The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

And so to ‘The Impossible Planet’/‘The Satan Pit’, much vaunted when it was first announced as the new series first on-screen foray to an alien world. In fact that was ‘New Earth’, which didn’t feel at all like a new planet, and thus ‘The Impossible Planet’/‘The Satan Pit’ represents the first truly alien, hostile environment seen in the series albeit it one with that is uninhabited by anything or anyone except the ultimate personification of evil. As such, what we get is less ‘The Web Planet’ and more ‘The Dæmons’ on another planet with a bit of Aliens thrown in for good measure. Regardless of this however, it’s unlike anything seen thus far in the new series, and that is its great strength.

What is most striking about В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’/В‘The Satan PitВ’ is its use of the regulars, and this is something of a mixed bag. IВ’ve long since grown sick of the relationship between the Tenth Doctor and Rose; her constant looks of longing in his direction just about worked with Christopher EcclestonВ’s Doctor as it was portrayed as unrequited love. By this point it looks like almost-requited lust, and manifests itself as adolescent flirting and some of the most crushingly intrusive dialogue the series has ever seen. If the production team must insist on romance in Doctor Who, do it like В‘The Girl in FireplaceВ’ did it and have an end to this juvenile crush dynamic. Mercifully, writer Matt Jones, new to the series but having previously written New Adventures В‘Bad TherapyВ’ and the Doctor-less В‘Beyond the SunВ’ manages to exploit this increasingly irritating relationship in ways that just about make it work. So although on the one hand we have the utterly facile exchange in which the Doctor gloomily muses, В“IВ’d have to settle downВ… now that, that is terrifyingВ” and Rose starts blithering about getting a house together, this arises out of the fact that, for the first time in series two, the Doctor is forcibly separated from his TARDIS rather than simply parking it somewhere and then unable to get back to it because heВ’s wandered into trouble, or unable to escape in it because itВ’s recharging. Tennant conveys some of the sense of loss and, as result of being trapped in a single time and space, claustrophobia that the Doctor must be feeling, and despite the hideous dialogue sheВ’s given, RoseВ’s function here is to keep his spirits up until a mysterious menace comes along to keep him occupied. The ghastly smugness of the opening scene in which they leave the TARDIS and Rose suggests, В“If you think thereВ’s going to trouble we could always get back inside and go somewhere elseВ” followed by badly acted hysterical laughter comes back to haunt them when they find that they really canВ’t just get back inside, and even though the audience knows that the DoctorВ’s going to find the TARDIS at the bottom of the Pit after it vanishes into an abyss, it adds a sense of urgency to the story because for a while the pair seem just as isolated as the humans on the planet.

Jones also makes some progress with the story as the Doctor confronts the body of the Beast in the Pit and realizes that in order to destroy it, he will have to sacrifice not only himself but also Rose. This suggestion that the Doctor thinks sheВ’s the most important thing in the universe has blighted the new series ever since В‘Aliens of LondonВ’/В‘World War ThreeВ’, but here at least he does decide to sacrifice her and open the prison, dooming the planet. So their relationship here is still overwrought slop and frequently annoys me, especially when the Doctor solemnly announces, В“If I believe in one thing, I believe in herВ” but the story demonstrates progress. It probably wonВ’t last, and itВ’s a bad sign that when the Beast tells Rose that sheВ’ll die in battle I desperately hope heВ’s telling the truth, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

Interestingly however, ‘The Impossible Planet’/‘The Satan Pit’ also made me realize that it is purely this relationship, rather than Rose herself, of which I am wearying. True, she’s slow on the uptake when the Doctor (and the audience) realizes that the TARDIS has gone, but once the Doctor has descended into the Pit, it is Rose who takes charge, focusing the surviving humans into formulating and executing a plan, leading them through the maintenance ducts, and thus allowing them to disable the Ood. She has to be sedated to leave the Doctor behind, and threatens Zack with a bolt gun until he asks if this is how the Doctor would want her to behave, which takes us back into overwrought territory, but for the most part she works very well. But of the pair, it is the Doctor who is really great here. The hug may be cringe worthy (although Zach’s nonchalant “’spose so” when the Doctor asks him if he may hug him is rather amusing), but once the Doctor goes into the Pit the character shines in a way that, in retrospect, he hasn’t done for several episodes. Jones achieves this by challenging the character’s beliefs and making him face his fears; even the Doctor is wary of going into the pit, and only does so once the cable snaps and he has nothing to lose, quietly telling Ida, “For once in my life Officer Scott, I’m going to say retreat.” Tennant is especially good when the Doctor dangles over the pit, musing on the true nature of the Beast and wondering if everything he believed about the Universe is wrong (and on this occasion, the script leaves little doubt that he is), before finally taking a very literal leap of faith and falling into the void.

Which brings me to the villain. The Beast is the first god-like foe that the Doctor has faced in the television series since В‘The Curse of FenricВ’, and although this sort of thing isnВ’t new in the series as a whole, it is a first for the new series. The wise decision to cast voice of Sutekh Gabriel Woolf as the Beast pays dividends; В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’ is very creepy and WoolfВ’s malevolent tones significantly contribute to this, with TobyВ’s possession proving chilling. The episode builds tension wonderfully, with the Ood casually announcing, В“The Beast and his armies will rise from the Pit and make war against GodВ”, and the computer and RoseВ’s phone chillingly stating, В“He is awakeВ”. ScootiВ’s death is memorably nasty. WoolfВ’s best scene comes when the Beast communicates with the base personnel, plus the Doctor and Rose, near the start of В‘The Satan PitВ’, and answers the DoctorВ’s question, В“If you are the Beast, which one?В” with the almost gleeful, В“All of them.В” He sounds suitably devilish when he says of the Doctor, В“This one knows me, as I know him, the killer of his own kind.В” All of which leads the viewer to expect the story to follow the obvious route, with the Doctor confronting and defeating the Beast in the Pit, but Jones subverts this: the Doctor finds its body, but the expected confrontation never really takes place; much of the BeastВ’s function is to make the Doctor confront his fears and challenge his beliefs, as he descends into the pit, confronts it, and realizes that he has to sacrifice Rose as well as himself, or at least so he thinks, in order to overcome this ultimate evil. This is genuinely unusually for the series; we donВ’t get the Beast explaining some grand scheme to the Doctor, it simply wants to escape and the Doctor has to work this out more or less on his own. This is a commendably brave decision, even if it does result in the slightly ridiculous scene in which Rose gives it a lesson in the importance of wearing seat-belts. Who would have thought the Devil could have been brought down by a chav with a bolt gun?

В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’/В‘The Satan PitВ’ also works because of the supporting characters and a largely great cast. Jones makes every named character sympathetic, so that whenever one of them dies it has an impact. JeffersonВ’s in particular manages to be very moving, despite toying with clichГ©. Interestingly, the Beast plays on their fears, and we learn that some past incident between Jefferson and his wife still haunts him, but Jones doesnВ’t bother belaboring us with the details, which means that these snippets of information feel like genuine character background rather than plot points. Ronny JhuttiВ’s performance as Danny is rather shrill and forced for much of the story, but when the character starts panicking in the ducts, itВ’s very believable. All of them, despite being, really, barely sketched, feel real, especially Shaun ParkesВ’ thoroughly likeable Zach and Will ThorpВ’s unfortunate Toby, and the DoctorВ’s rescue of Ida at the end makes for a partially happy ending that avoids feeling twee.

And it all looks fantastic. I donВ’t normally bang on about effects in Doctor Who, but the Beast, the black hole, and the caverns in the bowels of the planet look superb. The sets mesh perfectly with the effects, creating a convincing world, and the obvious Aliens influence results in a frontier base that looks functional and dirty. The Ood look great, their interfaces giving them a bizarre pipe-smoking appearance, and their pursuit of Rose, Toby, Danny and Mr. Jefferson through the ducts is very tense. Director James Strong maintains atmosphere throughout, and as a result В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’/В‘The Satan PitВ’ is one of the most visually impressive stories of the new series to date.

Despite this praise, I do have criticisms besides the relationship between the regulars. The Doctor and Rose are introduced to the crew when they first arrive, but when Danny tells the Ood to remain where they are he is accompanied by a hither-to unseen guard. Guess what happens to him? And to the unknown female crewmember who similarly appears at the start of В‘The Satan PitВ’? Given JonesВ’ grasp of his other characters, this jarring insertion of nameless cannon fodder feels terribly lazy and borders on parody. There are other convenient contrivances on display too; the lack of air in the maintenance tunnels isnВ’t terribly convincing, given the abundance of mesh grills leading into and out of them, and the fact that the Ood, which apparently need air, creep up unexpectedly through different stretches of duct. ItВ’s also terribly fortunate that the Ood cut through the door protecting Rose et al very quickly, but take ages to get to the Captain. The В“We must feedВ” teaser is a bit silly, although I suppose it does makes the Ood sinister initially before they become friendly and helpful, and then, erm, sinister again, and the ending is also a bit daft, as we see the TARDIS with a tow-rope. Why didnВ’t it just materialize around the ship? Then we have the Torchwood reference; these are really starting to grate, and IВ’m actually looking forward to the series. Rumour has it that the references are building to something within this series of Doctor Who and are not just plugs for the spin-off, although given the Bad Wolf farce in series one, this doesnВ’t inspire confidence.

Overall then, despite some misgivings, I enjoyed В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’/В‘The Satan PitВ’, although the admirable fact that it didnВ’t actually do what I expected left me rather cold on the first viewing. But RoseВ’s infatuation with the Doctor grates more than ever and I need it to stop, one way or another. One last note: the story would probably work much better without Murray GoldВ’s tepid aural effluence smeared all over it. But then, that goes for the whole series.