With Halloween just around the corner, it seems apt to revisit one of Doctor Who‘s scarier stories, via Obverse Books’ Black Archive series of monographs.
Doctor Who has always treaded the line between science fact and science fantasy, but it wasn’t until 1971’s The Daemons that the show turned its attention to the mythical, the mystical, and the Occult. Introducing and rationalizing Wicca and even the Devil (“Old Nick himself”) lent Doctor Who under Barry Letts an intriguing new layer to adventures in time and space. But save a few stop-offs over the years (perhaps most notably with Pyramids of Mars‘ Sutekh in 1975), the worlds of gods and devils and demons and myths and magic were largely overlooked.
Until 2006, that is, and Matt Jones’ two-parter The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. Plunging the Doctor and Rose into a genuinely impossible situation (stranded on a rock orbiting a black hole with rogue slaves, a disappearing crew, and no TARDIS), the story is memorable not only for the show’s first trip to a truly alien planet since 1989 (Survival‘s planet of the Cheetah People), and the introduction of the stunning Ood, but also for casting Gabriel Woolf as the voice of the Beast, an interesting link back to the 1975 story and somewhat foreshadowing his as Sutekh in The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death.
Giving one of the more notable stories from Series 2 the Black Archive treatment is Simon Bucher-Jones, whose previous contribution was the similarly devilish Image of the Fendahl (The Black Archive #5), and as befits the format, he goes deep with the influences and execution of the Doctor and Rose’s confrontation with the original Satan.
Because, of course, there is far more to The Impossible Planet than just some marker pens on Will Thorp’s face. It’s a thrilling ride from beginning to end, with barely time to catch a breath (other than the 7 day break between the broadcast episodes). So, what is going on beneath the surface?
The limits of this review prevent me from going into too much detail, of course, but The Black Archive #17 provides an almost overwhelming investigation into the story’s key themes. That these appear to be as diverse as black hole theory, the representation of Satan (or however you prefer to name your personification of evil) in popular fiction and Judeo-Christian texts, and the implications of Ood slavery on the in-universe human empire of the future really illustrates just how wonderful the show can be at its best.
It’s unlikely that anyone is going to pick up a Black Archive volume for some light reading. However, it is worth highlighting that a big chunk of this edition looks at the history of the black hole, from its initial theorizing (a very long time ago) to its more recent place in popular astrophysics and popular culture. You might even (as I did) spend a bit of time on YouTube comparing various visual representations of black holes (specifically, The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit, Interstellar, and Disney’s 1979 cult classic, The Black Hole).
This quite heavy take on black holes — it’s the portion of the book devoted to the topic that is weighty, rather than the depth — could prove off-putting to some. Rest assured that Bucher-Jones competently presents the various elements of science and popular black holes in a manner that won’t send you to sleep. The tone remains light, and successfully avoids being dragged into, well, a black hole. Other topics are also explored, and Bucher-Jones even finds time (and space) to present some statistical comparisons of Doctor Who‘s trips to alien planets, and a handy graph illustrating how unlikely it would be for any heavenly body to orbit a black hole.
Admittedly, there are elements of religion and theological belief that may prove more stressful for some readers, but everyone (perhaps excluding Messrs Davies and Jones) is guaranteed to come away from this Black Archive with a deeper appreciation of one of nuWho‘s more noteworthy adventures.
The Black Archive #17: The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit is available now from Obverse Books.
