Harry -
Do you think it's safe to come out from behind the sofa, Sarah?
Sarah -
No, I don’t think it’s safe at all. I’ll be typing this from the safest place in the universe -- behind the sofa!
Harry -
That was New Who's first bona fide horror story, wouldn't you say? Every Doctor Who story has it's share of frights. We've had ghost stories ("The Unquiet Dead"), rampaging monsters ("Dalek", "Tooth and Claw"), and creepy freakouts ("The Empty Child"), but "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" delivered demonic possession and cosmic horror on a whole new level.
Sarah -
A horror story set on a base under siege is firmly in my Doctor Who sweet spot.
So I have to admit that was totally misremembered this story, thinking that Martha had been in it. I had to look up Martha stories and realized I was confusing it with "42". I’m not sure that means anything, other than reflecting how long it’s been since I watched any of these stories.
Harry -
There will be a feeling of "sameness" when we get to "42". This seemed to occur often in the RTD era.
Sarah -
For better or worse, the RTD era was nothing if not consistent. The story begins on a typically irritating note as the Doctor and Rose emerge from the TARDIS all giggly and smug. Fortunately, the action kicked in quickly so it didn’t have time to get unbearably annoying. Having materialized inside a sanctuary base, the Doctor and Rose find themselves surrounded by the Ood, who initially appear menacing but are actually a race of servile empaths. What did you think of the Ood the first time we met them?
Harry -
As intended, the Ood are gross at first glance, and frightening in their first moments on screen. It adds to the sense of unease aboard this base. I forgot how much stress was put on describing the Ood as little better than slaves or livestock. As one crew member explains: "If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die." Also strange how the Doctor and Rose took it in stride.
Sarah -
Right? In any other story, the Doctor would be working to free the Ood, not leaving them to die in the inevitable carnage.
Harry -
There is a lot for them, and us, to take in during the opening scenes. We meet most of the most of the base crew in rapid succession, and learn that they are drilling into the core of a planet that is something of a cosmic miracle. The planet is maintaining permanent orbit around a black hole, as entire galaxies fly past to their destruction. Very sciencey!
Sarah -
The guest cast is particularly strong. It’s unfortunate that we know most of them won’t make it to the end of the story.
Harry -
The reason for the drilling is to locate the power source that is generating the energy needed to hold the planet in orbit. Such power could revolutionize science, and naturally the humans want to get their hands on it. Unfortunately, a side effect of the drilling is earthquakes that rock the planet's surface. A huge tremor destroys a section of the base, taking the TARDIS with it. The Doctor and Rose are trapped. That put a damper on things.
Sarah -
Oops. The smug cool kids get their comeuppance, which leads to yet another awkward conversation as Rose jokes about giving up the traveling life and settling down for a happy life in the suburbs of some backwater planet. The Doctor is horrified at the prospect of being stuck in one place, declaring that he’s dying at losing “literally” the only thing he’s got. Calm down, Drama Queen. And how many times does Rose have to be told that the Doctor can’t be her boyfriend forever and ever?
Harry -
Meanwhile, Toby the crew's archaeology specialist hears a voice whispering behind him.
Sarah -
I’m back behind the sofa. The progression of the beast’s possession of Toby, the Ood, and the computer ratchets up the tension so subtly that the crew almost doesn’t notice it’s happening.
Harry -
Scootch over, Sarah. Ever since the Exorcist films, the notion of demonic possession has given me the creeps. Watching Toby's slow transformation, first with the whispers, then the ancient letters appearing all over his body, to the moment when Scooti spots him outside in the vacuum of space before he sends her to her death, it's all a growing horror. Worst for me was the individual Ood suddenly declared to Rose: "The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God." Aieeee! That's some old school Catholic terror.
Sarah -
I’m imagining watching this back in the day when Doctor Who was on at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night. I would never have gotten to sleep!
Harry -
Even before the TARDIS vanished in the earthquake, I found the Doctor oddly subdued, or maybe a bit off. There was that spontaneous hugging session with the crew, but for the most part he moped around watching things happen around him. Just as suddenly as things were getting out of hand, Toby returns to normal. Neither he nor anyone else can explain how Scooti ended up floating in space, her dead body tragically drifting away. That moment reminded me of Katarina's death way back in "The Daleks' Master Plan".
Sarah -
The image of poor Scooti floating in space was heartbreaking. It definitely felt like a callback to Katarina.
Harry -
The drilling stops, meaning that they've reached what they were looking for. The Doctor volunteers to descend the mine shaft with Ida (it's kind of sad that I have to keep looking up the crew's names, they each got such little time in the spotlight; this story deserved to be a classic era six-parter so we could really get to know everyone). The capsule descends to the bottom and they emerge into a gigantic cavern filled with statues and carvings from the planet's ancient civilization.
Sarah -
I liked Ida. I know I’ve made this point before, but this is another case of the Tenth Doctor being paired up with a more mature woman, which happened a lot in the Fifth Doctor era when he was traveling with younger companions. In both cases, it’s refreshing to have some grownups in the room.
Harry -
While the Doctor and Ida explore, the Ood quietly mobilize. Well, quietly on the outside, but scanners indicate that their brain activity has accelerated to levels that should be fatal. They slowly mobilize and march on the others. At the same time, Toby has gone back to illustrated man mode, with more frightening words for the crew: "These are the words of the Beast. And he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise." Aieeee!
Sarah -
The Beast definitely has a flair for the dramatic.
Harry -
Pardon the pun, but all hell is breaking loose. The planet suddenly slips from orbit, sending it towards the black hole. The Ood and Toby are terrorizing everyone above, while down below, the Doctor and Ida watch as the trapdoor at the bottom of the pit opens, and a terrible voice declares that it is free again. But what is it? Now THAT is a bloody cliffhanger.
Sarah -
I had to take a little breather before jumping (figuratively) into "The Satan Pit". The Beast wastes no time declaring himself to the Doctor and dismissing the humans: “You know nothing. All of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. And the lost girl, so far away from home. The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon.”
Needless to say, Rose has a few questions about that little bit of foreshadowing.
Harry -
"You will die here, all of you. This planet will become your grave." Oh hell's bells.
The only non-terrifying thing about the Beast's voice was seeing that it was the one and only Gabriel Woolf behind it.
Sarah -
Sutekh himself!
Harry -
Rose asks if it's the voice of Satan, but the Doctor can't or won't confirm it.
Sarah -
I’m pretty sure that’s because he knows it’s Sutekh, and doesn’t want to explain the continuity to everyone else.
Harry -
The Doctor tries to calm everyone by claiming it’s all wordplay and trickery to terrify them (even though it worked like gangbusters), but the voice seems to know about the Doctor as well, giving him pause. It was brilliant having a disembodied voice terrify everyone for the first half hour of this episode. The terror on everyone's faces was very real.
While attempting to return up to the base, the cable of the capsule that the Doctor and Ida are in snaps, sending them crashing back down. Ida realizes they could make use of the cable and absail down into the now-open pit. Curious, but also seemingly resigned to his fate, the Doctor goes first.
Sarah -
I love Ida! It’s like, “We’ve gone this far and are probably going to die. Let’s explore while we can!” She’s brilliant.
Harry -
Meanwhile, the Ood are still rampaging through the base. It's one huge tribute to Alien here as everyone flees into smaller and smaller spaces trying to get away from the monsters. The claustrophobia was starting to get to me.
Sarah -
I appreciate that Rose takes charge and rallies the crew to fight the situation, but things are clearly not going well. Mr Jefferson’s death is in the ventilation shaft is particularly heartbreaking.
In the end, only Rose, Zach, and Toby have survived. Zach tells Ida that they can’t save her and the Doctor and everyone is pretty much resigned to their fates. But Rose is having none of it. She’s prepared to wait for the Doctor like he’d wait for her, but Zach’s not on board with her plan. He’s lost too many people and sedates Rose to get her on the escape rocket.
Harry -
I had a great deal of empathy for Zach. He’s like a harried civil servant who was just doing his thing when he found himself unexpectedly thrust into a senior management role in a crisis situation. He’s trying his best, all things considered.
Sarah -
Meanwhile, the Beast has gotten on the Doctor’s last nerve; he trusts in his faith in Rose and smashes the jars that are holding the gravity field in place. Alas, the Beast is too clever to fall for that and shifts to Toby’s body, which is just next to Rose’s. But here’s the thing: the Beast doesn’t know that he’s in the RTD era, where Rose is capable of things that no other companion could ever manage. Would the intrepid Sarah Jane Smith be able to grab Zach’s bolt gun? I think not. Would the clearly smarter-than-the-Doctor Zoe know how to perfectly time the shooting out of the glass and unbuckling of Toby’s seatbelt to shoot him into the black hole? Oh, hell no! Only Rose Tyler is capable of achieving these miraculous feats, which is why she and the Doctor are clearly the OTP of the entire fucking universe...
Harry -
I couldn’t believe she shot out the glass of the escape rocket. It’s the least intuitive action one could imagine in that situation, but remedied of course by an RTD-era quote like “Go to Hell.” I guess we were meant to punch the sky there.
Fortunately, harried civil servant Zach quickly activates the external shields to seal off the damage caused by the madwoman behind him. So much wanton disregard for the health and safety regulations. I would not fault him for filing a grievance when this is done.
Sarah -
Help me, Harry. I don’t think I can make it through the rest of this season. Has the Doctor ever been so deep in a self-created bubble with any other companion? I would give anything to hear the Sixth Doctor bicker with Peri right about now.
Harry -
I know. Those two are just too much. If only this story featured a different TARDIS team it might have been a classic. The horror aspects are incredible. The voice and design of the Beast are truly terrifying – not to mention the sheer size of the monster. Genuinely frightening stuff for any Doctor to face.
Sarah -
It’s a great story despite the domestic drama of the TARDIS Team. That said, I liked that the script has the crew questioning their behavior as the crisis builds.
Harry -
As mentioned earlier, I would have liked to have gotten to know the characters of this crew, or at least learn some more of their backstories.
Sarah -
It’s the stellar guest cast that makes you want more. Excellent casting!
Harry -
One final point about the production is how awesome the production was. Director James Strong put together a solid effort, especially in making the sets look and feel so battered and claustrophobic. Unlike a lot of sterile and cheap looking sets in space, this one was very believable.
Sarah -
I have only good things to say about the production. The sets are perfectly lived in and the direction is smashing.
Harry -
At the end, it was fortuitous that the TARDIS was sitting there waiting for the Doctor to trip over it. A few quick trips to exchange Ida for Rose, and some Gallifreyan tractor beam magic to pull the escape rocket away from the black hole, and there you have it. The planet, the Beast and Toby’s body all sent into the void of space. I remember being irked by the tractor beam business when this story first aired, but I’ve come to accept it as something TARDISes are able to do.
Sarah -
At least it wasn’t solved by waving the sonic screwdriver. At the end of the story, Rose is more convinced than ever that the Doctor will always save her. I imagine the Beast’s warning was forgotten as they traipse off to the next adventure.
Harry -
Ultimately, I’ll give this story a decent ranking because of everything except the Doctor and Rose. So there!
Sarah -
We are of one mind on this.
Harry -
Best Line: “Maybe that’s what the devil is, in the end. An idea.”
Favourite Moment: when the TARDIS rescues the escape rocket and Zach realizes he can get the hell away from all these people. The look of pure relief!
Lasting Image: the Doctor plummeting into the pit.
7/10
Sarah -
Best Line:
Ida: “The urge to jump. Do you know where it comes from, that sensation? Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us. Calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch.”
Favorite Moment: The Doctor and Ida’s conversations in the pit.
Lasting Image: Toby in full beast-possession mode, covered in alien writing.
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #175: Love and Monsters...
