Doctor Who - INFERNO

[Mikey]

Just watched Doctor Who's Inferno yesterday.

It's a really good story and for a 7 episode story, it moves rather quickly.

One of the biggest things I didn't like about it was the primeval green werewolves.
These monsters could have been totally wiped from this story and the story could still stand on it's own.
I hate when monsters are added to good stories just for the sake of having a monster present somewhere...

The TARDIS console removed from the TARDIS and still being operational was just plain dumb

What did you think of Inferno ?

[YANOULI]

wasn't it still connected by cables?

[Mikey]

wasn't it still connected by cables?

It's possible, but if it was, I missed the mention of it.

The only thing I knew it was connected to was the nuclear reactor.

Also, if it was connected to the TARDIS, wouldn't it have taken the TARDIS to the mirror-mirror universe ?

[MysteryWho]

I really enjoyed this one. It is one of the best Pertwee episodes. When I started watching Doctor Who, I watched Baker and Pertwee episodes alternately on Saturday afternoons, when they were shown on PBS 'omnibus' style as though they were movies. This is one of the stories that has always stuck with me. My only quibble might be that it's a bit longish.
Otherwise, great stuff.

[spotter]

One of my Favs

love the Russian rifles and the cowardly brigade leader instead of our steadfast brig- Eye pathces all around!

[bobws]

Monsters and console aside, this is one of my all time favorite Pertwee stories.
My favorite Trek is Mirror,Mirror so this goes right into that mentality of what a different version of characters might do. the Doctor's desperation is just amazing in this story.

[Mikey]

The only thing that bugs me about "mirror, mirror" type stories in alternate universes ---

The alternate universe is not exactly the same as our own ...
There is free choice that has nothing to do with our universe...
A person can die in one universe and it wont effect his doppleganger in the other.

If this true ... the universes SHOULD deviate so far away from each other, they would be unrecognizable after only a short time.

[palitoy]

I think it's one of the strongest Pertwee stories personally, I even like the Green Werewolves!

The console thing always bugged me but I just ignore it, it's more of a plot device, removing the Doctor from the safety of the Tardis. It's more symptomatic of a show not so married to it's continuity, such a thing wouldn't have been able to fly during the eighties and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

[Mikey]

A little Inferno trivia ..... Christopher Benjamin who played Sir Keith also played in the Tom Baker story The Talons of Weng Chiang ... and also the New Series story The Unicorn and the Wasp with David Tennant just last year.

[jds1911a1]

a thuglike Benton, Mussolini esge brig. I always felt it's the strongest storey of Jon's first season and one of the best Dr who stories of all.

[ctc]

>the universes SHOULD deviate so far away from each other, they would be unrecognizable after only a short time.

Sound reasoning, but you can always look at things from the other angle: that a parallell universe would remain similar to ours because events; even though not causally related, would play out similarly in both. So the parallels would continue. Unless something completely untoward happened to screw the pattern up. Sonething like people from the parallell dimension coming across and mucking things up. I think that's how Trek explained it with more recent "Mirror Mirror" episodes. For the Who continuity I think it'd play out similarly, but the explanation would tie into the idea that certain events in time are immutable, and those events might remain as such across dimensions; again ensuring that events will play out the same, albeit with a different "flavour" in each dimension.

Wow. I am SUCH a nerd....

Both explanations are essentially how each RPG suggested running this sort of scenario; and I think the principles hold up writing-wise.

>The console thing always bugged me but I just ignore it,

Y'know.... I never thought anything of it, mostly 'cos:
-they'd established that the TARDIS does all sorts of weird things, so another one isn't a big deal
-if I can accept the Doctor building a TARDIS locator from two forks and a potato, pulling out the dashboard doesn't seem like that much of a stretch....

Don C.

[Mikey]

Don, did you ever read any of the Star Trek Nitpicker's books ?

I read all three and i'd bet you'd enjoy them too