Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Episode 9 Rewatch:The Satan Pit

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-01 10:48am

Since Straha has given me permission if he is unable to post a new rewatch thread (and it has been over two weeks since the last one), I am now going ahead and posting this one.

So, fellow denizens of SD.net, we now reach the end of the first alien two-parter of Season 2. Watch as the Doctor and Rose struggle with Ood, words, crewmates, that pesky air problem and of course a beast that may or may not be Satan.

As always, do not forget to post your vote in the thread.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-01 10:51am

As an aside, the medium for episode 2.08 was 4.47 (excising the 1-vote that was not explained). If we only go by what ratings were posted in the thread, the medium rating goes up to 4.5, making the Satan Pit one of the highest rated episodes of NuWho either way. According to the old list it would be placed at Number 4 (using 4.47) or Number 3 (using 4.5) of all Who ratings respectively.

That number is of course based on the old list, which is bound to be outdated since Season 2 is not factored in.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-09-01 10:55am

5. The worst you can say is that the ending wasn't quite as clear as it could have been, but the action and drama were exquisite.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-01 11:02am

I am agreeing with Bounty.

This episode has it all. It is funny, dramatic, has good cgi...and some of the most powerful moments ever, from the "Oh...she knows" to the "If I believe in anything". Now, comparing this doctor to Journey's End....urgh.

Best of all, not everything is explained. Unlike S4, where we get copious amounts of technobabble.

As an aside, Stark, I cannot wait for you to post so that we can finish our discussion about his words.

Hillary · Post by **Hillary** » 2008-09-01 11:20am

Another great episode. This two parter was the highthight of the series to me. I'll give this 4, as I preferred the first part, but 4.5 would probably have been closer to the mark.

The Doctor's "Tell Rose.........oh, she knows" speech was brilliant.

Styphon · Post by **Styphon** » 2008-09-01 03:20pm

In keeping with my comments on the last episode... 5 again, since the second part of the two parter is ALSO one of my personal top 3. Great character moments (and I don't just mean from Rose and the Doctor), suspense, all that good stuff.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-09-01 03:36pm

I give it a five, because it was the perfect mix of tension, suspense, and action that Doctor is known for. Even with the Deus Ex of the Tardis as the emergency escape, it worked.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2008-09-01 07:46pm

I'm going to give it a five. I really, really enjoyed watching this episode. I felt that it really capped off the build-up in the first part, and it's one of the highlights of the new series for me.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-01 08:30pm

I'm torn again. The episode has some really excellent shit in it, but it's also got really terrible, eye-rolling silliness like the retarded glowing jars thing and the 'lol there's the TARDIS' thing and the 'guys with P90s can't just ice six or seven Ood because they insist on waving their guns around like maniacs' thing.

It kinda makes me sad that the episode also contains a bunch of characters more well-realised than later characters with names like 'Martha' and 'Donna'. I was more interested in Silly Gun Man and Outrageously Schoolmarm Woman and Stressed Captain Man from a single story than one of the primary characters of later series.

A good example of my conflict on this story is the whole 'lost TARDIS' thing. It's really, really fucking stupid, but it's also so totally awesome in what we as an audience get out of it; last episode, the fantastic discussion of mortgages (ps, that's exactly how teenage girls act) and in the second part, a fascinating exploration of the Doctor's psyche and motivations, far divorced from the later plot-device nature he takes on. In this story, he's trapped, he is driven to fulfill his most basic need, and he acts like a bit of a cunt to do it. It's great stuff, very much an understated look at the Doctor in extremis and stripped of all his power and flippancy.

Fucking fine, I'm voting a fucking five. YOU WIN, quality writing!

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-01 09:13pm

Stark wrote:It kinda makes me sad that the episode also contains a bunch of characters more well-realised than later characters with names like 'Martha' and 'Donna'. I was more interested in Silly Gun Man and Outrageously Schoolmarm Woman and Stressed Captain Man from a single story than one of the primary characters of later series.

It might have something to do with the fact that a) they mattered to the plot and b) they were played by good actors instead of just trudging along or acting like idiots/classic damsels in distress.

Fun fact: The "Stuff of legends" scene was the last ever filmed with Billie Piper. Makes me wonder what would have happened in S3 had she decided to not leave the show....

Ohma · Post by **Ohma** » 2008-09-01 11:53pm

3

I don't really know why but this ep just doesn't jive quite right with me. Not so badly that I'd rather not watch it (which is generally what it'd take for me to rate something below a three) but enough that I just don't see what's so great about it.

Ryushikaze · Post by **Ryushikaze** » 2008-09-02 10:46am

I gave it a 3. Though it was a great story with great characters, it seemed at points to be stretching for time, and the TARDIS's reappearance at the end was a bit too deus ex machina. Perhaps if he'd had to do something, had to exert to reclaim the tardis, it would have been better, but once he just found the tardis, the tension up to that point was lost. What came before, though, was quite nice. Certainly better than the fluff shown in later seasons, like the Oodisode from S4.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2008-09-02 11:58am

I really liked the Beast, how beaten down fucked up it looked (who the fuck did that to something like the Beast) and loved the intricacies of the prison/trap that was holding it prisoner.

I also tend to like stories that come up with clever reasons for myths. This did that by making the reality (in the context of the show) of the Beast a possible basis for the myth of the Devil and any number of alien myths about evil.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-02 06:23pm

Tsyroc wrote:I really liked the Beast, how beaten down fucked up it looked (who the fuck did that to something like the Beast) and loved the intricacies of the prison/trap that was holding it prisoner.

You mean the trap of complete stupidity?

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2008-09-02 06:52pm

As much as I liked this episode, I had to ask myself 'if they were willing to design the prison so that if the Beast was released he would be dropped into the black hole, why exactly didn't they just drop him into the black hole in the first place?'. I don't think it's so hard to come up with a reason why, but it's still rather silly.

JointStrikeFighter · Post by **JointStrikeFighter** » 2008-09-02 07:00pm

Ford Prefect wrote:As much as I liked this episode, I had to ask myself 'if they were willing to design the prison so that if the Beast was released he would be dropped into the black hole, why exactly didn't they just drop him into the black hole in the first place?'. I don't think it's so hard to come up with a reason why, but it's still rather silly.

Evil abhors a vaccumn?

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-02 07:09pm

Ford Prefect wrote:As much as I liked this episode, I had to ask myself 'if they were willing to design the prison so that if the Beast was released he would be dropped into the black hole, why exactly didn't they just drop him into the black hole in the first place?'. I don't think it's so hard to come up with a reason why, but it's still rather silly.

SHHHHHHH. They even obliquely refer to this in one of the Schoolmarm's myths, but in part 2 nobody ever says 'shit I guess the black hole's just gonna spit him out again hey'.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2008-09-03 12:37am

Stark wrote:
Tsyroc wrote:I really liked the Beast, how beaten down fucked up it looked (who the fuck did that to something like the Beast) and loved the intricacies of the prison/trap that was holding it prisoner.
You mean the trap of complete stupidity?

Yep, that one.

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2008-09-03 08:50am

3 - Am I the only one who thinks they completely ripped off Doom 3? Research facility, possession by demonic entity that's subtly hinted at being Satan, funky symbols and mythological stuff...

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-09-03 10:30am

Lazarus wrote:3 - Am I the only one who thinks they completely ripped off Doom 3? Research facility, possession by demonic entity that's subtly hinted at being Satan, funky symbols and mythological stuff...

Doom 3 is hardly original on that score either.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2008-09-09 08:24am

One thing that pleasantly surprised me about this episode is that we got The Beast fully realised in CGI. I was fully expecting them to use some excuse to just have his voice, or something just off camera or something. It's a very shallow thing, this two parter is probably the most impressed I've been with NewWho CGI.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2008-09-09 09:28am

Lord Woodlouse wrote:One thing that pleasantly surprised me about this episode is that we got The Beast fully realised in CGI. I was fully expecting them to use some excuse to just have his voice, or something just off camera or something. It's a very shallow thing, this two parter is probably the most impressed I've been with NewWho CGI.

That was quite a dissapointment, they should have done something more unique than a remake of "A night on Witch mountain"/Fantasia.
A little girl with a creepy voice and a broken leg say, in a white room.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-09 09:32am

You can't be serious.

Ohma · Post by **Ohma** » 2008-09-09 01:01pm

How about a puppy? (*<

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2008-09-09 01:25pm

They were apparently considering having a little girl down there, but only because they'd run out of money.

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Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Episode 9 Rewatch:The Satan Pit

How did you like your episode, Sir (or Madam)?

Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Episode 9 Rewatch:The Satan Pit