Yay! I managed to get the steel door liner out!
I actually found instructions for doing this online, but they obviously assume that you can open the door in the first place. It’s much the same for a VW Passat, but if you splashed the extra cash to buy a Passat then the liner is held in using screws whereas the cheap Skoda version uses pop-rivets.
So, having disconnected the window from the mechanism (which is attached to the liner) and taped it closed, I drilled out most of the rivets. All except the ones I couldn’t get a drill on because the seat was in the way. Then out came the Dremel (other multi-tools are available) and I ground those off.
That allowed me to lift out the door liner after removing some of the attached wiring. Didn’t help me open the door though. That remained resolutely locked with no easy way to get at the mechanism to release it, even after I’d cut a few extra holes to allow me to get tools in.
