Target: Inferno

I got this very late so it's still a fresh pleasure. I think Terrance Dicks enjoyed doing this one as he puts a lot of effort into it - there's an unusual opening verbal 'pan' over the Inferno project, before we focus on the Doctor himself. In the alt-world the project is fascistically clean and tidy, and TD devotes a a couple of extra paras to the Doctor's speculations about how the fascist regime came to power in the first place. And there's a casual mention of how the real-world Stahlman grew up in the ruins of post-war Germany. And when Stahlman rebuts one of Sir Keith's suggestions, Sir K 'decided to defer that matter for now' (he even thinks like a civil servant).

But he's also not afraid to leave stuff out where it isn't so important, so for example we're told rather than shown the 'a chance to use your initiative' bit. Pip'n'Jane Baker would have written down every last word and camera angle.

The sacrifice made by the alts is rewarded in the ep 6 cliffhanger: just before the lava engulfs the hut, they get to see the Doctor successfully departing. I really like this - it's one of the grimmest moments in Doctor Who, no-one is coming to save the characters, but they die knowing that their sacrifice has not been in vain.

Something new I spotted this time: after the denouement the Doctor sees the real Brig, Liz, Greg etc happily celebrating, and thinks about their counterparts who weren't so lucky. 'For a moment it was like looking at ghosts.'

Something odd just before at the end - when the Doctor takes the short hop to the dump, Liz notices that Bessie doesn't disappear with him this time. What is the function of having her think that? Is Terry subtly criticising the flimsy justification for Bessie being taken to the alt-world earlier?