'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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘Day of Ascension’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

Image
Page Count – 196 Pages There isn’t a lot that’s good about moving house (especially when it slowly dawns on you just how much the new place is going to cost to run, I need to get another job…) but there are some good bits if you look for them. For me, it was mostly around getting all my books unpacked and back on shelves around me again, not stuffed up in the loft where I couldn’t see them. Old favourites were back within easy reach, along with a whole load of new books that I really should have read ages ago. You can probably guess what my main New Year’s resolution will be… ;o) ‘Day of Ascension’ was one of those new books and I figured it was as good a place as any to start over in making a dent in the ol’ TBR Pile. And I’m really glad I did. On the forge world of Morod, the machines never stop and the work never ends. The population toils in the mines and factoria to protect humanity from the monsters in the void, while the Adeptus Mechanicus enjoy lives of palatial comfort. Gene
Read more

‘Worms of the Earth’ – Robert E. Howard.

Image
Page Count: 27 Pages I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here ). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉 I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me… After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at w
Read more

‘Deathworlder’ – Victoria Hayward (Black Library)

Image
Before I get into the review proper, thank you Black Library for sending me a copy of ‘Deathworlder’ in return for a fair and honest review. Talking of ‘fair and honest’… There will be loads of the latter but I enjoyed the hell out of ‘Deathworlder’ so… We’ll see how being fair goes ;o) That’s your only warning, lets talk ‘Deathworlder’… Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed. The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System. Facing insurmountable odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way
Read more