Tardisode 9 was the ninth of the Tardisode series of mini-episode prologues to Doctor Who series 2. This Tardisode was a prelude to the episode The Satan Pit.


An Ood delivers a metal case to a man (Curt), telling him that the contents are Captain Walker's belongings. The man tells the Ood to leave and then opens the case. As he does so, the lights go out and the ship's computer states, "He shall awake." The man takes out the notebook. As he thumbs through the pages, the book emits a red light, and the monitors in the room begin to flicker and display the message "THE BEAST IS AWAKE. HE SHALL RISE FROM THE PIT." A lever depresses on its own, and the notebook bursts into flames in the man's hands. He runs to the door but the doors will not open. The computer tells him that the door is sealed, followed by a repeated chant of "He is coming. He is coming". Later, a woman (Chenna) enters the room, claiming to smell burning. She finds the man cowering in a chair, muttering, with the mysterious writing from the notebook having somehow transferred to his face...



to be added

Story notes[]

  • Supplementary material in the reference book The Time Traveller's Almanac reveals that Curt became a dead, possessed being when he looked into the notebook and was cursed by the Beast. After Chenna found him, Curt killed her by wiping out her memories and psyche. According to Andrew Pixley's research on Tardisode 9 in DWMSE 14, there was a line of dialogue in the original script of The Impossible Planet which referred to crewmembers who had died in the command centre. The final version of Planet did not have this, however, making the Tardisode, in the words of Pixley, "a little confusing".

Filming location[]

  • Unit Q2, Newport [2]



  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 DWMSE 14
  2. According to DWMSE 14, and evident in the episode itself, the scene was shot in the same control room set as TV: The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. Andrew Pixley's notes in DWMSE 14 for Planet and Pit gives the location of the control room set as this.

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