Inferno Episode 6

The one where the end of the world really is nigh...

There's an awful lot of jargon at the start of this episode as everybody tries to work out how to get out of the Brigade Leader's office and power up the Doctor's TARDIS console. Words like coolant, master switch and relay circuits are bandied about like the viewer either understands or cares, making for quite a dull start to proceedings. Despite the overarching atmosphere of imminent destruction throughout the episode (in fact, the whole story), conversations about electronic circuitry and CO2 do nothing to quicken the pace.

Outside, a special lens filter is used to make it look like it's extremely hot, giving me flashbacks to the British summer of 2018, when poking so much of a toe outdoors resulted in second-degree burns. The filter is very effective, although makes the picture quite muzzy, and the production team don't always remember to apply it, such as when everybody arrives at the nuclear switch room in Bessie.

Much of this episode is concerned with trying to get power restored to the TARDIS console so that the Doctor can effectively do a runner and try and save "our" world back home. It's too late for this alternative parallel world, but that's a bitter pill to swallow for those who live there, such as the panicked Brigade Leader. At last, Nicholas Courtney is given some meat to chew on, with his character showing a strong yellow streak of cowardice as things really hot up. The Brigade Leader is happy to abandon the Doctor and Greg, and he bullies poor Dr Petra Williams like a schoolmaster and his pupil.

The fact is, Petra is the real hero of this episode, being the only one doing anything practical to help the situation. The Doctor seems oddly powerless as he has to remain at the workshop with the console ready for when the power boosts through, so it's left to Petra to rewire the nuclear reactor's switch circuitry while everybody else looks on.

The Brigade Leader is a total bastard to poor Petra, shouting at and belittling her while she's doing her level best to get things done (all the men seem to do is shout at Petra, whether it be the Brigade Leader or Greg). "Brigade Leader, I'm trying very hard to carry out a complex scientific task under impossible conditions," snaps Petra. "You will not help matters by bullying me!" She stands up to the Brigade Leader, and while she's still visibly shaken, it's a moment of epiphany for Petra. I love how the two women - Petra and Elizabeth - take a stand and fight back against the Brigade Leader's patriarchal might, and there's one moment where Caroline John fixes such a withering glare on the Brigade Leader that I'm surprised the Earth didn't implode right there and then!

Another great scene involving John is when Greg Sutton - in the "real world" - comes knocking at the Doctor's workshop, and Liz is swamped with suspicion and caution. She mentally circles her visitor as Sutton tries to explain his curiosity, and she is merely waiting for him to put his foot in it. John has a certain look sometimes that could halt entire armies, with a fierce intelligence dancing behind a steely stare.

As the episode nears its apocalyptic conclusion, Courtney once more gets to exercise his acting muscles by showing the true cowardice of the Brigade Leader, who demands that the Doctor takes them with him to the "other world". He gets embroiled in a poorly choreographed fight with Greg Sutton (at times you can see Courtney visibly waiting for Newark to come at him) which culminates in a moment which catapulted me forward almost two decades to the equally as doom-laden finale of Survival. "Do you want to end your lives fighting like animals?" shouts the Doctor as Greg's fist hovers above the Brigade Leader's face, echoing his similar sentiments as he fights the Master on the exploding Cheetah Planet. It also draws parallels with Derek Newark's other Doctor Who role, that of caveman Za in 100,000 BC.

I was admittedly surprised when Elizabeth Shaw shot the Brigade Leader, because although this is a spikier, fascistic version of the Liz we know, it's still a pretty shocking thing for her to do. Stock footage of volcanic explosions is used to show the parallel Earth's final end, and it works really well, although less so when we see an ocean of 1,000-degree lava rolling toward the workshop doors. It makes for a lasting final image as the episode ends, and we wonder whether the Doctor can escape this calamity at all, seeing as episode 7 is the last in the series...!

First broadcast: June 13th, 1970

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Caroline John's withering glares.
The Bad: The fight between Derek Newark and Nicholas Courtney is embarrassing.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 6
Neck-rub tally: 0

NEXT TIME: Episode 7...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5; 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