The Impossible Planet

I did not have high hopes for this story. Whilst I loved Matt JonesВ’ Bad Therapy, a very sweet character piece in the final third of the New Adventures but I couldnВ’t stand Beyond the Sun, his Bernice Summerfield novel and I regularly found his column in DWM the most annoying thing about the magazine. Add to that the fact that this episode has the least В‘WOWВ’ factor in this series to date (One had Zoe Wanamaker, Two had Queen Victoria and warewolves, Three had Sarah Jane, Giles and K.9, Four had Sophia Myles and Mickey as a companion, Five and Six had Cybermen and Seven had Maureen Limpman) and that last weeks teaser was hardly an appetite whetter and the best thing you could say is that В‘that bloke from Casualty is in itВ’. HmmВ…

Oh what a stupid, stupid fool I am. Hype is one thing (come on I think we were all a little disappointed by New Earth) but a show firing on all cylinders and proving what it can do in every department is another and that is exactly what The Impossible Planet does. Technically this episode is flawless and I genuinely feel it has the strongest cast yet assembled for the new series. This is an episode that might restore faith in the series of some of those who preferred series one (so SimonВ’s mother then) and remind the rest of us why we should be so proud of supporting this show.

It is a funny old business, I do like it when there is a third companion mostly because John Barrowman and Noel Clarke are such good performers and bring much to the show but when the TARDIS is enjoying threesome we see the weaker aspects of the Doctor and RoseВ’s relationship, namely their ignorance of how much they are hurting the third member and involved in themselves. Take away that selfishness of their intimacy and their relationship is adorably sweet, as proven last week in The IdiotВ’s Lantern and here. David Tennant and Billie Piper have enjoyed a strong chemistry this season but their carefree existence lacks the unity of Piper and EcclestonВ’s relationship. This where things shift up a gear and they share some wonderful moments in this episode, which exposes the richness in their partnership, both the characters and the actors. The DoctorВ’s quiet despair at being trapped is rectified slightly by the sweet moment where he and Rose talk about settling down, both of them shy to admit they would choose to live together. RoseВ’s admission that В‘everybody has to leave homeВ’ and that being trapped in this situation is not so bad because she is with him are possibly the most mature scenes the character has ever had and all the better because they are understated and impeccably performed. Bravo. Also RoseВ’s gentle kiss of the DoctorВ’s helmet (behave yourselves!) suggests an intimacy between them that surpasses anything we have seen before without stripping them of their dignity and getting all sweaty.

Matt Jones has written a damn good script, on a par with the best of either year. The story is packed with great ideas and they are dramatized beautifully. This is a textbook case in how to effectively build up tension, spend the first fifteen minutes setting the scene and introducing the mystery, then mid episode introduce some major problems for the characters to react to before your big reveal in the last third which gets everybody on the edge of their seat screaming В“Oh shit!В” (or was it just me?). Jones had also written an extremely strong cast of characters, so successfully thought through that the death of somebody we have only known for twenty minutes has a major impact. Whilst the cast are responsible for bringing these people to life, they really donВ’t have anything to work with if the script is naff.

Imagination soars as with all the best Doctor Who stories. The Ood are a marvellous idea, a slave race that only reaps pleasure from serving others but with such a stomach churning appearance. Loads of scope to be damn creepy and yet sympathetic at the same time, slaves of the humans or the Beast. The big reveal that the base is affixed to a lump of rock orbiting a Black Hole is well presented to make the viewer gasp and gawp, helped no end that it is visually spectacular as well (but bonus points for holding this off for ten minutes, had this been a regular one off episode this would have been tossed in the air before the opening theme). It is a terrifying thought being sucked into a black hole and the episode wastes no time in demonstrating the power of this phenomenon, Murray GoldВ’s effective strings accompanying an entire star system being consumed by the Black Hole. Where the episode lacks in originality is its horror undertones, something nasty under the ground waiting to be unleashed but come onВ…name two instances where that clichГ© hasnВ’t worked out? ItВ’s a fabulous conceit, which is why it has been used over and over and implanted into a story which is already as gritty as this one turns a dark episode into a terrorizing one.

I am not easily scared. I think Doctor Who has managed to give me the shivers maybe three or four times in its entire run but there was one scene in this episode which terrified me more than any other that I have seen in TV or film for years. It is beautifully filmed to get under your skin. Toby stands outside the base in the airless vacuum without a spacesuit before the black hole and turns on his friend staring at him through the window. His eyes are blood red, his face is stained with alien scrawl and he is grinning at her. A beautiful smile of pure evil, beckoning him towards her. Oh my God I was hiding behind a pillowВ…and as the glass cracked and she was sucked out towards his grinning faceВ…there must have been loads of kids shitting themselves tonight! Also scary but not as much was the climax, featuring the Beast speaking through Toby and telling the security office that his wife never forgave him.

Two performances stood out although there was not a single one that didnВ’t impress me. I want to apologise to Will Thorp who I had written off as a soap actor (or dancer) who delivered a spot on piece of acting of a man fighting against a terrible infection. His early scenes suggest a shy, dedicated but likable man and his transformation into a pawn of the Beast is truly shocking, his stunning smile is put to great, scary effect. I have to say a word for David TennantВ’s old sparring partner Shaun Parkes who made such a sparkling partnership in Russell T DaviesВ’ Casanova. Standing in as acting Captain, Parkes delivers a great, tired performance of a man doing a job who was not built for but still pulling it off well. As expected his scenes with Tennant shine, the scene where the Doctor hugs him should be vomit inducing and yet (thanks to the actors) they make it work.

Lovely to see some grit in the new series, I remember Russell T Davies saying how much he channel hops and stops on the show with the prettiest picture regardless of how good the show is. Doctor Who this year has perhaps been a bit too pretty, New Earth, Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace and The IdiotВ’s Latern all feature gorgeous, sumptuous productions but it all looks a bit NICE. Here weВ’ve got all the style but jumping down below decks with the В‘workersВ’. The sets are divine, dirty, unsteady, filled with dirty smokeВ…it really helps to put across the sense of clinging on to this rock for dear life. I like the contrast of the futuristic setting with the modern-ish costumes, nothing to flashy but casual and comfortable just how you would want to be in that environment. Lighting is exceptional throughout, especially during TobyВ’s murder scene and the Doctor and RoseВ’s settling down conversation.

Real edge of the seat drama and an attempt to be scary that succeeds on every level, here is a great example of Doctor Who doing its best to give you nightmares before you go to sleep. ItВ’s almost a shame it is broadcast in the daylight. Do yourself a favour and tape it and watch it later in the dark on your own.

Ten out of ten chaps.