Inferno

Aside from the sort of misplaced Primords, this is an excellently crafted story which explores a very deep and interesting concept.

All the actors are amazing although the character of Stahlmann falls under the unfortunate stereotype of the hot-headed stubborn businessman who doesn't really have much of a motive for continuing his plans other than hot-headedness which unfortunately means his character doesn't get much development as a result. Even so, I still enjoy the story very much and still enjoy Stahlmann's character as well as everyone else's.

Reasons this story is one of the greatest stories I've seen so far:

The acting was amazing, especially Olaf Pooley as Professor Stahlman and Derek Newark playing Greg Sutton stood out to me apart from Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney of course. Courtney really sold me that he was the same but also very different.

It was a fast pace that kept me hooked the entire time. No boring passages.

It looked great with lots of great shots and great sets like the "tardis" and the Inferno base and great actions scenes.

The story was imaginative, I'm always a fan of the timey-wimey stuff and here it doesn't disappoint.

The writing was incredible.
From the get go I thought the scene where the Doctor looks at an old picture of the Brigadier and makes a comment about the lack of a moustache was really great and meaningful. It shows off the building relationship between the two but never would I have thought that this little really great scene would pay off so well in the end.
All the characters are engaging and memorable!

The only thing I'm bothered by and this isn't the story's fault is that Liz Shaw really doesn't get a proper send off. Although she isn't my favourite, I think every companion deserves to get a good goodbye.

It's hard to find any fault with Inferno. The plot is tense and engaging from start to finish. The acting is top notch, especially considering that most of the cast is performing double duty with their normal roles and a parallel universe version of themselves. Most of the effects, costumes, and effects are high quality for the time and most of it has held up surprisingly well over the decades. Easily a top 10 all time story that must be watched by fans of new or classic Who.

Inferno has a tremendous reputation and that is very well deserved, it is fabulous in almost every way. The brilliance of the story, script and acting is clear throughout and particularly in the famous portion of the story which involves an alternative reality with fascist versions of the Brigadier, Liz, Benton and guest characters. This highly entertaining aspect of the story brings out fantastic performances from Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John as villainous versions of their regular characters. When this alternative reality is brought in, it is Doctor Who at its truly magnificent best.

The story involves a scientific project lead by Professor Stahlman to drill through the earth's crust which runs into trouble due to Stahlman's refusal to slow down or take precautions and due to a mysterious green substance coming from underground which causes physical and mental changes to those who touch it. The Doctor throws in a whole new dimension - literally - when he accidentally causes the TARDIS console to transport him to a parallel universe where the same scenario is occurring but in a fascist Britain.

The entire script is superb, intelligent and believable with great dialogue delivered perfectly by the whole cast. Pertwee, Courtney and Caroline John are at their very best throughout whilst John Levene not only fully establishes Benton as an extremely good regular character he also plays the fascist version of Benton with gusto. There are great realistic guest characters played to perfection. Olaf Pooley (Stahlman), Christopher Benjamin (Sir Keith), Sheila Dunn (Petra Williams) and Derek Newark (Greg Sutton) could not be better. The story has a nice gritty, grown up science fiction feel but also has bags of action, stunts, thrills and fun.

The plot thread where people touch a substance emanating from beneath the Earth's crust and turn into werewolf-like creatures known as 'primords' is the least impressive aspect of the story in my opinion and even that is very entertaining. At first I disliked the primords subplot but after repeated viewings I realised it makes more sense than it first appeared. The substance affects the people physically and mentally at different rates depending on how much they touch. It drives them to seek extreme heat and to try to achieve the penetration of the earth's crust. They use the knowledge they had before being affected to help them. It is actually a fun idea providing a lot of thrills but the make-up effects were limited by the age and budget. That does not detract from the quality of this really fantastic story which I would put in my top 10 or 15 stories of all time. It is a true classic.

The vast majority of this 7 parter is truly special and it deserves the huge praise it receives.

My Ratings: All 7 Episodes - 10/10