The Satan Pit

My expectations were high for The Satan Pit after the cliff-hanger ending to last week's excellent episode. Would Rose and the crew of the Sanctuary Base be zapped by the possessed Ood? Would the planet be sucked into the black hole? And just what was rising out of the pit to confront the Doctor and Ida?

These tricky situations were all, more or less, resolved with startling speed. The planet's orbit settled back down and locking the doors (temporarily) dealt with Ood. And as for what was emerging from the pit... well, it turned out that nothing was emerging from the pit. It was just a naughty point-of-view camera trick. Unfortunately, this did slightly deflate the episode for a moment. I felt it needed a more explosive beginning. Things righted themselves to an extent with the Beast speaking through the Ood on the video screen before giving them a brief glimpse of his demonic visage. The panicked crew talking over one another, only to be silenced, and then calmed, by the Doctor's interruption was a great scene, though the Beast's sepulchral tones were less impressive when mixed with the voices of the Ood.

With the lift cable broken, the story went in two directions: the Doctor and Ida contemplating the pit while the others crawled through access ducts to defeat the pursuing Ood. These latter scenes were as tense and claustrophobic as they needed to be, but reminiscent of similar scenes at the end of the film Aliens. The final door rising up to reveal waiting Ood provided a nice jolt, but choosing this moment to also reveal that Toby was still possessed by the Beast was a mistake. How much more of a shock would it have been if the audience discovered the Beast's escape plan along with the Doctor and Rose? As it was, we were waiting for them to play catch-up.

Ida and the Doctor's scenes in the cavern provided an interesting juxtaposition, quiet and thoughtful, and a chance to see a greater depth to the Doctor's character. The sometimes irritating banter and over-confidence vanished, to be replaced by introspection, doubt, even fear. Despite pressure from Ida, he initially decides against investigating the pit - maybe curiosity has been his downfall once too often. He dismisses the Beast's statement that it came from 'before time', but still seems shaken by the possibility. And he has a couple of magical, heart-in-the-mouth moments. Firstly, his 'No, it's not the urge to jump; it's the urge to fall', followed by his backward tumble over the edge of the pit. Secondly, when he unclips his caribenas and plummets into the void. With no idea of what's below him, it's almost as if he doesn't care what happens to him, whether he lives or dies. The simplicity of the visuals - the Doctor's flailing form against inky blackness, shrinking to nothing as he falls - makes for a stunning scene, especially as I thought, as the topside crew were about to re-establish radio contact, that he might be talked out of it.

The following scene, as Rose breaks down and then refuses to leave on the rocket with the others, ups the emotional ante. In fact, generally, the emotional moments in this episode work well - Jefferson's final scene and Ida's radio farewell to Zack being also worthy of mention.

So then the plot gets resolved. It's neatly done, if a little straightforward. The Doctor meets the visually highly impressive Beast and deduces that its intelligence has escaped on the rocket; Rose, strapped in on the rocket, comes to the same conclusion. As mentioned above, the audience is already one step ahead here, more's the pity. The Doctor, realising the trap, proclaims his faith in Rose and destroys the gravity field, apparently dooming everyone to end up in the black hole. The Beast speaks through a tattooed Toby once more - still shocking, despite it being about the third time it happens - and Rose despatches it and him, using that blatantly signposted bolt gun with one remaining bolt. The Doctor, using the rather-too-easily recovered TARDIS rescues Ida and saves the rocket from the black hole. Job done. It was the Ood I felt sorry for though, used and abused by both humans and Beast, and left cowering in the base corridors as they plummeted to certain death in the black hole.

In the end then, an enjoyable episode, but not the classic I was hoping for. I realise my expectations were perhaps unfeasibly high after The Impossible Planet last week, but it seemed that the best bits were used in that first episode, and not enough was held back for the story's conclusion. I thought I might end up with a new Doctor Who 'favourite two-parter', but I think that must remain The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances from last year. For the moment, at least.