The Enemy of the World - Episode 3

The third episode is the one episode out of the six that existed before the rest were discovered in October and it’s the one that I’ve seen the most so it doesn’t quite have the wow factor that the other five will/have had/have.  The plot continues with Denes’ impending trial and Salamander instantly tries to decide whether Fedorin can be trusted. It was clear that when Fedorin was given the task of poisoning Denes that he wasn’t going to go through with it because he is someone who has a conscience so it was clear that he wasn’t long for this world.

This is another episode where the supporting characters are just as memorable as the regulars. The chef is very funny and is clearly designed to be light relief in what is a relatively dark tone. Every line is delivered brilliantly and I found myself wanting more from him.  Reg Lye almost steals the entire episode even though he’s not in it very much.  George Pravda’s time in the episode ends here which is a shame because he’s a good actor and I would like for him to have been in the story more.

I think that Salamander is becoming a stronger villain. The way at the beginning that he has a hold Fedorin is quite fun to watch and considering that the Doctor doesn’t appear it means that Patrick Troughton can devote his entire time to having fun playing this role. One of my favourite Salamander moments come when Fedorin has died and Salamander states that it was suicide as if it were nothing was made even better because it was Patrick Troughton doing it. I thought that neither Frazer Hines or Deborah Watling were allowed to do anything special in this episode and instead took a back seat (as they should) to Troughton.

Towards the end we have the moment that I’ve been waiting for since the start of episode two where Bruce brings up the fact that the Doctor was with Giles Kent and Salamander doesn’t know anything about it. I think that Bruce is a useful character that pops up and helps move the story along. It’s the first time that I’ve ever felt that the story was stalling. Not completely as I still enjoyed myself but considering that all the episode was in Salamander’s palace or whatever it is, it’s surprising that they manage to do so little and not feel like the worst padding.