Doctor Who: Inferno (1970) - Review

Inferno has become a famous and very popular Doctor Who serial over the years, being regarded as one of the best with Episode 6's cliffhanger supposedly being the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. Is it as great as its reputation suggests?
Inferno follows The Doctor working as an adviser for the Inferno project, run by Professor Stahlman to drill to Point 0 under the Earth's crust. However, all is not as it seems as Stahlman's arrogance threatens the entire project's crew, and an ancient substance begins to turn people into strange creatures...
As the situation begins to fall out of control though, The Doctor finds himself in a parallel Universe, where without the TARDIS working properly he can't escape...
Jon Pertwee, as usual, is excellent throughout the serial, with The Doctor mostly having to work alone and work out who to trust throughout the parallel segments, becoming more and more worried about the future of Inferno. Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John are great, along with the rest of the supporting cast, having to balance both their 'real' world and parallel world characters, suprisingly with ease (even with Nicholas Courtney's Bond villain look).
The serial is also very dark and serious, not including any aliens but relying on its characters and a strange ancient virus spreading through them. Its the scientific marvel gone wrong that Inferno focuses on, not just with Inferno itself but also with The Doctor's experiments with the TARDIS leading him to the parallel world in the first place. The direction is suitably character-focused, with a cracking sinister score throughout. The cliffhangers are all pretty good, and the ending to Episode 6 will certainly leave you wanting to see what happens next. The production values are also pretty good throughout, with Episode 6's final shot being one of the best, if one of the most implausible, in the show's history, given the serial is over 40 years old.
If there is one problem I have to bring up though it is that Episode 7 feels incredibly flat after such a dramatic sixth instalment, leaving me feeling a little disappointed, especially given that it is 25 minutes of The Doctor returning and shutting down Inferno before it all goes wrong. More time and tension in the parallel Universe would have been better in my opinion. Also, the dystopia in the parallel Universe is barely explored - it looks like such an interesting version of England that it would have been great to see and hear more exposition explaining this other world.
Overall, Inferno is an excellent story with top-notch performances and a great story. Episode 7 falls a little flat after the brilliant tension and drama of 6, but its a well-paced and well-made final story to the seventh season of Doctor Who. With stories like Spearhead From Space, The Silurians and Inferno, its easy to see why Doctor Who carried on through the 1970's. 9/10

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