The Satan Pit

"Maybe we opened the prison and not the cell..."

Writer: Matt Jones
Format: TV
Broadcast: 10th June 2006
Series: 2.09

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

The Doctor faces an impossible enemy, but can he save the entire universe from the Beast? His beliefs will be questioned and his compassion for Rose will be tested to the limits. And with the TARDIS lost, the Ood possessed and oxygen running out, will this be one battle he doesn't walk away victorious?

Verdict

The Satan Pit was a superb episode that concluded the story already started in The Impossible Planet in an incredible way! It continued off from the excellent cliffhanger and the action did not seem to stop for the forty-five minutes or so that followed. The pace was perfect and there was just so much going on but, importantly, there was never too much. The events of the story were easy to follow and the plot itself advanced considerably. The idea of Doctor Who tackling a religious figure is very ambitious and could actually have backfired and even though I'm stubbornly not religious, I thought the way they tackled the issue was fantastic. It really was sublime. We had the beliefs of the Doctor being questioned which was something I was very interested in and his refusal to believe that the Beast was trapped before the universe even began, before, was great. The Doctor was stumped and it really isn't often that happens. Obviously, once he got to the bottom of the impossibly bottomless pit and came face to face with the Beast, he had to accept the physical existence of the creature but was he willing to accept that this monstrosity was the Devil? Could Satan actually exist? I categorically refuse to believe any question of its existence and until someone provides me with evidence that Satan exists, I don't need to prove them otherwise. But I thought the inclusion of the idea of the Devil stemming from this rock in orbit of a black hole was excellent and the Beast actually saying that he was all of the amalgamations derived from the Devil. In every religion on every planet. I loved that the Doctor discussed why he keeps travelling and even at this relatively late stage in his life, he still firmly believes that he has yet to see everything. But it's not only discovery, he keeps travelling to be proven wrong. I really liked that. I was quite surprised that even when he realised he might die and never see Rose again when falling into the depths of the chasm that he couldn't find the words to tell Rose his true feelings. She probably did know but there is nothing like the words themselves being spoken. The mad dash through the shafts to Ood habitation to scramble their brains was good and exciting and the comments about particular viewpoints were quite funny. Toby wasn't complaining. The Doctor mentioning Draconia and Dæmos when talking about religion was great and I also liked the inclusion of the Torchwood story arc which was done in what wasn't really a subtle way. The death of Jefferson was quite a commendable sacrifice and Zack having to rid the room of oxygen must have been a tough task. Ida enjoying the civilisation as the last thing that she would do was very good and I liked how Rose was forced onto the rocket ship that was heading back for Earth. She seemed to accept that the Doctor was dead when she killed off Toby and the Beast with it and just when all seemed lost and the planet had plunged into the black hole with the rocket on its way to following suit, the Doctor came to the rescue. The scene where he stumbles across the TARDIS is one of my favourites and he uses it to guide the rocket to safety. Ida and Rose did a trade and the stuff of legend were reunited. Even if it wouldn't be for very long, as envisaged by the Beast. Overall, a stunning episode to conclude a quite brilliant story!

Rating: 10/10