N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

I didn’t make too many notes watching Inferno, which goes to show how the suspense is pretty much relentless (especially in Episode 6). It’s a story that also illustrates that you don’t need a lot of music to ratchet up the tension.

“That’s the sound of this planet screaming out its rage!”

The Doctor, Inferno: Episode 4

There’s lots of ambient noise, what with the near-constant drilling, which in itself contributes to make you ill at ease throughout. It sometimes feels as though the characters have to shout just to be heard, even if Professor Stahlman – another in the (ig)noble line of belligerent know-it-alls – isn’t listening!

As Sir Keith Gold himself comments in Episode 4, ‘there’s something ominous about the whole project.’ Even the sound of the Primordial Zombie Werewolves is scary!

Whilst Inferno is very much the sum of its parts – pounding away to its dramatic climax – curiously, what notes I did make were about moments: whether it was a line of sharp dialogue or a neat bit of direction or simply observations of the parallels in the two stories that are told.

“What are you doing in that ridiculous get-up?”

The Doctor, Inferno: Episode 3

For instance, Greg Sutton is patronising towards Petra in both worlds, although parallel Petra at least puts him in this place. She’s absolutely right – she earned the respect her scientific position affords, although of course she does soften to his cravat-wearing oil-rigger charms. (Well, this was the 70’s, after all!)

Then there’s the fact that the Doctor calls the section leader in the parallel world ‘Elizabeth’ to distinguish her from our ‘Liz’, or in order to test the TARDIS alone, he’s not above lying to ‘our Liz’ to get his way.

“So free will is not an illusion after all.”

The Doctor, Inferno: Episode 7

Indeed, there are so many standout moments in this story, it would be impossible to list them all but here are a just a few more for posterity:

• We see Stahlman’s green fingers before he does, which is a nice touch
• Benton’s transformation into a zombie werewolf is horrific
• The Doctor’s taunting of the Brigade Leader that he can’t shoot him until he’s ‘filled in all the forms’
• Sutton’s lament that ‘the world’s going up in flame and they’re still playing at toy soldiers!’
• Petra’s observation that ‘some problems just can’t be solved by brute force and terror’ or
• Brigadier’s almost-last word on the Doctor: ‘the man’s so infernally touchy’

In short, Inferno is great from start to finish. It’s the best of a great seventh season, possibly the best of the entire Third Doctor’s run (we shall see), indeed, one of the very best ever! It’ll certainly be hard to beat.

Nevertheless, there is one question I’m left with – one I should have asked of The Ambassadors of Death: how on earth did the Doctor get the console out of the TARDIS?

Son of Unearthly Times says …

"It's funny that the Doctor in this series keeps trying to get away with the TARDIS console."

"In this story, it's silly that the Doctor keeps getting captured by the same people over and over again."

"There is a lesson in this story – don't touch the green goo!"