Exiled to Earth in the late 20th Century by his own people - the Time Lords - the newly regenerated
Doctor arrives in Oxley Woods during a shower of mysterious meteorites. Investigating these unusual
occurrances is the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT). Led by Brigadier
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT is soon called into action when people and meteorites begin
to go missing. Most puzzling of all is the attempted kidnapping of a hospital patient, a severely
disoriented man with two hearts who had instantly recognized the Brigadier, then had difficulty
placing his own face.
By the time the Doctor is able to join forces with the Brigadier and the recently recruited Dr. Liz
Shaw, time is running out for UNIT. Already irregular things are happening at a nearby plastics
factory, while faceless creatures lurk in the woods. The Nestenes have arrived with world conquest
on their collective mind...
"If you break through the Earth's crust now you'll release forces you never dreamed existed!"
20th Century Earth. An unhinged scientist, Professor Stahlman, is attempting the first penetration of the Earth's crust in a top secret drilling project called Inferno. His purpose? To tap into a new energy source at the core. But at what cost?
When the Doctor and his companion Liz Shaw are called in to oversee the project, he soon develops grave misgivings. Things begin to go very wrong when a mysterious green substance leaks from the drillhead. A substance which turns all who come into contact with it into alien primeval creatures called Primords.
Meanwhile, the Doctor finds himself transported into a parallel universe identical to 20th Century Earth. The mystery deepens as he finds that although the place, time and people are all the same, no one seems to know who he is.
Only one thing is certain: the drilling must be stopped before the full force of the energy from the core is unleashed, destroying not only this Earth, but the one the Doctor has left behind...