The Satan Pit

В“Doctor, tell me thereВ’s no such thing.В”

This has to be one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who ever. In forty-five minutes it showcases everything that is good about Doctor Who today, everything that was good about classic Doctor Who, and gives us a fleeting glimpse of what Doctor Who may be like in the future. It is fast В– so very fast В– as the Ood rampage throughout the Sanctuary Base on their crazed killing spree. It is scary В– proper scary В– how on Earth the kids on the BBC website voted this episode a mere В‘Fear Factor 5В’ after last weekВ’s episode broke the В‘Fear FactorВ’ barrier I donВ’t know. Perhaps itВ’s that old chestnut about what you donВ’t see being scarier than what you do see. I do think there is some truth in that, but when we finally get to see the Beast, then wellВ…

В“The Satan PitВ” picks up where В“The Impossible PlanetВ” left off. The pit is open, and apparently Satan is free, but there is no sign of him. The Ood chase Rose and the surviving members of the Sanctuary BaseВ’s crew through the jeffries tubes in a scene that could have been cut and pasted straight out of one of the studio bound classic series stories В– it is simply thrilling. In classic Doctor Who style, Danny uses some techno babble method to knock out the Ood, but it is too late. There is a fleeting moment that is performed, shot and edited absolutely sublimely where Toby just turns to the Ood and says В“ShhВ” В– the Devil is still in him. Will Thorp gives an absolutely superb performance as the poor soul infested with the consciousness of the Beast. Thorp manages to portray Toby as a likeable but soft character, a bit of a doormat, and then suddenly the eyes go red, the tattoos appear out of nowhere and heВ’s the Devil. The force and the power that comes out of him is just shocking.

The rest of the crew are almost as impressive. Shaun Parkes as Zack, the makeshift captain, also gives an impressive performance. His character comes across as very down to Earth and very likeable, just a normal bloke thrown into a mad situation. Danny WebbВ’s Mr. Jefferson very nearly steals the show at times; his death scene is particularly moving. Ida (Claire Rushbrook), who spends much of this episode trapped in the Pit, and Danny (Ronny Jhutti) also come across as very real people with their own hopes and fears, making the BeastВ’s little prГ©cis of them all the more disturbing. Last week, much of the fear came from the hype surrounding this Beast. This week it is loose, and again the fear is mainly psychological as it plays on their В“basic fearsВ”, revealing their darkest secrets, and hinting at their possible futures. Whether this is the Devil or not В– the original, if you like В– is anybodyВ’s guess, but for one thing it certainly can see through our heroes here. В“The little boy who liedВ… the virginВ…В” and most disturbingly, В“the valiant child who will die in battle so very soon.В”

В“For once in my lifeВ… IВ’m going to say retreat.В”

When even the Doctor approaches the Pit with trepidation, the viewer knows something is up. “The Satan Pit” is something of a rarity in that it focuses on our lead man; it’s not a story where he shows up and saves the world, or teaches his young companion some lesson about the universe… it is a story about him directly, and his having to come to turns with the fact that there are things out there that even he doesn’t understand. The Beast claims to come from “…before time and light and space and matter… before this universe was created” which the Doctor just cannot accept. It contradicts all his core beliefs -“Science, not sorcery Miss Hawthorne” – as his faith is science. So what does he do? He jumps into the Pit. Bring it on! There is twenty foot of rock (filmed in a good old fashioned quarry, I might add) and then nothing. Literally. As he abseils down into the nothingness he puts a smile on a lot of fans faces with a few well-chosen words about Draconians, Dæmons, Kaleds… all these ‘classic series’ races have a Devil. The Devil is just an idea, surely? One way to find out, he reckons. He unfastens his harness.

В“Just tell herВ… tell herВ… oh, she knows,В” and with that the tenth Doctor falls silently, gracefully into the Pit.

When he wakes up his space helmet is smashed but guess what - heВ’s still breathing! Impossible! The Satan consciousness may have fled to Toby, but the Doctor finds himself looking up at the gigantic figure of the Devil. Whoever designed and animated the Beast needs some sort of award В– to come up with a piece of C.G.I. that good on a television budget is absolutely phenomenal. Without exaggeration, you wouldnВ’t see a better realisation of the Devil even in a megabucks Hollywood picture. In fact, of anything IВ’ve ever seen in cinema, I think the Beast looks most like the Balrog from The Fellowship of the RingВ… only better. Much better. ItВ’s amazing.

The ending is an absolute thriller; Rose is trapped with Zack, Danny and Toby/Satan on board a very small rocket trying to escape the pull of the black holeВ… talk about tense. At the same time, the Doctor has to face the old В“I could save the world but lose youВ” moment of truth again, only this time there is no Harriet Jones to bail him out. ItВ’s gripping stuff; absolutely mind-blowingly brilliant В– without doubt, В“the stuff of legend.В”

The only question that remains, now that we know Billie Piper will be leaving the show at the end of the series, is how will В“the valiant childВ” depart? Surely they wouldnВ’t do an AdricВ…