Inferno Episode 3

The one where the Doctor travels to a parallel Earth...

Oh, the beauty of the very first scene, which manages to utilise the combined effects of studio videotape, film stock and Colour Separation Overlay in quick succession! Whenever this rather jarring combination of edits crops up (such as when the Doctor drives Bessie from filmed location into studio garage set in episode 1) I'm reminded of how the Monty Python boys used to poke fun at this quirk in a number of sketches, most effectively in the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things/ Escape from Film sketch ("Good lord! I'm on film!").

Anyway, the Doctor's disappeared (along with the TARDIS console and Bessie) and Stahlman refuses to switch the nuclear feed back on. We then get a cheap visual effect reminiscent of the opening titles of that terrifyingly creepy 1970s kids' show Picture Box, along with a whooshing noise, which is supposed to represent transportation to a parallel dimension (it also reminds me of the equally cheap-looking interstitial vortex in Battlefield). But from this moment on, things get serious. Seriously bleak.

It's the little things at first. The workshop set has been changed subtly, so instead of the Doctor's higgledy-piggledy collection of books and knick-knacks, there's an orderly collection of boxes and files, neatly stacked and spaced. Instead of the power unit on the wall, there's an Orwellian poster declaring that Unity is Strength (the face shown is that of BBC visual effects designer Jack Kine). Then the Doctor finds that his sonic screwdriver won't open the workshop doors as it should, and that new and unfamiliar signage has been attached to the door.

The breakout moment is when a bullet is fired from out of the blue, narrowly missing the Doctor and pinning him to the ground. It's a genuinely shocking moment, almost the very last thing you expect, and when we see that it is actually a soldier shooting at him, accompanied by Benton, things start to take a worrying turn. From this moment on the pace is set for a breakneck, relentless chase around the refinery compound, the Doctor hurtling around in Bessie as he's chased by an increasing number of soldiers. Bullets are fired (and miss their target) constantly, soldiers assault the Doctor while he's driving, and he even encounters rabid alternative versions of Bromley and Wyatt (the latter is dead in "our" world, remember). It's an action-packed sequence, and certainly the most action Bessie probably ever got in the series!

The Doctor is captured after the alarm is raised by a jackbooted alt-Liz Shaw, complete with khaki uniform and dark bobbed hair. Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw does not recognise the Doctor, and the same goes for every other familiar character - Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart, Platoon Under Leader Benton, Director Stahlmann and Dr Petra Williams. The Doctor has tumbled into what he calls a parallel space/ time continuum, where the "charming" royal family has been executed and Britain is run by a fascist regime and its Republican Security Force (RSF). Project Inferno is not just a scientific experiment sponsored by Westminster, it's now a scientific labour camp. The Brigade Leader has the power to execute prisoners without trial thanks to the Defence of the Republic Act 1943. This is sobering stuff for Doctor Who. Viewers are used to rubber monsters and alien invasions, but Don Houghton's script is intelligent, adult and challenging for younger watchers. This is more Doomwatch or Quatermass than Doctor Who, but then that's the way Season 7 rolls.

Nicholas Courtney is fantastic as the aloof Brigade Leader, with his facial scar and eyepatch replacing his usual military moustache. This Brig is threatening in his stillness. He has moments of controlled anger which are almost completely alien to the Brigadier we know. There's that chilling exchange where the Doctor insists that he doesn't exist in their world, to which the Brig retorts: "Then you won't feel the bullets when we shoot you." Contender for one of the best written lines in the series' history?

Equally, Caroline John is cold and austere as Elizabeth Shaw (not a scientist any longer), and John Levene gets to shine as the ruffian Benton. It's wonderful to see alternative versions of the characters we know so well, although I can't help feeling that a story such as this might have worked even better later in the Pertwee era, when the UNIT team is that much cuddlier, making the contrast starker and harsher, and more unsettling. I'm not altogether sure what an alternative Jo Grant would have been like, but it's worth mulling over!

I love how costume designer Christine Rawlins redresses the parallel universe characters to make the RSF staff more rough and ready (more like Mussolini's Blackshirts), and the scientists more clinical. Their white uniforms are neat and white, and Stahlmann wears sunshades which render him unreadable, while Petra's hair is worn up and coiffed. Also, Petra now wields real power as the professor's second in command, demonstrated when the much more inhibited Greg Sutton tries to impose his opinion, only to be swatted down and threatened by Dr Williams (this is how it should have been all along!). And in this parallel world, which is slightly ahead in time of "ours", Sir Keith Gold has been killed in a car accident on the way to cause ructions in London. Coincidence, that...

By the end of the episode, with alarm sirens wailing yet again, and people running around in panic but unable to escape, there's a real feeling of menace and imminent catastrophe. That green goo is oozing out of the borehole again, and that can mean only one thing - more trouble!

First broadcast: May 23rd, 1970

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The location scenes with the RSF in pursuit of the Doctor in Bessie are gripping.
The Bad: The cheap effect used to travel between dimensions.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

"Now listen to me" tally: 5 (although Greg does ask Petra to listen to him at one point)
Neck-rub tally: 0

NEXT TIME: Episode 4...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 6; Episode 7

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/04/inferno.html

Inferno is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Inferno-Special-DVD/dp/B00BEYWVGW