The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

What a disappointment that a story as fantastic as the Impossible Planet/ the Satan Pit should attract a comparatively paltry audience of under six million. There was a feeling or maybe a hope that the Impossible PlanetВ’s audience of 5.9 million represented something of the hardcore of the programmeВ’s current viewing audience and that the figures were unlikely to dip further but my high of yesterday has become my concern of today now that the overnights have been revealed.

It isnВ’t RTDВ’s, David TennantВ’s or anyone elseВ’s fault that thereВ’s a World Cup on at the moment, or that the weather is uncharacteristically glorious, that these are the longest days of the year and there may be lots of people away, or that we live in an age where thereВ’s ample opportunity to see an episode another time if you miss the first transmission. The trailer for next week doesnВ’t inspire me to believe that things will improve statistically, so how far can the figures slide? To five million? Four and a half? Lower? I donВ’t have the stats for season 26 in front of me for comparison purposes but one thing I do know is that audience viewing figures for initial programme transmissions are still considered very important and someone, somewhere will have noted that in the space of a mere few weeks not thousands but millions have for one reason or another not seen the initial transmission. Temporary blip? Hope so. First sign that the honeymoon period is over in the eyes of the viewing public? Maybe. People at large loved Chris but are more lukewarm towards DavidВ’s energetic but at times too energetic and В“loudВ” portrayal? Who knows.

ItВ’s easier said than done I know, but serious consideration will surely have to be given to airing season three earlier next year, if possible, otherwise there might not be a season four to look forward to at all. Anyway, stories like this are best viewed when itВ’s dark outside for maximum effect! Hey, maybe that was one reason some didnВ’t watchВ….too scary. Because at times this one really did do what the old ones used to do more often (or is it just that IВ’m older?) and make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

The outstanding success of Matt JonesВ’s effort was largely due to the coming together of all the showВ’s finest elements into one brilliant whole. The story is of sufficient length to enable a fuller exploration of the various characters of the Sanctuary Base and this it does very well, aided it must be said by commentary from the Beast, and everyone turns in believable performances. This story, despite its subject matter of the possible existence of an impossibly old evil from before the dawn of the universe itself, was as gritty as they come and whilst the Beast proves himself to be the father of lies in his forecast of total wipeout for all those on the Base, it is nevertheless only three members, aside from the Doctor and Rose, who make it out alive, and the hapless Ood are totally destroyed. Even Rose blasts the possessed Toby out of the rocket and to his (apparent) doom.

And then there were the visuals В–absolutely stunning. Was I watching a film or a TV programme? Hard to tell. Am I getting carried away because this was the first, and it would seem only time this series that our travellers visit an alien world? And the haunting music, particularly in the Impossible Planet- wonderful. This was a perfect compliment to some stand out sequences, for example the truly chilling moment when the possessed Toby turns to look at Scooti Manista (what a lovely name) and beckons her towards him. Thought for a moment he might start floating towards her and scratch the window as in SalemВ’s LotВ… And then there was the shocking image of poor Scooti floating lifelessly in space. In the Satan Pit, the DoctorВ’s В“ act of faithВ” jump in to the abyss is also eerily well done, shades of Planet of Evil possibly but IВ’m not complaining. Just prior to that, during his controlled initial descent, the DoctorВ’s calm discourse with Ida as to the possible reason for the numerous myths and legends surrounding the devil is refreshingly restrained, (on TennantВ’s part) and not didactic, and perhaps the icing on the cake of Matt JonesВ’s excellent script is that it leaves open the question of the BeastВ’s ultimate identity and origin. And why not? We live in an age where thereВ’s an increasing tendency for some to dismiss and ridicule anything that doesnВ’t have an immediate physical explanation. The DoctorВ’s point is to say that one of the joys of travelling is that there is always the possibility of discovering something that might force you to alter your world, or should I say, universe view of things.

Listen, IВ’m basking in the enjoyment of this at the moment. In a few weeks IВ’ll watch it again and it might unravel before my very eyes. All I can say is that for the here and now this has overtaken Tooth and Claw as my favourite story of the season, and it just may well rank as one of my all time favourites. If I may join the ranks of those reviewers who like to give a mark: 9/10