111 - Doctor Who: INFERNO (1970)

I’ve been a fan of the classic version of Doctor Who since I was a teenager. Like many Americans I discovered the show on PBS and have been striving to catch up ever since. The standard debate amongst Whovians is about favorite Doctors but I think a more interesting discussion can be formed around favorite stories. So, when approaching our first podcast on the subject we picked a classic from early in the Third Doctor’s run that showcases the joys typical of the 1970’s version of the series.

Jon Pertwee’s five year run as Doctor Who is one of the periods of the original show that still holds some mysteries for me. There are a number of stories from these years that I have never seen, meaning that I get a bit excited to explore Pertwee’s version of the character because they are new Classic Who! Or, at least, new to me. This enthusiasm for the Third Doctor’s tales bleeds over into repeatedly watching beloved stories to soak up the fun of what they were doing. It took me a long time to realize that the entire time Pertwee’s Doctor is working with UNIT is supposed to be in the 1980’s! That just makes things even cooler!

Mark Maddox is a longtime Who fan and has had the pleasure of getting to create artwork for Doctor Who magazine. He has even gotten to interpret some unfilmed Who stories with brush and paint! He talks about that as we meander around this episode discussing ‘Inferno’, the final tale from Jon Pertwee’s first season. This is a six-part tale so we dig into why those longer stories are so much fun. As to be expected, the inevitable talk about favorite Doctors comes up along with a sharp digression into the elements we feel are missing from the 21^st century incarnation of the show. This leads to a verbal scrum involving the various actors who have played the character. When we work our way back to ‘Inferno’ we discuss the smart sound design of the story and Mark tries to convince me to call the hairy green creatures in the story Lava Monsters. He is only occasionally successful. Occasionally.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the show or if you’d just like to tell us who your favorite Who is/was/will be drop us a line at thebloodypit@gmail.com and we’ll respond. Right now we have no idea what Mark and I will cover next so get those ideas in and you might influence our choice. Maybe.