Last updated 24 March 2024


Episode 1

Series Episode Number: 272

World Premiere: Sat 9 May 1970 - 5:15pm BST [BBC One] (United Kingdom)
First Broadcast: Wed 29 Oct 1975 - 6:30pm CST [WTTW 11 Chicago]
Running Time: 23 minutes 21 seconds

5.70 Million (UK)

Appreciation Index: 61 (UK)

Chart Position: 72 () (UK)

Recorded on Fri 24 Apr 1970 in TC3 / TC6
Archive State: RSC conver



UNIT are at a project run by Professor Stahlman who plans to penetrate Earth's crust. But the drilling has already released something deadly from beneath the planet's surface.

Characters hide uncredited
Doctor WhoJon Pertwee
Liz ShawCaroline John
Brigadier Lethbridge-StewartNicholas Courtney
Professor StahlmanOlaf Pooley
Sir Keith GoldChristopher Benjamin
Greg SuttonDerek Newark
Petra WilliamsSheila Dunn
Sergeant BentonJohn Levene
Private LatimerDavid Simeon
Private WyattDerek Ware
Harry SlocumWalter Randall
BromleyIan Fairbairn
Murdered TechnicianAlan Chuntz (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Norton Clark (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Bertie Green (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Patricia Matthews (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Corrine Skinner (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)June Gray (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Alan Clements (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Keith Norrish (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Richard Cooper (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Harry Tierney (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Sheila Knight (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Joan Harsant (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Richard Lawrence (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Richard King (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Derek Hunt (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Valerie Bland (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Robert Birmingham (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Keith Ashley (uncredited)
Technician (inferno Project)Michael Earl (uncredited)