Inferno

Barry Letts, Douglas Camfield

Directed by

Runtime

175 minutes

Story Type

Companion Exit, Series Finale

Time Travel

Present, Alternate Reality

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Base Under Siege, Countdown, Environmental Message, Romance, Stranded on Earth, The Doctor’s Name

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Exile on Earth, Working for UNIT

Inventory (Potential Spoilers!)

Bessie

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth, Eastchester, England

Synopsis

UNIT is providing security cover at an experimental drilling project at Eastchester, designed to penetrate the Earth's crust and release a previously untapped source of energy. Soon, however, the drill head starts to leak an oily green liquid that transforms those who touch it into vicious primeval creatures with a craving for heat.

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7 Episodes

Episode 1

First aired

Saturday, May 9, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

5.7 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

England, the near future. UNIT is providing security and scientific support for the Stahlman project, an attempt to tap the Earth's core for energy. But things are already going wrong…

Episode 2

First aired

Saturday, May 16, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

5.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Strange deaths, men changing into monsters, hot green slime pouring out of the waste pipes – but Professor Stahlman is determined to press ahead with the Inferno project no matter what the cost!

Episode 3

First aired

Saturday, May 23, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

4.8 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor has vanished from the Inferno project… or has he? He finds himself in the same place, but everyone has changed… and the drilling is closer to its deadly conclusion.

Episode 4

First aired

Saturday, May 30, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

In a parallel England, the Doctor tries desperately to convince his captors of the immense peril they are in. But they are convinced he is a spy. And penetration zero is getting close…

Episode 5

First aired

Saturday, June 6, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

5.4 million

Synopsis

The parallel Inferno has broken through the Earth's crust, unleashing terrible seismic forces and dooming the planet. The Doctor hopes to return and save his world. But the bestial primords are closing in...

Episode 6

First aired

Saturday, June 13, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.7 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor is trapped in a parallel world that is going up in flames. Can he escape in time to save Earth in his own universe?

Episode 7

First aired

Saturday, June 20, 1970

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

5.5 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor has escaped the catastrophic destruction of a parallel world. But can he stop Stahlman before he destroys this one?

Characters

Third Doctor

Jon Pertwee

Liz Shaw

Caroline John

How to watch Inferno:

Watch on iPlayer

DVD

The Third Doctor Collection

DVD

Inferno

VHS

The Pertwee Years (VHS)

VHS

Inferno (VHS)

Reviews
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6 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

An episode I’m sure anyone familiar with the Third Doctor would predict being among his best works. Season 7 of Classic Who is personally my pick for the best year in all Doctor Who, both Classic and Modern. Despite only four stories, what it lacks in quantity it sure makes up for in quality. You had the opening Spearhead from Space which I previously talked about, Doctor Who and the Silurians which was an excellent story, The Ambassadors of Death is the weak link, maybe a bit too long but don’t let anyone tell you it’s not a solid story in its own right. This season was just unlike anything Doctor Who had done before or since, coming off of the Second Doctor era, they decided to completely reinvent the look and tone of the show and take a more serious and mature approach with their stories. The Hinchcliffe years also went heavy on the darker and violent stories, but Season 7 just had this intensity to it, and it did so without being excessive. Pertwee peaked literally from the beginning as it was basically a downward slope from there. Not a bad downward slope so to speak but it did revert to a more traditional form.

So that brings us to the finale Inferno which was an epic way to close out the season! You have the Doctor ending up in a parallel universe where it’s the usual premise where all his friends in UNIT are now fascist a-holes. But this world is doomed as a drilling experiment unleashes the horrors beneath the Earth’s crust and the Doctor must convince these evil doppelgangers to help him escape back to his world to save it from the same fate.

Next to actually destroying the Earth (permanently I mean), this is the gutsiest scenario you could ever do in Doctor Who, having the Doctor completely powerless and watch as the world is slowly consumed by a sea of lava and explosions, knowing full well he cannot save anyone and that his only hope is to convince them the help him escape to save a bunch of people they don’t even care about. An event so traumatising it comes back to haunt him the following season in The Mind of Evil where he’s forced to relive that experience. Just the concept alone makes this an incredible viewing experience, but thankfully it’s also held up with some excellent writing for our side characters and their evil counterparts in a bleak yet all too familiar world.

If you can get past the terrible makeup on the monsters you will find some of the strongest and most mature Doctor Who material ever put onscreen.

DanDunn

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Review last edited on 29-01-25

This review contains spoilers!

I liked the parallel world plot, but I though the actual monsters were a bit weird and didn't really make much sense.

WhoTheoryYT

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Review last edited on 25-01-25

This review contains spoilers!

Amazing serial, i loved the concept for this one. Took issue with the parallel world basically being "what if the UK was like the USSR" and the framing of that, but not super shocking to see it having that sort of political messaging. Was subtle enough to ignore though, and I still really enjoyed seeing everyone in the parallel world especially Liz. Her haircut was just so cute!

godslayer86

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Review last edited on 9-01-25

Finally an amazing stand out of the 3rd doctors era on tv Liz and the doctor are bloody brilliant in this I love every moment of them and parallel Liz is also a treat

Rock_Angel

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Review last edited on 17-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

After only four stories we have reached the end of The Third Doctor's first series - it continues to be a delight.

Inferno could have very easily been overly similar to The Ambassadors of Death, and indeed it began that way. If one criticism can be put towards Pertwee's first season, it is that they spend too much time inside corporate headquarters talking to business leaders / heads of projects. The key differentiating feature of Inferno is of course the parallel universe feature revealed at the beginning of Part Three which changes everything.

Variety is the essential nature of Doctor Who. What has worked with the back to basics approach to season seven is its stark contrast to what went before. However, in this story the audience is offered here is a journey into another dimension - a long awaited TARDIS trip which throws everything into the air. Once again, the change feels good, seeing the new Doctor in other worldly surroundings (even if they are parallel!) is an exciting novelty.

The regular cast appearing as evil versions of themselves is a brilliant concept. Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart is running an alternate version of UNIT and expects answers from suddenly present Doctor. Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw is perhaps 10% more fierce than the character we are familiar with (joking).

The creatures in this story are spread by infection and rather than the familiar foam of Troughton's time, this is spread by a green goo. The infection idea is another very distinct concept for a monster, something this season has excelled at. In terms of the monsters themselves its half and half. As the initial stages of the Primord infection begin to take hold, they look brilliant, uncanny and dangerous. However, when the Primords go 'full werewolf' they look a little more dodgy (I was longing for a return of those Silurian masks). The consistent use of conveniently placed fire extinguishers to deter them is also tiring, but this is the plague of having to fill a seven part story. Shout out to plagued Benton though!

Once The Doctor has convinced the alternate versions of the various characters that they are doomed he somehow gets them to stop thinking about their impending death and begin preserving this newly introduced 'other version' of their universe. It is interesting to see The Doctor vacate a version of events in which everyone present is destroyed. Nicholas Courtney is wonderful as the cowardly Brigade Leader here, he is relishing this opportunity.

One of the preferable things about our version of events is the wonderful character of Sir Keith Gold who unlike his parallel self has survived. Its rare to get a bit part in Doctor Who which stands out like that. He of course helps The Doctor save his version of events.

The Doctor unsuccessfully attempts to leave in his TARDIS, so we are still on Earth for a while yet. Inferno has given me a taste for what is to come. I want more of Pertwee is space.

I'm still not sure what to make of Liz Shaw. I love the actor, but I feel like the character has been positioned somewhere in between Benton and the Brigadier. She is more of a UNIT member than a companion, which is odd. I don't feel like I have ever properly felt that spark between her and The Doctor, which is a shame as there are so many intriguing aspects to her performance. She is certainly not bland and we have had much worse! This feeling of liking but not loving makes this a difficult final outing. I feel like I want to see more, I want to see her character develop.

15thDoctor

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Review last edited on 22-08-24