Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Episode 6 Rewatch:Impossible Planet

[Straha]

So now we approach the riskiest episode of the season. The Impossible Planet. Here, for the first time, we see the Doctor away from Earth or "New Earth" and in a truly alien landscape surrounded not only by humans but also by... living creatures which happen not to be of terrestrial origin. A shocking thought, I know! The Doctor interacting with aliens? More likely than you think!

So, ladies and gentlemen, let's sit down and watch the Doctor surrounded by things which are neither human looking, nor human acting. Divided from his TARDIS and with only Rose and a handful of humans to keep him company in this odd asteroid in the middle of nowhere.

Don't forget that when you rate the epsiode to post your rating in the thread as well. Also, I'm curious, what you thought of the Ood and whether they were convincing as aliens or not?

[Crazedwraith]

Is every episode, episode 6 for you? You've noted the last three episodes at it.

[Bounty]

4. The only real flaw was the convenient way the Tardis was written out of the episode. Apart from that, it was a nicely moody setup for The Satan Pit with very good performances and neat foreshadowing.

[Straha]

Is every episode, episode 6 for you? You've noted the last three episodes at it.

God fucking dammit.

See, what I do is copy paste the last thread title and then change the episode name. I obviously forgot to change the number along with it. Whooops.

[TheMuffinKing]

I thought it was very well done.

[Styphon]

I give it a 5... very moody, very tense, sets up the next episode quite nicely, one of my personal top 3 episodes*.

*note that I have only seen one episode of Doctor Who that didn't have David Tennant in it, and that was the second part of a two parter so I was very confused the whole time and may not have been judging it fairly. So my personal best may not mean much

[LadyTevar]

While having the TARDIS written out was a bit Deux Ex, the episode as a whole was tense and exciting, and together with Satan Pit I consider it one of the best of the current Dr Who series.

[Stark]

I remember I was definitely far more scared on the Beast than I was the shadows in Blink.

The shadows were in teh Blink recycling episode; Blink had statues.

Watchnig this episode just makes me hate that retarded 'Planet of the Ood' epsiode even more. He's an interesting and complex situation that was different from the forced morality common to Doctor Who, and they pissed it away with cartoon villains and a giant inflatable brain that lives in an ice cave... somehow.

[Ford Prefect]

I'm going to give it a solid four. I really enjoyed this episode, and it was one of those new episodes of Doctor Who that I can point at and say 'this is great stuff'. It was also the first season two ep I watched since that stupid one with the cats, which soured me somewhat with how much it was a rehash of the superior Empty Child/Doctor Dances. This one is right up there with my favourites, such as Dalek or Blink.

[Hillary]

Probably the best episode of the series, 5.

[Tsyroc]

I liked this one quite a bit.

It was spooky plus I liked the gritty somewhat run down feeling of the base. It really helped show what an extreme situation these people were living in.

[Thanas]

If people ask me to recommend a Ten story for them, I always go for this two-parter.

- We actually get Aliens that are not on Earth and do not suck. Hooray.
- The opening. "We must feed.....you". This play on stereotypes cracks me right up everytime.
- Although the Tardis is written out of the story, I didn't feel it detracted me from the episode. It enhanced it, rather. Instead of having the Tardis taken out by *insert inane reason here*, it just fell down a hole.
- The sets are the best of the entire series.
- The supporting cast is also (with the exception of Rose's family) the best I have seen in the series. Every character has its place and they just fit.
- foreshadowing. (From the mortgage conversation up to the two of them acting nonchalant in the face of danger....)

In short, this episode has all what made NuWho great the first two seasons. Characters we care about, mystery, space/time travel....this two parter is my personal favorite of NuWho.

5/5

Watchnig this episode just makes me hate that retarded 'Planet of the Ood' epsiode even more. He's an interesting and complex situation that was different from the forced morality common to Doctor Who, and they pissed it away with cartoon villains and a giant inflatable brain that lives in an ice cave... somehow.

Do not forget "Robot-claw" and "UselessDonna". Also - where the hell was the food source for the Ood? They lived on a freaking ice planet, for chrissakes. Their tentacles seem rather fitting for a marine animal...also, apparently one tiny little station is enough to serve the whole galaxy-spanning human empire with Ood .

Ood on the space station - believable, terrifying creatures.
Ood on the ice planet - jokes. (carrying brains in their hands indeed....)

[Ryushikaze]

I say four, rather good humor, set up, and even drama, with the only bad points being the ham handed way (and when) they got rid of the Tardis, only to bring it back so conveniently the next episode.

And yeah, I hate what they did in Planet of Ood. They don't even make remote sense after that, unless they're some sort of engineered organism (someone suggested that they resemble the handiwork of the Sensorites, did they not?)

[Revy]

I give this a good 5. I loved this episode. The Beast was great, as were the Ood. I haven't seen the follow up Planet of the Ood episode, and judging by some of the comments I dont want to either.

Good characters, a great feeling of isolation and danger, this really felt like a traditional sci-fi story, like something you might get on the Outer Limits or similar.

Question - I read somewhere that it is actually possible for a planet to orbit a black hole. That if a star collapsed into one, the planets that orbited the star would continue to orbit the black hole. Is that true? And if so, what effect would it have on them? Just out of curiousity.

[Vanas]

If a star didn't explode, but just magically turned into a black hole, a planet wouldn't really notice the difference, orbit wise IIRC. The mass is the same, you're just buggered if you get close.

And I'd vote this ep a good 5. Again, the TARDIS falling through the hole was a bit silly, but everything else was great. I'm rather fond of The Satan Pit too.

[Ohma]

4

After re-watching this ep, it's a lot better than I remembered. I guess the second part was just a massive letdown to me. (lol the devil111 )

[Stark]

Oh my god... I'm finally rewatching it, and the butchery of science terminology is so annoying. GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT around a black hole, lol! Orbiting a point mass at unknown range is IMPOSSIBLE, etc.

I mean, the whole orbit thing isnt that bad when you figure the Doctor had estimated the distance and figured their orbital configuration was impossible naturally (which it is, since it's artifical), but it's just a band-aid over ignorant writing.

I like all the retro stuff, like their awesome rocket, their 'oxygen field', and their university committee team of dudes. The silliness gets worse in the next story - although it's handled well enough to not be too offensive - but the character work papers over it.

I'm settling on a four.