Inferno review

Season 7@50. Over the past decade or so `Inferno` has gained in reputation amongst fans of the original series to the point where the story is now often cited as the finest Third Doctor adventure usurping the traditional poll topper `The Daemons`. I’m not sure I agree with this consensus to the point where I would pin it in fourth place in an admittedly very strong season. While there is a huge amount to enjoy about it and some great performances there is also a nagging sense of repetition about a lot of the dialogue. And this is before we get to the parallel world. As the third story in a row to be set around a scientific establishment there are similar scenes to its two predecessors in which authority figures clash with experts while the Doctor tries to get his view across. There is also carefully calibrated scientific or engineering work going on again for the third story in a row and, whisper it, this can be a little tedious. However these are often compensated for by the vigour of the production into which a cast hurl themselves with enthusiasm. By the time the story is running in two dimensions it has built up as much steam as the drilling process it is depicting and there is a genuinely thrilling denouement in the parallel world. 

The Blackpool Weekends #2

To provide a true flavour of what the Blackpool gathering was like, there's a short video on YouTube made by Kevin Davies of the 1981 gathering and if you look very, very carefully you’ll see me crossing the road around 3 and a half minutes in with someone wearing a big scarf though that is not really the most exciting moment- unless there was a dinosaur heading for us! You can also see a Sea Devil pootling about. Link to Blackpool 1981 video

It is with a little trepidation also that I present some (slightly edited) reviews I wrote at the time for the fanzine `Shada`. You may not know the names mentioned but these give a further illustration of what the weekends were like, there’s also some photos from various events. If you were there see if you can spot yourself. 

1983

The Blackpool Weekends #1

Doctor Who fan events in the `old time` were not always just about large scale conventions - in the pre-internet, pre-video days people had to get out a bit if they wanted to get to know other fans from different areas and if they needed to see those episodes they had hazy memories of. So there were lots of extra things in between conventions and one of them was the annual gathering at Blackpool, the North's premier seaside town and the location for the Doctor Who Exhibition. Each year, in early May from around about 1977 until 1989, fans would converge on the town for a weekend of relaxed fun and fan networking. And in a town as crazy as Blackpool did anyone even notice the occasional Sea Devil or long scarf?