Normally, watching this many six-parters in a row would be doing my head in, but with serials like this one I really have no cause to complain. As usual, David Whitaker's episodes prove to be some of my favorites. Taking on the form of a sort of political/spy thriller, this serial is very much not of a kind with his previous contributions to the series, but no less good.
As long as we are talking about the show's staff, this marks the end of Innes Lloyd's tenure as producer for the program. More than anything else, Lloyd deserves acknowledgement for the safe pair of hands he has offered the program during the transition from Hartnell's era to Troughton's. His producership has been a capable one, and we'll be sorry to see him go. At a higher level, Sydney Newman likewise moved on from his role as Head of Drama during the broadcast of this serial. Newman's contribution to the early history of the program needs little explanation. It is, however, amusing to note by the end of 1967, just how much the show had already diverged from his original proposal. In four short years we've come a very long way from Shoreditch!
And in case all this wasn't enough, this serial also marks the first contribution of Barry Letts to the program, here as director. It's a very convincing first outing. There are many memorable shots here, particularly in Episode One, and all throughout the story there's some very nice action sequences. I can sort of see the beginnings of the action show we'd get in the Pertwee years here. Some credit must also go to whoever picked out the rather dramatic orchestral score for this serial. It's not original, but it is exceptionally fitting.
I confess, it's not perfect. There are some deficiencies in the plot. The most damaging one for me is that the promised premise of the Doctor posing as Salamander doesn't happen nearly as often as it should, only toward the start and end of the story. It's an interesting conceit, just a shame it gets underused. This is coupled with the Doctor's rather bewildering refusal to get involved until later in the serial. This is probably to do with Troughton spending that time getting Salamander established, but it's still a head scratcher. The ending is also quite abrupt, and I was a bit shocked when the final episode simply concluded with Salamander still going tumbling out of the TARDIS. What happened next? It takes the recurring issue of the Doctor not really sticking around after overthrowing an evil regime to a new level! I feel like it loses the plot a bit once Salamander's scenes shift to the underground bunker as well, since we lose perspective on what's happening on the surface with the disasters.
All this being said, none of these scripting issues actually damage my enjoyment of this story. It still stayed entertaining all the way through. As is usual with a Whitaker script, there are some memorable side characters. I was especially partial to Astrid and Fariah, although I wish the latter had stuck around a bit longer. Some special mention must also go to the chef, Griffin, whose dark sense of humor got a few chuckles out of me. Salamander himself is a fine villain. It's neat seeing Troughton get to play an antagonist for once, and you can tell that he enjoys it. The near-future world is sketched in an interesting way; I had a little chuckle at that 2018 warranty sticker on the helicopter. The action is welcome, the twists and turns of the political storyline kept me intrigued, and the dialogue is spot on. ("Which law? Whose philosophy?" Once again I'm enamored with Whitaker's grasp of the Doctor as a character.)
The twin twists in the later acts of the story - Salamander's plot to control the scientists he's kept underground and Giles Kent's betrayal - are successful ones, as far as I am concerned. The first twist was spoiled to me, but the second one was not. I gasped a little when Kent pulled a gun on the Doctor! And while I saw the first coming, it is still an appropriately monstrous thing for Salamander to do, and it puts his actions on the world stage into a greater context.
I can't really see this story being done in any other era of Doctor Who, can you? Maybe early in the Pertwee years, but anytime else would be a stretch. It fits well with Troughton's "trickster" Doctor, while continuing the conscious sociological themes that have marked the early part of his era so far. That is one of the markers of this story's success, I think. For all that there isn't any story quite like it during Troughton's run, it's still such a classic that it's emblematic of the era just the same. Its messages about the kind of lies and villainy that populist dictators will commit are just as pertinent now as they were then, and I think that's all I have to say on that subject...
Before the next serial, the lads from Liverpool need an encore, so here comes the 1967 music post.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 8 March 2021.)
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