The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit

“He is awake” – The Computer

Once again congratulation to Ray Tweedie who won the catpin contest, unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a copy of An Unearthly Child in time, so this was his back up request. Now then 2005 saw a decidedly earthbound collection of episodes, as then producer Russel T. Davies made the decision that alien world wouldn’t be believable. Given his later story lines he clearly flipped this belief into people will believe anything you put in front of them.

 

The TARDIS reluctantly materialises on an Ikea bought sanctuary base.and the Doctor and Rose soon come across some disturbing graffiti that even the TARDIS can’t translate. This is followed shortly after the first appearance of the very edible Ood. that would pop up a couple more times during Tennant’s tenure. For now though they make for some pre-titles aggression by implicating they are going to eat our two travellers. However once the titles role the Ood are downgraded to their typical servile state.

 

The look and feel of the sanctuary base is pretty well summarised by Rose as “tough”, as the crew of the base are put through everyday hardships such as huge planet quakes that damage part of the base. Yup, you guessed it, the part with the Doctor’s ship in it. This leads to a classic ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’ moment as the Doctor pleads with acting Captain Flane that the TARDIS is all he has left of his people. Later on as the Doctor and Rose come to terms with being stuck in “hell”. Aside from being disgusted with the idea of a mortgage the scene adds to the awkward romantic undertones the two have with the idea of sharing a home. This is echoed later in the Doctor’s reluctance to tell Ida the message he wants her to give Rose before he plummets into the pit.

 

The main theme of the episode isn’t romance and despair however. Following in the footsteps of The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances, these episodes are supposed to be the ‘scare the little buggers to death’ episodes. With this in mind there are certainly some unsettling moments, many of them being the possession of resident virgin Toby and later the army of evil Ood. The things which hole more impact for me however is the little moments, such as the brief flash of the Beast on the control room scanner, and the computer issuing the phrase “he is awake”. The chase scenes through the ‘vents’ add moments of tension as the Ood are madly clambering after the protagonists whilst Zack has to aerate every section, the moments of panic best portrayed by Danny losing his temper with Flane.

 

Another key theme in the episode is that of isolation, the sanctuary base crew being isolated from earth and any support it may offer, the Doctor being isolated from his ship, Rose later being isolated from the Doctor, the Beast being isolated from the rest of the universe and the planet being an isolated example of a planet in orbit of a black hole. In the case of Rose’s isolation it’s a perfect example of seeing her cope under pressure, and makes a huge contrast to the bumbling Rose who tried unsuccessfully to buff her way out of the Sycorax attack in The Christmas Invasion.

 

On a closing note the scenario with the Beast is really quite ingenious. The idea of the perfect trap: a planet in orbit of a black hole, whereby in the event you escape and accidentally break a couple of vases the planet falls into the singularity killing him. Of course it’s not that simple, as the Beast’s mind has already escaped in the form of Toby, who subsequently gives himself away with ranting and fire breathing and is subsequently sucked out into space with the help of Rose. Bet he didn’t see that one coming. 

 

Naturally the Doctor finds the blue box of loveliness and all is tickety boo again. The episode has a lot to give to the audience, including the question about the Ood which for now must remain undisclosed.