BOOK DETAILS
| Pages | 126 |
| ISBN | 0-426-19617-1 |
| Publication date |
18 October 1984 |
SYNOPSIS
Inferno is the name of a top-secret drilling project to penetrate the Earth‘s crust and release a major new energy source.
A crisis develops when a noxious liquid leaks out as drilling progresses – the green poison has a grotesquely debilitating effect on human beings.
As the Earth’s plight worsens, the Third Doctor is trapped in a parallel world, unable to rescue the planet and its inhabitants from the destructive force of Inferno…
NOTES
CHAPTER TITLES
- Project Inferno
- The Beast
- Mutant
- The Slime
- Dimension of Terror
- The Nightmare
- Death Sentence
- Countdown to Doom
- Penetration-Zero
- The Monsters
- Escape Plan
- Doomsday
- Return to Danger
- The Last Mutation
- The Doctor Takes a Trip
DEVIATIONS FROM THE TELEVISED STORY
- The “door handle” is confirmed to be the sonic screwdriver.
- The Doctor deduces how the parallel Earth became a dictatorship.
- Stahlman‘s motivation is explored in more detail.
- Stahlman is said to have grown up in the ruins of post-war Germany (so he’s either younger in the novel or the story is set circa 1990, unless he is describing the First World War).
- The Doctor is traumatized by the destruction of the other Earth.
- Stahlman is described as burly and Liz as having reddish-brown hair, neither of which entirely reflects their on screen appearance.
- Stahlman‘s first name is given as Eric.
- It is explained that The Doctor plans to use a power surge from the project’s reactor to overload the blocks placed on the TARDIS.
- Benton refers to Bromley by name: In the televised version, his surname is only given in the credits.
- The character of Latimer is unnamed.
- The scene between Sir Keith Gold and Patterson prior to the car crash is removed. Sir Keith states he was unconscious for several hours, explaining his disappearance.