7 Worst Politicians In Doctor Who

Late '60s serial The Enemy Of The World holds up remarkably well today, mainly because it doesn't feature any of the cheap alien costumes or bad special effects that drag down many early Who stories. It's just a grounded and tense political thriller, featuring a powerhouse dual performance by leading man Patrick Troughton.

Set in the 'distant future' of 2018, the Doctor arrives on planet Earth and discovers that he bears a striking resemblance to global dictator Salamander. Publicly, Salamander might come across all nice and sweet - he gives a speech early in the story where he claims to have helped the growth of crops by using "sun catcher" technology - but in reality, he's a nasty piece of work.

We soon learn that Salamander has been murdering officials and replacing them with his own men, in order to increase his global influence. He then has the leader of the Central European Zone killed, just so he can control this part of the world for himself, while also poisoning a man called Fedorin for refusing to take part in his scheming.

All of this would be bad enough, and yet... it gets worse.

As the story unfolds, it's revealed that Salamander has tricked a group of people into hiding away in an underground bunker, telling them that the planet's surface is awash with radiation, and that they must remain isolated in order to stay safe. These people are creating so-called "natural" disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, as a means to defeat "the enemies of truth and freedom", as Salamander puts it.

Salamander killed countless people and was a true force of evil on planet Earth, but thankfully, his reign of terror is brought to an end when he's defeated by the Second Doctor in the closing moments of the serial.