The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

In 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit' we got what 'the Guardian' described as 'Alien plus The Matrix divided by The Exorcist'. You didn't need to look too hard to find other influences from various precursors in the sci-fi and fantasy/horror genres but it was all brought together with such panache, and with enough that was original and fresh, that there was never any hint of schlock. 'Derivative' is not a disparaging criticism when the sources are as impeccable as they were here. Of course, give a bad cook a platter of even the finest ingredients and you'll still end up with an inedible meal. Fortunately for us, what we sat down to here was a banquet, lovingly prepared by a gathering of master chefs.

It is reported that when Lew Grade had finished watching a screening of the very first episode of 'Thunderbirds', he said to Gerry Anderson 'That's not a television show. It's a movie!'. Similar words are apt here. For a new take on the base-under-siege theme, with a suitably claustrophobic setting, this felt simply epic in its scale. Splice these two episodes together and you have a cinematic experience more involving than many a Hollywood blockbuster.

Matt Jones' script skillfully increased the tension and excitement as the plot, which never felt predictable, advanced. The gradual revelation of the presence of the Beast, first in simple references, then through the disembodied voice heard by Toby, his subsequent 'possession' with its truly chilling physicality, the conversion of the Ood into his army, the flickering hologram and finally the monster in the pit, was masterful. Moments of action and tension were interspersed with intimate duologues which gave the characters time to grow, to breathe and to explore their relationships, even their relationships with characters in their lives outside this story. Just three words, 'My old Mum', added flesh to Ida's character, superbly portrayed by Claire Rushbrook. When the Beast, through Toby, asked Jefferson if his wife had ever forgiven him, going on to say 'She never did', a whole history was alluded to in just a couple of sentences. The effect was powerful and the writer allowed us the intelligence to make more of these exchanges than the mere words conveyed. Such finesse abounded.

The economy of the language used to make such dramatic impact was breathtaking. Jefferson's poetic eulogy as he reported Scooti's death elevated what was already a powerfully moving scene to another level again. Beautiful words, simply spoken. The beast confronted the deepest psychological fears of the crew not with snarling threats but simple insights; 'The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied.' When cut together with the reaction shots of the people concerned, the effect was electric.

Subtlety in scripting was matched by subtlety in performance. Given the nature of the story and its themes, it would have been all to easy for any of these actors to chew the scenery with a vengeance but none did. Every performance was based in truth and pitch-perfect. The stand-outs were, of course, Will Thorp and Gabriel Woolf, who, individually and together, inhabited the character of the Beast to mesmerising effect. Toby was entirely believable and his transitions from downright terrified to downright terrifying were brilliantly portrayed. It is impossible to imagine a voice better suited to the Beast than that of Gabriel Woolf. Two outstanding performances that brought to life two characters in one.

David Tennant's Doctor, surely destined for an honoured place in the Who Hall of Fame, continues to grow in stature and authority with every episode. He is at his quirky and eccentric best when considering apparently insurmountable problems. His 'thinking-out-loud' approach, with sudden swoops of logic and contradiction, is as much a joy to watch here as ever. So too his quiet contemplation of events in his duologues with other characters. He always conveys a sense of this Doctor's deep empathy. Billie Piper too reminds us of why Rose really is such an apposite companion for this Doctor and why she is perfectly equipped to bring her to life. Rose here shows more steel than we've seen before; but then she has come a long way from being a simple shop girl. She's been changed by her experiences with the Doctor and her fondness for him, just as Sarah Jane and others were before her. The rest of the ensemble cannot be faulted and it is no struggle to believe that this is a group of people who have journeyed far together.

The meticulous care with which the production team have brought the Doctor back to our screens has been evident in every episode since 'Rose' but the bar is raised again with this two-parter. The whole look is impressively filmic and it's difficult to believe that something with such visual punch is actually a kid's programme created for broadcast television on a comparatively tight budget. The sets, the costumes, the lighting, the effects photography, all are seamlessly integrated to create a wholly plausible environment; whether the dingy confines of a realistically detailed sanctuary base or the cavernous underground of a lost civilisation.

The Ood were another great concept brought to life by some terrific prosthetics and animatronics. They didn't look like blokes in rubber suits as so often creatures did in the classic series, but believable aliens. The CGI beast, when it first appeared in all its malevolent glory, actually elicited from me the involuntary but entirely appropriate exclamation of 'Bloody HELL!'. The scale and detail of that creation was astounding and resulted in surely the most visually impressive 'monster' the series has ever featured. The heat haze which shimmered about it was a small example of that almost obsessive attention to detail which helps give such creations their authenticity.

Equally impressive and arguably more disturbing still was the manner in which the 'possession' of Toby was represented. A simple idea, amounting to little more than a few tattoos and some red contact lenses, but brilliantly executed and brilliantly effective. Factor in Will Thorp's focused performance, and Gabriel Woolf's measured tones, together with James Strong's taut direction, and the effect was astonishingly creepy. When the beast inhabiting Toby fixes Jefferson with his gaze, during the first occasion on which the crew realise his possession, you really get the remarkable sense that he is looking not at him but into him. The moment in the maintenance tunnel when an apparently 'clean' Toby turns to the advancing Ood and stills them with a look and a gesture was totally unexpected and shocking indeed. It is again a tribute to all involved that when the possessed Toby later begins spouting messianic phrases and even breathing fire it never seems over the top but remains true to the story, entirely believable and horrific.

Much of the credit for the foregoing belongs to James Strong. His pacing always works with the script, never against it. Intimate conversations took place in close-up; sometimes with an unusual angle of view, such as when the Doctor and Rose were shot from below against the towering image of the black hole above. In these more contemplative passages the camera was allowed to linger, the cutting between shots kept to a minimum, the dialogue brought to centre stage. In the action sequences the cuts came thick and fast; close-ups capturing every nuance of reaction, medium shots used to show the characters interacting with the environment or each other and long shots, again often from unusual perspectives, used to create a sense of the scale of this drama. Together with the effects team, he offered us some stunning and very memorable imagery: the shot of Danny looking through the porthole, seamlessly transitioning to Toby looking through his magnifying glass; the possessed Toby on the surface; Scooti drifting in space; the Doctor and Ida exploring a cavern which seemed both real and vast; the space-suited Doctor suspended in the inky void of the pit, finally falling; the Beast railing against his chains and writhing in fire; the possessed Toby confronting Rose in the space ship, his malevolence captured in extreme wide-angle close-up. These pictures will long stay in the mind.

Murray Gold also continued to deliver the goods. I've never found his music for the series intrusive as some claim to have done. For me, it always helps the drama just as the best incidental music should. Haunting refrains underscore emotional scenes whilst action sequences are accompanied by orchestral passages which here are wonderfully percussive and Faustian. Sometimes all it takes is a single, stabbing chord, a crescendo or glissando, to highlight a dramatic event. Classy stuff.

My only minor niggle in this whole story concerned the reappearance of the TARDIS. It needed to reappear where and when it did, of course, as it was essential to the eventual denouement, but the way in which this was done just felt a bit lazy. How, for example, did it come to be beyond the great seal over the mouth of the pit, which was closed at the time the TARDIS was lost? Did the earthquake really open up a chasm over ten miles deep that went beyond that seal elsewhere? Or did the TARDIS somehow dematerialise to protect itself during the fall, something not beyond credibility for a device which we know to be sentient on some level, being drawn, naturally enough, to rematerialise near the source of the gravity field? A quick question from Rose answered by the Doctor would have filled in the one remaining blank for someone who likes everything nice and tidy.

It is, of course, beyond irony that these episodes, which in time will surely come to be regarded as classics of the Who canon, and which of all the New Who episodes most recall the spirit of great episodes from the classic series, are those which have received the lowest audience numerically since the Doctor's return; even if still enjoying a good percentage share. Someone in the BBC must be certifiably insane for scheduling the series to run in the summer months. Imagine how many more people would be inclined to watch and enjoy the programme on a winter's evening. Imagine, too, how much better the dark of winter would have suited the broadcast of a story as atmospheric as this.

This has been my first review, so I should explain that I am writing simply from the perspective of one of the millions who formed in earlier years a great and abiding fondness for one of our national TV treasures. After reading much of what has been written here concerning the 9th and 10th incarnations of our eponymous hero, I'm really rather relieved that I'm not what might be called a 'true' fan. It must be terrible to have access to television drama of such sublime quality as this every Saturday evening and to remain unable to enjoy it for what it is. For the true fan, it seems, the 21st Century Who can do no right (and I can imagine the reviews for next week's episode already!). For the rest of us, fortunately, it remains entertaining and enthralling and can do no wrong, especially with material as strong as this. Long may it continue.