The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit by: Matt Jones and directed by: James Strong

 

“The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler with Danny Webb as John Maynard Jefferson, Shaun Parkes as Zachary Cross Flane, Claire Rushbrook as Ida Scott, Will Thorp as Toby Zed, Ronny Jhutti as Danny Bartock, Gabriel Wolf as the Voice of the Beast, and Silas Carson as the Voice of the Ood.  They were written by: Matt Jones and directed by: James Strong with Simon Winstone as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  They were originally broadcast on Saturdays from 3 to 10 June 2006 on BBC One.

 

One of the major criticisms I have for the revival of Doctor Who is that with the absence of the Time Lords, the Doctor as a figure has this tendency to creep up to being the highest authority in the universe.  Part of the reason this happens is due to a lack of incomprehensible and unexplainable threats, something that the original run would present occasionally, reminding viewers what can happen when the Doctor is out of his depth.  This tradition goes all the way back to The Web Planet, a serial often maligned but even those that dislike cannot ignore the presence of the Animus representing a sinister unknowable force.  Serials like The Celestial Toymaker, The Web of Fear, Enlightenment, and The Curse of Fenric present individual figures as all-powerful threats.  It then becomes interesting that the highlight of the second series of the revival of Doctor Who devotes its second two part story to one of the very few times the Doctor and Rose have to face an incomprehensible threat.  Matt Jones, like Paul Cornell, Mark Gatiss, and Russell T. Davies, got his start in the New Adventures line of novels writing two incredibly emotional tales in Bad Therapy and Beyond the Sun.  Jones was approached by Davies to pen a two part tale specifically set on an alien planet in response to criticisms of the first series being set entirely on (or in the atmosphere of) Earth.  Jones immediately proposed “Satan Pit” as a two-part story set on a planet orbiting a black hole, a scientific impossibility, and a return from the Slitheen who in the future have become enslaved by humanity but are infiltrated by a malevolent entity known as the Beast.  This was also meant to be a set of episodes produced to save on the budget of the show, being bound to studio filming and reusing alien costumes with the Beast going through several potential appearances as finances around the filming of the episode changed.  Davies eventually found enough budget to create a new species of alien costumes in the Ood and the computer animation budget necessary to realize the Beast.  Davies’ rewrites integrated the Ood before direction was assigned to newcomer James Strong and the series order rearranged so “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” would be the fifth block in production to be double banked with the sixth block consisting of the true budget saving episode “Love & Monsters”.

 

“The Impossible Planet” as an episode is this second series’ only example of a perfect episode of Doctor Who, mainly because Matt Jones’ script is such a slow burn of exploration that it sets itself apart from much of the revival.  Jones has always been a writer focused on characterization, Bad Therapy being a novel primarily concerned with the fallout from the death of companion Roz Forrestor and Beyond the Sun’s supporting cast all being on paths of self-discovery.  The episode is a slow burn of ideas, dripping every scene in this horrific atmosphere as the planet Krop Tor being drilled upon makes for this hopeless setting.  There is this sense that the crew of this base, while primarily preoccupied with furthering scientific and archeological knowledge concerning the universe, are also having a crisis of their own as the implication is that they are eventually going to die on this planet.  There is an energy source of some sort ten miles below the surface of the planet which is the primary interest of this crew.  That’s the entire plot of “The Impossible Planet” in a nutshell as things slowly start to go wrong, the TARDIS is ejected into the black hole stranding the Doctor and Rose, and the Doctor eventually finds himself with scientist Ida Scott, played by Claire Rushbrook, going to the bowels of the planet to investigate further.  Despite this episode being produced in 2006, the pace of the episode and lack of advanced plot points just assists in the slow burn and dread.  There are moments showing the influence of the Beast, and members of the base are slowly being picked off one by one by Toby Zed, played by Will Thorp, which are genuinely terrifying.  Thorp’s performance is not playing the character as outright evil, just normal, with the Beast taking him over and his entire demeanor changing into this almost trickster figure with motives that are not entirely clear.

 

James Strong’s direction is particularly evocative, giving the exterior sequences of the planet this empty feeling.  That stark emptiness contributes to the atmosphere of the episode working so incredibly well towards making the viewer uncomfortable.  There is a moment where the Doctor and Ida are descending through the shaft and the visual sequence is so stark and barren.  The base itself is broken down and grungy, dialogue indicating that it was built from a kit which is a fascinating piece of worldbuilding where humanity has become so adept at space exploration that space bases are cheap and functional.  This adds this sense of tiredness to the episode and the story itself is building up towards something.  The relationship between the Doctor and Rose that’s explored in this first episode is fascinating, as this is the first time in the revival that the TARDIS is lost, the loss being played entirely straight and Rose has to contemplate adjusting to a completely future society.  Billie Piper perhaps has her best moments this series in this episode as she has to react, attempting to remain optimistic that perhaps the Doctor could build or grow a new TARDIS.  David Tennant as the Doctor is clearly attempting to distract himself rather than face the inevitability that he has essentially ruined Rose’s life as they have no prospects together.  They both attempt to help the crew where they can but this is an episode where they genuinely have to deal with this nihilistic outcome.  Jones’ script is also incredibly smart that when the bodies begin to pile up it isn’t the Doctor and Rose who are suspected of committing the murders and steps are taken to protect themselves, the Ood slaves being the primary suspects which as telepathic aliens they fall under the influence of the Beast first.  The cliffhanger of the episode is also one of the show’s best as the ancient evil is unleashed on the universe and our characters leaving viewers at the point of the most tension after Jones’ script has explored the idea that this Beast is the originator of the demonic goat imagery of the universe.  10/10.

 

“The Satan Pit” splits itself between the two parties of Rose and the rest of the scientists on the planet while the Doctor and Ida are in the depths of the planet facing the Beast.  Gabriel Woolf in both episodes is voicing the Beast while Silas Carson has been brought in to voice the Ood.  Woolf previously played the Osiran Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars, another alien above the Time Lords in terms of power and influence on the universe, and the casting choice of the Beast is in a similar vein.  His deep pitch resonates without the need for special effects enhancements to bring out the terror, so much so that when the physical Beast roars it just isn’t nearly as intimidating as Woolf’s performance.  Jones doesn’t make any attempts to humanize the Beast, it is a being of near infinite power that is only awakening because it is disturbed.  It sees into the minds of every character and get them to do its bidding quite easily.  In regard to the Beast, there is one large mishap at the climax of the episode with the Doctor defeating it’s body first and it’s consciousness second, instead of just recapturing it in a prison to sleep further which while meaning that there is a happy ending is an inferior ending to what the story overall is attempting to do.  Much of “The Satan Pit” owes itself to the work of H.P. Lovecraft as Woolf plays the Beast as unknowable horror despite its appearance as a giant demonic entity.  The definitive destruction amplifies the idea that the Doctor is the highest authority, literally the killer of gods, further shown by Tennant’s impassioned speech building up to the choice the Doctor makes to destroy the Beast.  The dilemma continues the fear from “The Impossible Planet” that the Doctor has left Rose in an impossible situation, destroying the final seals will release the physical embodiment of the Beast but it will destroy the gravity wells that allowed the planet to exist, plunging it into the black hole.

 

The Doctor being willing to sacrifice Rose’s life is a fascinating aspect of the episode, as it builds upon the previous aspects of their relationship yet feels a bit out of place as to how Series 2 has been working.  Series 2 is essentially a series of dates between the Doctor and Rose and Matt Jones decides that “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” is supposed to be completely outside of that relationship.  The way Jones’ characterizes Rose is actually much softer and more self-sufficient than she has become in surrounding episodes where her dependence on the Doctor is amplified due to the romance between the characters.  The plot on the base is equally as simple as the Doctor’s plot in the planet, it’s the crew attempting to escape, several crewmembers having to sacrifice their lives so any one of them could possibly escape.  The possession of Toby is one of those plot points from “The Impossible Planet” that actually gets revealed in the final moments of “The Satan Pit”, only the audience really being aware of it yet the audience still wants to see Toby live as he is equally a victim in the story.  The Ood themselves becoming the threat is also horrific, their humanoid design playing into a very uncanny valley feel as instead of mouths their tentacles fit in with the Lovecraftian tone of the episode.  Jones also makes the brilliant decision to keep the episode going past the destruction of the physical form of the Beast, an obvious decision to make, but it avoids the story ending on an anticlimax and making Rose and the crew’s place in this second episode actually have a point in being there.  If there is one aspect that does not come together, it’s the fact that the destruction of the Ood, presented as a slave race, isn’t actually questioned in a story that’s already stuffed with interesting examinations of the universe.  Luckily this is something future episodes would actually address, but it does reveal how last minute the Ood’s inclusion in the story actually was as if it were the Slitheen as aliens as the initial drafts proposed there would have to have been a reckoning with Rose’s side of the plot.  9/10.

 

Overall, “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” is a two part story from the revival of Doctor Who that in recent years has sadly become overlooked as it’s a story dealing with very intense themes and imagery.  It’s at its best when the Doctor is portrayed as being on the back foot and having terrible things happening to him and Rose throughout.  While the second half doesn’t work quite as well as the first half, it’s still absolutely brilliant with Matt Jones bringing his experience from the New Adventures into the revival in the best possible way.  Tennant and Piper lead a very strong supporting cast with distinct performances from Danny Webb, Shaun Parkes, and Ronny Jhutti while Claire Rushbrook as Ida Scott has companion material in her own right.  It’s Gabriel Woolf’s sinister vocal work that steals the show however as this two part story becomes the high point of the second series.  9.5/10.