Review: Doctor Who Classic: Inferno (Revisited)

The parallel universe offers up interesting new characters.

See here for my previous look at this story.

Doctor Who - Season 7, Story Four - Inferno (Revisited)

While I'm a big fan of the Eighties, I do recognise that there are clear problems in the show's development team. Season Seven is completely and utterly different. The team, used to working on the Sixties era, took the new tech avaliable in the Seventies, added a new Doctor and ran with it, producing what is oft considered one of the show's finest seasons. Inferno is no exception, and regularly appears at the top of best episode polls.
      My first impressions of the serial when I first saw it back in 2010 were that the opening episode felt too slow. That is the serial's genius, however. The setting may not be exciting but these new characters are incredibly well-written and acted, meaning that our full cast of characters is already established and running by the time the story begins. Crucially, it also contrasts that which we see in the alternative Universe. For example, the jovial relationship between Greg Sutton and Petra Williams in our world becomes one of sharp difference, with Petra as a tool of the state and Greg as the unwilling underling.
      One also has to look at the story's context. In 1970, the worlds of Parallel universes and the like were in the domain of pure science fiction; Inferno took this concept into the living-rooms of a nation and applied it to a set of characters loved by the British people. And, even by today's standards, it's a fairly ggood execution of the plot template. The fact that the Doctor effectively loses for the first time is a big part of the story and makes the otherwise completely irrelevant parallel world storyline one of the story's most important aspects.

The Primords are good for what they are.

      The Primords are a difficult matter because they're a relatively low-scale sci-fi idea trying to co-exist alongside the parallel-world dynamic; the story's original plot, fighting with a more highly skilled immigrant. But despite that, the virus-esque nature of the Primords and their appeal to more savage, early-human tendencies takes the escalating circumstances of the Inferno scenario and sharpens it into something immensely powerful.
      I'll admit now that I'm not really a Pertwee fan. His Doctor always comes across to me as arrogant and snobbish without any of the compassion or charm to make up for it. Despite the violent and erratic nature of the Sixth Doctor, you always knew that he could save the day - something that, as Inferno shows, is not always the case here. However, I get the feeling that Pertwee's excursion to the other world tones his personality down somewhat - so as not to compete with entertaining turns by the rest of the regular cast in their parallel guises.
      And now I'll give you to Josh for his first impressions of the story.

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This is 1970. Ignoring the technical faults that were bound to be a regular occurrence in television on any programme at the time, this is remarkable. I'm not just saying that as a Whovian, but 'Inferno' grapples some interesting sci-fi concepts whilst able to study the human condition and hand us some pretty decent monsters. I'm new to Classic Who and so for me it takes the story a while to get going but after the interesting second part cliffhanger things continually went upwards in my estimation. Even though the Dr Who team faced budget-cuts, they do their best to produce some great-looking aliens and the constant sound of the drill fits the tone nicely, enhancing scenes instead of spoiling them. Considering the fact that Inferno is reaching it's 42nd birthday, the visuals provided for the first in-colour season finale are excellent and I like the idea of the lava opening credits.

Douglas Camfield and Barry Letts direct.

     Down to the story; we've got two different plots running parallel to each other - The Parallel Universe and The Drilling plots. It's clever how the two interweave with one another nicely and make the concept even more innovative. Inferno is the first time Doctor Who does parallel universes and the fascist British regime we're shown seems chillingly realistic. To add to this, the performances from our regulars in that side of the plot are played naturally well. Jon Pertwee is on fine form but Nicholas Courtney's 'Brigade-Leader' steals the limelight with the strongest performance. The soundtrack to the story is unique and genuinely spooky and there's plenty of juicy dialogue and action sequences to thank the writer Don Houghton and the directors; Douglas Camfield and Barry Letts, for. Inferno is one of the staple serials of Classic Who's history and now I can see why; with its superb acting and wonderful direction it delivers a chilling tale that ties up Pertwee's first season nicely. A new Classic favourite of mine.

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I'd like to thank Josh for his perspective there.

     Inferno is a great story on many levels. It takes two scientific ideas not used much on 70s TV and executes them together with the utmost style, not only showcasing the cast but providing the finale for an excellent season of Doctor Who. It's one of the best, and while it isn't my favourite, it showed me just how good Doctor Who can and should be at its heights.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: I'm half-human. On my mother's side. We revisit the TV Movie.