273 Inferno: Episode Two

EPISODE: Inferno: Episode Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 273
STORY NUMBER: 054
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 16 May 1970
WRITER: Don Houghton
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 5.9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Inferno Special Edition
EPISODE FORMAT: 525 video RSC

"Doctor, are you telling me that there's some link between Slocum and the volcanic eruption in Krakatoa?"

A UNIT soldier, Wyatt, is attacked by Slocum. Slocum is shot and collapses against the wall scorching it. The Doctor is able to bring the reactor under control. The Doctor believes he has heard the screaming noise Slocum was making at the Krakatoa volcanic eruption. Wyatt, and the injured technician Bromley escape. The Doctor encounters Wyatt high on top of the project's gas cylinders where Wyatt falls to his death, but Bromley stays hidden. More of the green slime has come up the drill pipe and Stahlman accidentally touches it. Annoyed by the warnings given by the computer he sabotages it, cuts off the Doctor's power and advances penetration time to 49 hours. The Doctor surreptitiously reconnects his power and the sends Liz on an errand to check his calculations. When she realises she's been duped she and the Brigadier return to find the Doctor, Tardis Console and Bessie vanishing.

Again it's the little touches in this episode that make it so good: the phone ringing throughout the confrontation with Slocum as Stahlman gets more and more irate that nobody will answer it not realising that the phone itself is agitating the situation. It's good stuff and a level beyond what we'd normally see on Doctor Who. The gas holders on the exterior of the drilling complex give an industrial feel to proceedings and they're not unlike the fuel complex seen in the previous story.

The one location used by the story is Berry Wiggins and Co Ltd, a bitumen manufacturer found by the crew while they were out scouting another potential location. Fire Hazard was a major risk at the site so smoking was strictly forbidden and footwear with steel caps was banned in case of sparks. You have to ask why the Brigadier & the Doctor go up onto the walkway between the gas holders to have their little chat, there seems to be no reason for it. There's nothing up there and it connects to nowhere that couldn't be more easily reached on the ground. As is well documented Jon Pertwee had a fear of heights and had to be taken up onto the gas holder by Havoc stuntmen Terry Walsh & Alan Chuntz and walked about till he was comfortable.

Another of the Havoc team, it's chief Derek Ware, gets a credited part here playing Private Wyatt. Ware had worked on the series since the very first story An Unearthly Child where he first came into contact with Douglas Camfield, his story's director, who was a production assistant on that tale. He was the Stunt Double for Kal Derek Ware in An Unearthly Child, a Saracen Warrior in The Crusade, the Bus Conductor in The Chase, a Stuntman/Soldier in The Myth Makers, Tuthmos in The Dalek Masterplan, The Spaniard in The Smugglers, a Stuntman/Soldier in Covent Garden in The Web of Fear, and a UNIT Sergeant & a Stuntman/Soldier in The Ambassadors of Death. He'll be back as Pigbin Josh & the Stunt Double for Filer in Claws of Axos, the Stunt Double for The Master & a Stuntman/Sailor in The Sea Devils. He was the Fight Arranger for An Unearthly Child, the Sword Fight arranger on Marco Polo, then Fight Arranger for The Aztecs, The Crusade, The Myth Makers, The Dalek Masterplan, The Smugglers, The Underwater Menace & The Web of Fear and finally the Swordfight Arranger on the Sea Devils. His stunt agency HAVOC is credited for "ACTION by HAVOC" on Ambassadors of Death, Inferno, Terror of the Autons, Mind of Evil, where they also arranged the fights, Claws of Axos and The Sea Devils. Ware can also be seen in various roles in An Age of Kings, the BBC series of William Shakespeare's history plays, in the Adam Adamant Lives! as the 3rd. Samurai in More Deadly Than the Sword, the Security Man in Car in A Slight Case of Reincarnation, a Servant in The Basardi Affair, Wein in Face in a Mirror and the 3rd Judo Man in A Sinister Sort of Service. In Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em he's the Window Cleaner in The Labour Exchange. His most famous role was as Rozzer in The Italian Job, for which he was also the stunt coordinator. Look at his IMDB entry, there's so much more on there and watch the Hadoke versus HAVOC documentary on the Inferno Special Edition DVD

Several of the location scenes in this episode were filmed on 1st April 1970, and a fourth member of the stunt team, Derek Martin, found himself a victim of a practical joke played by the cast & crew when he was made to believe that his beloved 1964 2.8 Jaguar had been damaged in an accident. Quite a high number of cast & crew tales exist from this story, indicating it was a memorable experience for those involved. One of them has gone down in convention circuit legend and we'll get to that next episode!

As you can see there's a lot of Stuntmen involved in this story and nearly all of them are in this episode as UNIT Soldiers!

Derek Martin had been one of the Rabble in The Romans, a Citizens of Paris (Rue des Fosses St Germain) in The Massacre, an English Sailor & Highlander in The Highlanders, a Stuntmen/Soldier in Covent Garden in The Web of Fear, the Stuntman in Spearhead from Space and a Heavy in Ambassadors of Death, He's back as a Prisoner in Mind of Evil, a Stuntman/UNIT Soldier, Stuntman/Corporal & Stuntmen/Axon Monster in Claws of Axos and David Mitchell in Image of the Fendahl. He was in Out of the Unknown as a Guard in The Counterfeit Man which you can see in the Out of the Unknown DVD Set. He was in Adam Adamant Lives! three times: firstly as a TA Soldier/TA Driver/RA Technician in in our favourite episode D for Destruction: this episode also features second Doctor Patrick Troughton and a large number of our friends the Power Station Control Panels and Tape Spool Computers, then as a Coach Driver in Death Begins at Seventy and a Villain in The Tunnel of Death. In Survivors he was in The Peacemaker as Cyril. He's also in The Sweeney as Spooner in Messenger of the Gods and The Professionals as Renshaw in Not a Very Civil Civil Servant. Nowadays he's best known for playing Charlie Slater in Eastenders. He pops up on the Who Talk commentary CDs commenting on Web of Fear 4 and features in the Inferno Special Edition DVD Hadoke vs Havoc documentary.

Terry Walsh was a Stunt Militiaman in The Smugglers, a Stuntman/Soldier at Covent Garden, a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion and a Stuntman/UNIT Soldier in Ambassadors of Death. He returns as an Auton Policeman, Stunt Double for Doctor Who and Stuntman (UNIT Soldiers/Auton Daffodil Men/Technician) in Terror of the Autons, a Motor Cyclist/UNIT Soldier in Mind of Evil, a Stuntman/Primitive, Stuntman/IMC Guard Rogers and Stuntman/Colonist in Colony in Space, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Day of the Daleks, the Double for Doctor Who in The Curse of Peladon, Castle Guard Barclay, a Sailor, Stunt Double for Doctor Who, Stuntman/Sea Devil & Stunt Double for The Master in The Sea Devils, an Overlord/Solos Guard in The Mutants, the Window Cleaner & Stunt Double for The Minotaur in The Time Monster, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who in The Three Doctors, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Carnival of Monsters, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Frontier in Space, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who & the Double for Captain Yates in The Green Death, the Double for Doctor Who in Frontier in Space in The Time Warrior, a Warehouse Looter in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Spaceman Jack, the Double for Doctor Who, the Burning Exxilon Stuntman & a Zombie in Death to the Daleks, the Guard Captain, a Guard & Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Monster of Peladon, the Man with Boat, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who & the Stunt Double for Mike Yates in Planet of Spiders, a Bouncer in Robot, Zake, Stunt Double for Harry Sullivan & Stunt Double for Doctor Who in The Sontaran Experiment, a Stuntman/Soldier, Stuntman/Thal Soldier, Stuntman/Muto & Stuntman/Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks, the Vogan Dove Radio Operator, a Stuntmen/Vogan Hawk, a Stuntman/Vogan Dove and the Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Revenge of the Cybermen, a Stuntman/Astronaut, Stunt Double for Doctor Who and Stunt Double for Sorenson on Planet of Evil, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who & Stunt Double for Doctor Who Android in The Android Invasion, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who on The Seeds of Doom, the Stuntman/Executioner in The Masque of Mandragora, the Stunt Double for Doctor Who & the Stunt Double for Chancellor Goth on The Deadly Assassin, a The Deadly Assassin & the Stunt Double for Doctor Who on Face of Evil Stunt Double for Doctor Who & Stunt Double for Count Grendel on Androids of Tara, Mensch & a Stuntman in Power of Kroll, Doran & The Stunt Double for Doctor Who in Creature from The Pit, He was the Fight Arranger on The Curse of Peladon, The Sea Devils, The Mutants, The Green Death, The Time Warrior, Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon, Planet of Spiders, The Sontaran Experiment, The Android Invasion, The Seeds of Doom, The Deadly Assassin, Face of Evil, Androids of Tara, Creature from The Pit. Outside of the main series he was the Double for The Doctor in Dimensions in Time and a Duelling Guard, Mercenary and Fight Stager for the Ultimate Adventure stage play. The Day the Earth Caught Fire he's a Man, in Adam Adamant Lives! he's in D for Destruction as Watts and The Survivors as Gerry. In Space: 1999 he's a Clan Guard in Journey to Where, a Rescue Eagle Pilot in The Mark of Archanon, a Technician in Space Warp and the Security Guard in The Seance Spectre. He's in Douglas Camfield & Robert Holmes' The Nightmare Man as the Stunt Double for The Killer and An American Werewolf in London as the Taxi Driver Who Crashes His Cab. Plus an awful lot more!

Alan Chuntz was previously a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, Technician Harvey & a Security Guard in The Seeds of Death, one of Collinson's Men & a UNIT Soldier in the Ambassadors of Death and he'd already been the murdered Technician in episode 1 of his story. He returns as an Auton in Terror of the Autons, a Prisoner in Mind of Evil, a Sea Devil & Sailor in The Sea Devils, Omega's Champion in The Three Doctors, a Security Guard in The Green Death, a Guard in Planet of Spiders, a soldier in Genesis of the Daleks, a Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen, the Doctor's stunt double in Planet of Evil, the Chauffeur in Seeds of Doom, a Horda Pit Guard in Face of Evil, a Coolie in Talons of Weng-Chiang, a guard in State of Decay and a Masked Villager in The Visitation. He also did stunt work on the Sean Connery James Bond film You Only Live Twice and on The Italian Job.

Billy Horrigan was also a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, then played the Man on Bike Killed by Auton in Spearhead from Space, and one of Collinson's men in Ambassadors of Death. He's back as a U.N.I.T. soldier, Auton Policeman & other stunts in Terror of the Autons, UNIT Corporal & Prisoner in The Mind of Evil, a colonist in Colony in Space, a guard in The Curse of Peladon, a Sea Devils & Sailor Stuntman in The Sea Devils, a security guard in The Green Death. a guard in Planet of Spiders, and a soldier/guard in Masque of Mandragora. He was also in Blake's 7 as a Scavenger in Deliverance. In the world of films he acts or does stunt work in Jabberwocky, The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman, Superman II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Superman III, Krull, Never Say Never Again, 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Roy Scammell made his debut in the previous story The Ambassadors of Death where he was a UNIT Motorcyclist, Peterson, Stunt Double for Liz Shaw & Technician. He's back as a Stuntmen (UNIT Soldier/Auton Daffodil Man/Technician) in Terror of the Autons, a Motor Cyclist/UNIT Soldier in Mind of Evil, the Stunt Arranger on Paradise Towers and the Stunt Double for Gavrok on Delta & The Bannermen. In Space: 1999 he was Astronaut Jim Nordstrom in Breakaway, the Space Animal in The Bringers of Wonder part 1 and the Maya Space Animal in The Dorcons. He did stunts for The Italian Job, Carry On... Follow That Camel, stunt doubling for Kenneth Williams, A Clockwork Orange (film), stunt doubling for Malcolm McDowell, Alien and Saturn 3. He also did Stunt Work on the following James Bond films featuring in From Russia with Love, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, GoldenEye and the first Casino Royale.

Roy Street also made his debut in The Ambassadors of Death where he was a UNIT Motorcyclist. He returns as the Motorcyclist & a Stuntmen (UNIT Soldier/Auton Daffodil Man/Technician) in Terror of the Autons, a Stuntman/Guard on Curse of Peladon and a Stuntman/Soldier, a Stuntmen/Brethren Member, Stuntman/Pikeman & Stunt Double for Doctor Who on Masque of Mandragora. In Carry On Cowboy he's a Horse Rider and he's acted as Horse Master for several films. He did stuntwork for the James Bond films appearing in Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Skyfall and Never Say Never Again, and also worked on Superman, Krull, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The location filming completed before the studio sessions, This episode is the first to be filmed as part of a change to established recording routine, previously one a week to two a fortnight. The idea was to record one episode on the first day and the second on the next but Douglas Camfield used the first day for camera rehearsals and filmed both episodes on the second day.

This is the first episode we get to see the Doctor use Venusian Karate as he immobilises Stahlman in the Brigadier's office.

The final seven episodes of the season hadn't yet had a story attached to them at the point that Barry Letts became producer of Doctor Who. Don Houghton had been a script editor on Crossroads at the point Terrance Dicks had worked on the show and had read in a scientific journal about a real life project to dig into the Earth's crust that had been abandoned under somewhat mysterious circumstances which prompted Houghton to develop a storyline which ran to four parts. However the production team needed a seven part story to close the season. Fortunately Terrance Dicks had an idea on how to extend the story.......