The Satan Pit (2809/209)

[GateWorld]

DOCTOR WHO SERIES 28 THE SATAN PIT EPISODE NUMBER - 2809 With their slaves taken over by a demonic being inside the center of the planet, the researchers and Rose fight to survive inside the station -- while the Doctor descends into the abyss below. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>

[GodAtum]

Surely if there is evil there must be good so if there is the Beast or Satan where is God? I hope that they will portray a god like creature in a future episode.

Before the Doctor fell into the pit I think he should have dropped something to see how far down it was.

On the whole, a very engaging episode although I was afraid at the end that they would portray the beast like an ascended being.

[Tracy Jane]

It was good, but I think the ship might have taken that one step too far. It was cringe worthy enough last week, but now....!

[Flyboy]

The shipping was disgusting. Absolutely awful.

I'm unsure as to my feelings about the devil ACTUALLY being there. Half of me wants to take an SG1 aproach to this and say well yes, but hes just a creature from before our universe, maybe the universe before ours... he inspired religious accounts of Satan much as the Unas inspired ideas of the demonic...

On the other hand I think its tacky and daft. I just DONT know what to think about this ep other than that I enjoyed it. I WANT to know things. They didnt explain enough.

[GodAtum]

The shipping was disgusting. Absolutely awful.

What do you mean by this?

[Flyboy]

Rose/Doctor relationSHIP.

[Commander Ivanova]

The shipping was disgusting. Absolutely awful.

Couldn't agree more.
I watched this ep in a room of 20 or so people post beers and BBQ. At the big reunion half of us were cheering and going 'awwww', the other half trying (and luckily just succeeding) to keep their sausages down.

[Wraith Scientist]

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is IMO, one of the best Whos I've ever seen. It had everything from psychological creepyness, aliens, an alien planet, lost civilisations, a likable group of exploring humans with a good team dynamic and excellent reflections on human nature

Yeah, it was full of cliches and the Doctor's timely rescue was predictable because we know Rose has got to survive, but I was more worried about the other characters, who, as we saw with Jefferson and Scooti, the writers weren't above killing off. Ida was a great character. So was the Doctor, as I've said many times, I really like his optimistic reflections on humans.

It would be great to meet that human exploration team again. I think they just work, do you know that I mean?

There was also an interesting theme of mystery. The Beast left many questions unanswered ...

The music in this one was also brilliant

One of the only things I disliked was the fact that it wasn't longer. There was enough there for more development: the characters were so well developed and the concept was so interesting. This would have done for the arc of an entire season with its mix of mystery beyond even the Doctor and the impossibly ancient, powerful civilisation that imprisoned the Beast, the evil from before time itself.

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday?

Spoiler:

That's supposed to be a war between the Cybermen and the Daleks though, but you never know if the beast would be a part of that ...

I wonder if this isn't going to get revisited at some point. It certainly deserves it.

[The Ori]

You could tell they tried it, but it didn't work it was a poor episode too cliched and too begging it. Poor! Tried to make it intense! poor!

[Flyboy]

That's a contrasting and yet so undeveloped view...

[Madeleine]

I enjoyed it for the most part. Did anyone else get an Aliens vibe, with Mr Security Person taking the Lt Gorman role? I liked Aliens.

There was a nice balance between the characters and there was a purpose to each of them. The Captain got his mojo back, hurrah .

I liked the scenes beside the pit, especially when the Doctor said "for once, I'm going to say... lets go back" or whatever it was he said. And the bit where he was in the pit on the rope. Just not the resolution to that bit. Far too talky. And the explanation waaaaay to contrived and convoluted. There was air down here specially so that someone could come down here and survive, but they made this prison in a way such that if anyone ever got halfway down here then Satan would be able to awaken and posess someone, and they put it near a black hole so that if necessary Satan could be made to fall into the black hole, but theye didn't actually drop him into the BH himself, and is my head slightly wonky or is this all rubbish? I don't mind rubbish, but this ep spent several minutes on it, so it was too hard to ignore.

I'm not seeing ship. I'm seeing Daddy/Daughter.

[beale947]

It was good, but not as good as last weeks, personally i believe satan should has been seen earier, like coming out of the pit or something, and the planet falling into the black hole was resoved rather poorly, it would have been better if they had left it spiraling in and they had to get out before it fell into the black hole.

Also, instead of Toby having the devils mind, i think that the devil should have spoken to the doctor instead of making no real attempt of being satan at all. The episode was a real anti-climax, to a brilliant episode last week.

And about next weeks, can we please have less episodes on earth and more episodes on other planets, because if i was with the doctor, i'd be pissed off about always travelling to earth all the time and the reason you went with him, is to see other planets and the future etc.

[Easter Lily]

I'm not seeing ship. I'm seeing Daddy/Daughter.

It was easier to convince myself of that when Eccleston was Doctor but with Tennant, 35 looking like he's 25... it becomes a quite a stretch.
Also it's obvious from the dialogue that Rose isn't seeing Doc 10 as Daddy either... all that hint, hint, nudge, nudge stuff about living together is calculated to lift subtext to text.

Unless of course the writers are going all Freudian on us...

*Sigh* I miss Mickey...

[Willow'sCat]

That's a contrasting and yet so undeveloped view...

Lol!

I don't have a problem with the beast being the first evil before time blah... (although I kept thinking about Buffy) and I am glad they didn't go into what the beast really was or what it was meant to represent. You can get really bogged down when you delve into that kind of story.

I'm seeing Daddy/Daughter.

You know I get that; (why do I keep thinking of Buffy ) but that IMO is not what the writers are going for. *sigh*

I am a little tired of The Doctor's talk about humans, he wasn't always as nice about us. Although in Age of Steel he does take the mickey so maybe there is a balance. I just don't want him to fawn over us so much.

[The Signal]

I thought it was good, but not quite as good as the first part. Still, Satan was pulled off brilliantly and Toby holding his mind was even better (when he looked at the Ood with his red eyes, gave me the shivers )

Just the quick cop out at the end, it was obvious that he would find the TARDIS and use it to escape.

Did like the forshadowing though, will Rose die in battle? Lets see what happens.

Rating 8/10

[Wraith Scientist]

I just love the series' reflections on humanity. Easily led and stupid at times but brilliant and ever-curious

The Beast playing on childhood fears was creepy: "The Captain, afraid of command, the soldier, haunted by the memory of the eyes of his wife, the scientist, still running from daddy, the virgin, the little boy that lied, and the lost girl, a long way from home, who will die in battle" (or something along those lines)

I wouldn't mind seeing more of the crew of Sanctury Base in a future episode.

Was it just me or did the Doctor say something along the lines of "Black holes, my people deal with them easy" when he picked them up in the TARDIS. A reference to the Eye of Harmony, perhaps?

[Tracy Jane]

I agree with Ptah. Good but not as good as last week. Toby was amazing again, and I still can't get over how uncannily like Bill Nighy that Jefferson guy was. The one annoying thing was the ship taking precedence AGAIN! Whatever happened to Doctor/Companion being a taboo subject

[pbellosom]

I said in the topic on "The impossible Planet" that there was no way that this episode could live up to the expectations the last episode left us with. I was wrong, there was pretty much nothing about this episode I disliked, except maybe the inevitability that the Doctor would find the TARDIS in the pit.

I particulary liked how the Doctor and Rose did not work out everything and left us with unanswered questions about what was going on, it just felt so realistic that the Doctor could not work out everything.

[mentalmichael]

I wasn't a huge fan of this ep, but I loved the fact that our questions about the beast are never answered. Is this Satan? Is it merely a powerful psychic? Did it really exist before the start of the universe? We don't get answers because the doctor is scared of thinking about them. Usually it's Rose who doesn't understand and the Doctor who explains everything - I like the fact that he doesn't have all the answers.

[knowles2]

I thought this was a good episode.

I just wish they answers a few questions by I did like the way the doctor did not know everything and that he could not even translate the language or new of the beast.

But I love how they did satan or the beast it was brilliant cgi use, almost as good as what you see in the movies, I wonder how much that cost the bbc to do.

I also am wondering if rose will be killed of by the end of the season base on what satan said and who will be involve in the battle, I hope it not it not the same enemy as last season final.