Synopsis:
Salamander is alarmed at the thought that Bruce may have seen someone who looks just like him with his enemy Giles Kent...
Outside the Kanowa facility, Kent anxiously awaits word from Astrid regarding the attempt to free Alexander Denes. She has managed to get to his office and contacts him from there.
Benik is listening in, but this is anticipated and the call is scrambled. He knows that her call comes from the Australasian Zone and orders it traced.
Astrid has to inform her boss of Denes' death. Kent orders her to remain where she is and he and the Doctor will come to her.
As soon as the call ends, there is a knock at the door. It is Fariah.
Astrid at first suspects she has been sent by Salamander but she reveals that she has come of her own volition to see Kent - as she has information he may find useful about her hated employer.
Benik is informed that Astrid was seen entering the building containing Kent's office as it has been under surveillance, and a security guard further reports that Fariah has just followed her inside.
He orders the building surrounded, then prepares to go there himself.
The Doctor and Kent soon arrive at the office and the former is alarmed to learn of the capture of Jamie and Victoria. He is told that they will have been sent to Kanowa for questioning.
Fariah reveals that she was blackmailed into working for Salamander, but now wants to see him toppled. Kent is suspicious that she did not act sooner, but she reveals that she has only just obtained the evidence she needed. Salamander hides his crimes too well, but she has managed to get hold of the late Fedorin's dossier.
The Doctor begins to look through it - unaware that Benik's men are taking up positions all around the building. Benik arrives and orders them to converge on the office, situated on the second floor. They are to shoot on sight.
The Doctor still doesn't believe there to be enough evidence against Salamander and is suspicious as to Kent's motives in getting him to impersonate the would-be tyrant. He thinks that he may actually wish him to kill him, rather than simply find proof of guilt.
Kent states that if the Doctor will not help him then he will refuse to help free Jamie and Victoria.
Fariah is watching the street from the window and alerts them that security guards are approaching.
The only possible escape route is through a ventilation shaft. They rush from the room, but Fariah delays to go back for the dossier. One she has gone, Astrid remains behind to give the others time to escape before fleeing herself.
Fariah becomes separated from the others and a guard shoots her as she tries to run. Benik tries to get her to talk - especially about the unknown man seen with Kent and Astrid. She dies cursing him but without telling him anything. He is at least able to retrieve the dossier from her, though the others have flown.
Back at the research facility, Salamander is angry that Benik has failed, whilst Bruce is unhappy that his actions have led to Fariah's death. Salamander accuses Kent of organising a rebel group, though Bruce points out that he hasn't done anything which would warrant his arrest.
As they are about to leave him, Salamander orders that he is to be left undisturbed in the records room, which he often spends time in. He locks himself in.
Operating a control, a secret panel slides open to reveal a deep shaft - and a capsule big enough to contain a man. After getting inside he operates more controls and the capsule hurtles down the shaft.
Bruce is unhappy that Salamander is incommunicado whilst in the records room, worried about how to contact him in an emergency.
Deep below the research facility is a bunker complex, occupied by a dozen or so men and women. Salamander emerges from the capsule into a small office, where he changes into a dusty boiler suit. The people in the main chamber of the bunker hear an alarm and know that he has arrived. When he emerges from the office he insists on passing through a decontamination chamber, as a Geiger-counter registers a dangerous amount of radiation.
He is then met by a man named Swann, as well as a young couple named Colin and Mary. Swann is in charge here. Colin has been growing increasingly frustrated by their subterranean existence - they have been here for almost five years - and wants to see what life is like on the surface, despite the dangers Salamander describes.
It transpires that Salamander has been tricking these people into believing that the surface has been destroyed by nuclear war. They must stay here, safe, whilst he forages for supplies for them - returning every few weeks. As the war continues, these people have been tasked with creating natural disasters as a way of fighting back against their enemies.
Salamander talks Colin out of wanting to return to the surface with him on this occasion.
The Doctor and Kent have returned to the trailer next to the facility, along with Astrid. They are unaware of Fariah's fate. Assisted by Astrid, the Doctor is getting ready to disguise himself as Salamander when they hear someone approach, and think it may be her.
The trailer door opens, but in walks Bruce...
Data:
Written by David Whitaker
Recorded: Saturday 23rd December 1967 - Lime Grove Studio D
First broadcast: 5.25pm, Saturday 13th January 1968
Ratings:7.8 million / AI 49
Designer: Christopher Pemsel
Director: Barry Letts
Additional cast: Christopher Burgess (Swann), Adam Verney (Colin), Margaret Hickey (Mary), Andrew Staines (Benik's Sergeant), Elliot Cairnes (Guard Captain)
Critique:
In an early version of this episode, it was revealed that Salamander had caused the deaths of Fariah's brothers. No explanation for her hatred of him, and what he did to blackmail her, appears on screen. The fact that it remains unsaid has led some fans to believe that it may have been of a sexual nature.
As previously mentioned, there was no further part to play for Astrid after this episode, which prompted Mary Peach to consider pulling out of the production. Barry Letts had to rewrite sections of the final two instalments to include the character in order to appease her.
Filming for this episode centred around the location for Kent's office building. This was a BBC property - Villiers House - which was then home to BBC Enterprises. This took place over the course of Thursday 9th and Friday 10th November, and included the overhead shots of the security guards moving in on the back of the building - plus a passing woman with pram. The shots of Jamie walking in the park from Episode Two were also filmed on the Thursday as the crew were in the West London area.
The other filming for this instalment took place at Ealing on Monday 13th November, for the sequence in which Salamander reveals the travel capsule and climbs aboard.
The model work of the capsule descending the shaft had been filmed two days before.
Joining the cast this week were Christopher Burgess as Swann, who would go on to appear on two further occasions in the series - all directed by Letts (see below). Also in the cast as a security man was Andrew Staines, who would also reappear in Letts-directed stories. He was the director's nephew, and we'll have something to say about nepotism in this production next time.
Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling were absent from this week's recording as they were on holiday, whilst Troughton was unhappy at the little time he was going to have off over the festive season. After their initial disagreements he and Letts had renewed their old friendship and the actor confided in the director this unhappiness with the production schedule. Letts made some suggestions which might alleviate his concerns, thought they would not be introduced until Troughton was ready to relinquish the role, and it would be Letts himself who would benefit most from their discussions when he later became producer on the show.
Letts had been requesting more studio time due to the technically complex nature of the programme of the programme and this was finally granted. Recording for this and the next episode would run from 8.15 to 10pm.
This evening they had to fit in the short Episode Two sequence where the Doctor and Kent listened to Astrid's report on her meeting with Denes, as it required the office set (pictured above) and Troughton in Doctor costume and make-up. Troughton would play all of his scenes as the Doctor in the first half of the evening's studio.
Only 20 seconds of the reprise from Episode Three was used to open this week's instalment.
The records room set contained a life-size capsule designed to replicate the model version. This could be pivoted to stand horizontally or vertically and allow Troughton to climb inside.
Both this set and the office had small monitors for the characters to communicate with - Kent with Astrid and Benik with his Guard Captain.
The first recording break of the evening allowed Troughton and Kerr to move from the trailer set to the office one.
Stunt performer Bob Anderson played the security guard involved in the fight with Astrid after he had climbed in through a window.
The second recording break allowed Milton Johns, Andrew Staines and Elliot Cairnes to move to a small exterior wall set, for the sequence with the fatally wounded Fariah.
Once all the office sequences had been recorded, a further break allowed Troughton to change into his Salamander costume / make-up.
As with Episode Three, Christopher Pemsel designed a single corridor which could be used for multiple set-ups at the research facility. This again necessitated frequent pauses to allow actors to be seen standing or walking along it from different directions.
Other than the records room, the main new sets were the principal underground shelter area and the small side-office. Sound effects provided the Geiger-counter readings.
As he was playing the Doctor in disguise, the final scene in the trailer meant Troughton could retain his Salamander outfit. A portrait shot of the character had been prepared earlier, for the Doctor and Astrid to be copying.
One of the things about missing episodes, even when we have the soundtrack and telesnaps, is that there is always a lot we can never see. John Cura took photographs roughly every 20 - 30 seconds, which meant about 50 - 60 images per programme (producers could pay more to get more), so some short scenes could easily be missed altogether.
When this story was recovered in 2013 there was one little sequence, inconsequential to the plot, which caught people's attention. It was just as Benik's men close in on the building hosting Kent's office. We see a lady pushing a pram, almost getting caught up in dangerous events. It's hardly Battleship Potemkin, but it stands out for its ordinariness - taking us back to what Whitaker was trying to do in the previous episode with Griffin.
Like I said, absolutely nothing to do with the story and not even in the script, but it's there for all to see now. Barry Letts was often overlooked as a director, but he could sometimes surprise.
This week we get a more action-orientated episode, and it's the one where the spy-fi trappings are first introduced. Salamander has a secret base under his research facility, and it is from here that the natural disasters plaguing the globe are orchestrated. He's not just bumping off the odd person and blackmailing others, he's committing mass murder on a global scale - so shaping up to be more of a Bond-style villain.
Unfortunately, we never do get to learn just how this small band of people can trigger volcanic eruptions in Hungary when they are based in Australia. The "Mark VII Sun-Catcher" satellite was mentioned back in Episode One, though never again, and the implication (or simply fan-theory) has always been that this might in some way be responsible - but we just never find out.
The Doctor has been quite a frustrating figure in this story up to now. Whilst we get to see first-hand Salamander's villainy, he is obviously oblivious to this - but in the past he has jumped in, with very little encouragement to do so ever needed. This is certainly a different Doctor to the one who would gleefully sabotage a colony's power supply then do a runner, or who would allow a bunch of bungling archaeologists to reanimate the Cybermen just to see what happened next.
He finally makes the decision to get involved here - but only because Jamie and Victoria are now under threat - not because it is the right thing to do. If he really was reluctant to take action against Salamander without evidence, why did he not impersonate him a lot sooner and find out for himself?
- The ratings are see-sawing for this story, with a 0.7 million rise on the previous week. There is also a slight improvement in the appreciation figure.
- News of Innes Lloyd's departure from the series came on Thursday 11th January. It was announced that he would be taking over BBC 2's Thirty Minute Theatre.
- Christopher Burgess' two other appearances are as Professor Philips in Terror of the Autons, and as Barnes in Planet of the Spiders.
- Andrew Staines also features in the latter story as a fellow member of Lupton's group, as well as appearing as the Captain of the SS Bernice in Carnival of Monsters, and as Goodge in the Auton sequel.
- Staines had been a late substitute for another actor, future Australian soap star Terence Donovan - Jason's dad.
- Colin was given the surname Redmayne in the script, though it was never mentioned on screen. Fariah had the surname Neguib or Neguid - again never stated.
- Adam Verney's career seems to have been mostly in theatre as he has very little TV work listed after the early 1970's. He does give a rather mannered, theatrical performance here as young Colin.
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