This was definitely one of the stranger plotlines. It was original, though because it involved an alternate timeline. Everyone is evil in this alternate universe, of course. This plot has always been used in numerous science fiction stories, but we haven't seen it done before in Doctor Who.
You'd think these people would have learned their lesson by now. It's just stupid thinking that drilling into the center of the Earth is going to go well. There's always some sort of trouble brewing and just after disrupting the surly Silurians living there, you'd think someone would say, "Hey, that's not a good idea."
I want to complain about the length of these episodes in this season. They are all irritatingly long. Even though the plots are more interesting than they used to be, they are still very long.
Everyone in this story has authority and grumpy issues. In every other line they snap at each other, and generally act as though they're drinking acid. The Doctor is using the power from the nuclear reactor from the drill to power his own TARDIS, which you wonder if the plan will actually work. So far any attempts to fix the police box have failed miserably. You have to give the Doctor an A for effort, thought.
There's a toxic green slime seeping out of the center. Oh goody goody, toxic green slime. Of course this green slime is bad for you, because otherwise we wouldn't have a good plot. If the green slime touches you, you become a roaring, slobbering, hairy creature. Why do we always need monsters in plots?
Because the Doctor is stealing nuclear reactor power, when the unjolly green giants turn the nuclear power on to maximum, the Doctor is thrown into an alternate evil universe. Terrific! All the same people are there, including the Brigadier sporting an eye patch and a scar. All really good baddies have eye patches and scars, you know. I like the Brigadier as a baddie. But then I would like him even if he were Satan. Everyone tries to kill the Doctor, including the evil Liz, because no one recognizes him. The Doctor is quite dumbfounded by this idea.
Anyway, the bad humans are also drilling to the center of the earth, and their technology is better. In the evil world, the monarchy has been defeated and a fascist regime has taken over. The Brigadier and his infamous sidekick Benton, are supervising. None of the baddies believe that the Doctor is really from an alternate time line. Realistically he is a spy, right? I mean, how are you supposed to believe that numbskull parallel universe story? "Oh okay. Pass the eggs, please."
The ending to this episode was interesting because the Doctor is unable to save the evil Earth and its few survivors from the inferno once the Earth's core is penetrated. This actually really upsets the Doctor. I don't remember a time when the Doctor didn't fix everything in the end. In the good universe, nuclear power is restored and the Doctor comes back to the good world. Good thing, or he would have died, too! The Doctor has nine lives!
Fake raging inferno of DEATH!
Next Up: Terror of the Autons
Thus ends Season Seven!
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