Inferno - Episode 3

This is the episode where things really get interesting. This is the episode where the Doctor goes to the parallel universe and encounters a fascist Brigadier and Liz Shaw. There is a brief moment where the nice Brigadier and Liz try to convince Stahlman to turn the power back on. This bit lasts for a few moments before we get to go into the parallel universe. The way that this is achieved looks like a glitter ball with a unusual sound effect.  Apart from this brief moment this episode is purely about what goes on elsewhere.

I like how there’s a nice few moments when the Doctor wakes up before things start to go wrong when he is shot at. There is a wonderful action sequence with the Doctor and several soldiers which reminds me of how different the Pertwee era is to what we’ve had before. It does feel during this episode that the story has finally found its legs and started running. I don’t mind admitting that I made a mistake in yesterday’s review when I said that it had the recording breaking stunt fall. It was actually this episode.

Liz Shaw’s entrance in this parallel version is great. She’s got a wonderful black wig and uniform which means that she’s more impressive than the nice Liz that we’ve had since the first episode of the season. Nicholas Courtney’s first appearance is also memorable. The shot of him spinning around and all that we see is the eye patch. His job title changes in this episode where he is now Brigade Leader. Even Benton is quite fun in this episode though he does share one trait with the original Benton and that is he’s a bit gullible and falls for a simple trick by the Doctor.

We learn that the drilling is it a far more advance stage than in the first universe. This will be repeated several times during the course of the story and its handy to know but at this stage of the story its not really that important. Nicholas Courtney gets to deliver one of the best lines in Doctor Who when after the Doctor tells the Brigade Leader that he doesn’t exist in this universe, the Brigade Leader replies with “Then you wont feel the bullets when we shoot you.”.

This is by far the best episode of the season. From the very beginning of the episode I found myself enjoying everything about it. I can now start to see why I enjoy this story so much. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves playing different versions of their characters. I think that this story is Nicholas Courtney’s as his Brigade Leader is so far removed from the Brigadier that its hard to imagine that its suppose to be the same character. The story really has begun and I am looking forward to the next four episodes.