Broken Frontier

1970 brought a lot of changes to Doctor Who – a new Doctor, the third one so far, played by Jon Pertwee, a new set of companions, a new title sequence, entirely Earth-based stories, and the series filmed in color for the first time. The series that ran from 1970 to 1971 was also far shorter than any before and "Inferno" became the big, 7 part story that capped it off. The serial is considered one of the best of Pertwee’s era and it holds surprising parallels for today.

At a remote location a team of workers and scientists attempt to pierce the Earth’s crust in search of a gas that Professor Stahlman insists exists and will provide clean, cheap energy. The drilling brings up a strange, green goo and anyone who comes in contact with it slowly transforms into a bestial creature. The Doctor clashes with Stahlman but the scientist goes forward with the project – even sabotaging the warning devices. When Stahlman cuts the power to the Doctor’s experiment with the TARDIS console at a crucial moment the Doctor vanishes!

Sent to a parallel universe where a totalitarian regime holds power the Doctor finds dark and cruel versions of his friends and acquaintances. He also sees the results of Stahlman’s experiment. Can he return to his dimension in time to stop the drill and save the Earth?

By the time "Inferno" rolled around Jon Pertwee had pretty much settled the personality of his version of the Doctor. As had become tradition the actor taking the role was allowed a certain latitude in crafting their version of the character. Despite the fact that, up till that point, Pertwee was known for comedy roles as well as being a song and dance man, he opted to play his Doctor as a man of action… and arrogance. It was a bold move and quite a departure from the previous two actors.

The era also saw the change in format to Earth-based stories. The series was perpetually strapped for cash from the BBC and ratings had slipped somewhat during the previous series. It was felt that setting the Doctor’s adventures on Earth would make the character more "relatable" to audiences and would also decrease costs. To that end, the producers decided to have the Doctor exiled to Earth by the Time Lords. A new supporting cast was created as well as an organization for the Doctor to work for – UNIT – then the United Nations Intelligence Task Force. Filling the UNIT roles during this first series were Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, John Levene as Sergeant John Benton, and Caroline John as Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw. The character of Shaw was a particular departure for the series being a strong, independent minded woman and a brilliant scientist in her own right.

"Inferno" held a bit of an extra treat for the cast in that they got to play evil versions of their regular characters. Even today there is something extra – a bit more shine and bit more life – to the scenes set in the parallel dimension as the actors really sink their teeth into getting to play villains. Even the guest cast members turn in wonderful performances as both their "good" and "bad" characters. Olaf Pooley is particularly fun – going very close to over-the-top in his portrayal of the arrogant Stahlman.

The story itself plays with a number of themes – something that the longer, seven-part format allows. There is a strong environmental message here as man is willing to ruin the planet in the search for cheap energy. There is also the ancient Greek theme of Hubris – the idea that if one gets too overwhelmingly prideful then you will be struck down. Connected to this is the good, old-fashioned Sci-Fi cliché of the "Mad Scientist". Of course here it is done so well viewers can perhaps forgive the clichéness of it. Finally, there is the other good, old fashioned cliché of the "evil twin" but, as with the other cliché the actors truly sell the idea to the point where it seems fresh and dynamic.

All of this does not mean the story is flawless. Extensive location filming gives a very realistic feel but this clashes noticeably with the set recordings shot on videotape as usual. The story also utilizes what was then a relatively new special effect technology – "Chromakey" or Color Separation Overlay (CSO). Today we are familiar with this as "Green Screen" – scenes are shot against a green background and then in post-production the green is replaced with something else. Back in the 1970s the screen tended to be blue and there were no computer generated effects. As a result, the CSO looks clumsy and awkward to modern eyes and other effects, such as the ‘disco glitter ball’ used to indicate when the story is switching between dimensions and some of the model work is so silly as to be giggle inducing.

The DVD release saw the usual work done by the restoration team to clean up the original copies as much as possible but despite this there are still some visible flaws. There are a host of extras to make up for it, though. A very informative documentary on making the story as well as the aims of the production team during that era, another documentary on creating the UNIT characters (what would become known as "The UNIT Family"), a promo film for the work of the BBC special effects department – featuring work on "Inferno", a deleted scene, and much more. There is also the usual photo gallery, trivia track, and episode commentaries by Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, Barry Letts, and script editor Terrance Dicks. These commentaries can probably be skipped, though. There is really nothing imparted that the documentaries don’t do better and, while not horrible, the commentaries are not all that entertaining either.

If one looks past all of the poor effects of the time and some of the plot clichés there is a story that is eerily modern here. The environmental message resonates with today’s audience and the lessons about unchecked arrogance and a chilling fate that plays out for the Earth still pack an emotional wallop. If you want an example of how something can be both of its time and yet timeless too then "Inferno" should be high on your watching list.

Doctor Who: Inferno is currently available on DVD priced $29.98 from BBC Warner.