Doctor Who: Every Series 2 Episode Ranked Worst To Best
2. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
If you watch Doctor Who for science-fiction, this two-parter has you eating good.
The Doctor and Rose find themselves aboard a space station that is inexplicably in the orbit of a black hole. With the power of human curiosity, the crew is mining the planet to find the source of immense power that is stopping them from being pulled to their doom. Unlike The Idiot’s Lantern - which had all the raucous energy of a fun adventure - The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit take a slower and more thoughtful approach.
This story is a sci-fi horror B-movie masterclass, with set dressing akin to Alien, and a brilliantly unconventional (yet soon to be iconic) alien species in the Ood. Our heroes work alongside a crew of guests to debate science, and, eventually, religion and belief, in a script that dares to challenge.
Visually, it’s truly the stuff of nightmares, with the demonic possessions of both Toby and the usually soft-spoken Ood. Having the Doctor face down what is essentially Satan sounds farcical, so it’s credit yet again to the script that it works, especially since the CGI here has certainly dated.
This would be a winner in almost every series of the show, if not for a particular series finale...