The Satan Pit

The pit is open and I am free..'

The conclusion to В‘The Impossible PlanetВ’ does not disappoint. The production team are again giving all theyВ’ve got for В‘The Satan PitВ’ and it really does show on screen. If there is one thing to note about the series so far is that it has managed to be both cinematic and epic storytelling whilst also serving the characters well. Here we have impressive production values, a very intriguing script that is about genuinely interesting ideas and a re-affirmation of the central Doctor/Rose relationship. Their bond is strengthened in time for audiences to understand the trajectory of the characters when we hit the epic conclusion of this series.

Top marks once again to the crew, especially the production designers, all those at The Mill and Murray Gold for a great score В– probably his best yet В– and one in which he managed to re-use key musical motifs without the sentimental over saturation that he can be prone to.

Tennant and Piper were very good as ever with Billie somewhat eclipsing David again. I keep coming back to this but I do find that Tennant can be wonderful in most scenes and then he unsettles the performance with a В‘forced zaninessВ’. His quieter scenes as he was being lowered into the pit were spot on but I found the acting in the confrontation with the Beast was often over-wrought and clumsy. I become too conscious that he is В‘actingВ’ and this often pulls me out of the moment. However, itВ’s a minor niggle and one which I hope will sort itself out. For the most part, heВ’s really very good. Apart from В‘The Girl In The FireplaceВ’, this is probably his best work of the series so far.

I loved the counterpoint between Rose taking charge and her role almost Doctor-like as she motivates the crew of the base whilst the Doctor and Ida discuss faith, belief and religion in the darkness of the pit.

Shaun Parkes should also be applauded for his convincing turn as Captain Zach. He managed to give the character a much needed vulnerability to prevent it from ending up as that terrible old SF clichГ© of the В‘brave CaptainВ’.

So what was all that aboutВ…? The philosophical trappings of the episode were very welcome indeed and added some real meat on the bones of the story. For a start we are presented with a Doctor whose rationalism is thrown into question. Many would argue that the Doctor has always maintained the need for rational and scientific explanations for particular phenomena (The Daemons being a prime example of this). What this story was trying to argue was that when confronted with an evil that В‘doesnВ’t fit my rulesВ’ then heВ’s actually willing to be proved wrong. He is open to other interpretations when he doesnВ’t have the knowledge В– В‘for once in my lifeВ…retreatВ’. He takes a symbolic view because it is a view that embraces the old cosmology and it is just as relevant to understanding lifeВ’s experiences as rational thought is. He still maintain his belief in the rising and setting of the sun as something that can be explained scientifically but he also now sees it as a phenomena that can have a symbolic reference in reality. Hence, evil is discussed as an idea, as a symbol of the unconscious that can be passed on from mind to mind.

Equally there is much discourse on personal belief systems, on your own faith and your own religion. For me, the Doctor and Ida are actually asking each other about how they need to rely on great trust as well as great scepticism when they try to reach out into the unknown. The entire story is basically how humanity searches out for the unknown with huge leaps of faith. The DoctorВ’s 'Where angels fear to tread'

leap of faith when he realises all he has left is a fall into the pit is the most pronounced outcome of this debate. Counter this faith with RoseВ’s very real fear of a Satan or the Devil as traditionally described throughout the centuries and perpetuated through myth and story. It is a primal fear and a heritage that the Beast exploits in all of us.

And it is fascinating that the В‘lonely GodВ’ cites human achievement as an exemplar. Is the Doctor, fearing a tendency to alien aloofness, using the blind faith of humanity as a benchmark to keep his own ego in check? We have a Doctor who refreshingly does not know the answers when he finally wakes the Beast and it is his faith in Rose that transcends his doubts and enables him to act. In parallel to this, Rose also realises that a leap of faith - to do something there and then and worry about the outcome later В–is the only thing she can do in the spectacular despatch of Toby from the shipВ’s cockpit. (Yes, the science was all wrong but this is an episode about rationalism versus superstition!) The pit and the Beast are both symbolic of the DoctorВ’s reduction of ego. The abyss is a source of wisdom and his fall a return to the cradle of civilisation.

The stunning Balrog-like sequences of the Beast in the pit and the DoctorВ’s fall are welcome nods to the KhazadВ’dum/ZВ’haВ’dum scenes in Lord Of The Rings and Babylon 5. The mindless creature, a denizen of DanteВ’s Inferno, is a former God from an impossible place В‘beyond timeВ’ with a slippery truth, 'the devil's work', that seemingly the DoctorВ’s rational ego is unable distinguish as lies or prophecy.

I loved the way the Beast singled out each of the main characters, with TobyВ’s fate as the sacrificial virgin symbolically highlighted and a very doom laden foretelling of RoseВ’s death in battle.

The sequence in the ventilation shaft, an В‘AliensВ’ like chase through the labyrinth, turns on the BeastВ’s trickster nature when Toby is revealed to be still possessed. ItВ’s a neat narrative side track that reinvigorates the tense and frantic direction of the last ten minutes of the episode. Again, visually there is lot of movement from above to below and across the screen, increasing the dramatic pacing. James StrongВ’s direction was particularly good in the chase sequences.

I didnВ’t really understand why a few found the ending a cop-out. Surely, we all knew that the TARDIS had fallen into the pit? I was expecting it to turn up and it did with a triumphant flourish that made my heart swoon. The Doctor probably didnВ’t know the answers but at least he had his trusty ship to save the crew and Rose from the black hole. In the end the black hole was made to swallow its bitter pill just as the BeastВ’s captors had desired. Rose and the Doctor are reunited but have they also taken their own medicine?