For me Inferno is the most compelling episode of this season; it throws the Doctor into an environment where he is threatened at every turn and faces death minute to minute and it plays with the whole parallel universe concept to such an extent that we see characters we already know to be allies performing as enemies. The Brigadier is counterpointed by a Brigade Leader who is more of a coward backed up by thugs than a man of honour and pride. Liz Shaw in the other dimension is a soldier, not a scientist, although she had entertained the notion in university. UNIT itself does not exist, it is replaced with the Republican Security Force which enforces a regime in power since 1943. Clearly, this is a world where World War II did not end in favour of the allies. Parallel universes are a common science fiction angle usually used wrong with absolutely everything the opposite of what we would know in a regular series; in the Star Trek universe there are episodes across several franchises where characters travel to or from a Dark Mirror universe and we see those contrasts. Here in Doctor Who it's not presented as just one parallel universe but as several possible ones where simple choices have created new realities. Inferno is really the first time we see this in the series but it is not the last by far. In fact, parallel universe could be a handy way to write off everything that happened in the series from 2010 to present; somewhere else, the show has not slid into suckdom.
This particular parallel world, though, inspired some expanded universe fiction; this is the same parallel world where the Brigadier found himself in the spinoff The Schizoid Earth, and it pops up again a little while later in a BBC Novel.
Content aside Inferno has a distinct visual style; it was filmed on what looks like a gasworks or an oil refinery, the gritty location made to look even more desolate in the grainy film. It almost looks as if the world already ended here, so it's fit for an apocalypse. And in the parallel world version as disaster strikes the film is shot through a red filter to give it the look of a doomed volcanic spot. And there are the monsters, too; they're call Primords and have been turned into wolf-like creatures when they came in contact with green goo brought up from the drill shaft. They're not really the best visualized monsters - those fangs are clearly bought from a Hallowe'en shop - but the actors playing them either got coaching or developed some distinct shambling movements to make them a bit creepier.
Inferno is the last shout for Liz Shaw. Boy that year went by fast. And really, despite her being a scientist and being able to help the Doctor out with repairing the TARDIS and clever things, I felt she did not really get her fair shake. The late Caroline John played her very well, it's just a shame that we didn't get a second season with her. What we do have, though, are nine more adventures with Liz in them, some books, some audios. As I said, Caroline John has passed away so while they may write more books about her, we're not going to hear from Liz (literally) again after going through the Big Finish audios she made. Without those Liz would not have actually gotten a departure episode; when the series resumed the following season there was mention of her returning to Cambridge but that was all; the additional material gives us a chance to see how Liz's remaining days with UNIT went, and why she finally did choose to leave the Doctor's side.
NEXT EPISODE: THE EYE OF THE GIANT
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