for this story were all taken by men heavily involved in the development of Doctor Who. Author David Whitaker had been the show's first script editor; Barry Letts, directing the show for the first time, later became the show's producer (for the majority of the Jon Pertwee era), executive producer, and occasional script writer; script editor Peter Bryant became the show's producer from the next story; Innes Lloyd was the show's current producer, but left after this story. [5] [6]

Much like the First Doctor serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), this serial was influenced by the lead actor's desire to play roles other than the Doctor. Initially, it was planned that Troughton's two characters would meet more than once, but due to the technical complexity, there was eventually only the one confrontation scene, at the story's climax (utilising editing and a split-screen technique). Barry Letts planned six split-screen shots. He called for a matte box to mask half of the camera lens, having read about the technique used for old Hollywood films. The film was rewound after the first take and Troughton was then filmed in his other costume. However, after the first such shot, the camera jammed, and no more split-screen takes were filmed. Later, Letts mentioned this to Derek Martinus, director of the preceding story, who brought Letts up to date with the contemporary technology of filming normally then using an optical printer to combine the material. [5]

Due to British television's shift from 405-line technology to 625-line, in preparation for colour transmissions, going into effect for all BBC shows from 1 January 1968, it was long believed that the switch-over for Doctor Who from 405 lines to 625 came as of Episode 3 of this serial; however, upon the recovery of the other five episodes of the serial, it was discovered that Episodes 1 and 2 were in fact made at 625 lines prior to the official switchover. [7] [8] The now-disproved notion of the switch-over occurring at Episode 3 was most likely due to an error in documentation. [9]

Recovery of the missing episodes

Originally, Episode 3 was the only episode of this story to survive in the BBC archives. [10] On 11 October 2013, the BBC announced that the remaining five episodes had been recovered from a television relay station storage room in Nigeria [11] following search efforts by Television International Enterprises Archive and Philip Morris, [12] [13] making the serial complete in the BBC television archives for the first time since the mass junkings of Doctor Who episodes between 1972 and 1978. It was subsequently released on iTunes. [1] [2] It was the second Season 5 serial to be found in its entirety.

Cast notes

Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling did not appear in episode 4, as they were on holiday. [14] Milton Johns would reappear in the Season 13 serial The Android Invasion [15] and the season 15 serial The Invasion of Time . Colin Douglas would later take a memorable turn as Reuben the lightkeeper (as well as voicing the Rutan scout) in the 15th-season serial Horror of Fang Rock . George Pravda would also reappear in Third Doctor story The Mutants as Jaeger and Fourth Doctor story The Deadly Assassin as Castellan Spandrell. [16]

Commercial releases

In print

Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World
Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World.jpg
Author Ian Marter
Cover artistBill Donohoe
Series Doctor Who book:
Target novelisations
Release number
24
Publisher Target Books
Publication date
17 April 1981
ISBN 0-426-20126-4

A novelisation of this serial, written by Ian Marter, was published by Target Books in March 1981, entitled Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World. David Whitaker had been working on his own version of the novelisation at the time of his death.

Home media

Episode 3 was released on VHS in The Troughton Years. A restored and VidFIREd version was released on DVD in 2004, as part of the Lost in Time boxset. In 2002, a remastered CD version of the audio was released with linking narration by Frazer Hines. [10]

Following the recovery of the remaining episodes, the complete serial was released on iTunes on 11 October 2013. Following its release it shared the top two spots on the iTunes download chart for TV serials with following and also newly recovered serial The Web of Fear, above Homeland and Breaking Bad . [17]

A DVD was released in the UK on 25 November 2013. [1] [2] A US release arrived on 20 May 2014. [18] [ failed verification ]

A special-edition DVD with audio commentary, interviews, a tribute to the late Deborah Watling, and further remastering of all six episodes was released in the UK on 26 March 2018, in the same year the story was set. [19]

Related Research Articles

The Evil of the Daleks is the mostly-missing ninth and final serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967.

The Tomb of the Cybermen is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967.

The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's 20th anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations on 23 November 1983, the anniversary date. It was transmitted on BBC1 in the United Kingdom two days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Waterfield</span> UK TV Doctor Who character created 1967

Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1967 to 1968. Only two complete serials to feature her exist in the BBC archives. DVDs of her adventures The Evil of the Daleks, The Abominable Snowmen, The Ice Warriors, The Web of Fear and Fury from the Deep were also released, where official BBC reconstructions complete the missing episodes of those serials.

The Dominators is the first serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968. The Second Doctor and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot work with the Dulcians of the planet Dulkis to prevent the alien Dominators from blowing up Dulkis and using its irradiated remains as spaceship fuel.

The Mind Robber is the second serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from 14 September to 12 October 1968.

The Abominable Snowmen is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967.

The Power of the Daleks is the completely missing third serial of the fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966. It is the first full story to feature Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

The Moonbase is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967.

Barry Leopold Letts was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of Doctor Who from 1969 to 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Doctor</span> Fictional character from Doctor Who

The Second Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. 53 of his 119 episodes are missing.

The Ice Warriors is the partly missing third serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 11 November to 16 December 1967.

The Underwater Menace is the half-missing fifth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 January to 4 February 1967.

The Faceless Ones is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1967.

The Macra Terror is the completely missing seventh serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 March to 1 April 1967.

The Web of Fear is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968.

<i>Fury from the Deep</i> 1968 Doctor Who serial

Fury from the Deep is the completely missing sixth serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 16 March to 20 April 1968.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 6) Season of television series

The sixth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 10 August 1968 with the first story of season 6 The Dominators and ended Patrick Troughton's reign as the Doctor with its final story The War Games. Only 37 out of 44 episodes are held in the BBC archives; 7 remain missing. As a result, 2 serials are incomplete: only episode 2 of the 6-part story The Space Pirates still exists, while The Invasion has had its two missing episodes reconstructed using animation.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 5) Season of television series

The fifth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 2 September 1967 with the first story of season 5 The Tomb of the Cybermen and ended on 1 June 1968 with The Wheel in Space. Only 22 out of 40 episodes are held in the BBC archives; 18 remain missing. As a result, only 2 serials exist entirely. However, The Abominable Snowmen, The Ice Warriors, The Web of Fear, and Fury from the Deep have had their missing episodes reconstructed using animation.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 4) 1966/67 season of Doctor Who

The fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 10 September 1966 with the First Doctor story The Smugglers and, after a change of lead actor part-way through the series, ended on 1 July 1967 with The Evil of the Daleks. For the first time, the entire main cast changed over the course of a single season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Berriman, Ian (11 October 2013). "Doctor Who Missing Episodes Returned: Everything You Need To Know". SFX. Bath: Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "BBC Confirms 9 Lost Troughton Episodes Recovered!". Doctor Who TV. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Shaun Lyon; et al. (31 March 2007). "The Enemy of the World". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  5. 1 2 Letts, Barry. "Who and Me". Goodreads.
  6. ↑ "Barry Lets – Who & Me". BBC.
  7. ↑ "My early days at TV Centre". 1 August 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "DVD Review: Doctor Who – "The Enemy of the World". 18 October 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Doctor Who: The Search for Missing Episodes". 12 August 1996. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  10. 1 2 "BBC – Doctor Who – Classic Series – Photonovels – The Enemy of the World".
  11. ↑ "Lost Doctor Who found in Nigeria station storeroom". 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Jefferies, Mark (22 July 2014). "Doctor Who missing episodes: Recovery expert hints more lost episodes set to be returned". Mirror. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Enemy of the World & The Web of Fear – Found!!". Doctor Who Magazine. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "BBC – Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – The Enemy of the World – Details". bbc.co.uk.
  15. ↑ "The Android Invasion ★★".
  16. ↑ "The Deadly Assassin ★★★★".
  17. ↑ "Lost Doctor Who episodes become iTunes best-sellers". Seenit.co.uk. London: MayorWatch Publications Limited. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "Doctor Who DVD news: Announcement for Doctor Who – Story #040: The Enemy of the World". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 25 May 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Doctor Who News: The Enemy of the World – Special Edition". Doctor Who News. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.

Target novelisation

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.