190 The Enemy of the World: Episode Five

EPISODE: The Enemy of the World: Episode Five
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 190
STORY NUMBER: 040
TRANSMITTED: 20 January 1968
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Peter Bryant
PRODUCER: Innes Lloyd
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World
TELESNAPS: The Enemy of the World: Episode Five

This time Bruce does not fall for The Doctor pretending to be Salamander. They tell Bruce they have evidence on Salamander. He tells them that Farriah is dead. Benik is holding the unconscious Jamie & Victoria at the research centre. The Doctor talks Bruce into taking him to the research centre to get evidence. In the Underground base Colin is wanting to go outside. Swann finds a scrap of newspaper stuck to a crate "holiday liner sinks with the loss of many lives" He knows they have been lied to about the war. He accuses Salamander of being a murderer and forces Salamander to take him to the surface. When Salamander announces Swann is coming with him to the surface Colin is distraught that it wasn't him who was chosen. Benik interrogates Jamie and Victoria but is interrupted by "Salamander" and sent away. This turns out to be the Doctor. Salamander takes Swann into the tunnels above the base, but Swann wants to go to the surface. Astrid distracts the guards and flees allowing Kent to escape. While outside she hears cries for help and finds the injured Swann lying in a tunnel mouth. She asks him what has happened and he says he was attacked by a man named Salamander.

I'm still bowled over as to how Salamander's pulled this deception off especially as it comes crashing down so easily here. This episode rolls along nicely and you can feel things warming up for the story's conclusion. According to Barry Letts in his autobiography Who And Me this episode had to be re-written after it was discovered there were no scenes featuring guest star Mary Peach who plays Astrid.

Bill Kerr is the chief guest star in the serial, appearing as Giles Kent. For a story mainly set in Australia he's the only fair dinkum aussie in the cast. He's famous for appearing in Hancock's Half Hour, but was jettisoned when the series made the transition from radio to television. He's been in several films including the Dam Busters and Galipoli. Milton Johns is in his first Doctor Who role here being typically sinister as Benik. He'll be back as Guy Crayford in The Android Invasion, and Kelner in The Invasion of Time. The only reason I've heard of Andrew Staines, playing Benik's Sergeant, is that I've read the production subtitles on Planet of Spiders. He was a favourite actor of Barry Letts: indeed 4 of his 6 acting credits on imdb.com are Doctor Who roles with Barry Letts directing: He's also Goodge in Terror of the Autons, the Captain in Carnival of Monsters and finally Keaver, one of Lupton's gang, in Planet of the Spiders.

Remember Fraser Hines' cousin, Ian Hines, appearing as a guard in earlier episodes? Well in this and the next episode we have David Troughton, son of Patrick, also as a guard. He'll be back in a bit part in The War Games plus a starring role as King Peladon in the Curse of Peladon. He famously was Doctor Bob Buzzard in A Very Peculiar Practice (shortly to get a complete DVD release at long last) with Peter Davison before returning as Professor Hobbes in the 2008 New Series episode Midnight. One of my favourite actors he can do an excellent impression of his late father which he does to good effect narrating several of the Target audiobook readings.