Inferno (Doctor Who)
A parallel world drilling project threatens Earth's destruction.
Inferno is the fourth and final serial of the seventh season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in seven weekly parts on BBC1 from 9 May to 20 June 1970. It is the last Doctor Who story transmitted in seven episodes and the final regular appearance of Caroline John as Liz Shaw. The serial features the Third Doctor transporting himself sideways in time to a parallel world where a drilling project causes catastrophic destruction.
Quick Facts
- Serial name
- Inferno
- Doctor
- Jon Pertwee – Third Doctor
- Companion
- Caroline John – Liz Shaw (1–4,6,7)
- Director
- Douglas Camfield; Barry Letts (episodes 3–7, uncredited)
- Writer
- Don Houghton
- Script editor
- Terrance Dicks
- Producer
- Barry Letts
- Production code
- DDD
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Third Doctor and UNIT investigate a murder at Project Inferno, a drilling project aiming to harness energy from the Earth's core. The drilling produces a green ooze that transforms anyone who touches it into savage Primords, killable only by extreme cold. Project leader Professor Stahlman is unknowingly infected. After a quarrel with Stahlman, the Doctor experiments on the detached TARDIS console and is accidentally transported to a parallel universe. In this fascist republic, the Doctor is captured by the Brigade Leader, a sadistic eyepatch-wearing counterpart of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and by Liz's counterpart, a military officer. When the drill penetrates the crust, it unleashes seismic forces, heat, poisonous gases, and more ooze; Stahlman's counterpart mutates and transforms staff into Primords. The Doctor realizes the planet will disintegrate and persuades survivors to help him return. They restore power to the TARDIS console despite Primord attacks; Liz's counterpart kills the Brigade Leader when he attacks the Doctor. The Doctor escapes as the facility and Britain are destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Back in his own reality, the Doctor's warnings are ignored, but slower drilling allows Stahlman to fully transform into a Primord before the crust is penetrated. The Doctor kills him with a fire extinguisher, stopping the drilling in time. The Doctor attempts to depart but lands in a rubbish dump.
Production
Scriptwriter Don Houghton, a personal friend of script editor Terrance Dicks, conceived the serial based on the real Project Mohole. Budgetary limitations led to the parallel world concept, allowing the same actors and sets to be used for seven episodes instead of four. Letts followed Camfield's plans for episodes 5 and 6 but largely directed the last episode himself. Camfield remained credited because BBC regulations forbade Letts from holding both producer and director credits, and Letts wanted to protect Camfield's career. Stuntman Derek Ware did not perform the fall of his character, the mutated RSF Trooper Wyatt; Roy Scammell, who also played the soldier who fired the fatal shot, performed the stunt. It was the highest fall ever performed by a British stuntman at the time. John Levene's portrayal of Benton as a Primord was inspired by Shakespeare's Richard III due to the creature's hump.
Broadcast and reception
Mark Braxton of Radio Times awarded the serial five stars out of five in 2009, praising its intense atmosphere and cautionary plot but noting the Primords' design and unclear relationship to events. Dave Golder of SFX gave four out of five stars, calling the alternate universe plot the best aspect and the main plot a stylish, action-packed slice of Pertwee Who. DVD Talk's Ian Jane rated it three and a half out of five, praising the cast and production values while noting a slow start. The Daily Telegraph named Inferno one of the ten best Doctor Who episodes in 2008 and again in 2023. Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the sixth episode's cliffhanger as one of the show's greatest. Den of Geek cited the serial for good sound design and music score. A 2009 Doctor Who Magazine fan poll judged it the finest Third Doctor story and 31st overall; a 2014 poll ranked it 18th-greatest of all time.
Commercial releases
A novelisation by Terrance Dicks was published by Target Books in June 1984. The original 625-line PAL videotapes were wiped in the mid 1970s, but BBC Enterprises retained black-and-white film recordings for overseas sales. In 1985, broadcast-quality 525-line NTSC colour videotapes were returned from Canada. Re-conversion to 625-line PAL left the picture blurred and faded on the May 1994 UK VHS release. Episode 7 had previously appeared on the 1992 VHS The Pertwee Years. A special-edition re-release on 27 May 2013 combined colour from the RSC video with luminance from a geometrically-corrected 16mm b/w film remaster, with VidFIRE applied to studio scenes, producing a sharper image. The Canadian videotapes include an additional scene in Episode 5, set in the Brigade Leader's office, where the Doctor, Brigade Leader, and Section Leader Shaw hear a BBC radio news report voiced by Jon Pertwee imitating William Joyce. The scene was cut before UK transmission because Pertwee's voice was too identifiable; it names the area as Eastchester. The scene appears as an extra on DVD releases, with the episode presented as originally transmitted.
More in Television Episodes About Parallel Universes
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