Some more Troughton write-ups I've been sitting on.
The Enemy of the World
Maybe not anyone's first choice for a recovered previously-missing serial, and perhaps the weakest of the Troughton episodes I've seen thus far, but it's an interesting sort of digression from this era's usual fare, which was much more focused on base-under-siege plots and alien monster attacks. This story doesn't have any of that. Instead, it's set in a near-future Earth, where a would-be dictator named Salamander (also played by Troughton!) is manipulating environmental disasters to accumulate political power, and is confronted by a band of resistance fighters who see through his plot. The Doctor and co. get roped into it, largely because of the Doctor's identical resemblance to Salamader. It's a pretty interesting premise, and has more of a 60s Mission Impossible/Avengers/James Bond secret agent-y feel than typical Doctor Who stories.
It's at least two episodes too long, though, and the pace can be glacial at times. Also, while it's neat to see Troughton play a villain -- who has some killer moments and a genuinely interesting plot twist -- it ends up sidelining the Doctor a lot, and the two only get to face each other in literally the last two minutes of the final episode (but it's a great scene!). All the padding brings it down a bit for me, but it's a unique story choice for 60s Who and an interesting curio of the times. And the restoration team did fantastic work on this - the picture quality is great!
The Web of Fear
The other missing serial recovered and released alongside The Enemy of the World (though episode 3 is still MIA), this one is much more typical Troughton fare -- the Doctor and co. are trapped in the London subway tunnels and surrounded on all sides by robotic Yeti -- but also a more exciting and faster paced. This serial is notable for being the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart, here as a pre-UNIT colonel. There's a surprisingly robust looking shootout scene between the colonel and his men and the Yeti. Between that and just the look of the tunnels, the production values on this serial look notably better than other episodes.
The Mind Robber
Based on the premise alone, I was expecting not to really like this one -- the Doctor in imagination land, surrounded by fictional characters, just seemed too weird and potentially too kid-friendly. Man, was I wrong. This is the best Troughton episode I've seen by far! The first episode might be the single best-directed episode of classic Who thus far, but really the direction across the whole serial is very strong and way above average, making a lot out of very little. The fictional characters are woven in very nicely, the dialogue is unusually sharp and witty (resembling more modern Who really), the episodes move along at a strong clip, feeling better paced at five episodes than other serials do at four, and Troughton gives one of his best performances. From the delivery of his banter to his physical mannerisms, he's at the top of his game here. This is also the first episode I've seen with new companion Zoe, who already kicks ass.
More like an episode of The Prisoner than Doctor Who, The Mind Robber is a trippy but stylish, excellently directed and written story, boasting some of Troughton's finest work on the show. Loved it.
