Inferno Episode 7

The one where the end of our world is averted...

It's the season finale! The titles make it feel even more eventful, thanks to the red hot volcanic explosions and spewing seas of lava. But the action cuts abruptly to the quiet of the "real world" workshop, where the Doctor lies unconscious on the ground, having returned from the apocalyptic parallel Earth. The reprise is the last we see of the alternative universe characters, our final sight of them cowering from an encroaching wave of volcanic lava. Make no mistake, Elizabeth Shaw, the Brigade Leader, Greg Sutton and Dr Petra Williams are dead, and that's a pretty bleak (if inevitable) twist. Inferno certainly pulls no punches.

The frustrating thing here is that the viewers know what calamity awaits the "real world" unless Stahlman slows down (or halts) the drilling, but the Doctor is unconscious in some kind of coma, and so unable to warn anybody. This leads to several more minutes of people trying in vain to warn Stahlman themselves, but it seems the professor just isn't listening to reason. Olaf Pooley gets to do some "proper" acting once again after a couple of weeks bound in Scooby-Doo make-up, although the part is essentially just him saying "no, leave me alone, I know what I'm doing" over and over again. It's interesting that the Earth seems to be communicating with him in some way, calling him almost, but this is never properly picked up on (probably rightly so).

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.

Inferno Episode 5

The one where Benton is turned into a primordial creature...

The opening fight between the Doctor, Stahlmann and Sutton at the drill head feels rather underpowered, mainly because you can't clearly tell who is who due to the silly baggy white suits they're wearing (a great disguise for the fact there's a stuntman at work!). There's lots of balletic somersaults too, a fight arrangement which leaves me cold because you simply never see moves such as that in real fights (unless you're in a WWF ring). I just find it silly.

A lot of screen time in this episode is given to Petra and Greg, whose relationship develops at a swift pace once it's revealed the Earth is on a relentless course for destruction. There were hints of an attraction earlier, but here it seems the inevitability of "the final end" brings them closer, breaking down the awkwardness. Petra is the first to show concern for Greg after he's been battered by an iron bar, and things really warm up later on when Greg convinces Petra that there really is no hope, and no help on its way.

Inferno Episode 4

The one where we hear the Earth screaming out its rage...

Writer Don Houghton wastes no time in fleshing out most of the characters in the parallel world a little bit more, and in some cases slightly more than so than the "real world" versions. It's great to see Elizabeth Shaw already beginning to show slight chinks in her armour with her curiosity about her parallel self. She asks what the other Liz is like, and the Doctor explains that she is a scientist, something Elizabeth had considered doing when she was younger (she studied physics at university). The very fact she asks about alt-Liz shows that at least she doesn't disbelief the Doctor's parallel world explanation outright. On the face of it, his claim that he is from a parallel world is frankly ludicrous, but there's something within Elizabeth that makes her at least consider it. Her willingness to listen to the Doctor is also demonstrated in her allowing him to fix the computer with the micro-circuit.

Houghton also packs in more characterisation for Dr Williams into two scenes than he gave the alt-Petra in the entire previous three episodes. The exchange between her and Greg about his future after the project is over, how he could be a good "servant of the state" if it wasn't for his tendency to speak out of turn, is nicely written, showing that Petra has a soft spot for Greg that she is currently unwilling to admit. It's hard to see what she might see in Greg in "our" world though, seeing as he's such a sexist pig! There are also suggestions that people who don't toe the line in this fascist Britain get "disposed of", or "liquidated" as Stahlmann says at one point...

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.

Inferno Episode 2

The one where the Doctor uses Venusian karate for the first time...

The opening scene, where the rabid Harry Slocum is cornered in the switch room by the Doctor and UNIT, is a tense way to start, although I had to snigger when the Doctor says "There's nothing to be frightened of, old chap", and then Slocum looks in horror at the ringing trimphone! That trimphone continues to ring throughout the scene too, like a troublesome wasp that won't go away!

This is followed by a lovely scene shot on location at the Berry Wiggins and Co oil refinery in Kent (known as KCA International since 1977), with the Brigadier and the Doctor just chatting calmly atop the walkway. It's just two characters having a thoughtful and honest chat about what's going on and what they can do next. It's all punctuated with some well-chosen stock music entitled Galaxy Atmosphere which gives everything a doomy, solemn air, with its deep, resonant bass drum. Director Douglas Camfield notoriously disliked Doctor Who's regular musician Dudley Simpson's work, but his library choice here is arguably much more effective than what Simpson may have composed.

Inferno Episode 1

The one where the Doctor gets his face stretched in limbo...

The production team really enjoyed experimenting with the title sequence in Season 7, didn't they? Apart from the theme tune starting at differing places (the initial stutter of earlier stories is rectified here), there's the different ways of telling us what the story's called - traditional with Spearhead from Space, adding a controversial "Doctor Who" to The Silurians, and the energetic zoom and TWANG of The Ambassadors of Death. Here we have the titles intercut with images of exploding volcanoes and rolling seas of lava. It sets us up suitably for something apocalyptic...

The story begins with the Doctor hollering a bit of Verdi as he speeds towards another industrial location, a Season 7 stalwart, followed by drill site maintenance man Harry Slocum whistling his way to work on a bicycle. Slocum bumps into Bromley and they exchange pleasantries, but neither of them seem very keen on talking to each other any more than they have to, and the lines seem rushed, garbled and lost.