Who Reviews Enemy of the World by Matt Rabjohns

Before I knew precisely which two Doctor Who serials had been re-discovered almost completely, me and my Dad had a discussion about which two stories we would love it to be that had been discovered anew after so many years of being lost. And this is where things get spooky as I said I would love for “The Enemy of the World” to be found, and my Dad said he'd love for “The Web of Fear” to be located too. 

So, imagine our shock and surprise and elation when we discover we are both right. The two recently resurfaced stories are indeed the two we ourselves said we'd love to be found once more. What are the odds of that, I ask you all?! We just couldn't believe it at all. But after we'd settled both down and got over our initial flabbergasted surprise, we then both punched the air and couldn't wait to see the newly found stories. 

First, we watched The Enemy of the World. Up until the discovery of the rest of the story only part Three had existed in the archives. Until then I’d loved this episode but lamented the fact the rest was missing. Well, the rest of the story most certainly did not disappoint. In fact, it only confirmed my notion that The Enemy of the World was one of the very finest Patrick Troughton stories out there. 

Where do you begin to state what is so brilliant about the Enemy of the World? Well, it is plain and simple. You start with Patrick Troughton. Oh, Pat in this story in his dual role of the Doctor and Ramon Salamander is absolutely incredible. His dictator is thoroughly stone hearted and chilling, with a believable and creepy Mexican accent that makes him a very formidable villain and an absolute delight to watch. He is manipulative and devious and cunning. Pat obviously relishes the chance to play this role, and it shows from start to finish. Salamander is definitely one of the more memorable and excellent villains that the show brought forth during the golden age years of black and white. 

But the story is not just brilliant because of Pat Troughton, oh no way. The rest of the cast too excel and make this story feel rather like a grandiose James Bond style thriller, only this story is far more brilliant and exciting than most of those Bond films. 

Mary Peach as Astrid Ferrier is at first a little aloof and standoffish, but she soon becomes far more sympathetic when she realises, she has been duped by Giles Kent and Salamander. Mary plays her character very well indeed. 

Milton Johns is deliciously creepy and slimy as the toad Benik. He obviously delights in the role and gives Benik a streak of villainy and insidious viciousness that makes for some great scenes throughout the story. I particularly love when he threatens Victoria and Jamie rises to her defence and promises to kill Benik before the weasel produces a gun. 

Colin Douglas is brilliant as Donald Bruce, who is also quite pompous but he is at least far more human than Benik. And the script deals him a great role in that he is not beyond seeing the evil that Salamander has been involved in. The Doctor realises he is a reasonable and sensible man and this is a great piece of characterisation by David Whittaker. 

Even down to the single episode appearance of Reg Lye as Griffin the Cook! Oh boy this man is wonderful as the eccentric and freely outspoken cook. He is an absolute delight to watch and he has some very funny one liners. It's a shame he wasn't in a bit more of the story actually as that would have been brilliant. But part three strikes a great level of humour because of this man's sublime comedic performance. 

The heart of this story revolves around the people who have been callously used by the manipulative Salamander and Giles Kent. Bill Kerr is absolutely superb as Giles; in that we truly believe he is a goodie until he reveals his true colours and we see him for the devious and treacherous snake he is. He gives Kent the perfect amount of believability so he does not just become a 2D character. And the way he is then just discarded by Salamander is a wonderful touch of the double cross towards the climax of the story. 

And then what of the inevitable meeting of both Patrick's characters? Well, let's just say the final scene in the TARDIS does not disappoint. In fact, the scene is phenomenally well done, Barry Letts must be mentioned for his superb grasp of suspenseful direction in this story. The two Pat's in one frame is a brilliant moment where Pat shows both sides of his superb grasp of character acting. And the end for Salamander is actually rather nasty as he basically seals his own fate by accidentally starting the TARDIS without closing the doors. It's a sensational ending to a brilliantly written and superb story. 

David Whittaker was the Robert Holmes of the sixties for Doctor Who. His every story was packed with brilliance and a grasp of storytelling genius and character building that set him apart from most other writers of the era. The Enemy of the World is one of the many jewels in his sumptuous crown and I for one am so thrilled that this story can now be enjoyed in full on screen. It's a delightful treat I never thought I would be able to be blessed by. The Enemy of the World is a sensational find for fans, and it stands as one of the best monster-less (except for human monsters) episodes of the show ever in its long and wonderful history.

 

Who Reviews The Web of Fear by Matt Rabjohns

 
It is little wonder that Douglas Camfield is renowned as one of the finest directors ever to grace Doctor Who with his presence. And if you ever needed a story to affirm all the myriad reasons of why this is the case then the Web of Fear is definitely it. Douglas is at the apex of his directorial brilliance in this story. The whole feel of the story is extremely claustrophobic. There genuinely is an air of palpable menace about the dank underground tunnels and the confined army outpost battling against the Great Intelligence and its robot Yeti. 

The story opens with one of the best scenes of Doctor Who ever. The officious and aloof Julius Silverstein is in heated debate with Professor Travers. His daughter Anne arrives and then the sparks fly between the two old men. The yeti the Professor brought back from Tibet has been harmless for over 30 years but the Professor in his misguided fooling around has reactivated a control unit and re-established a link to Earth for the Great Intelligence. So, for once we are treated to just a normal human being the reason for the pandemonium that unfolds and not the Doctor himself! It's a nice change! The more level headed Anne convinces her father to come home with her and search for the missing control unit, and Julius makes sure they leave. Then comes the superbly directed minute. First we get eerie scoring to underlay the scene, and then the sphere smashes through the window and heads for the Yeti which converts from a Mark 1 to a Mark 2 in one of the all-time classic moments of the show, and then the ill-fated Silverstein sees his folly as the Yeti clubs him to the ground with a harsh roar! 

This is only the beginning of the superb story too. Also, this story boasts the first appearance of Nick Courtney as Colonel soon to be Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. It's a crying shame the single remaining lost episode is the one in which the Colonel first appears, so fans have been denied the chance to see the actual introduction of one of the best characters the show ever boasted. Nick too is immediately impressive as the sceptical, but not unreasonable Colonel. Also, Ralph Watson as Captain Knight is yet another superb piece of casting, as Ralph has some great scenes together with Nick Courtney and Patrick Troughton. 

One special and eerie scene is where the two army men beg the Doctor to tell them what the Intelligence exactly is. In a brilliant piece of in close filming, we see Patrick Troughton perfectly deliver an eerie description of what the Intelligence is. This is yet another stark example of Douglas's attention to detail in getting the very best out of a tense scene. 

Jack Watling too is just so amusing and wonderful as the dotty and slightly absent-minded Professor Travers. He first played the Professor in the Abominable Snowmen, but his character was harder and younger then but now he is softer and dottier and funnier. The scenes of when he is first ushered into the headquarters is utterly brilliant. The way he berates the TV Journalist is priceless. One must also of course mention that Jack is the father of Deborah Watling, who plays the brilliant Victoria in the story of course! It's great to see two members of one family sharing the same brilliant level of acting prowess. Both Jack and Deborah shine in The Web of Fear. 

Jack Woolgar as Staff Sergeant Arnold too is wonderfully nuanced in his performance. He plays the Staff Sergeant to utter perfection and helps make the story even more brilliant because of his amazing turn of performing. 

Another character who I really like too is Tina Packer as Anne Travers. I love how in the first scenes of her she is rather aloof and prissy, and slowly as the story goes on, she becomes more and more fearful and unsettled and then we see a more vulnerable side to her character which I find a brilliant way to play the character. At first you don't really like her much, but as the story progresses and she becomes a bit frailer and more human Tina is an award winner! 

The set design too of the Web of Fear is totally authentic and superb. The London Underground has never been shown so realistically with sets before. Well it's to the credit of the designers that the London Underground contacted the BBC to complain that they had gone down to the underground without permission to record, when of course they hadn't done any such thing at all. Scenes of web hanging everywhere and pulsating foam moving along the tunnels makes for a definitely tense feel to the action right from the start. 

Also, there is the magnificently shot scene of the army engaging with the Yeti. This scene is Douglas Camfield in his absolute element. The action is brilliant and the bullets fly but the implacable Yeti still keep on coming and in the end only the Colonel is left and has to retreat. This is a scene that would inspire similar scenes in the years to come with Cybermen and Autons instead being the menace! But the Yeti in this scene are mean and deadly. 

Then we come to the finale. The Doctor's plan has been to cross the wires on the unit meant to drain all knowledge from him so it actually drains the Intelligence instead. But his friends and companions are sadly rather lacking in sense and pay no heed to his warnings as they basically, disrupt his plans and all that happens is the Intelligence is cut off from the Earth, and not drained. The Doctor's irate tirade of snapping at everyone, even Jamie is a great and really different end to a Doctor Who serial for a change. So, the Doctor is annoyed that he has not seen off the Intelligence for good and there is the creepy chance the Great Intelligence will get to try again later to deal with the Earth and its defiant people. 

So, all in all The Web of Fear is a superb slice of Doctor Who. It has it all. Tension, creepiness, perfect pacing and some superb characterisation indeed! It is indeed nothing short of an absolute treat that almost all of the story was recently rediscovered and returned to the BBC! It's one hundred percent incredible! 

Who Reviews The Wheel in Space by Matt Rabjohns

 
The Wheel in Space always seems to be left overshadowed by the three other Cyberman stories of the Patrick Troughton era. One can expect this with the quality of Tomb of the Cybermen and the epic Invasion, but that doesn't mean that The Wheel in Space is a story to forget and pass over. In my book, you want to do the exact opposite with this story. 

The Wheel in Space contains everything that makes a story a classic. First it has an extremely distinctive use of soundscapes and effects that at times are really creepy and they add a huge amount of atmosphere to a claustrophobic story. The moments when the Cybermat pods begin to float away from the Silver Carrier towards the Wheel is enhanced by some great use of space age sound clips that truly gives the feel that this story is set in deep space, where no one can hear you scream! It's a very effective use of sound within this story. 

Secondly The Wheel In Space can't just be overlooked because it is the introductory story of one of the best companions to ever grace the show. Wendy Padbury's Zoe just clicked into place with Pat Troughton and Frazer Hines like she had already been playing the character for a couple of years! She has an amusing cheekiness, but also, she gives her somewhat know all character a streak of pathos in that she has scenes where she admits she wants to feel things to and not stay like a programmed machine. It makes her a believable and really likeable character, despite her sometimes hot-headedness when becoming smug with her advanced knowledge of other things in space. 

Thirdly the rest of the cast of this story is superbly placed. Every character is excellent and they all make the brew heady and engaging. 

In particular, Anne Ridler as Dr Gemma Corwyn is sensitively portrayed. She is a woman displayed with a good sensible head on her shoulders and it is sad that she has to fall victim to the Cybermen later in the story. Her interaction with Michael Turner's Jarvis Bennett too makes you think maybe there could be a relationship there underneath all the uneasy bickering and Jarvis's nervous and reckless state of mind. Michael's performance is never less than credible and believable, so much so that it is also sad to see him finally break and go to find the body of Gemma and he loses his life to a Cyberman whom he tries to tackle with his bare hands! 

There is also a lot of great and playful interaction between Eric Flynn's Leo Ryan and Clare Jenkins' Tanya Lernov. And Tanya also has her head screwed on as she is quick to sense something very very wrong with the situation of when the Wheel locates the Silver Carrier rocket ship. All the main characters seem to be fully formed and work so well together to make it totally believable they are the crew of an advanced space wheel. 

There are frequent superb scenes with the Cybermats too. In Tomb of the Cybermen they were perhaps just a tad cute, but here their eyes are set up to flash, and they look creepy as they home in on the terrified Kemel Rudkin in a brilliantly directed and acted scene where the man is cornered by several of the Mind attacking metal rodents. Honestly Kevork Malikyan's role is very small, but he gives a superb performance of open fear at his dilemma when faced with the nasty metal freaks. It's enough of a brilliant performance to ensure that this is a classic scene if ever there was one. 

The other superb scene is the Doctor's showdown with the two Cybermen in the power room. This is absolutely one of the most awesome scenes of Doctor Who I’ve ever seen, where the Doctor is actually skilfully devious is wheedling out the Cyberman's plan whilst knowing they will soon fall into his electric trap. This scene always will be one of my very favourite scenes of Pat Troughton's Doctor. 

In this story too there is one aspect that makes this story, at least for me, the finest Cyberman story ever on TV in the show. And the reason why is simple. The Cybermen here are mostly silent, they don't talk all the time. For me, the fearful height and look of a blank faced Cybernetic Horror is all the more unsettling when they do not talk much. And in The Wheel In Space there are several scenes where the massive Cybermen slip silently into view and don't speak a word before striking some poor man down. This for me makes the Cybermen far more chilling. Not that their voices in this story too aren't excellent, because they are really brilliant in this story. It's just the tower of a shadowy leviathan with a strange metal parody of a human face is even more freaksville when it is silent and looming. And The Wheel in Space utilised this aspect of creepiness of the Mondasians to perfection. No other Cyberman story ever has them being as downright menacing and formidable as they are here. 

So, in summation, the Wheel in Space is a superb piece of Doctor Who storytelling. It made meander sometimes and get a tad confusing in its scripting in places, but overall, it is extremely strong and a really decent season closer. To me the fifth season of the show couldn't have been ended any finer than it was with The Wheel in Space. 

Top this all off with a phenomenal performance by lead man and best Doctor ever Patrick Troughton and you have all the ingredients of yet another corker of a Cyberman story. Brilliant and wonderful space age stuff.

Beyond The TARDIS Patrick Troughton The First Robin Hood by Mickie Newton

17^th March – 21^st April1953

Whilst I was doing some research for my monthly column, Gadgets and Gizmo’s and looking for suitable items from 1953, due to the episode of focus 'Out of Time', I stumbled on this little gem and so decided I really should write something.

To most Whovian's Patrick Troughton will always be remembered as the man who had the daunting job of taking over from the very first Doctor, William Hartnell, back in 1966. Patrick took the bull by the horns, as it were, and played one of the most loved Doctors of the classic series, and also the favourite of the 11^th Doctor, Matt Smith. But just over 10 years previous to William Hartnell playing the first Doctor, Patrick was making his own  mark as televisions first Robin Hood.

Written by Max Kester, Robin Hood was a drama shown over 6 weeks. Each episode was 30 minutes long and was broadcast live from the Gaumont-British Studios in Lime Grove, London. Today such a show is seen as a challenge for the cast and crew and is rarely ever done. Back in the 1950's live shows were the norm. Though by this point the BBC had been experimenting with a new monitor that had been adapted to record anything that was being televised. Unfortunately only episode 02 of Robin Hood, The Abbot of St Mary's has survived.

Patrick was ideal for the role of Robin Hood as he was an expert swordsman and an extremely versatile actor. And Patrick, though the first Troughton to appear in Robin Hood, he was most certainly not the last. From 2006-2009 a certain Sam Troughton played the role of Much (Robin’s man servant) in a new BBC adaptation of the Robin Hood stories. Sam is Patrick's grandson and the son of David Troughton, who has also appeared in a number of Doctor Who episodes, both classic Who and new Who, but notably never with his father Patrick.

I did manage to find a very brief clip of Patrick as Robin Hood. So I thought it would be nice to share this with you all. Here's a link to the YouTube page:

http://tinyurl.com/PatrickAsRobinHoodYOUTUBE

It's also interesting to note that Patrick wasn't the only Robin Hood cast member to appear in Doctor Who, though he was the only one to play the Doctor. Below is a list of Robin Hood actors who appeared in the classic Doctor Who. Enjoy!

John Breslin (1929-2009)

played Alan a Dale in Robin Hood

Doctor Who:

1970 Spearhead from Space As Captain Munro in 4 episodes

Dudley Jones (1914 -1990)

played Much in Robin Hood

Doctor Who:

1966The Tenth Planet as Dyson 4 episodes

Leonard Sachs (1909–1990)

played Sir Gilbert in Robin hood

Doctor Who:

1966 as Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in 3 episodes:

Bell of Doom

Priest of Death

The Sea Beggar

1983 Arc of Infinity as Lord President Borusa in 4 episodes

Whovian trivia about Leonard:

He was a possibility for the role of of Marcus Scarman in the episode Pyramids of Mars in 1963. This role was eventually played by Bernard Archard.

His role as Lord President Borusa in the 4 part story, Arc Of Infinity, was his final television role before his death in 1990.

Leslie French (1904–1999)

role uncredited in Robin Hood

Doctor Who:

1988 Silver Nemesis Part 1 as Mathematician

Source Links:

Patrick Troughton

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873743/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

Sam Troughton

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873744/

John Breslin

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107737/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3

Dudley Jones

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427979/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t4

Leonard Sachs

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0755168/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t18

Leslie French

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0294136/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t26

Robin Hood Information

http://disneysrobin.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/patrick-troughton-as-robin-hood.html

Image Source:

Patrick as Robin Hood

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/imageArchive/images/10301_gall_002.jpg

Patrick, dressed as Robin,  with young children (publicity Shot)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElCO6Q00SmOuWGsGaR0UpJtlxLWtsjYQCykCPgb6HCaLRib-LwGU1h7HxELEQeTn0OVqWsZgHIA9OTgjKLlA6LNcePr6EnwtZhr-uUD7p463DTq8HBUJ63idQC7IDahBDxyG2JUleg1g/s1600/3426851.jpg

Sam Troughton played Much in BBC Ones Robin Hood 2006-2009

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3XoPHeQWp7RCbq3BSnaa4BJDhm_WKkSs-VjoiPdiWL6xVhiClPCTMIWbddsqtutIlkJP1ba7hxb8Wlby7NTpImsde5Ro1LDG95A9m3ektKE4ToWft6RxQCrqKZpdIgPHeH4VeNfGd7E/s400/robin_hood_21_400x300.jpg