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Doctor Who: The Satan Pit
Apr. 15th, 2020 08:44 pmThroughout Doctor Who history, there have been stories that weren't actually written by the people who end up in the credits - and not just because they were sometimes credited as fictional entities like Robin Bland and David Agnew. Fandom scuttlebutt has it that The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is one of these, and assuming it's accurate in this case, it's one of my five favourite things Russell T. Davies ever wrote for the franchise [1].
There are a lot of stories in Doctor Who about groups of humans going out into space and finding Sealed Evil In A Can when they get there, and what really sets this one apart is the attention given to the humans, not the nature of the Evil. (It turns out that the actual Devil is creepy and effective Doctor Who monster, but when you get down to it it's still not as scary as the gas mask zombies, the Weeping Angels or whatever the thing in Midnight was.) But the important thing is that it gives the crew of the Sanctuary Base, the Doctor and Rose something to do while they're having character development.
One of the reasons I'm inclined to believe the theory that Davies wrote most of this is that he has a real gift for giving supporting characters life with just a couple of lines, and that's certainly on display here. We don't find out why Jefferson's wife never forgave him, what Danny lied about or why Ida ran from her father, and we don't actually need to - the point is that they feel like people. The supporting cast give a great set of performances - Danny Webb and Claire Rushbrook in particular are excellent.
There's so many other elements to love here, too. It's packed full of striking visuals, from the Beast in Toby's body standing on the planet's surface to the gorgeously designed Ood. It's got a beautifully designed set that really feels lived in. (Even if those gratings contribute to the bit where Commander Cross Flane has to move the oxygen around not making much sense.) I also think this might be my favourite episode score Murray Gold ever did on the show, which is saying a lot given just how much music he contributed over the years.
Not everything is perfect - the story's treatment of the Ood is eventually addressed in Series Four, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth despite Commander Cross Flane ending the story by declaring each of them dead with honour. And that just draws attention to another problem with the story, the two nameless guards who seemingly exist only so the Ood can kill a couple of people early on. They never get back-stories or any kind of eulogy, which sticks out all the more in a story that gives so much room an depth to the guest cast. Also, all these years later the CGI Beast doesn't really hold up. Not just because of its age, but because by going for 'iconic' they sort of landed on 'boring and clichéd.' Possessed Toby is definitely the better half of that monster.
I'm not a Doctor/Rose person, really, but I do think that this two-parter really shows that relationship at its best. From the conversation about how they're going to settle down and get jobs and houses now their trapped to the helmet kiss to Rose's '... and even if he was, how could I leave him?' when the Sanctuary Base crew tell her the Doctor is dead. And I know some people hated the 'I believe in her' bit and thought it just fed into the tedious idea that Rose was the Most Special companion, but I've always though the point was that he'd have said that about any of them. To me it's a wonderful call back to The Curse of Fenric, where the thing that keeps the Haemovores at bay for him is murmuring the names of his friends.
The scene where Ida and the Doctor talk about belief while she lowers him into the abyss is an absolutely iconic Doctor Who moment for me, and I love that they Doctor's ultimate answer to that question will always be the people they travel with.
[1] We'll be getting to two of the others later in this Top 25, but not Damaged Goods because it's a novel, or Torchwood: Children of Earth because it is Torchwood.
There are a lot of stories in Doctor Who about groups of humans going out into space and finding Sealed Evil In A Can when they get there, and what really sets this one apart is the attention given to the humans, not the nature of the Evil. (It turns out that the actual Devil is creepy and effective Doctor Who monster, but when you get down to it it's still not as scary as the gas mask zombies, the Weeping Angels or whatever the thing in Midnight was.) But the important thing is that it gives the crew of the Sanctuary Base, the Doctor and Rose something to do while they're having character development.
One of the reasons I'm inclined to believe the theory that Davies wrote most of this is that he has a real gift for giving supporting characters life with just a couple of lines, and that's certainly on display here. We don't find out why Jefferson's wife never forgave him, what Danny lied about or why Ida ran from her father, and we don't actually need to - the point is that they feel like people. The supporting cast give a great set of performances - Danny Webb and Claire Rushbrook in particular are excellent.
There's so many other elements to love here, too. It's packed full of striking visuals, from the Beast in Toby's body standing on the planet's surface to the gorgeously designed Ood. It's got a beautifully designed set that really feels lived in. (Even if those gratings contribute to the bit where Commander Cross Flane has to move the oxygen around not making much sense.) I also think this might be my favourite episode score Murray Gold ever did on the show, which is saying a lot given just how much music he contributed over the years.
Not everything is perfect - the story's treatment of the Ood is eventually addressed in Series Four, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth despite Commander Cross Flane ending the story by declaring each of them dead with honour. And that just draws attention to another problem with the story, the two nameless guards who seemingly exist only so the Ood can kill a couple of people early on. They never get back-stories or any kind of eulogy, which sticks out all the more in a story that gives so much room an depth to the guest cast. Also, all these years later the CGI Beast doesn't really hold up. Not just because of its age, but because by going for 'iconic' they sort of landed on 'boring and clichéd.' Possessed Toby is definitely the better half of that monster.
I'm not a Doctor/Rose person, really, but I do think that this two-parter really shows that relationship at its best. From the conversation about how they're going to settle down and get jobs and houses now their trapped to the helmet kiss to Rose's '... and even if he was, how could I leave him?' when the Sanctuary Base crew tell her the Doctor is dead. And I know some people hated the 'I believe in her' bit and thought it just fed into the tedious idea that Rose was the Most Special companion, but I've always though the point was that he'd have said that about any of them. To me it's a wonderful call back to The Curse of Fenric, where the thing that keeps the Haemovores at bay for him is murmuring the names of his friends.
The scene where Ida and the Doctor talk about belief while she lowers him into the abyss is an absolutely iconic Doctor Who moment for me, and I love that they Doctor's ultimate answer to that question will always be the people they travel with.
[1] We'll be getting to two of the others later in this Top 25, but not Damaged Goods because it's a novel, or Torchwood: Children of Earth because it is Torchwood.