'Doctor Who: Inferno' (1970)


Hello everyone, it's time again for another 'it's been a hell of a week so it's long past time for a bit of a lie down and watching some Doctor Who' post. Today sees us go back to 1970 and 'Inferno', a story that freaked me right out when I read the novelisation in high school. Hopefully that wasn't just me and you'll see why as we go further into this post... I'd never seen 'Inferno' until this morning when the music from downstairs woke me up, far earlier than I wanted, and I thought that I may as well get started with this. Seven episodes later and wow... That was one of the most intense Doctor Who stories that I've ever seen.

Still chafing at his exile to the planet Earth, the Doctor is called in to observe the Inferno drilling experiment of Professor Stahlman. Stahlman's search for a new form of energy goes horribly wrong when a green slime emitted from the drill site transforms any who come into contact with it into primeval monsters. Meanwhile, after experimenting with the TARDIS console, the Doctor finds himself transported sideways in time to a parallel version of the Earth, where the Brigadier is an eyepatch-wearing fascist and Stahlman's experiments threaten to destroy the world...

The thing that really unsettled me, reading the book, was its depiction of people regressing to a primal state. That and the bit, right at the end, where a massive tidal wave of lava rolls over the drilling complex (give me a break, I was ten...) While you don't really get a lot of the former in the tv version (there's only so much you can tell on a screen), the latter is shown to great effect; especially for those few seconds where you're not sure if the Doctor escaped... Of course, he does but those few seconds where you're not sure...

On the whole, 'Inferno' is nothing less than gripping the whole way through. There's not as many monsters as I would have liked but there's no denyiyg the story's main strength here, ratcheting up the tension for the viewer. We all know what the stakes are and that's how I was able to watch all seven episodes, this morning, without even realising. It's good to see an series of 'old Doctor Who' that knows it weaknesses ('special' effects...) and chooses to play to its strengths instead. The beauty of the parallel universe bits is that we get to see what could ultimately happen... but it all happens to someone else so it's ok, right? Well, half and half, Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John are chilling in their alternate roles, a real change from what we normally see in the Brigadier and Liz Shaw, but when they realise what's about to happen to their world, you can't help but feel for them a little bit. Olaf Pooley's Stahlman is power crazed, no matter universe you see him in. Jon Pertwee is full of Venusian akido when you least expect it and has all the gravitas needed to be the Doctor. I'll be honest and say that I haven't seen an awful lot of Jon Pertwee's Doctor but I like to see how different actors make the part their own and Pertwee goes for a 'slightly refined but ready to pull some martial arts on you' approach that seems to work because it's completely dfferent from how either of the preceding Doctors were. I like that.

I'd normally say that Doctor Who is fun to watch but 'Inferno' wasn't; it's compelling viewing but ultimately pretty bleak and very tense. Glad I watched it though, 'Doctor Who' doesn't need to be family friendly all the time and this made a real change in that respect. Definitely watch it if you haven't already.

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