Mad science, parallel universes, and werewolf-sasquatch-oil-monsters. Just another Tuesday for the Third Doctor.
Short Synopsis
A dangerous drilling project threatens to pierce the Earth’s crust. The Doctor tries to stop it but accidentally hops into a parallel universe where everything’s the same, except fascist, goateed, and exploding. Meanwhile, everyone’s turning into green-furred Primords.
Extended Storyline
We open with Professor Stahlman, a man who apparently skipped every class in “Listening to Warnings 101,” pushing forward with a project to drill into the Earth’s crust. Why? Because the molten goo underneath might be a source of unlimited energy. (Or unlimited doom. Potato, potahto.)
The Doctor, already frustrated that UNIT won’t let him leave Earth without his TARDIS working properly, gets roped into helping monitor the drilling. He immediately notices things are going sideways — pipes overheating, gauges spinning, technicians turning into snarling werewolf-monsters after touching the strange green slime bubbling up from the depths. Stahlman’s response to all this? Ignore it and yell at people louder.
Fed up, the Doctor decides to use his experimental TARDIS console (currently cobbled together in a lab like an IKEA desk missing half its screws). Instead of nipping off to Florana, he’s hurled into a parallel Earth — same drilling project, but now overseen by the fascist “Republic of Great Britain.” Everyone’s wearing military uniforms, barking orders, and sporting sinister attitudes. Even Liz and the Brigadier are here, but as their evil doubles: the icy Section Leader Shaw and Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart, complete with the world’s most smug goatee.
This Earth, naturally, is drilling even more recklessly than the Doctor’s home version. The Doctor watches helplessly as this world pushes too far, pierces the crust, and gets obliterated in volcanic fire while everyone turns into green, fur-covered Primords — basically what happens if werewolves went on a toxic waste spa retreat. The Doctor narrowly escapes back to his own Earth before the lava wave hits.
Armed with terrifying knowledge, the Doctor rushes to stop the drilling in his own universe. Stahlman, being a stubborn mad scientist, refuses to stop until the project is seconds from dooming everyone. Cue frantic sabotage, slime fights, and the Doctor pulling every lever possible until the machine finally breaks down. Disaster averted — well, mostly.
Back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor grumbles about how humans never listen, and then storms off… only to return sheepishly when his experimental TARDIS console strands him about three feet away. Humiliation complete.