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double Troughton = double awesome
I just finished watching the reconstruction of the Second Doctor story "The Enemy of the World." My non-spoilery review is that it's fab, with good performances all around (especially Patrick Troughton in a double role) and a complex script by David Whitaker that by Classic Who standards is remarkably tightly-plotted. There are also some truly creepy moments courtesy of a minor character who's best summarized by what Jamie says of him: "You must have been a nasty little boy." Even if you don't like reconstructions, give this one a try. This and "The Macra Terror" are the reconstructions I'd call indispensable for Second Doctor fans.
This story has something of a bad reputation as racist, because the would-be dictator Salamander, played by Patrick Troughton, is Mexican. But I don't think Salamander is written in a racist or stereotyped way, certainly not compared to, for example, the sombrero-and-bandolier-wearing Arturo Vilar in The War Games. Troughton's accent as Salamander is weird, but it's not meant to be comedic, and the story doesn't fall into the too-common pattern of making all the baddies POC and all the goodies white. There's even a black woman who gets actual lines! Okay, she dies, but she's also presented as a competent, brave person with agency. I'm not denying that Classic Who tends to be very, very faily at representing people of color, but this story is better than most.
Speaking of brave, competent female characters with agency, I adore Astrid. She flies a helicopter! And rescues people!
As for the regulars: "The Enemy of the World" is sort of Doctor-light, because Troughton spent so much time playing Salamander, but with Troughton there are always good Doctory moments; I loved how we see glimpses of steel (which is to say, of absolute moral conviction) under Two's playfulness. Jamie gets to wear a delicious leather-and-rubber uniform, a sight fortunately preserved for the ages in the surviving third episode. And Victoria even briefly gets some things to do, pretending to be a cook (to the despair of Salamander's gloomy chef, scene-stealingly played by Reg Lye) and attacking some soldiers with a trolley.
This is a rare Who story where I actually was engaged by the plot; the critique of Cold War paranoia implicit in Salamander's bomb shelter scheme was very effective, and the final revelation of Giles Kent as Salamander's ambitious accomplice worked brilliantly (and further mitigated the story's potentially racist aspects).
I did notice that "Enemy" is markedly violent by sixties Who standards. There's a high death toll, including the mutual murders of Salamander and Kent, as well as some truly disturbing threats of torture from the psychopathic Benik. Maybe all of that made the story feel "realistic" and therefore more compelling for me. I'm not necessarily of the "bleaker is better" school, but then again, I am a Blake's 7 fan.
This story has something of a bad reputation as racist, because the would-be dictator Salamander, played by Patrick Troughton, is Mexican. But I don't think Salamander is written in a racist or stereotyped way, certainly not compared to, for example, the sombrero-and-bandolier-wearing Arturo Vilar in The War Games. Troughton's accent as Salamander is weird, but it's not meant to be comedic, and the story doesn't fall into the too-common pattern of making all the baddies POC and all the goodies white. There's even a black woman who gets actual lines! Okay, she dies, but she's also presented as a competent, brave person with agency. I'm not denying that Classic Who tends to be very, very faily at representing people of color, but this story is better than most.
Speaking of brave, competent female characters with agency, I adore Astrid. She flies a helicopter! And rescues people!
As for the regulars: "The Enemy of the World" is sort of Doctor-light, because Troughton spent so much time playing Salamander, but with Troughton there are always good Doctory moments; I loved how we see glimpses of steel (which is to say, of absolute moral conviction) under Two's playfulness. Jamie gets to wear a delicious leather-and-rubber uniform, a sight fortunately preserved for the ages in the surviving third episode. And Victoria even briefly gets some things to do, pretending to be a cook (to the despair of Salamander's gloomy chef, scene-stealingly played by Reg Lye) and attacking some soldiers with a trolley.
This is a rare Who story where I actually was engaged by the plot; the critique of Cold War paranoia implicit in Salamander's bomb shelter scheme was very effective, and the final revelation of Giles Kent as Salamander's ambitious accomplice worked brilliantly (and further mitigated the story's potentially racist aspects).
I did notice that "Enemy" is markedly violent by sixties Who standards. There's a high death toll, including the mutual murders of Salamander and Kent, as well as some truly disturbing threats of torture from the psychopathic Benik. Maybe all of that made the story feel "realistic" and therefore more compelling for me. I'm not necessarily of the "bleaker is better" school, but then again, I am a Blake's 7 fan.