SS6 - The Wheel in Space 6

Zoe joining The Doctor on his travels is mildly disturbing, only because she tells no one on the Wheel that she's leaving. Do you think she even sends a letter after she leaves? A message in a bottle? A text message? Most of the other companions we've seen join the TARDIS over the years have had all their family and/or friends slaughtered before their very eyes, which is horrific for the companion, but it did save a lot of awkward questions.

Zoe is one of the first companions who would appear to be missed, as she seemed well liked around the Wheel (if seen as a little robotic). Mind you, the crew gets over the deaths of their controller, their chief medical officer, and a good few crew members relatively quickly. Can death be such a common occurrence on a space research station? It's enough for Tanya Lernov and Leo Ryan to find the time for some cuddling.

The Cybermen are dispatched rather easily and, in a purely visual sense, entirely unconvincingly. And why do they look so funny while walking in space? And what, exactly, are they walking on when they're walking in space? Space?

The Patrick Troughton era hasn't had many low points, and although The Wheel in Space is clearly veering towards the end of not being terribly good, at least it's still not terrible.

SS5 - The Wheel in Space 5

The Cybermens' plan in this story is remarkable. Most alien races intent on taking over a space station would usually form an army, attack the base (especially when they clearly outflank the station in technology and strength, which the Cybermen clearly are), mop up the survivors, put up some new wallpaper, and take control.

But not these Cybermen. First, they create a supernova to fling meteorites across space (if you're starting your plan with something as complex as engineering a supernova, you know you've got your work cut out for you). The meteorites are headed towards the Wheel, so, naturally, the station will have to defend itself with its laser gun. What does the laser gun need for power? Bernalium. So, the Cybermen somehow smuggle some Cybermats aboard to discreetly destroy the Wheel's bernalium stocks. But, lo! There is some more bernalium on board a mysterious rocket which is floating towards the Wheel. So, the Cybermen (all two of them) hide in a crate of bernalium in the rocket, the same rocket that, were it not for Jamie's sabotage of the laser gun in Episode Two, would have been blasted out of the sky before the Cyberman plan even got off the ground.

Mental. The Cyberplanner is clearly doing its best to earn its paycheque. Future Cyber-invasions would dispense with the middle man, though. Pity, that, because despite the over complexity of the plan, the Cyberplanner doesn't half try.

SS4 - The Wheel in Space 4

Is it a bad sign that I've fallen sleep twice while trying to watch this episode? I don't think I'm really that bored while watching it. Perhaps it's because the Cybermen's plan of taking over the Space Wheel is taking forever to be put into action.

That's not surprising, given the complexity of the devious Cyber-scheme. From rockets to crates to eggs, all containing Cybermen, to Cybermats to humans controlled by Cybermen, etc., it's taking a while to get to the real lynch pin of the Cyber-plan. Not even the Cyber Planner is giving us a clue as to what's going. (You know what my favourite thing about writing reviews of Cybermen stories? Affixing the "Cyber-" prefix to all sorts of words. It's Cyber-riffic!)

Meanwhile, Jarvis, the head of the wheel, is quickly going nuts. Does he have space sickness, it is queried? More importantly, what is space sickness? Is it similar to the "space madness" experienced by Ren in the Ren and Stimpy episode of the same name? Only time will tell...

Pleasingly, the horribly annoying qualities of the character of Zoe are quickly being deflated as Zoe raises doubts about her logical and clinical outlook on life. She just might make a good potential companion after all.

SS3 - The Wheel in Space 3

In which the Cybermen finally reveal themselves properly, The Doctor finally wakes up from his slumber, and, most importantly to me, after thirteen straight episodes, the pictures finally move thanks to Episode Three existing in its entirety in the BBC Archives.

The Cybermen have been changed yet again after the relative stability of their appearance in the last two stories. The overall result isn't as impressive as the Moonbase/Tomb versions (and, with only two properly functioning Cybermen costumes, the ability to create memorable images of marauding Cyber armies is severely diminished), but perhaps by favourite Cyber-quirk are the little "teardrops" at the corners of each eye and, for this story only, under the mouth. It almost gives the Cybermen a sense of melancholy in their motives. They attempt to conquer others because they are sad that they have no longer have a home. That First Doctor - what a bastard!

The Second Doctor, on the other, is as mobile in this episode as he was in the last one, but at least he's awake now and participating in the plot. He even acquires his pseudonym of John Smith during this story. But he doesn't even get out of bed for the entire episode! Quite amazing is the breadth of Troughton's Doctor that he can still provide the story its necessary thrust by just sitting up. Tom Baker would be jealous.

SS2 - The Wheel in Space 2

Just like The Web of Fear a couple stories back, The Wheel in Space staggers a bit in momentum thanks to the vacation of Patrick Troughton. (Just how many vacations does he get? It's becoming as bad as John Wiles-era William Hartnell). Instead of involving our main character in the story, we have to lay him up in a bunk or a hospital bed for an entire episode while we are slowly introduced to the (surprise) multicultural crew of an isolated station about to come under attack by an alien force.

One of the crew members that we meet is the librarian, Zoe, who is about to become the new female companion on the show. The recipe for Zoe's character combines precisely the worst aspects of companions from the years to come. She's a know-it-all smartass like K-9, a young genius like Adric, and utterly humourless and logical like Nyssa. Zoe is a disaster waiting to happen. Why, then, does she (eventually) succeed in becoming a particularly memorable companion? Is it Wendy Padbury's acting ability? Her character development? That shot from The Mind Robber?

If I'm making this story out to be less than stellar, it really isn't that bad, mostly because I have a penchant for stories set in space stations or space ships. When I was a kid, and I wanted to build my own Doctor Who adventures out of Lego, spaceships would be the easiest to build. Cybermen, on the other hand, were difficult to realize, mostly because I had to wrap up Lego minifigures in tin foil and sticky tape. Fitting, that, as it's how the real ones were made, too...

SS1 - The Wheel in Space 1

Episode One is a bold experiment in minimalism, hearkening back to the early years of the show when The Doctor and his companions would wander around, exploring their new surroundings, while completely alone. Only at the end of the first episode would another character, shadow, trap, or sink plunger be revealed. What's risky in The Wheel in Space is that instead of the larger entourages of William Hartnell's era, there's just The Doctor and Jamie, and one Servo Robot who sounds like a relative of a Chumblie but looks more like he's giving the viewer a preview of the mind-blowing awesomeness that are the Quarks.

The fact that The Doctor knocks his head and slowly descends into unconsciousness during the last half of the episode makes the narrative even more challenging to portray. But the toughest part of The Wheel in Space for me? Not the writing, not the acting, not the robot. This is easily the worst quality reconstruction that I have for any story (ironic, as it is one of the last missing stories that I have to contend with during this marathon). My copy is probably a seventh-generation Betacam copy of the original recon, which may or may not be from Loose Cannon, but clearly predates the advent of onscreen subtitles to describe scenes with little dialogue. Scenes with little dialogue? Did I mention the Servo Robot doesn't speak, yet is in about half the scenes? Tough work, but all for you, dear reader. All for you.

Also, is it a prerequisite of 1960s Cybermen stories to not feature Cybermen? I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one...

RR6 - Fury From the Deep 6

One can tell that things sort of run out of steam in this story by about the midway point of Episode Five. Much time is spent in showing Robson taking Victoria to the control rig, The Doctor and Jamie rescue her, then the three of them returning to the base safely, with the only thing really changing, storywise, is Robson moving to the control rig (where he ceases to provide any function, while possessed, for the rest of the story). Things really hit a snag thanks to a long and needless sequence involving The Doctor trying to fly a helicopter in the first five minutes of Episode Six.

The weed creature is vanquished with about 12 minutes to spare in the episode, and here's the funny thing - everybody lives! Mrs. Harris, Robson, even (an unseen) Van Lutyens, who was sucked into the foam and down the pipeline to the control rig, is apparently all fine and dandy. The Ninth Doctor will have to change his line. "Just this one...or twice...."

The last third of the story is handed over to the burgeoning story of Victoria's departure. It's fantastically well played, particularly in the last scene between Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling. The last line of the scene is particularly poignant, when Victoria asks Jamie, "You won't leave without saying goodbye, will you?", which is a legitimate question, given the usual quick escape preferred by The Doctor once the situation has wrapped up. However, like in The Chase if The Myth Makers, we never see that goodbye scene, as the next shot is of The Doctor and Jamie walking away from Victoria on the beach. The Doctor has actually been mostly absent from Victoria's deliberation about staying, wanting Victoria to make her own decisions. His last line of the episode, "I was fond of her, too, Jamie." speaks volumes, though.

Victoria's departure is unique in that it de-romanticizes the notion of adventuring with The Doctor. Previous companions have left The Doctor because they've had a chance to return home, fall in love, or pursue some other noble cause away from the TARDIS. But Victoria hasn't found any of those things - she just doesn't want to be associated with the TARDIS anymore and the dangers and tribulations that come with it. She'd rather be left behind than continue on. If I was The Doctor, I couldn't help but feel slightly offended...

RR5 - Fury From the Deep 5

There's a remarkably creepy ending to this episode where Robson, standing amidst a sea of foam and seaweed tentacles, tells The Doctor that "we've been waiting for you". Spine chillingly good stuff.

The Doctor and Jamie have followed the possessed Robson to the control rig not only to confront the source of the weed creature, but to try and rescue Victoria. Poor Victoria has become increasingly useless as this story has gone along as she spends most of her time either wallowing in self pity or getting kidnapped/incarcerated/rendered unconscious. I'm thinking that this is in keeping with her character arc that has been developing over the course of this story, but with 1960s Doctor Who, you just never know...

Thanks to a few short censor clips that have been reinserted back into this episode by the good folks at Loose Cannon, I can finally view some pictures that move. Both this and The Web of Fear have been quite good, but staring at still photos and straining to hear the audio can be wearing on the nerves. Because this whole Chronic Hysteresis journey, and the large amount of non-existent episodes I've had to endure in such a short time, never before have I looked forward to The Dominators so much...

RR4 - Fury From the Deep 4

In a season and era full of stereotypes, be it racial (Toberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen), cultural (Evans in The Web of Fear), or sexist (take your pick), it comes as a great relief to see that the head of the gas company in charge of the refinery is a woman, Megan Jones. She's strong, seemingly in charge....ah, but then quickly sides with The Doctor to try and defeat the Seaweed of Death. Oh, well. Baby steps, I guess.

Jones arrives on the scene shortly after the previous, non-insane authority figure, Van Lutyens meets his (apparent) comeuppance at the hands of the BBC foam machine. Van Lutyens is played by John Abineri. I've long enjoyed Abineri's performances in Doctor Who (and, particularly, in his role of Herne the Hunter in Robin of Sherwood). When I first saw Toby Hadoke's wonderful Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, which included several references to the illustrious Mr. Abineri, I beamed - finally, a fellow admirer, even if I've never seen any Ferrero Rocher ads. Gosh, for John Abineri's sake, I hope Van Lutyens is ok...

There's some more hand wringing from Victoria in this episode as she grows weary of the dangerous life of traveling in the TARDIS. This aspect of the story is developing quite nicely.

RR3 - Fury From the Deep 3

This story falls into, like many other Patrick Troughton stories to date, the standard "base under siege" format that has been used to great effect thus far without feeling repetitive. What Fury From The Deep has in common with another similarly formatted story, The Ice Warriors, is a fantastic performance by the actor portraying the leader of the base. Whereas in The Ice Warriors, Peter Barkworth's Clent was an overwrought and emotional leader on the side of the goodies, Victor Maddern's Robson looks as if he's vying for the title of head humanoid villain. Robson has been seen to be very forthright, driven, and, often, indignant thus far, but he really loses it in this episode. Maddern is rippling with rage during his scenes in this episode without ever going over the top.

Robson's growing insanity is actually troubling as he hasn't been affected by the seaweed yet. Only after he retires to his room does he come into contact with it. That wasn't a possessed Robson ranting and raving in the control room - that was genuine Robson.

Victoria, already having been locked in a room and threatened by seaweed coming in through the vents, drops the first hint in this episode that she's growing weary of being scared all the time. It's awfully refreshing to finally hear a companion say that! Coupled with the earlier comments about the TARDIS always landing in England, this is turning into the most open, honest Doctor Who story ever (until, at least, the Peter Davison stories were novelized).

The episode (which, at barely over 20 minutes long, is the shortest in length to date) ends with a truly disturbing sequence involving Maggie Harris instructing a now possessed Robson on his duties before walking out, sans breathing apparatus, into the sea and under the waves. At first, just a rather insipid wife of the equally rather insipid second-in-command of the base, is Maggie now the mastermind of everything? Can she breathe underwater? Is she walking to her death? Gripping stuff, this.

RR2 - Fury From the Deep 2

The above picture is from one of the most unsettling scenes in Doctor Who history, which occurs during this episode. Thankfully, the Australian Censor Board thought the scene was too frightening to include for broadcast, too, and so excised it, left the trim in a box somewhere for 30 years so it could be found and enjoyed once more by everyone. Pity they didn't just trim the entire episode, then we could have watched that, too.

Mr. Oak and Mr. Quill (the latter of whom is pictured) are two genuinely creepy Doctor Who characters. They're not villains and they're not creatures. They're just two seemingly harmless maintenance workers on the base, but from the first time we see them, it's clear that they're not...right. Mr. Oak speaks in a voice that's just on the threatening side of gentle. Mr. Quill doesn't speak at all. When they coerce their way into Mrs. Harris's room and knock her out with some sort of gas, it looks and sounds (with the constant heartbeat sound effect of this story used to its full effect) scarier than anything any legion of Daleks, Cybermen, or Yeti could ever muster.

And all we've seen in the way of "monsters" thus far is a couple shots of some limp seaweed. As Van Luytens suspects at the end of the episode, whatever is threatening everyone in the refinery is "Down there...in the darkness...in the pipeline...waiting." This is frightening Doctor Who at its very best.

RR1 - Fury From the Deep 1

Two massively important (massively) things happen in the first few moments of Fury From The Deep that are noteworthy in the history of Doctor Who, particularly pertaining to the New Series. The first occurs when the TARDIS crew start exploring the beach on which they have just landed. Just as The Doctor remarked in the previous story, The Web of Fear, Jamie wonders aloud as to why the TARDIS always seems to land on Earth. Victoria adds that they also always seem to wind up in England. This is so metatextual that it is no doubt meant as a joke, but it is a question that is never, ever asked again in the history of the show (so far as I remember). It is particularly interesting to note that the whole Earth/England thing is never even mentioned in the New Series, which has taken delight in quick history lessons of the show's past and retroactive continuity (i.e. the chameleon circuit, the TARDIS's telepathic circuits, etc) that this little, convenient, geographical oversight has never even been the subject of a good joke.

Speaking of convenience in the New Series, the sonic screwdriver makes its debut in this episode; surprisingly, given its New Series status as psuedo-companion, the device does here exactly what it says on the tin - unscrewing screws. Do you think writer Victor Pemberton knew what kind of monster he was creating out of such a harmless little device in this episode?

All this, and I haven't even mentioned the fact that the TARDIS is seen to physically land like a helicopter for the first time in the series' history!

Oh, and there's a bunch of seaweed, foam, heartbeats in pipes, spookiness, and John Abineri in this episode, but I imagine we'll see much more of all this stuff in the episodes to come.

QQ6 - The Web of Fear 6

One of my favourite TV programmes of all time is The Tripods, a televised adaption of The Tripods trilogy of books by John Christopher. Of course, it had the good fortune to be made by the BBC during the mid-1980s and the regime of one Michael Grade, who canceled the programme after its' second series. The third series was never made, leaving fans to wonder how the third and final chapter would wrap things up.

The end of The Web of Fear almost has that feeling of unfinished business, too. The Doctor has a plan to absorb the Great Intelligence into himself, thus destroying it forever, but his friends and companions think otherwise. One can almost see the thoughts of Yeti sequels and merchandising opportunities dance through the eyes of writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, via the actions of Travers, Jamie, Victoria, et al., when the characters pull The Doctor out of harm's way, thus allowing the Great Intelligence to go free. (The Yeti are, at least, defeated).

And the intention was to have a third Yeti adventure during Season Six before the troubled production of the Haisman/Lincoln penned The Dominators changed plans considerably (about which, more later). Any future Yeti story would have had a tough task in topping the two previous stories featuring the marauding furballs. Whereas The Abominable Snowmen was notable for its calm, pensive, yet threatening, atmosphere, The Web of Fear was ramped it up considerably, thanks to the updated Yeti costumes. Also, instead of the vast expanse of the Himalayas, here the setting was the claustrophobic confines of the London Underground. It worked perfectly, as I can imagine ridership on the Underground system decreased during the original broadcast run of this story.

However, the action and atmosphere did come in fits and starts for me. Episodes One and Four stand up as tent pegs for the rest of the episodes, which had a hard time matching the sheer brilliance of One and Four. One of the all-time best Troughton stories, though, and certainly one the most frightening.

QQ5 - The Web of Fear 5

I wrote earlier about how The Web of Fear is, in essence, a pilot episode for the UNIT years of the 1970s. Well, thanks to almost every soldier in this story being wiped out by the Yeti by the end of Episode Four, the military side of the operation ends, but the new template of the Doctor-assistant role is expanded upon in the last two episodes.

With Jamie serving as the only subordinate in Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart's (gosh, I want to keep calling him The Brigadier) command, and Victoria being taken captive by the Yeti, Anne Travers steps in to fulfill the companion role to The Doctor during these last two episodes. However, she becomes more of an assistant in the mold of a Liz Shaw, assisting The Doctor as he builds a control device for the Yeti.

After the mass death and destruction of Episode Four, it becomes clear that the handful of humans left alive are going to carry the rest of the story home. But it still has yet to be determined who the mole is....

Of note during this story is the overbearing presence of the web (which is quite fearful). Every time someone opens a door, it's there. The Yeti shoot it out of their guns. Most effectively, it's even there under the closing credits, making sure that the last thing that anyone watching each episode is a pulsating web! No wonder so many people who remember watching this story rate it so highly in its ability to scare the pants off them.

QQ4 - The Web of Fear 4

What a shame that this episode doesn't exist anymore, mostly because of the full-on action battle sequence (still a rarity in those days) between the army and the Yeti. Directed by Douglas Camfield, I'm sure it looked spectacular, although I wish he'd chosen different stock music to punctuate the scenes instead of the music that had already been made famous as the theme for the Cybermen in all three Cyberstories to date.

The outcome of the battle, as well as the fact that not only is anybody wandering around the Underground outside of the army base in extreme danger, but now that the Yeti are crashing into the base and wiping out soldiers, not even inside the base is safe from the Yeti. Lethbridge-Stewart has the dubious distinction of losing both his first platoon in the Underground before we even meet the character, and then, later, in the battle with the Yeti, he loses all the soldiers under his command there, too. (And he gets promoted later?). The Yeti appear to be the most invincible enemy that The Doctor has ever come up against, even more so than the Daleks.

Further more, there's suspicion that someone in the base is working for the Yeti (or, more directly, the Great Intelligence), but we still don't know who it is. And when Travers finally shows up at the end of the episode, apparently possessed himself, almost all hope is lost as the credits crash in. Episode Four has been one of the most wonderfully dark and bleak episodes of Doctor Who ever made. And also one it the best.

QQ3 - The Web of Fear 3

It's fun and amusing, knowing what we classic Who fans know, to go back and watch The Web of Fear, Part Three, and hear the warm, dulcet tones of Nicholas Courtney as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. So much more to come from him in the years (and decades) to follow. He actually enters this story rather mysteriously, his own platoon having been killed off by the Yeti, more or less taking The Doctor prisoner before taking command of the makeshift army base in the Underground.

Yes, The Doctor! Remember him? After a superb opening episode to this story, things rather grind to a halt in Episode Two as everyone is trying to find The Doctor, who is apparently either lost in the Underground somewhere, or bits of him are scattered around the place after being blown up in an explosion. I've spoken before about how taking The Doctor out of the action for a week to necessitate the lead actor's vacation. William Hartnell was older and, thus, never entered into the action as much as his later incarnations, so his absence could be more easily explained as his male companions would usually pick up the slack. While Patrick Troughton's Doctor can be devious and mischievous and manipulate things behind the scenes, he also has more scenes and stories where he is front and centre in the action than his predecessor.

So it's good to have him back in this episode, but it almost feels like Episode One all over again, as now The Doctor is finally involved directly in the London Underground operation, and the army finally has a proper leader in Lethbridge-Stewart. A new character, Evans, a cowardly Welshman who only aspires to maintain his career as a driver, and to maintain his own existence at the expense of those around him, makes his debut. Funny how Doctor Who's opinion of the Welsh would change as the years go by...

QQ2 - The Web of Fear 2

Professor Travers unleashes the first missile of the UNIT Dating Controversy in this, the first unofficial UNIT story in Doctor Who history. When meeting Jamie and Victoria several years (to him) after The Abominable Snowmen, he staggers at the fact that neither of them appear to have aged a day. Taking a seat, he stammers, "Well, that was....over.....40 years ago!". Earlier in this episode, Travers's daughter, Anne, states that the first Yeti tale took place in 1935. If you were to take Professor Travers's statement at face value, that would place The Web of Fear in 1976, at the earliest, and, as we find out later, The Invasion four years later in 1980.

This is, of course, impossible.

Yet, taken at face value, this would mean that Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (who is introduced in this story. Well, at least his boots are.) joins UNIT in 1980 (where Sarah-Jane Smith is from, incidentally), has several years of adventures with The Third Doctor...but then gets tired of it all and leaves UNIT to begin a teaching career in 1977 (see Mawdryn Undead).

This is, of course, impossible.

As part of the Chronic Hysteresis, I've decided I'm going to try and explain each UNIT dating discrepancy as they come along. However, the catch is that I'm going to do it badly. Here's my thought about this one. Professor Travers, obviously dotty and absent minded (as proven by his odd behaviour in Episode One), clearly meant to say "That was over....30 years ago!", or even, "That was over...(full stop, recalculates). Forty years ago! (rounding up)". So there. Would you trust the ramblings of an old man whose mind is as addled as Travers's was? No, you wouldn't.

Thus, The Web of Fear quite clearly takes place in 1968, coincidentally, the year in which it was also broadcast. First crisis averted. Can't wait to try and explain away The Invasion...

QQ1 - The Web of Fear 1

I love Doctor Who stories where The Doctor arrives long after the crisis has begun, and so has to almost work backwards to the beginning to find out what's going on and how it all started. The same thing happens in the opening episode of The Web of Fear, with the TARDIS landing in a deserted London Underground station. Meanwhile, juxtaposed with the scenes involving The Doctor and his friends, the other main storyline (that of the army's operation in the Underground) is already well under way, and we the viewers, much like The Doctor, are wondering why things are the way there, with only little snippets of information being unveiled as the episode moves along.

The Yeti, although not seen that much in this opening installment, look more frightening than their cuddly Mark I versions seen in The Abominable Snowmen. They also kill people more readily and easily. They even have a web gun! The glowing eyes and the strange roar, making them silent no longer, also serve to spook the hell out of the general population of British children in 1968.

Lastly (and this will be one of the last times I'll be able to comment on the visuals of this story, as Episode One is the only one in existence), the Underground sets are fantastic. The legend that tells of London Transport contacting the BBC to complain that they filmed in the actual London Underground has been told many a time, but it's worthy - the sets are just that good. And it's not often you can say that about Doctor Who sets. Part of it is down to set design, but the lighting is also superb. Well before the flood lit days of the 1980s (or even, as we shall soon see, the early 1970s), the fact that almost everything threatening in this story is concealed by shadows makes this one of the most atmospheric stories in the show's history. Things are starting off well...

PP6 - The Enemy of the World 6

We finally get the inevitable (yet almost technically impossible, for Doctor Who in 1968) meeting between Salamander and The Doctor, complete with the usual mistaken identity hijinks that usually accompany such moments. There should have been more to the confrontation, though, if only technical difficulties rendered most of the footage that director Barry Letts shot completely useless. (Moot point these days, anyway, given no footage from this episode exists at all).

There's also a nice twist at the end when it is revealed who the real villain of the piece is (well, secondary villain), which I honestly didn't expect. I'm hesitant to reveal who that is, because I'm becoming increasingly mindful of the fact that a good chunk of you dear readers who peruse this blog from time to time haven't actually seen the reconstructions for the missing episodes. After all, it's not as if you can find them on Amazon or at your nearest HMV. Tell you what - I'll bury the identity of the person in question somewhere in the next sentence, so, for those who haven't seen/heard The Enemy of the World, you can just skip along to the next paragraph. This is the sentence where I reveal that Kent is the other villain.

All in all, not too bad, apart from some minor production and story problems. Unlike anything done before or since in Doctor Who, to be sure.

PP5 - The Enemy of the World 5

I'm not sure if I'm entirely sold on Bruce's switch to the side of the good guys in this episode. It seems that everyone is, in one way or another, secretly or publicly against Salamander - Bruce, Kent, Astrid, even most of the members of the underground. Can our intrepid villain get out of this in one piece...?

There's actually a great scene, though, when The Doctor convinces Bruce of Salamander's character when he fools Jamie and Victoria with his own impersonation of Salamander. It almost brings out a violent reaction from Jamie, and he has to quickly think of a way to prove his own identity to his two friends, but it's interesting to see how far he'll go in order to prove to Bruce what kind of proof of Salamander's crimes exist.

One man who isn't against Salamander is the dictator's number two man, Benik. My word, what an over-the-top, camp character Benik is. He was painful in the earlier episodes, but when he's threatening to torture Jamie and Victoria in Episode Five, he's downright embarrassing. It feels like I've just walked in on a bondage/role playing party. Jamie even says to Benik at one point, "I'll bet you were a naughty little boy..."! Milton Johns will go on to be much better in both The Android Invasion and, especially, The Invasion of Time, but this is not one of his finest hours, to be sure.