Inferno

This one is the classic Doctor Who story where the nature of time travel and “slipping side-ways to parallel universes are explored in a new and interesting way. The regular cast enthusiastically does a great job with their alter-egos on the alternative earth and points out the question about how different we’d be if our situation was very different. The story does the rare feat of sustaining itself over all 7 episodes. As each episode ends I find my self wanting to see the next one right away. 

This probably works as well as it does because the episodes set on the parallel earth works effectively as a story within the story. Inferno reminds me of the excellent Quatermass serials. The basic premise is that there is a project to drill all of the way through the earth’s crust but that would unleash unforeseen dangers. One danger is the green ooze that transforms people into monsters. The 2^nd is that penetrating the crust will cause volcanic eruptions that would destroy the world. It works dramatically as a moral story warning us not to tread on where we do not understand the consequences of our actions. 

That there can be serious consequences to our actions was a new and important idea that wasn’t dealt with by society prior to the 1970s.

It seems kind of odd to me when I realized that I have no problem with green ooze turning people into monsters but that drilling through the crust could destroy the earth seems silly. H.G. Wells believed that a science fiction story can contain a small number of places where the audience would need to suspend their beliefs without an explanation. For example the audience will accept that there are alien worlds and that they can be visited with a time and space machine without the need to explain how the machine works or evidence that life exists on other worlds. However Wells understood that you can’t expect the audience to do this too often so you need to explain them with science or technobabble. So I accept without an explanation that there is an ooze that we don’t know about that if touched turns people into monsters. 

It’s silly but I don’t need an explanation for this plot devise. However a hole in the ground resulting in the volcanic destruction of the entire earth needs an explanation because I know that it just isn’t possible. 

If it was the case, then instead of nuclear bombs, we could use drills as a doomsday devise. Who needs to develop expensive WMDs when all that you need is oil drilling equipment to hold the world hostage. But if you get passed this then you’ll enjoy a wonderfully crafted story.

One highlight is that they do an excellent job of building tension throughout all 7 episodes. The pace is masterful and allows the story to get more exciting as it goes on. I got the feeling that literally anything bad can happen in the final scenes on the doomed parallel earth. The contrast between the solution on the Orwellian alternate world and the solution on our world makes a strong point about the evils of fascism.

The visuals on the DVD hold up pretty well and the story seemed fresh to me. The monsters aren’t great looking but they are a small part of the story and they sufficiently show that the infected people aren’t quite human any more.

Inferno has long been cited by many fans as being one of the best examples of Doctor Who. In my opinion it is a top 20 story and probably the best of the Pertwee years. In addition I would highly recommend this as a good story for a newbie to classic Doctor Who.

*** Ѕ out of four