Review #26

The God of the Dark part 1

This story is good. Its not extra 10/10 good but it is good. The story is about a group of humans who are on a planet orbiting a black hole. They soon discover something is down on the lower section of the planet something dark. It possesses the ood and takes over Toby. This creature is called Satan (you probably know him) and its coming. This is also the origin for the SB6 Spacesuit. We will see this spacesuit in future adventures. Acting from both David and Billie was really good this time round. Part one gets a 8/10

This episode is pretty good, the Satan figure stalking Toby and possessing him is very creepy, and the concept of a planet orbiting a black hole is also metal as hell

This episode introduces the Ood, an enslaved race that the humans claim want to be enslaved. This idea gets explored better in later episodes but the one two punch of slavery and then possession is not great for them here

2025 REWATCH (Review posted on both episodes)

• I always look forward to this story, I just love it so much. The set up, the ideas, the design, the music, the characters, the everything!
• The Ood and conception are brilliant; they serve (literally) a purpose and look iconic to the show. While the Beast is amazing and perfectly voice-acted, the CGI for the physical body still looks amazing today. If they could bring the beast back, do it, please!
• Bringing a paranormal/demonology trope into the show is an instant win in my books. I'm always likely to be interested if that's where the story is going to explore
• They pack so much into this story, You explore a lot, have time for some deeper questions, get a bit existential, and have enough time for some action. It's amazingly put together
• I feel the side cast is equally as great. We get so much time with them, but with 2 random soldiers, we never learn their names of. I felt myself drawn to Ida; I always do. I like her character

8️⃣🔼 → VERY GOOD!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

THIRD IMPRESSIONS: “THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET”

They begin the episode right off the bat with that smug moment in front of the TARDIS. Blergh!

Fortunately, though, the focus quickly switches to some effectively creepy and fascinatingly sci-fi stuff—impossibly old wiring on the wall and whispery voices speaking to the weak-minded; a space station on a barren rock orbiting a black hole; and the introduction of one of the more successful aliens in Nu Who: the spaghetti-faced telepathic Sensorite cousins known as the Ood.

The worn-out space station and its crew are one of the more successful and memorable ones seen in the revival (together with Bowie Base One in The Waters of Mars). The fact that we spend a good amount of time with most of them helps to flesh out the crew members.

Themes of slavery are explored through the Ood, a race living to serve. It's not a very deep-cut commentary, though, and is returned to in Planet of the Ood in Series 4.

The episode largely plays with traditional Doctor Who stuff: a base crew partaking in a revolutionary project that goes horribly wrong; the Doctor losing access to the TARDIS; evil powers from before time and space uncovered and possessing people. But it does all of that while effectively building a tense atmosphere and consistently planting hints as to who or what the big bad is.

Silas Carson is the OG voice for the Ood, and he’s already perfect at it from the onset.

The one and only Gabriel Woolf, arguably one of the best actors to ever have played a Doctor Who villain, returns here to voice the Beast (joining the exclusive club of actors who have worked on both the classic and new versions of the show). That cold and menacing voice of his is just as effective as it was back in 1976, when he played Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars.

David Tennant and Billie Piper are fine when focused on the main plot points and interacting with the guest cast, but when left alone talking about mortgages and the like, they fall to that annoying smugness again, and I cringe all the way through those scenes.

They use very simple methods to make the possessed Toby creepy, but it definitely works. That writing all over his body and the red eyes, followed by his destructive actions, tell us all we need to know about the nature of the threat.

The latter half of the episode brilliantly builds up to one of the more memorable cliffhanger reveals in Nu Who: the Ood suddenly turning into killers; the creepy voice of Gabriel Woolf announcing the arrival of the Beast; and finally, the trapp door to the Satan Pit opening…

In the top 10 of 2 parters, and no contest my favorite Tennant episode(s). Atmospheric, claustrophobic, immersive, and a true sight to behold. Adore it.