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Series 4 Episode 3: “Planet of the Ood”Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday April 19th, 2008 As premiered ondanowen.blogspot.com
Series 4 Boxset:
Series 4 Part 1:
Series 3 Boxset:
Director:
- Graeme Harper
(TV: Doctor Who: Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, 42, Utopia, Last of the Timelords (uncredited),Planet of the Ood, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Turn Left, Episode 4.12, Journey’s End,The Bill, Byker Grove, Casualty, Doctor Who Confidential, Grange Hill, Heartbeat, Robin Hood, Sarah Jane Adventures)
Screenplay:
- Keith Temple
(TV: Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood, Byker Grove, Casualty, Doc Martin, Dangerfield, Emmerdale)
Cast:
- The Doctor: David Tennant
Donna Noble: Catherine Tate
Mr Halpen: Tim McInnerny
Solana Mercurio: Ayesha Dharker
Dr Ryder: Adrian Rawlins
Commander Kess: Roger Griffiths
Mr Bartle: Paul Clayton
Ood Sigma: Paul Kasey
Rep: Tariq Jordan
Voice Of The Ood: Silas Carson
Synopsis: The Doctor takes Donna to an icy planet in the 42nd-Century, which they discover is the processing hub for humanity’s servants The Ood…
“That’s what I call a spaceship! You’ve got a box, he’s got a Ferrari!”— Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)
A sequel of sorts to season 2’s excellent The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pittwo-parter, Planet Of The Ood finds The Doctor (David Tennant)aiming to right a wrong, by actively trying to free the subservient Ood fromslavery.
It’s unfortunately another episode where a despicable businessman is behindalien exploitation, this time in the shape of Mr Halpen (Tim McInnerny) –a sharp-suited, balding executive in charge of the “Ood-Sphere”; an industrialcomplex that exploits Ood by capturing them, lobotomising them, and shippingthem across the galaxies as servants.
Donna (Catherine Tate) again offers a different slant on the typical Whocompanion, as she becomes genuinely unsettled and fearful of the situation, stillbelieving the majority of The Doctor’s adventures will be harmless sight-seeing.As a performer, Tate continues to veer from screechy comedy irritant (particularlyher first scene in the TARDIS) to thoughtful, reflective, quite dramatic moments.
I’m glad the writers are using Donna in a different way to Rose and Martha, butTate is only really palatable when she’s in a contemplative mood, as her histrionics(while significantly reduced from The Runaway Bride) still cause me tosquirm.
As The Doctor, David Tennant is going through the motions here — yelping“ohhh, yes!” a few too many times — but it’s an episode that onlyrequires his boundless enthusiasm and doesn’t offer him much else to chew on.
Keith Temple’s script is very well paced and, while the story is full of Whoclichés (evil company man, armed bodyguards, a conflicted assistant), it sustainsitself well and offers a few emotional punches towards the end as The Doctorslowly unravels Halpen’s schemes by reconstituting the Ood’s natural telepathy.Unchaining them, essentially.
A moment between The Doctor, Donna and some caged (“unprocessed”) Ood, wherethey sing a “song of captivity” into their minds, was particularly emotive.
It was also great to see the production values do justice to the story, withwintry alien landscapes beautifully integrated into real surroundings, and theuse of a large factory as an exterior to film around. Interesting to note thatthe Ood were introduced against a backdrop of rock and flame in season 2, butthey’re homeworld is ice and snow.
The interiors on Doctor Who always have a vague whiff of falseness about them(particularly when trying to make distant future technology look plausible), butthe frontier-like industrial element to the Ood-Sphere building worked well.The CGI for a menacing grappling hook, swinging around a warehouse trying tocrush The Doctor, also looked great (helped by the fact Tennant did his ownstunts), and I loved the improved make-up for the Ood particularly the animatronicblinking eyes, which really help sell them.
As always, there were a few moments that fell flat, such as an Ood beingbrainwashed to quote Homer Simpson (“D’oh!”) and the unconvincing reasonfor a character’s physical transformation into an Ood but at least that wasscary, as he ripped off his scalp and vomited up tentacles!
An evil henchman revealing his true identity a “Friends Of The Ood” anti-slaveryrecruit, before being quickly killed seconds later, also struck me as a wastedopportunity. And it still wasn’t explained how the Ood’s hand-held translationballs can suddenly become electrifying weapons, either!
Everything else hit the spot, though — although the lack of much depth andsubtleties means Planet Of The Ood was ultimately an agreeable, well-paced,yet predictable adventure story — with a few dramatic moments and morally-responsiblesubtext. It was solid, above-average fare; not that inspiring, but far fromterrible.
Join in the discussion about this episode atDan’s Media Digest
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.