Doctor Who - The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit 9/10

Hmmm - not quite the 10 I was hoping to give. The second episode of the 2-parter veered off somewhat in another direction, and was a little baffling at times. Both parts had more than the normal quota of psychology going on - which worked on some occassions but went over my head at other times (maybe I need that second watch tonight). Certainly it was much darker than the rest of the new series, and there were few quips on offer. My main gripe having seen the whole story was that many things were not developed or explained fully, but this is a failing of the new series generally. I would have liked more on the Ood - perhaps they can be brought back at some point. They made an entrance as a faux terror thanks to a communication failure, but once possessed by the beast they were only there to run from or despatch. I'm sure I was not the only one to feel a twinge of regret when the Doctor informed what was left of the Sanctuary base crew that the Ood had all died on the planet.
What made the lack of background more stark was the teasing lines the Beast used to describe all the characters - how did Toby manage to remain a virgin and just what did Jefferson do to his wife? I also felt there was scope for a secret or two about the Doctor himself. Satan was the star of the show, whether embodied by Will Thorp as the doomed Toby or by the giant CGI horned beast - this was mainly down to the voice of Gabriel Woolf, whose tones scare the crap out of me every time. Probably the creepiest two scenes were in "The Impossible Planet' - first where the Beast initially makes himself known to Toby, then later when a possessed Toby kills Scooti. These were probably some of the scariest moments in the whole canon in fact. Less scary as such but equally memorable was Rose's radical despatch of Toby on the rocket (ironically much the same way as Scooti, sucked into space after Rose blasts the windows and undoes his seat-belt). Rose again showed herself here to be resourceful and heroic, with or without the Doctor. The Doctor meanwhile spends much of the time in an orange spacesuit, which must be difficult to emote in. But the way he so casually bumps into the previously lost TARDIS in the pit was a bit too convenient, as was it's traction properties.
The pace of the story was incredibly fast, always having you on the edge of your seat and packing in lots of action and dialogue. Murray Gold's score matched wonderfully too. So, because of the gripes, only a 9 - but it's a flawed classic all the same.