Impossible Planet

[Meddling Monkey]

It was good to finally see them getting away from Earth for a change. What did everyone think?

Was it "Ood"les of fun? (Sorry) ;D

[Cornelia_Africana]

This was actually quite a good story. It reminded me a lot of the Hinchcliffe era, being very much a tribute to the horror genre. There was a real sense of mystery, and it was quite chilling in parts too, particularly the bits involving Toby becoming possessed by whatever-it-is. It was also visually quite impressive. The only problem I had with it though, was that there's still a tendency to flippancy in Tennant's performance, and Rose is getting as bad. I felt that this, much like the silly humour in last year's The Unquiet Dead, detracted from the eerie atmosphere.

Incidentally, I wonder why there's so little discussion of the new season here. It seems like no-one's interested. I tried to start some discussions when it started, but they didn't get much response.

[duncan]

Wow! How good was that?

Was it me, or did this episode look as though it belonged on the big screen? It certainly wouldn't have looked out of place.

The effects were great, the Ood looked good to, not unlike the Sensorites in my opinion. The cliffhanger was just right leaving us wondering what is about to come out of the pit. The Doctor had some great lines;

"No turning back? That's like saying 'nothing can go wrong' or 'this is going to be the best Christmas Walford has ever seen." LOL excellent.

It was good to see Rose get more to do at last too although she has become a bit annoying this season.

[armadillozenith]

Thought it was genuinely creepy with very high production values.

Rugged beat up industrial space base reminiscent of Alien, horrors ditto Event Horizon (a film too gruesome tho for my taste... hope this doesn't go that far!) And words drifting on and off people's skin... hey, that was in Bulletproof Monk!

Somewhat cliched but with some great touches!

Translator glitches were a great device... from
'We must feed... we must feed... you! refreshments... ',
to that Ood serving Rose food then suddenly declaiming about 'the beast and his army rising from the pit to war against God' then returning to the mundane as if oblivious.
Suspense and amusement neatly fused!

In the drilling-into-the-planet hologram's glitch, was that actor Tim Rice we glimpsed with the red face and horns, from the film "Legend"? :-)

Is this a higher-tech, higher-budget, off-Earth reprise of The Daemons, perchance?

Graham

[Hoichi]

I was not impressed. The writers seem to have been reading a lot of mine and a friend's post about new Who. There have added more horror and used a few theological themes but the episode was a let down.

It was really, really a wasted opportunity. It had too many silly bits. The dialogue was somewhat pathetic, which is a shame. The bit where they are looking at a star imploding head on annoyed me greatly. Anyone who knows at least a bit of Astronomy can tell you that looking at a big mass of light at a close range will cause blindness hence Astronauts have a very dark visors on their helmet. The Doctor and company should have looked at the 'black hole' indirectly (via a mirror etc). Another thing that ruined it for me is that the ancients thought the 'sun' was a God yet new about pills! This destroyed anything even remotely epic about this story. The name 'Ood' sounds rather silly (infact they sound a bit like a Scandinavian word!) and the Cthulhu-esque plot was ruined by the silly dialogue.

This episode did have good points however. The episode featured an ancient civilization and wasn't set anywhere near Earth unlike the other episodes. The cast is generally good accept for Billie Piper, who's scene at the table featured some of the worst acting I have ever seen in the show.

This also featured Maurice Ravel's 'Boléro'. A brilliant tune which was featured in an '2001' inspired scene.

All in all, it had clever ideas but was let down my numerous things.