History Recap / DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet

'''Original air date:''' June 3, 2006

'''Production code:''' 2.8

Written by Matt Jones.

* SoundtrackDissonance: A creepy, possessed Toby standing on the planet's barren surface, beckoning Scooti to her demise, is accompanied by a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwomsJ9MR0 hauntingly beautiful violin]].

"'''[[EvilSoundsDeep The Pit is opened]]... and I am FREEEE.'''"

*** [[AllThereInTheManual A close analysis reveals]] that what the planet is actually doing is staying suspended in place '''above''' the black hole, even as the material of the accretion disk blasts over it as it plunges inwards. As Scooti says, "we have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing," suggesting that the event horizon has a radius of light-years and they're WELL within it. This absolutely ''would'' be impossible, thus justifying the Doctor's surprise, but the script seems to have chosen the worst possible explanation for what's going on.

The one with Cthulhu aliens electrocuting people and tons of devilry.

* AdventurerArchaeologist: Toby is a aversion. He's not a soldier or anything like that. He's just here to translate the weird language.

* ReflexivePhraseOfReverence: The Ood, once they're possessed. "He is awake." "''And you will worship him!''"

*** And again, this is especially frustrating since the existence of a previous universe is a plot point ''multiple times'' in the [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]; it's where the [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Great Old Ones]] (including the Nestene Consciousness and the Great Intelligence) came from. Of course, the EU is not always canon to the show.

* {{Poetry}}: Upon seeing Scooti's body, Jefferson is compelled to [[{{Mondegreen}} (mis)quote]] Thomas Babington Macaulay's ''Horatius at the Bridge'' as a eulogy.

-->'''The Doctor:''' Oh, come on, "no turning back"? That's almost as bad as "[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong nothing can possibly go wrong]]" or "[[TwistedChristmas this is gonna be the best Christmas]] [[Series/EastEnders Walford's]] [[TwistedChristmas ever had]]."

** The name of the base, [=SB6=], is shown melting into 666 in one of the [=TARDISodes=]. The Ood go to work to the sound of Ravel's Bolero, which Torvill and Dean famously skated to in the 1984 Winter Olympics — and received perfect 6s for artistic impression. As an extra metatextual touch, the official website's Fear Forecasters gave "The Impossible Planet" a Fear Factor score of 3/6/6/6 — on a scale that usually only goes up to 5.

*** [[AllThereInTheManual A close analysis reveals]] that what the planet is actually doing is staying suspended in place '''above''' the black hole, even as the material of the accretion disk blasts over it as it plunges inwards. As one character says, "we have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing," suggesting that the event horizon has a radius of light-years and they're WELL within it. This absolutely ''would'' be impossible, thus justifying the Doctor's surprise, but the script seems to have chosen the worst possible explanation for what's going on.

* DemonicPossession: The Beast possesses Toby; there's the red eyes, the creepy markings, VoiceOfTheLegion, the only thing missing is speaking in tongues.

* ExplosiveDecompression: Averted; Scooti is launched into space (by Satan, sort of) when the section of the base she's in gets shattered, and her body is still completely intact; though a) this is a family-friendly show, so there was never going to be anything too gruesome, and b) her corpse is getting pulled into a black hole (hence the episode title, as said planet maintains a steady orbit around said black hole), so will likely result in "Implosive Compression" before long.

*** [[AllThereInTheManual A close analysis reveals]] that what the planet is actually doing is staying suspended in place '''above''' the black hole, even as the material of the accretion disk blasts over it as it plunges inwards. This absolutely ''would'' be impossible, thus justifying the Doctor's surprise, but the script seems to have chosen the worst possible explanation for what's going on.

*** And again, this is especially frustrating since the existence of a previous universe is a plot point ''multiple times'' in the [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]; it's where the [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Great Old Ones]] (including the Nestene Consciousness and the Great Intelligence) came from.

** The planet itself is hovering above a black hole, which the Doctor can't figure out either.

-->'''Possessed Toby:''' Mr Jefferson, tell me, sir: did your wife ever forgive you?\\
'''Jefferson:''' ... I don't know what you mean.\\
'''Possessed Toby:''' Let me tell you a secret. She never did.

** Danny's reaction on seeing the Ood's telepathic field level increasing, right to level 100, where they should apparently be brain dead.

* SoundtrackDissonance: A creepy, possessed Toby standing on the planet's barren surface, beckoning a woman to her demise, is accompanied by a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwomsJ9MR0 hauntingly beautiful violin]].

* IHaveManyNames: "Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Krop Tor. Some may call him Satan or Lucifer.Or the Bringer of Despair, the Deathless Prince, the Bringer of Night. These are the words that shall set him free.”

* IHaveManyNames: Which will be listed, at length, by a whole crowd's worth of CreepyMonotone possessed [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} Ood]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: A creepy, possessed Toby standing on the planet's barren surface, beckoning a woman to her death, is accompanied by a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwomsJ9MR0 hauntingly beautiful violin]].

** And finally, the two halves of the story were released on either side of [[MeaningfulReleaseDate 6/6/06]].

* {{Poetry}}: Upon seeing Snooki's body, Jefferson is compelled to [[{{Mondegreen}} (mis)quote]] Thomas Babington Macaulay's ''Horatius at the Bridge'' as a eulogy.

The Doctor and Rose deal with the idea of being trapped in that time and place forever. They discuss mortgages and whether or not they'd live together. Suddenly, they and everyone else start to notice strange glitches with the intercoms and the Ood's translator devices. When they investigate, the Ood's telepathic field goes berserk -- they're screaming inside their heads. Or something's screaming at them. Right on cue, they all start chanting ominously in unison.

[[ShmuckBait Toby looks]] -- and sees nothing... until he looks in the mirror. The symbols from the shards he was inspecting have moved onto his skin, and his eyes are [[RedEyesTakeWarning bright red]]. When Trainee Maintenance Scooti Manista questions the computer about an unauthorized opening of the airlock (with no space-suit being logged out), she's astonished to see Toby walking on the planet's surface unprotected... before he telekinetically shatters the window, pulling her into space. The others find only a shell-shocked Toby and mournfully watch Scooti's corpse drift out of sight.

** Also, there is nothing impossible about the concept of orbiting a black hole. Black holes usually have the same mass as suns, just a lot denser, so they only become inescapable as you get so close that you'd be inside the former sun. Granted, it is possible for the black hole to have enough mass to make their current orbit impossible, but the Doctor, who really should know better, reacts to the ''concept itself'' of ''ever'' orbiting a black hole with "But that's impossible!".

*** And again, this is especially frustrating since the existence of a previous universe is a plot point ''multiple times'' in the Extended Universe; it's where the [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Great Old Ones]] (including the Nestene Consciousness and the Great Intelligence) came from.

* CallBack: The Ood are like a mix of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E6TheArk the Monoids]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E7TheSensorites the Sensorites]]. They even come from the same star system as the Sensorites.

* CueCardPause: "We must feed... we must feed... ''[[[PercussiveMaintenance bonks translator]]]'' you, if you are hungry."

* DeadpanSnarker: One of the humans mocks the computer's automated messages. Then it starts saying things it wasn't programmed to...

* DugTooDeep: ThePlan is to find the power source beneath the surface. To do that they're digging.

* ExplosiveDecompression: Averted; Scootie is launched into space (by Satan, sort of) when the section of the base she's in gets shattered, and her body is still completely intact; though a) this is a family-friendly show, so there was never going to be anything too gruesome, and b) her corpse is getting pulled into a Black Hole (hence the episode title, as said planet maintains a steady orbit around said Black Hole), so will likely result in "Implosive Compression" before long.

* HappinessInSlavery: The Ood supposedly live only to accept orders. If they are not given them then they do nothing. Rose is naturally disturbed by this.

* IHaveManyNames: Which will be listed, at length, by a whole crowds' worth of CreepyMonotone possessed [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} Ood]].
* INeedAFreakingDrink
-->'''Jefferson:''' Come on. I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink.

-->'''The Doctor:''' ...you'd need a power source with an [[TechnoBabble inverted self-extrapolating reflex]] of six to the power of six every six seconds.\\

** The name of the base, [=SB6=], is shown melting into 666 in one of the [=TARDISodes=]. The Ood go to work to the sound of Ravel's Bolero, which Torvill and Dean famously skated to in the 1984 Winter Olympics — and received perfect 6s for artistic impression. As an extra metatextual touch, the official web site's Fear Forecasters gave "The Impossible Planet" a Fear Factor score of 3/6/6/6 — on a scale that usually only goes up to 5.

-->''For how should man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his father and the temples of his gods''

** They also claim there are no stable orbits around a black hole which isn't really true. Stable orbits don't exist ''within a distance of three times the radius of the event horizon''. Unstable orbits exist even below that, down to 1.5 times the event horizon, but any disturbance (like a rocket full of humans landing on the planet) would cause the planet to drop into the black hole. As the black hole seems really close, the planet might be inside that unstable region. If we give them the benefit of the doubt and say they're inside the event horizon they might have an excuse to show anything they want. There is also the possibility that the planetoid is not in a true orbit, but that it is rather being suspended in place relative to the surface but below the geostationary altitude by whatever device is generating the gravity cone that the ship used to land. If the device were to fail, or if the planet were to shift in such a way that the gravity tether isn't facing the right way, it could cause the planetoid to fall in a black hole crossing orbit.

* WelcomeToHell: It's written on the wall and something calling itself the devil is trapped here.