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Doctor Who: Inferno
01/02/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
DVD Region 2. Pub: BBC BBCDVD 1802. 1 DVD 7 episodes 167 minutes plus extras. Price: £19.99 although can be got for less than £10.97 if you know where to look (UK))stars: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene and assorted guests. Buy Doctor Who Inferno in the USA - or Buy Doctor Who Inferno in the UK  check out website: www.bbcshop.com
Years ago, I was prepping an article about the TARDIS and racking my brains for the story where the console was outside of the police telephone box. In those days, things weren't quite so available as they are today and I was running through the novelisations. I kept dismissing 'Inferno', mostly cos I thought of it as the story with the alternative Earth as opposed to how the Doctor got there. I somewhat discovered different rather too late. For the record, the article although completed, never saw print. Maybe I'll resurrect it here sometime.
Anyway, those who thought the tenth regeneration was the first time that the Doctor visited an alternative Earth need to look at this story. Granted it was traumatic both ways and except for his unusual metabolism, I doubt if humans could have survived the trip.
The third Doctor (actor Jon Pertwee) is with UNIT on the Inferno Project site which is drilling a hole into the Earth's crust as a means to get an alternative energy source. The exiled Time Lord is just there to tap into the nuclear reactor even if he does sort out a few calculations in a few minutes which took Professor Stahlman (actor Olaf Pooley) a couple weeks to do. Stahlman is also one of the people infected by some green goo that the drilling brings to the surface and is slowly metamorphosing into a primoid. Fed up with the Doctor, Stahlman denies him his nuclear source, which Liz Shaw (actress Caroline John) turns back on. A power surge propels the TARDIS console, the Doctor and his car, Bessie, onto a totalitarian Earth which everyone he knows looking and behaving different in this regime. There is no alternative version of the Doctor here and does make you wonder what happened to him. Anyway, the Inferno Project is much further along here. The Doctor is considered a spy and more of the green goo (you can make your own as its really Swarfega) is getting out. Ultimately, he gets the people there on his side, especially thwarting the primords but it is too late for their Earth as he returns to rescue our planet when he realising that here the Earth's crust isn't breached yet.
The audio commentary indicates that the seven part story format was an inheritance from the previous production team that neither producer Barry Letts or story editor Terrance Dicks liked very much. Oddly enough, 'Inferno' actually works rather well with it in terms of how the story is paced out. Director Douglas Camfield was struck ill after recording the outside broadcast and two episodes, leaving Barry Letts to complete the filming based on his notes. Considering how meticulous Camfield was, I have to confess I can't see much difference between the two directors. Mind you, if you're engrossed in the story, then they're doing their job correctly. It's rather interesting that neither Letts or Dicks know quite what to make of the primoids. I suspect scriptwriter Don Houghton did it more to ensure there was some sort of monster in the story. I did wryly wonder if there was any influence from 'Carry On Screaming' because there are certain comparisons in the make-up but that might just be me.
The other extras interview various people about 'Inferno', as well as a look at UNIT and some footage of the model special effects team in action. There's also the usual batches of production photographs, a deleted scene and various archives available through your computer. If you're collecting all things Who, then you should have added this one to your collection by now.
GF Willmetts
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