Doctor: David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion: Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
Others
Danny Webb – Mr. Jefferson
Shaun Parkes – Zachary Cross Flane
Claire Rushbrook – Ida Scott
Will Thorp – Toby Zed
Ronny Jhutti – Danny Bartock
MyAnna Buring – Scooti Manista
Paul Kasey – The Ood
Gabriel Woolf – Voice of the Beast
Silas Carson – Voice of the Ood
Production
Directed by James Strong
Written by Matt Jones
Script editor Simon Winstone
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Production code 2.8
Series Series 2
Length 1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
Originally broadcast 3 June 2006
The TARDIS arrives aboard a sanctuary base used for deep-space expeditions. The Doctor and Rose explore the area, discovering strange alien writing that the TARDIS is unable to translate, meaning that it is "impossibly old". They are confronted by the Ood, a docile race of empathic slaves who work on the station. After a misunderstanding with the Ood, the Doctor and Rose meet the crew of the base, Zack, Ida, Jefferson, Danny, Scooti and Toby. The crew are on an expedition on the mysterious planet Krop Tor, impossibly in orbit around a black hole. Captain Zack explains that a gravity funnel exists around the planet, allowing them to safely enter or leave the vicinity of the black hole. The source of the funnel is an immense energy force ten miles within the planet, which they are drilling towards to understand its power. As the Doctor and Rose are acquainting themselves with the crew, the base is struck by a quake that causes the section of the base containing the TARDIS to fall into the planet. Rose and the Doctor resign themselves to being trapped and begin helping out the crew.
As the drill nears its target, a malevolent presence begins to make itself known. The Ood's translation spheres reveal messages about the Beast awakening, while Toby is unknowingly possessed by the Beast. The possessed Toby kills Scooti when she discovers him surviving outside the base without any protective gear. When the drilling is complete, the Doctor offers to go with Ida into the bowels of the planet. After travelling down the drill shaft, the Doctor and Ida find a large circular disk inscribed with more undecipherable markings. The Doctor believes it to be a door, and they watch as it opens. Suddenly, the Beast repossesses Toby before transferring into all the Ood as they refer to themselves as the Legion of the Beast. With Rose and the remaining crew alerted that the planet is now falling towards the black hole, the Ood begin to close in on them whilst the voice of the Beast declares that it is free.
The Impossible Planet