The Impossible Planet (TV story)

The Impossible Planet was the ninth episode of the second series of Doctor Who.

Synopsis
Rose finds herself further away from home than ever before, on a space base positioned on a planet in the orbit of a Black Hole. Meanwhile, an unknown entity is awakening and beginning to cause chaos amongst the crew.

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. Then an earthquake occurs and they all have to take cover. Afterwards, the crew is introduced by Science Officer Ida Scott and includes, Head of Security John Jefferson, trainee maintenance officer, Scooti Manista, and archeologist Toby Zed. They 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 (Six to the power of six for six seconds) 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 to 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 isn't 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. Then the crew and travellers watch the Scarlet system get eaten by the black hole. Then Rose gets a strange message on her phone and Toby wakes up. Danny, the Doctor, and Rose all discover the Ood acting up and saying weird things.

While the Ood are acting up Scooti goes to Toby's room, saying that she has his expenditure. However she soon notices that the room is empty and walks over to the desk. The computer announces the opening and closing of Door 41, puzzling Scooti. Activating the doorside panel, Scooti inquires if the computer opened and closed Door 41. The computer confirms this, but can't confirm who went outside. To her repeated questioning, the computer responds with "he is awake", then clarifies with "he who bathes in the black sun". Going to the viewport, Scooti sees Toby on the barren planet's surface, somehow surviving without a spacesuit. Toby grins evilly at her, then gestures in her direction. The window begins cracking and a panicked Scooti tries to get the computer to open door 40, to no avail as the window breaks. Scooti is blown out into the vacuum of space.

The base begins to shake violently and Zach orders them to evacuate. Danny, Rose, and the Doctor race to meet Jefferson, Ida, the security guards, and the now unpossessed Toby get through the door. Jefferson then closes the door sealing the breach. Zach then asks if everyone was all right. Jefferson then reports that everyone is there except Scooti. Jefferson then calls for Scooti on his radio. However he gets no answer. He then uses her full name and orders her to answer. Zach then tells them she is alright and that her biochip located her in Habitation 3. Jefferson and Ida breathe in relief. They then go down to search for Scooti while the Doctor and Rose tend to Toby.

When Toby, Rose, and the Doctor enter the habitation they find the searchers looking frantically. Ida is calling all the habitations looking for Scooti. Jefferson then reports that Scooti is still missing while Zach continues by saying that her biochip says she is in Habitation 3. Then the Doctor sadly says he found her. Scooti was floating outside with her hair flying and her skin pale. Jefferson reports her death while Zach looks sorrowful. Ida then goes over to the control to close the overhead saying how she was only twenty years old. Scooti floats away towards the black hole spinning as the door closes. Jefferson recites a verse from "Horatius," a poem by Thomas Babbington Macaulay: "And how can man die better/ Than facing fearful odds/ For the ashes of his fathers,/ And the temples of his gods."

The team finally manages 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 field rises 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. Finally, the Doctor and Ida stand before a seal on the cavern ground, which then slides open, to show a black chasm. A voice calls out from beneath it, stating, "The pit is open, and I am free!". As the Doctor and Ida look down, malevolent laughter echoes from below...

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
 * John Jefferson - Danny Webb
 * Zachary Cross Flane - Shaun Parkes
 * Ida Scott - Claire Rushbrook
 * Toby Zed - Will Thorp
 * Danny Bartock - Ronny Jhutti
 * Scooti Manista - MyAnna Buring
 * The Ood - Paul Kasey
 * Voice of the Beast - Gabriel Woolf
 * Voice of the Ood - Silas Carson
 * Female Guard - Unknown
 * Male Guard - Unknown

Story notes

 * Gabriel Woolf previously played (and voiced) Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars.
 * The episode contains a number of references to the popular Doom series. In particular, the door opening and closing sounds from the first two games are occasionally used (especially noticeable when Toby goes searching for the "voices" distracting him from his archeological findings).
 * The Doctor calculated that the power needed was six to the power of six every six seconds, a reference to 666, the supposed number of the Beast as mentioned in the Biblical book of Revelations.
 * Before the Ood, the production team had considered Raxacoricofallapatorians being the servants on Sanctuary Base 6.

Ratings

 * 6.31 million viewers

Myths
The Underworld.

Filming locations

 * Wenvoe Quarry, Cardiff
 * Mamhilad Park Industrial Estate, Pontypool, Wales
 * Unit Q2, Imperial Park, Imperial Way, Newport
 * HTV Wales Studios, Culvershouse Cross, Cardiff
 * Enfys Television Studios, Unit 31, Portmanmoor Road, East Moors, Cardiff
 * Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
 * Ealing Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing

Production errors

 * When the Doctor and Ida descend into the core of Krop Tor, the screen charting their progress shows 39% Oxygen. After cutting away to an overhead shot of the two, the camera cuts back to the same descent display, only now the oxygen percentage (which has been descending constantly all this time) is at 42%.
 * A geostationary orbit is specifically an orbit around Earth that keeps you above the same spot on the planet at all times.
 * The Doctor and other characters claim that it is impossible to orbit around a black hole. This is not entirely true. Anything inside of a certain distance from the black hole will certainly get sucked in, but as long as a planet does not come too close (in technical terms, it must remain outside the innermost stable circular orbit), it can orbit the black hole normally, in the same way that the Earth normally orbits the Sun.

Continuity

 * A similar devil like creature appears in TW: End of Days.
 * Rose mentions her experience as a dinner lady in DW: School Reunion.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DWAM: Warfreekz!
 * This story occurs before DW: The Satan Pit

International broadcast
When aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in late 2006, this episode was considered a mid-season cliffhanger, with The Satan Pit and the rest of the season not airing until early 2007, after a hiatus of several months. At the time the CBC made this decision a trend had developed among North American networks to insert lengthy (sometimes months-long) breaks during the November-January period.

Home video releases

 * This was released on a vanilla DVD along side The Satan Pit and Love & Monsters.
 * It was also released as part of the Series 2 DVD box set.