Inferno [TV/1970.5.9 ~ 6.20]

★★★★★

  It rocks that the two best serials of the Jon Pertwee era are so night and day in terms of tone and narrative; one's a sunshine-in-a-bottle madcap caper about an intergalactic peepshow full of colorfully dressed salesmen and hilarious dialogue, and the other's a side step into a fascist world and a startling critique of amoral scientific pursuit, with an incredibly serious tone and energetic direction. It also rocks that those two happen to be at the top of the Dr. Who echelon; they're both incredible.

  Yes, I love Inferno a lot, and it probably won't come as a surprise to you. With a rather simple premise, the production produces a very special sort of Who adventure: one where the Doctor, by default, cannot win and doesn't even try to, halfway through. In a parallel world in which everyone he knows and loves is a fascist unknowingly signing their own death warrants, one cannot avert destruction but merely postpone it. No matter how hard he tries, there's no turning back the tide... and once people realise their deaths are inevitable, their two colours begin to rise from the depths. I wouldn't want every Who story to be this bleak, but as an occasional treat this is fantastic. Pertwee himself has never acted more vulnerable, more resilient to these threats but stil scared out of his wits, and the rest of the cast make it their mission statement not to be overshadowed. Therefore, this serial is full of career-defining performances, from Nicholas Courtney to Caroline John, whose characters are a world away from their usual. That's not a problem, though, because both of them deliver such sterling performances that both the coward Brigade Leader and the brave Section Leader feel like incredibly fleshed-out characters we've seen for the whole season. That a single serial can do that is nothing short of remarkable.

  Direction wise, Inferno is perfect (perhaps Douglas Camfield's masterpiece?). Writing wise, the characters have never been more clear-cut and lively, and the impending horror has never been more apparent, more dire and dangerous. This is the kind of Dr. Who you watch after the kids go to bed, not because the Primords are necessarily scary (although their zombie-like infection strategy always leaves me shuddering), but because its examination of blind scientific progress and its consequences handed to humanity by natural forces may prove to be a bit too bleak for growing children. Nonetheless, Inferno is one of the standouts of the classic series, and one I'd call a masterpiece without hesitation.