10.9: The Impossible Planet

In which a base is under siege, and the results are very ood.

Broadcast: June 2006

Watched: August 2021

“This’ll be the best Christmas Walford’s ever ’ad!”

The new show’s first proper base under siege. (Dalek is close, I guess, but having one monster with a personality rather than a horde makes it feel like something different.) The Doctor says, “Oh, it’s a sanctuary base!” in the same tone you might say, “Oh, it’s a Norman castle!” which is nice.

The way the regulars arrive, Rose says they could just leave and then they burst out laughing feels *incredibly* obnoxious. But that sort of hubris I think means the “Oh no, we’ve lost the TARDIS!” bit doesn’t just feel like a fake-out for once, even though you know it is. I like the way the crew refuse to warp around the regulars, as guest casts often do: they’re nice, they’re welcoming, they put the Doctor on the laundry rota. Also, Scooti’s last line before she realises she’s stuffed is, “Toby, I’ve got your expenditure!” I like how unglamorous this is. The cast are very Holby.

And the guests are, mostly, great. Ida doesn’t quite nail it, which is a pity, and Toby has the distinct air of being cast because someone wanted to fuck him. But Danny Webb is one of those incredibly watchable actors who barely needs to move to communicate anything, and Shaun Parkes is great as the acting captain on the verge of a nervous breakdown (I love how he’s a bit shit at it, but everyone’s supportive rather than judgey.) I like how the crew genuinely mourn Scooti, it isn’t just the usual “It’s space, people die” thing.

The whole episode is brilliantly creepy. The music – the Bolero, the heavy mournful strings – make a nice contrast with the grim, sci-fi setting. (Is this riffing off some film I haven’t seen?) And the cliffhanger with its triple threat – Ood, black hole, pit – is brilliant.

My only slight issue is there are two crewmembers who don’t even get names, both of whom die (one here, one in the next one). It feels like they were added after the script stage to up the stakes, but not even giving them names – the *Ood* get names – is a bit of a cock up. Oh well.

Other things:

• The TARDIS is grown, not made.

• The Doctor wears an orange boiler suit for the first but, my god, not the last time.

• The gravity globe! I remember this from Time of Angels, didn’t realise it was invented here.