Jon Pertwee 's third Doctor makes his second appearance in our top 10 this week; after 'The Daemons' scooped ninth place, an earlier Pertwee outing - originating from mid-1970 - takes up position number six in our list...
6. INFERNO (1970) - Seven episodes - written by Don Houghton
"Listen to that! It's the sound of the planet screaming out its rage!"
Doctor Who's seventh season is one of the show's all-time greatest runs, comprising Jon Pertwee's thrilling debut 'Spearhead From Space', the thoughtful and terrifying sci-fi of 'Doctor Who and the Silurians' and the Quatermass-esque 'The Ambassadors of Death'.
But it arguably reached a zenith with its final tale – Hammer horror writer Don Houghton's first of only two entries in the show's canon... 'Inferno'.
Houghton's script is the story of a new energy project - a drilling operation to penetrate the Earth's crust – gone wrong. Soon, the planet itself is screaming in pain and, as an unfortunate side effect, witless humans are being transformed into slathering, infectious beasts.
There's a feel of the George A Romero zombie movie to the serial's superbly directed, tautly edited early scenes – in one particularly memorable moment, we segue from the now-bestial Slocum (Walter Randall) lashing out at his victim to a nail being hammered into a wall.
'Inferno' features fantastic work from two directors - first, one of Doctor Who's all-time greats Douglas Camfield, and later an uncredited Barry Letts, who admirably steps into the breach for episodes 3-7. Letts is rightly appreciated for his work as a producer on Who but he was also a fantastic director and this serial is clear proof of that.
'Inferno' sees Pertwee's Doctor still exiled to Earth and making what he thinks will be a quick escape, but instead, he slips sideways in time.
It's here, two episodes in, that the story derails and goes off on a complete tangent, as Houghton delves into that classic sci-fi notion of a parallel world, unfamiliar and hostile, where familiar figures become twisted and dark.
It's these scenes that make 'Inferno' truly special – the Doctor is always aware of what might happen if he fails to save the day, but here, he does fail and is forced to face the consequences... and the harsh reality of what might happen to 'his' world if he fails a second time.
It must've been really quite harrowing for younger viewers to watch familiar (well, almost familiar) faces – Lethbridge-Stewart, Liz, Benton - perish and the alternate Earth twist also allows the Doctor – who already was becoming part of a 'UNIT family' – to slip into his old role of mistrusted outsider once again.
All in all, it's an incredibly compelling and clever plot device. In fact, Don Houghton's script is packed full of smart moments – the Doctor scoffing at a photo of a young 'tache-less Brigadier serving as neat foreshadowing of the later debut of the callous, brutish but ultimately rather pathetic Brigade Leader.
In 'Inferno', the Doctor and Brigadier's relationship is not the cosy, comfortable thing it would later become – it's a reasonably amicable working relationship, but with a undercurrent of tension always present - and Lethbridge-Stewart himself is a shrewd and commanding leader – not the buffon he would later frequently be portrayed as.
At this early stage, Pertwee's Doctor too is less flamboyant, though no less dynamic. In fact, 'Inferno' features one of his most intense and commanding performances. He and Nicholas Courtney are electric on-screen together, whether shouting the odds or raising a smile as in this serial's final scene...
'Inferno' is also notable as the last Doctor Who to feature one of the show's all-time most underrated companions - the smart, capable Liz Shaw was shipped off after just four stories, but Caroline John's dual performance here, as the Liz we know and love and her cold yet sympathetic duplicate, is her best work on the show.
The guest cast is also top drawer here. 'Inferno' is not a traditional Doctor Who adventure, and as such, lacks a traditional villain. What we have instead is Professor Stahlman - not a bad man, simply bullish, pig-headed, misguided and, in the end, deranged and played in a most arresting fashion by Olaf Pooley.
Also worthy of note is Derek Newark, who also starred in Doctor Who's first ever four-part serial, and delivers a very strong performance as dissenter Greg Sutton.
Science-fiction adventure, zombie horror, apocalyptic drama – 'Inferno' is all of these. It's smart, scary and funny - and remarkably, keeps you hooked for the entirety of its 175-minute running time.
There's no question that it deserves a high ranking in any list of Doctor Who's greatest ever stories.
Are you a fan of 'Inferno'? Does it deserve a place in our Doctor Who top 10? Share your thoughts below!
via All - Digital Spy - Entertainment and Media News
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