Eric Stahlman
Professor Eric Stahlman was the founder and head scientist of the Inferno Project conducted at Eastchester.
Biography
Eric Stahlman grew up in Germany after the First World War (PROSE: Inferno) and became a scientist, later heading the Inferno Project. (TV: Inferno) He was known to Dame Emily Shaw, who described him as an "old goat". (AUDIO: The Last Post)
Stahlman was obsessed with completing the project quickly and fought anyone who might delay it — including Sir Keith Gold, Greg Sutton and the Third Doctor.
Having earlier touched and been infected by the green ooze which was a byproduct of the drilling, Stahlman ordered the technicians out of the drill-head area as Penetration-Zero neared, sealed himself in and rubbed a handful of the substance onto his face — mutating into a Primord.
On emerging into the main control area, the mutated Stahlman was shot twice by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (whether this had any effect is unclear); and then killed by the Doctor and Sutton each spraying him with a fire extinguisher. (TV: Inferno)
Appearance
According to one account, Stahlman was a burly man. (PROSE: Inferno)
Behind the scenes
- Stahlman is an anglicised version of the German surname Stahlmann, meaning "Man of Steel" (implying his ancestors were metalworkers), similar to the meaning of Stalin in Russian. It is likely Stahlman anglicised his name at some point from the grammatically correct German name Erich Stahlmann.
- Stahlman is mentioned as growing up in "post-war Germany", whether this was the First or Second World Wars is unclear. Olaf Pooley was in his mid-50s when Inferno was filmed. Stahlman growing up in post-Second World War Germany would require the events to occur decades after Inferno's original UK transmission. If the 1974 date for the story's setting established by Ashes of the Inferno is correct this would mean Stahlman was born in about 1918 and that he grew up through the Great Depression and the Nazi era.
