Inferno
(DVD)

 

Starring Jon Pertwee
7 Episodes
1970
166 minutes (color)
Double Disc



 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Jon Pertwee

Liz Shaw
Caroline John

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Nicholas Courtney

Written by
Don Houghton

Directed by
Douglas Camfield
&
Barry Letts

Produced by
Barry Letts

Original Airdate
May 9, 1970 - June 20, 1970

US DVD Release Date
September 2006

Warner Home Video
#E2667

U.K. Cover

 

 



 

Cover Blurb
A top secret drilling project headed by Professor Stahlman is attempting to penetrate the Earth's crust, and the Doctor and Liz Shaw are on hand to observe.  Tensions and professional jealousies plague the project, but things really heat up when a mysterious green substance is found leaking from the drill head.  Just when UNIT needs the Doctor most, a time experiment throws him into a parallel universe where everyone he knows has changed for the worse.



 

 

 

DVD Features
 

Disc One
All 7 episodes as they were originally transmitted in 1970.

 
  • Audio Options:
 This DVD  boasts a group commentary by Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), Terrance Dicks (script editor), and Barry Letts (producer) with John Levene (Sergeant Benton) making  a solo contribution sporadically.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 

 
 

Disc Two
The remaining DVD bonus features.
 
  • Can You Hear the Earth Scream?
 A 35 minute documentary on the making of this classic story.  Contributors include Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Ian Fairbairn (Bromley), Barry Letts (producer), Terrance Dicks (script editor), and Derek Ware (stunt arranger)  A fascinating look at a classic story.
 

 

  • The U.N.I.T. Family - Part One:

 This featurette focuses on the successful Pertwee years format of U.N.I.T. and the Doctor pitting themselves against alien invasions.  Interviews with many people on both sides of the camera including Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Derrick Sherwin (U.N.I.T. creator) Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), Terrance Dicks (script editor), Barry Letts (producer, John Levene (Sergeant Benton), and Derek Ware (stunt arranger).  This installment is an excellent starting point for the UNIT family and will (hopefully) be followed up on with other Pertwee releases.
 

 

  • Visual Effects Promo Film:

 Created as a way to promote the BBC Visual Effects Department, this excerpt contains footage from Pertwee's first season as well as other programs from the same era.
 

 
  • Deleted Scene:
 This scene may not be easily recognizable as a deleted scene, since it has been included on the VHS release and in the overseas transmitted version for many years.  This scene was removed for this release and placed as a deleted scene.  It's a very minor scene where the Doctor and Brigade Leader listen to a radio announcer.  The voice is clearly Pertwee's and would likely explain why it was not originally part of the transmitted version first seen in the U.K.
 

 

  • The Pertwee Years Intro:

 Back in the early 1990's, a VHS release called "The Pertwee Years" was made available.  In it, Pertwee himself discusses his time on the series and introduces several episodes that are presented on the tape.  His introduction for episode 7 of "Inferno" is included here.
 

 
  • DVD Rom Features:
 Accessible from any computer with a DVD drive, a PDF of some of the original Radio Times press clippings as well as the 1971 Doctor Who Annual.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 Once again we are treated to many rare production stills and quite a few behind the scenes ones as well.
 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There are 2 eggs included in this release.  Scroll further down to find more details.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Eggs

#1. EPISODE 7 COUNTDOWN CLOCK



Choose episode 7 under the 'Episode Selection' option on Disc One.  Let it play for a second or two and then rewind (approx. 30 seconds) to the beginning of the chapter.

   

 

 

#2. CLEAN OPENING TITLES (INCLUDING LAVA)



Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Next' option on Disc Two.

   

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes

  • This is the final story in which the original TARDIS console was used by the production team.  After 7 years of use, it was beginning to show its age.  It was replaced by a newer, more reliable version.
     

  • Fans will also notice that throughout Pertwee's first season that his companion, Liz, has an ever changing hair design (and sometimes color too!). 
     

  • Actress Caroline John (Liz Shaw) left at the end of this season.  The decision occurred after production had finished on the seventh season, so as a result, there is no farewell scene for her character.  Her departure is briefly mentioned in the next season's opener "Terror of the Autons."
     

  • A special mention should go to Nicholas Courtney, who does a wonderfully evil "Brigade Leader" (eyepatch, scar, and all).    :)
     

  • Three actors appearing in this story have also been involved in Doctor Who at some other time.  Derek Newark appeared in the first ever Doctor Who story "An Unearthly Child."  In it he played the caveman-who-would-be-king, Za.  Actor Walter Randall makes a brief appearance here as Slocum, but can also be seen alongside William Hartnell in "The Aztecs" as Tonila, in "The Crusade" as El Akir and in "The Daleks' Masterplan" as Hyksos.  You can see more of him than you ever imagined in an interview session on "The Aztecs" DVD.  The third actor is Christopher Benjamin (here playing mild mannered Sir Gold).  Benjamin would later return to Doctor Who playing the larger than life character of Henry Gordon Jago in the Tom Baker classic, "The Talons of Weng-Chinang."
     

  • Fans of DVD should take heart.  In a recent Doctor Who Monthly poll of fans, "Inferno" came in the top ten (and was indeed the highest rated Pertwee story in the poll).  It could well get a DVD release sometime in the near future.

  • If you've seen the VHS version of this story, you will likely notice a drop in quality as the only existing copies were recovered recordings transmitted in America (thus having gone through a conversion process to be able to be viewed in the U.S.), returned to the BBC when the originals were junked, reconverted back to the PAL standard, and then once again converted back to our NTSC version for this video release.  Needless to say, the quality of these episodes does suffer.  For the DVD release, a new process called RSC (Reverse Standards Conversion) was developed.  This process removes quite a lot of the quality loss caused by the multiple conversions.  More can be read about this new restoration technique from the Restoration Team website by clicking HERE.