The Enemy of the World

Dear Gary—

Now that Patrick Troughton has had a chance to establish himself as the Doctor, as his own Doctor, The Enemy of the World gives him a chance to establish a solid link to the inalienable character of the Doctor as first portrayed by William Hartnell. Some of the most basic principles of the Doctor are represented in this story, as well as some simple details of his life. However, these only serve to more firmly entrench Patrick Troughton in the role, and to serve as a springboard to ever new revelations.

The Enemy of the World starts with a decidedly non-Hartnell moment as the Doctor strips down to his long johns and cavorts about in the ocean. But this is quickly followed by a Hartnellesque disclaimer of his medical qualifications when his title of Doctor is questioned by his recent rescuer. “Not of any medical significance,” he asserts.

“Doctor of Law? Philosophy?” Astrid presses him. “Which law; whose philosophies, eh?” The Doctor replies. (“One man’s law is another man’s crime,” echoes back from William Hartnell.)When Astrid and her boss Giles Kent try to enlist the Doctor’s help against his doppelganger Salamander, the Doctor queries, “Which side is good; which side is bad; and why should I interfere?” (“I’ve learned never to meddle in other people’s affairs”; “Trust can’t be taken for granted; it must be earned.”)

The Doctor reluctantly agrees to cooperate only in so far as to uncover evidence of Salamander’s true intentions. “”I’ll expose him, ruin him, have him arrested, but I won’t be his executioner—no one has that right,” he exclaims.  (“You stupid butcher, can you think of nothing else but killing?”; “In the first place, Madam, I never kill anything; neither do my friends.”)

Echoes from the past linking us to our present Doctor.

The Enemy of the World has another link to the Hartnell era, and that is the lack of any alien beings. However, this is not like any historical or mystery/murder story of that time. No, this has a decided Troughton flair.

Salamander is a perfect double for the Doctor and Patrick Troughton does a superb job in the dual role as he plays the evil mastermind, the Doctor, and the Doctor impersonating the vaguely Mexican Salamander who has been manipulating natural disasters to gain control of the world while all the while appearing to be the world’s benefactor. (Weather manipulation seems to be an emerging pattern in the Troughton era, Gary.)

The first half of our story is a clever little political intrigue, with Jamie and Victoria infiltrating the Salamander entourage and the Doctor treading warily around Kent and Astrid and later the Security Chief Donald Bruce as he tries to determine “which side is good; which side is bad.” There are assassinations and betrayals, arrests and escapes. In the end there is sufficient proof that Salamader has been manufacturing natural disasters to consolidate his own power.

Here, Gary, is where our story takes on a rather bizarre twist. It seems that Salamander is keeping a group of scientists in an underground bunker to create these disasters, and he has somehow convinced them that this is all in the interest of the war effort—a non-existent nuclear war that they believe is waging out on the surface of the Earth. None of them have been allowed to go to the surface; the few that have gone up have never returned. Salamander is the only person to come and go as he brings food and supplies to the dunderheads below.

Through his impersonation of this evil mastermind, the Doctor convinces Bruce of the truth and unmasks Kent as an original co-conspirator of Salamander (“Any man who resorts to murder as eagerly and as rapidly as you must be suspect”), although the two have since had a falling out and are now working against each other and towards their own ends. Astrid also discovers the duplicity of her boss and stumbles upon one entrance to the tunnel leading down to the hidden bunker.

With Kent and Salamander at each other’s throats, Bruce and Astrid now working to reveal the truth and seek justice, and the highly outraged scientists intent on revenge for having been duped into wasting five years of their lives underground, not to mention wreaking mass murder upon the planet, we are in for one slam bang of a finish.

An explosion nicely takes care of everything, with the good side triumphant and the bad side dead. But it’s not over quite yet. Jamie and Victoria have been sent back to the TARDIS where they meet up with the Doctor. However when an evidently befuddled Doctor instructs Jamie to work the controls they know something is wrong.

“You said we were never to touch the controls.”

Luckily, the real Doctor shows up just in time. The exposed imposter lunges for the controls and the TARDIS dematerializes with the doors still wide open. While the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria hang on for dear life, Salamander is sucked out into the time vortex.

Yes, Gary, The Enemy of the World has some definite echoes of the past, but it is firmly rooted in the Troughton era. The character of the Doctor is both constant and in flux. It is comforting to have the core beliefs intact, but exciting to have fresh perspectives in personality.

One additional revelation of the Doctor: “I always was interested in phonetics.”

Always we learn something new, no matter how small.

Here’s hoping that somewhere out there in the time vortex you receive these thoughts . . .