Doctor Who: Inferno

Part One



"I'm a sort of temporary civil servant?"

"Broadly speaking, yes. How do you like the idea?

"No comment."



Nice use of stock footage for the story title! We're now fully settled in to the new era; the sight of the Doctor driving along in Bessie whilst singing to the background of yet another industrial complex is already beginning to seem very traditional indeed.

We have a new writer for this story, Don Houghton, and an actor we've never seen before, Christopher Benjamin. I wonder whether he'll get to play any iconic characters in future?

The story certainly ticks all the appropriate boxes to belong in this season. Stahlman is an example of a character type we've come to know well both this season and in the still recent Troughton base-under-sieges. He and the Doctor quickly establish an adversarial relationship which is most enjoyable to watch.

The TARDIS console is looking rather tatty, mind. And it's green. Also- "megga volts"?

Part Two



"You, sir, are a nitwit!"



It's slowly dawned on me that some of these actors are rather familiar- Derek Newark, Za himself, is playing a different character as Greg Sutton. And we have Walter Randall back as well!

More good Doctor / Stahlman sparring this episode. Plus our first incidence of "Venusian karate"!




Part Three



"But I don't exist in your world."

"Then you won't feel the bullets when we shoot you."


Things start getting really good here as we start to explore this fascist alternate world. Our first sign that something is wrong is a rather Orwellian poster proclaiming that "Unity is Strength", but more shocking is the sight of Liz in a military uniform shopping the Doctor to the Brigade Leader, with his eyepatch and no moustache. This is extremely well done, and the different performances are especially good, although the apparent duelling scar over the Brigade Leader's eye is arguably one Nazi stereotype too far.

This is a very different world in lots of subtle ways- everyone's much more formally dressed (Greg Sutton particularly presents quite a contrast with his other self), and Sir Keith is killed. Although, if Britain has been a republic since the royals were all executed prior to this "Defence of the Republic Act 1943", how come he was ever "Sir" Keith?

This is a very hierarchical world, as demonstrated in the very different treatment Greg receives, and also a very sinister one. There are pictures of a dictator everywhere and the facility is a "scientific labour camp" making use of slave labour. Justice is harsh and arbitrary and those who make themselves unpopular can just disappear. Interestingly though, Petra, as "Dr Williams", has a higher status here.

The Doctor gets some outstanding dialogue here: "Can't shoot me until you've filled in all the forms. Is that it?"



Part Four



"What did he do? Park in a restricted zone?"



More very effective world building stuff here; as Sutton, an engineer rather than "a good party member" is outspoken his probable fate is to "disappear". And in the meantime he's subject to periods in the "punishment cells". Meanwhile the Doctor is interrogated, suspected of involvement with a "crackpot free speech group", and told that if he convinces the counterpart Liz that he's a harmless crank he can "get away with a few years in a labour camp".

Of course, we eventually switch the focus to Stahlman's drilling, and as this is a parallel universe no one's survival is assured...



Part Five


"It's marvellous, isn't it? The world's going up in flames and they're still playing at toy soldiers!"


This story essentially revolves around the idea of scientists meddling with forces they don't understand, but it's interesting that there's no explicitly environmental slant to this. In fact, in Greg Sutton we have an oil man who's presented unambiguously as a hero, which arguably would not happen today. Also notable is that, four stories into the new format, the writers are playing the alternate universe card. A sign that the Earhbound format is already proving a little restrictive.

Things are getting desperate here, and as doomsday approaches the fascist regime, established as a tyranny in previous episodes, is shown to be increasingly impotent in the face of the crisis, most notably by Sutton's increased outspokenness: "I'd like to know what your precious dictator can do for you now." On the other hand, the crisis, and the collapse of this society's rules, are bringing Greg and Petra together. Things look bleak, though; we finally see the full metamorphosis of the creatures, and even Benton is infected.

Meanwhile, in "our" reality, Sir Keith's car crashes...



Part Six



"What did you expect? Some kind of space rocket with Batman at the controls?"


We don't know what's happened to Sir Keith, of course. Is he definitely dead...?

In another reality, the apocalypse is here and Camfield shows it very well, with even the blatant use of stock footage of a volcano managing to look acceptable in context. This Brigade Leader is a nasty piece of work, and Courtney is excellent in playing his increased desperation and bullying as power gradually leaks away from him.



Part Seven



"Nothing like a nice happy ending, is there?"



Back in our universe, the project is not so far advanced, and Sir Keith is alive. Apparently, this means that "Free will is not an illusion after all". This seems to mean that alternate realities infer different decisions being made, resulting in divergences. But surely that's pretty much implicit in the concept anyway, given the differences between the two realities?

A good ending, nicely parallel to events we've already seen. Plus we get more Venusian karate. I'm not sure about the ending though- the Doctor's being just a little too rude to the Brigadier here.

We finish with Liz laughing. No doubt she'll be back next series...



That was great, 5/5. good characters, good concepts, good directing and performances, and a story that genuinely felt it needed seven episodes. A strong ending to a strong season, which at exactly 4/5 holds joint first place with Season Five.

Doctor Who: An Unearthly 100,000BC of Gum

And so it properly begins...

An Unearthly Child

"This doesn't roll along on wheels, you know!"

There are many small differences from the pilot episode here, but I feel by far the most significant is the Kenneth Williams impression at the start*. Doctor Who just wouldn't have turned out quite as good without this, I feel...

The direction shows the same brilliance we saw in the pilot, although downsides include the contents of the junkyard (not as visually impressive) and Susan's dancing (marginally less funky this time round, I feel). But the real big change here is the character of the Doctor. Yes, a lot of the lines are different, but it's largely the subtly different way that William Hartnell pitches his performance that makes him crucially that much more likeable. The chuckle is less sinister, and the absent-mindedness is played up so as to soften the edges of the character.

The Doctor's line about the "savage mind" of the "Red Indian" raised an eyebrow. Appropriate in a series from 1963 that we get such a Mad Men moment...

One connection I've never made before is the scene in the classroom when Susan insists to Ian that she can't just use A, B and C to represent the three dimensions. Apparently D (time) and E ("space!") are also needed. Could this be foreshadowing the dimensions of the TARDIS interior, with the bigger inside being evidence of an extra dimension, "E"?

Feel free to give me a virtual slap if that was overly pretentious.

A brilliant episode, probably one of my favourite pieces of drama ever.

The Cave of Skulls

"Just open the doors, Dr Foreman!"

"Eh? Doctor Who? What are you talking about?"


The cavemen we see here are very stereotypical, with no attempt at accurately depicting the palaeolithic. But then again this is allegory, not history as such, so perhaps we shouldn't judge it on those terms. This isn't really a historical, but a socio-political allegorical play (this is very theatre-influenced telly, more Armchair Theatre than Forbidden Planet) with the tribe as a very simplified microcosm of society. No doubt there'll be some political overtones along later! The language used by the cavemen is very interesting- very heightened and stylised, with a definite rhythm and everyone articulating their thoughts very directly. All the Stone Age figures are very childlike- Za is particular seems to be basically all id.

Incidentally, are they eating their meat raw without fire? Is this safe?

The scene where Ian and Barbara leave the TARDIS and step into an unknown environment for the first time is wonderfully written and performed. Some great dialogue: "If you could touch the alien sands and hear the cries of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?"

The exterior scenes are cleverly shot, with the angles not making it too obvious what a small studio this was all being filmed in! Although that obvious polystyrene rock in the cave is a bit unfortunate.

The Doctor smokes the coolest pipe I have ever seen. But unfortunate consequences follow, leading to Susan going hysterical. This is the point where she starts to really annoy me for the first time...

Oh, and "Fire will kill us all in the end!" Bit of a nuclear weapons subtext here, methinks!

Overall, great drama, and in my opinion totally undeserving of its reputation as a boring runaround so far- the story's on course for a 5/5. But we shall see...






*As pointed out in the Discontinuity Guide. It's particularly hard to review this story without unknowingly plagiarising other people, I've read so many reviews over the years...

The Forest of Fear

"Fear makes companions of all of us, Miss Wright."

Ian says "split right open", not "split open!" They obviously redid the reprise! This manages to look impressive in spite of clearly not being overburdened with cash, and lot of that is down to Waris Hussein's direction. By avoiding wide shots and being clever with his camera angles he even manages to make tiny Lime Grove not look absurd when supposed to be a forest.

Barbara's been the most level-headed character, so it's genuinely shocking when she becomes hysterical, really bringing home the situation they're all in. It must be said, Jacqueline Hill does hysterical acting slightly better than Carole Ann Ford.

We now have a power struggle between Ian and the Doctor (the males, I notice!) over leadership of their "tribe"; by now it's clear that the TARDIS "tribe" and Za's tribe are being written to parallel each other in some rather interesting ways.

Interesting how Hur is shown to be both brighter and more courageous than Za; she manipulates him into following the escaped prisoners.

The Doctor is much more than the antihero of legend here; he's seriously nasty to a degree not often acknowledged, and hard to accept as the Doctor we would get to know- this is more reminiscent of the Doctor of the pilot. He shows no empathy for the injured Za, is impatient with the others when they tend to him and, most noticeably, seems to almost give up in despair in the Cave of Skulls. Babs gets a great line: "You treat everybody and everything as something less important than yourself!" It's Ian and Barbara who are the heroes of this programme.

Hur does not understand the concept of altruism, and is genuinely confused as to why they are helping Za. But the Doctor's attitude is not far removed. Whether or not he means to kill Za, it's certainly performed that way. the look Ian gives the Doctor afterwards seems to leave little room for doubt. This is a very different Doctor, and it's genuinely hard to imagine it can be the same character. These unpleasant aspects won't so much be developed as quietly dropped later.

A character called "Old woman", eh? Could Anthony Coburn not think of a name?

The Firemaker

"Kal is not stronger than the whole tribe".

Suddenly, the Doctor starts being useful- his trick with the knife is very clever. Kal's a bit thick really, whereas Za is shown as capable of learning things.

Oh look- it's a fight, and the first of many rather obvious film sequences. It's also patently obvious that Ka and Za are not interacting with any of the others. But of course Za comes out on top- he has learned the value of community while Kal is still stuck in the selfish individualism of the tribe. There's a definite theme of community versus individualism going on here and we can see it in the dynamics of the TARDIS tribe as much as Za's- both tribes gradually learn these lessons throughout the story. It's often said that the plot of this story is basically escape, get recaptured, escape, get recaptured. But that's missing the point- the real story is both the TARDIS crew and the tribe learning to depend on each other rather than just themselves. I don't know why, but I somehow suspect Anthony Coburn was not exactly an ardent Thatcherite.

Hee hee. They're just running on the spot while being brushed with twigs. An oddly unnecessary embarrassing moment.

An historic moment- the very first TARDIS dematerialisation as seen from outside! Although it's unfortunate that most of the following TARDIS interior scene takes place in front of what is clearly a cardboard photographic blow-up of the TARDIS roundels! You can get away with so much in black and white...

Tsk... bloody Susan and her radiation gauge! Bet she was the one in charge at Chernobyl...




Overall, a fantastic start. It's often said that the last three episodes are a dull runaround, but I found them gripping throughout with excellent writing, direction and performances. Perhaps the tone was a bit off for a family show at times, and the characterisation of the Doctor seriously misguided, but I won't argue with the quality of the drama. Easily a 5/5.