Inferno DVD

Information

Number of DVDs: 1
DVD Number: BBCDVD1802
Certification: PG
Duration: 167 minutes
Release Date: 19 Jun. 2006

Synopsis

An experiment gone awry sends The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to a parallel universe where his friends and companions are members of a fascist regime in this thrilling and popular episode from the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who.

Inferno is the name of a project designed to drill into the Earth’s core and release a powerful energy source called Stahlman’s Gas, what’s yielded instead is an insidious substance that transforms men into monsters.

The resulting chaos interrupts The Doctor’s travel in the TARDIS and knocks him into an alternate Earth run by a military dictatorship, and where Project Inferno’s progress threatens to bring about an apocalypse.

Episode entry

Special Features

Disc 1

Commentary

Commentary by Terrance Dicks (Script Editor), Barry Letts (Producer/Director), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier), John Levene (Sgt. Benton). John Levene was recorded solo-mic on episodes two and five some months earlier than the commentary for the other five episodes, to take advantage of a rare visit to the UK from his home in Hollywood.

Production Subtitles

Text commentary by Martin Wiggins providing cast details, script development and other information related to the production of this story.

Easter Egg

Countdown clock – Episode 7. Choose episode 7 under the ‘Episode Selection’ option. Let it play for a second or two and then rewind (approx. 30 seconds) to the beginning of the chapter. (1970)

Disc 2

Can You Hear the Earth Scream?

A special documentary looking at the making of Inferno. It features interviews with Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, actors Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, Ian Fairbairn and actor/stunt arranger Derek Ware. Produced by Steve Broster. (34’49”) (2006)

The UNIT Family (Part One)

A documentary looking at the first half of the ‘UNIT family’ that characterised the Third Doctor’s Earth-bound stories. Featuring interviews with Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, UNIT creator Derrick Sherwin, and actors Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, John Levene and actor/stunt arranger Derek Ware, the documentary is an affectionate look at Pertwee’s first season through the eyes of those people most intimately involved in creating the ‘family’. Produced by Steve Broster. Produced by Richard Molesworth. (35’37”) (2006)

Visual Effects Promo Film

In the early 1970s the BBC’s Visual Effects Department put together a showreel. This 6-minute excerpt features model effects filming from The Doctor Who stories ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ and ‘Inferno’, a watertank sketch from ‘Marty Amok’ featuring Marty Feldman, model shots from ‘The Caves of Steel’ and the filming of the forced-perspective model pier for the explosive finale of the missing ‘Doomwatch’ episode, ‘Survival Code’. (6’02”)

Deleted Scene

A short deleted scene which was never seen in the original BBC transmission of the story, featuring a rather too obvious Jon Pertwee as the voice of a radio presenter. Although this scene features in the overseas versions of the story and in previous VHS releases, it was decided to remove it from the episode and present it separately in order to be truer to the UK transmission. (1’58”) (1970)

The Pertwee Years: Introduction

Jon Pertwee’s original introduction to the story’s final episode, originally presented as part of BBC Video’s ‘The Pertwee Years’ VHS release. (2’45”) (1994)

The Doctor Who Annual 1971

In the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s The Doctor Who Annual was published every year in time for the Christmas market, and made an excellent stocking-filler! Now many of the annuals are collectors items. The Doctor Who Annual from 1971 – the first to feature Pertwee’s Doctor – is presented in its entirely as a PDF. (1971)

Radio Times Billings

Episode listings for this story from the BBC magazine Radio Times in PDF format.

Photo Gallery

A selection of rare and previously unpublished photographs from the recording of this story. (6’12”)

Easter Egg

Clean main titles sequence (including lava). Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the ‘Next’ option.

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