Previously: The Enemy of the World, episode 1…

The Doctor’s rushed ruse proves to be effective, and he agrees to discover more about Salamander.  He wants to prove to himself that Salamander is as bad as he’s painted before he’s ready to take any provocative action. Astrid already has a plan underway to infiltrate Salamander’s organisation, and she adapts this for Jamie and Victoria.

Bruce is suspicious of “Salamander” not being in the Central European Zone as scheduled, but doesn’t get far in his investigation.  Later, in the Central European Zone, Jamie rescues the real Salamander from a bomb thanks to some clever trickery by Astrid.  This prompts Salamander into giving Jamie a job, and his “girlfriend” Victoria.

Meanwhile, Salamander is taking over the Central European Zone by making its current leader, Denes, untenable with a prediction of impossible doom.  Denes is sympathetic to Giles Kent’s cause and he secretly meets with Astrid who wants Denes to stall Salamander.  Before he can do so, Salamander secretly blackmails Fedorin, Denes’ second, and his prediction of doom (an exploding volcano) suspiciously does come true.

Salamander intends to use this to prove that Denes let his people suffer despite warnings, and the only person who could have defended him was Fedorin…

Without the location scenes of the previous episode, this episode goes to some effort to utilise some fantastic background projection techniques including clever editing of Jamie approaching Victorian on the park bench, plus Astrid and Denes crouching under the jetty.  This imaginative and innovative method of scene-setting really gives the episode more of an “outdoor” feel and definitely adds to the episode.

The most ambitious, and possibly least successful attempt at this is at the house where Salamander is talking to Denes.  It still feels a lot like the outdoors, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like we’re hundreds of miles away from the previous Australiasian Zone.

The writing sneaks in some clever moments, particularly with Jamie’s “bomb” which helps move things along without getting bogged down in how these things are going to be achieved.  It’s actually quite surprising to assess two episodes in which so much has happened, yet we’re not very far into the story at all.

Next time … The Enemy of the World continues