The Impossible Planet

Infobox Doctor Who episode|
number=178a
serial_name= The Impossible Planet


caption= The black hole above the rocky landscape of Krop Tor
show=DW
type=episode
doctor=David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
companion=Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
guests=
* Danny Webb – Mr. Jefferson
* Shaun Parkes – Zachary Cross Flane
* Claire Rushbrook – Ida Scott
* Will Thorp – Toby Zed
* Ronny Jhutti – Danny Bartock
* MyAnna Buring – Scooti Manista
* Paul Kasey – The Ood
* Gabriel Woolf – Voice of the Beast
* Silas Carson – Voice of the Ood
writer=Matt Jones
director=James Strong
script_editor=Simon Winstone
producer=Phil Collinson
executive_producer=Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
production_code=2.8
length=1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
date=3 June, 2006
preceding="The Idiot's Lantern"
following="The Satan Pit"
imdb_id=0772457
series=Series 2
series_link=Series 2 (2006)| "The Impossible Planet" is an episode in the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". It is the first part of a two-part story, followed by "The Satan Pit". The story was first broadcast on 3 June 2006.

ynopsis

The TARDIS lands in a base on a planet orbiting a black hole, an allegedly impossible situation — according to the physics of the show — that stumps even the Tenth Doctor. The base crew are drilling to the centre of the world, to claim the power that keeps it in orbit for the good of the Human Empire. However, an ancient evil is down there too, and he is awake…

Plot

The TARDIS materialises inside a "Sanctuary Base" meant for deep-space expeditions. The Doctor and Rose discover an inscription scribbled on the station wall which the TARDIS is unable to translate.After a slight misunderstanding when first meeting the Ood, a docile race of empathic servants who work on the station, the travelers meet the crew of the base, led by acting Captain Zachary Cross Flane. The crew, which includes Science Officer Ida Scott, Head of Security Mr Jefferson, and archeologist Toby Zed, are on an expedition on an anomalous planet in orbit around a black hole. The Doctor realises that it is impossible for the planet, which is called Krop Tor, to be in geostationary orbit around the black hole, as it should be pulled in like the star systems around it are. He calculates that it would take a phenomenal amount of power to generate the huge gravity funnel stabilising its orbit. The funnel is not a natural phenomenon, and the crew is drilling ten miles underground to the core of the planet in hopes of finding the power source and using it. The origin of the power source is an ancient civilisation that had been on Krop Tor, and the inscription on the wall is a transcription of a stone tablet found on the planet.

The Doctor soon discovers that storage sections 5 through 8 had collapsed as a result of the earthquake-like tremor they had experienced moments after their arrival, dropping the TARDIS, which had been in Storage 6, into a crevasse. With no resources to divert the drilling, Rose and the Doctor are stranded.

It is not long before a malevolent presence begins to make itself known. Strange messages about the Beast awaking to make war against God emanate from the Ood's translation spheres and the base computer's speakers. Toby begins to hear voices just before he is possessed by the Beast.

The team finally manage to drill down to the core of the planet. The Doctor and Ida journey down the mine shaft and into a massive cavern with ancient giant sculptures along its walls. They head for the power source, guided by sensor readings, and find a large circular disk set in the floor of the cavern, which the Doctor suspects is a trap door of some sort. The edge of the disk is also covered with inscriptions.

Meanwhile in the base, the Ood's telepathic fields rise dangerously to Basic 100, which is high enough to induce brain death, but they are obviously still alive. Finally the beast makes itself known through Toby before seemingly transferring itself to the Ood. The Ood identify themselves as the Legion of the Beast and begin to advance on the crew members, including Rose. All this coincides with the opening of the trap door as the cavern begins to shake and debris rains down. Zack warns everyone that the planet's gravity field is fading and that the planet is heading straight for the black hole. The voice of the Beast speaks through the Ood, and down below, the trap door fully opens. The Beast is free...

Cast notes

*The voice of the Beast is provided by Gabriel Woolf, who is best known in "Doctor Who" for playing Sutekh the Destroyer in the Fourth Doctor serial "Pyramids of Mars" (1975). One of the names that the possessed Ood have for the Beast is Satan. Coincidentally, the Fourth Doctor states that Sutekh has been known by many aliases, including the Typhonian beast and Satan. However, Woolf was cast only after the episode had been written and filmed. ["Doctor Who Magazine" #371 ]
*Writer Matt Jones also wrote, as Matthew Jones, the Virgin New Adventures novel "Bad Therapy", featuring the Seventh Doctor and Chris Cwej. He was script editor on Russell T Davies' Channel 4 series "Queer as Folk".
*Shaun Parkes previously starred with David Tennant in the BBC's 2005 "Casanova" serial written by Russell T Davies. He was also in "Things to Do Before You're 30" with Billie Piper.
*Silas Carson previously played various alien voices in "The End Of The World", as well as several characters in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, most notably Jedi master Ki Adi Mundi.

Continuity

*This is the first episode of the revived series not to have any scenes on or near Earth (nor alternate versions thereof). Although the bulk of "New Earth" took place on another planet, the episode's pre-credits sequence took place on Earth.
*The Doctor encountered adversaries who used a black hole in "The Three Doctors", "The Horns of Nimon" and "The Trial of a Time Lord". The Tractators in "Frontios" could also control gravity.
*The TARDIS arrives randomly and the Doctor asks 'her' what's wrong and postulates indigestion. The TARDIS was previously said to be suffering indigestion after 'swallowing' the Master via the Eye of Harmony – also a Black Hole – in the Cloister Room in "Enemy Within" AKA the TV Movie.
*Zack mentions that he took over when Captain Walker, the original expedition commander, was lost on the voyage in. Captain Walker appears in the TARDISODE accompanying this episode, seen being given the assignment to go to Krop Tor.
*In the episode the human government is "the Empire". When reporting Scooti's death, Jefferson gives what appears to be the date as "Forty-three K, two point one". Although no further explanation is given for what the numbers mean, this episode is set no earlier than 200 years before "Planet of the Ood, set in 4126, as the translator devices were created 200 years before that point.
*Rose refers to the dinner lady job she had in "School Reunion" when talking to an Ood serving food.
*The Doctor mentions that TARDISes are grown rather than built. However, this seemingly contradicts "Warriors' Gate" where it is mentioned that K-9 has a full set of TARDIS blueprints and Romana can build one with the help of the time-sensitive Tharils. Omega also boasted that he would be able to build a new TARDIS while stranded on 20th century Earth in "Arc of Infinity". Actor John Barrowman mirrored this comment when talking about the piece of "TARDIS coral" Captain Jack keeps in his office at "the Hub" in a special feature in "Radio Times" October 28–November 3 2006, he also mentioned a "carving process" which may mean that these previous comments are still correct if one has access to enough "TARDIS coral". Another "grown" spaceship was seen in the Seventh Doctor serial "Battlefield" (1989).
*This episode sees Rose's "Superphone" lose its signal for the first time; however, it is still able to receive a message from the Beast. Rose's mobile phone is a different unit from her previous one, as the Doctor gave the old one to Mickey at the end of "The Age of Steel" in order to defeat the remaining dormant Cybermen.
*At one point toward the end of the episode, the (recently possessed) Ood, begin to list the names that have been used to label "The Beast". One of them happens to be Abaddon, an ancient demon, who features as a major element in the episode End of Days of the spin-off series Torchwood.

Production

*Scenes of bodies floating in space were filmed on the underwater stage at Pinewood Studios, the first time the series has used this facility, not counting the charity special "Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death".
*In the accompanying "Doctor Who Confidential" episode, "You've Got the Look", Russell T Davies said that he likes to think that the Ood come from a planet near to that of the Sensorites from the First Doctor serial "The Sensorites" (1964), as he suggests the races are similar in some respects. In "Planet of the Ood", this is confirmed.
*This is the first episode of the 2005 revival of "Doctor Who" to use a quarry as an alien planet — quarries were frequently used in this manner in the original series. Other familiar elements include video-overlay holograms ("Earthshock", 1982) and the "base under siege" motif used in many "Doctor Who" stories.
*This episode features no direct reference to "Torchwood", unlike most of the others in this series. However, like "Bad Wolf" in the 2005 series, such references would only appear in one half of a two-part story, as is evident with the one made in "The Satan Pit".
*For the first time in the 2006 series the tie-in game to this episode [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/games/game8/index.shtml Flight Simulator ] ] is not on the "Defending the Earth!" website, [ [http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk Defending the Earth! Because friends stick together ] ] although it can be found on the BBC "Doctor Who" website.
*In the commentary for "The Satan Pit", producer and chief writer, Russell T Davies, said that an early draft of the script called for the role of the Ood to be filled by Raxacoricofallapatorians, the same species as the Slitheen. Their race would have been enslaved and they wished to awaken the Beast, whom they believed to be a god that could free them.
*The Ood masks had their eyes in non-human positions, so the actors who played them were essentially blind.
*During an interview with the production crew, it was noted that the sanctuary base was based on the spaceship "Nostromo" from the movie "Alien".
*Executive producer Russell T Davies cited this episode's expensive production as a reason why much of the new series' stories are set on present-day Earth. [BBC: " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5359552.stm Cost 'keeps Doctor Who on earth'] ". 19th September 2006.]

Outside references

*This episode has numerous references to Hell, and the Number of the Beast, 666. The Doctor states that the power source to generate the gravitational field would have to be "6⁶ every 6 seconds"; a character announces that a computer readout is 66.6; the room where the TARDIS was parked was Base Storage 6; the story's two episodes are broadcast on either side of the week of 6 June, 2006 (06/06/06).
*When Toby first hears whispers from the Beast, a distinctive whining door opening and closing sound can be heard. This is the same sound used in the classic computer game, Doom, and its sequels. Incidentally, the plot of the Doom games involves a portal being accidentally opened to Hell.
*As they watch Scooti drift towards the black hole, Jefferson recites the lines, "And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, / For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods," from Macaulay's 1842 poem "", Stanza XXVII, about the heroism of Horatius Cocles.
*The Doctor's line "This'll be the best Christmas Walford has ever had" is a reference to the long-running soap "EastEnders", in which Christmas storylines are generally miserable despite characters proclaiming the above hope.
*The scenes on Krop Tor and the Pit were filmed in a quarry; the number plate of the quarry manager's car ended in OOD.
*The differential forms of Maxwell's equations can clearly be seen written on the table that the Doctor and Rose are sitting at while they are watching the Scarlet System being swallowed by the black hole.

Broadcast and DVD release

*This is the first episode to be given a rating beyond 5 by the BBC's fear forecasters. The episode was given a rating of 6 - Amy, the youngest, rating it a 3, and the other three rating it a six, making the number "666" visible. [cite news
title = Fear Forecast: The Impossible Planet
work =
publisher = BBC
date = June 5, 2006
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2006/fear/f-impossibleplanet.shtml] . The next episode to be given above a 5 on the Fear Forecast was "Blink", which was given a 5.5. [cite news
title = Fear Forecast: Blink
work =
publisher = BBC
date = June 6, 2007
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/fear/f-10-pre.shtml] .
*Overnight viewing figures for the episode were 5.94 million, peaking at 6.78 million. This is the lowest single rating for the new series to date, though by a slim margin. However, the episode still obtained a 39.8% share of the audience [cite web|first=Shaun|last=Lyon|url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/news-archives.php?id=6-2006#newsitemEEuAulyllAVvdcqWiA|title=Impossible Planet overnights|date=2007-06-04|accessdate=2007-04-07|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey] and was the second highest rated programme of the evening, behind "Casualty". The final ratings for the episode were 6.32 million viewers. [cite web|first=Shaun|last=Lyon|url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/news-archives.php?id=6-2006#newsitemEEVpFVEpAksAFVMXna|title=The Impossible Planet final ratings|date=2007-06-14|accessdate=2007-04-07|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey]
*This episode and "The Satan Pit" were released in the UK, together with "Love & Monsters", as a basic DVD with no special features on 7 August 2006.

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/doctorwho/ram/tardisode8?size=16x9&bgc=CC0000&nbram=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1 TARDISODE 8]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/doctorwho/ram/8preview?size=16x9&bgc=CC0000&nbram=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1 "The beast and his armies will rise from the pit" ] - episode trailer
* [http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/impossible-commentary.mp3 Episode commentary by MyAnna Buring, James Strong, and Mike Valentine] (MP3)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2006/flash/homepages/index-impossible.shtml "The Impossible Planet" episode homepage]
*BBCDWnew | year=2006 | id=impossibleplanet | title= The Impossible Planet
*Brief| id=2006hi | title=The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit|quotes=y
*Doctor Who RG| id=who_tv18 | title=The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit|quotes=y
*OG|2006-08|The Impossible Planet|quotes=y
*Tv.com episode|id=452186|title=The Impossible Planet
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk23/feature_doctorwho.shtml BBC Press Office release]

Reviews

*OG review| id=2006-08 | title=The Impossible Planet|quotes=y
*OG review| id=2006-0809 | title=The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit|quotes=y
*DWRG| id=impossibleplanet | title=The Impossible Planet|quotes=y
*DWRG| id=impossiblepit | title=The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit|quotes=y