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| The Ood: "We are the legion of The Beast!" |
2 episodes: The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit. Approx. 92 minutes. Written by: Matt Jones. Directed by: James Strong. Produced by: Phil Collinson.
THE PLOT
The Doctor and Rose find themselves on a mining station on a planet in deep space. Nothing terribly unusual, until they discover some writing that the TARDIS' telepathic circuits cannot translate. "It's old," the Doctor observes. "Impossibly old."
The writing isn't the only thing that's impossible. When they meet the crew, they are shown the planet's orbit - around a black hole. This world is protected from the black hole by a gravity funnel, something which cannot be occurring naturally. Some device must be powering the funnel, something underground which could be used to further the Human Empire.
But they are intruding on forces vastly older and more powerful, than any of them are prepared to deal with. The alien Ood, a slave race with a hive mind, show signs of increased telepathic power even as they begin making bizarre statements about "The Beast." As the drill finds its destination, uncovering a lost civilization with an enormous pit in the center of it, the intelligence behind these occurrences becomes clear:
"He is awake... Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Krop Tor. Some may call him Satan, or Lucifer. But do not despair... I have been imprisoned for eternity, but no more. The pit is open, and I am free!"
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Since his introduction, the Tenth Doctor has worn his flippancy like armor. This story strips that armor away, along with everything he uses to protect himself. First he loses the TARDIS, seemingly forever. Then, when he goes undergorund with science officer Ida Scott (Claire Rushbrook) to investigate the pit, he is separated from Rose. Episode Two isolates him even more as he descends this impossible pit in this impossible planet, with only Ida's voice on the communicator to provide any connection with another soul. Needless to say, that voice is ultimately cut off, leaving the Doctor to brave the abyss and enter the underworld alone. David Tennant's performance is his best of the season and possibly of the series, with the moment in the pit in which he reflects on his own beliefs one of the most thoughtful scenes the series has offered.
Rose: Perhaps because the TARDIS seems irretrievably lost, Rose is emboldened enough to make clear her feelings for the Doctor. They've been interpreted as a couple in past episodes... but in this story, we see that Rose now considers them in that light as well. Nor does the Doctor protest, telling Ida just before he takes his leap of faith in the pit to "tell Rose... Tell her... Oh, she knows."
Cut off from the Doctor, Rose acts as he would have. When she tried to do as he would in The Christmas Invasion, it was a horrible failure, her life only saved by the Doctor's well-timed awakening. She does much better here, though, taking a cue from the Doctor's words about how the humans have everything they need to survive if they just act together. She pushes each member of the team until they arrive at some useful piece of knowledge they have, and then builds a plan based on that.
THOUGHTS
"For how should Man die better than facing fearful odds? For the ashes of his father, and the temples of his Gods."
-Mr. Jefferson (Danny Webb), Head of Security, observing a comrade's horrible and beautiful death.
The Impossible Planet offers a change of tone for the new Doctor Who series. There are still plenty of humorous moments and exchanges. But these are moments of lightness in the midst of a fundamentally dark story. This is a Lovecraftian horror story, with dead civilizations and devils who see into the hearts of their victims. It is, in effect, the movie that Event Horizon wanted to be: tense, bleak, and moody. For a series generally defined by its flippant tone, it feels like an enormous departure.
It's also excellent, a triumph of good writing, fine acting, and outstanding atmosphere.
Episode One provides a slow build. We are introduced to this world and its bizarre set of rules. We are introduced to the characters and to the Ood - first presented as an apparent threat before being revealed as benign. Not very much actually happens in this episode, the major set pieces being held back for Part Two. Instead, time is given to make the base feel lived-in, to make the characters feel real, and to let the atmosphere of dread build gradually in the background.
Director James Strong does a sterling job of holding our attention with atmosphere. We see the crew of the base performing their normal operations, with the sense of a crew going about an almost automatic routine, while Ravel's Bolero plays over the proceedings. The light of what once a star system, swallowed by the black hole, is reflected on the Doctor's face as he watches, while Ida reveals the substantial history of what is now just a dying red cloud overhead.
"That used to be the Scarlet System, home to the Peluchi. A mighty civilisation spanning a billion years, disappearing forever. Their planets and suns consumed. Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing."
The black hole is horrific in what it does, but it is also beautiful as presented on screen. That juxtaposition, of horrible things occurring in such a beautiful manner, is mined throughout the two-parter. There's the silky voice of Gabriel Woolf, making the Beast's words persuasive and tempting even as he promises death for all the humans. His teasing of Toby ("Don't turn around, or you will die") creating a moment of genuine dread, tempting Toby to his downfall even as his words superficially warn against it... In effect, using the truth as a weapon against his victim.
The first episode's most memorable moment is also its most horrific and it's most beautiful. The first character death occurs at almost thirty minutes in, as a hull breach sucks one crew member out onto the surface, where there's no atmosphere. That crew member is discovered suspended in space just above the station. The others are left to watch helplessly as their friend floats upward, toward the black hole, like falling backward into water (which was how the scene was filmed) - until finally Ida calls for the shutters to be closed.
From here, the pace quickens, and Part Two is marked by multiple set pieces. There's a tense and exciting chase through (effectively) a system of ventilation ducts, in which the characters must wait at each junction for oxygen to build up in the next section, even as the pursuing Ood close in on them.
But the most memorable moments remain the quietest ones. The Doctor, suspended in the pit, reflecting on his beliefs and asking Ida about her own. When she says she doesn't believe in the devil, just in "the things that men do," the Doctor muses that it amounts to the same thing, before talking about his own inability to believe in the claims of The Beast.
"If that thing had said it came from beyond the universe, I'd believe it. But before the universe? Impossible. Doesn't fit my rules. Still, that's why I keep travelling. To be proved wrong."
...Then making his leap of faith, allowing himself to fall alone into the darkness.
A fine two-parter, one that I find actually improves with repeated viewings. Beautiful, haunting, thoughtful and scary. I might nit-pick a few things, but to what purpose? This is a superb experience, one that would not have shamed itself had it been a theatrically released movie.
Overall Rating: 10/10.
Previous Story: The Idiot's Lantern
Next Story: Love and Monsters
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