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19TH APRIL 2008
(45-MINUTE EPISODE)
Planet of the Ood
is an episode that suffers due to its place in the season. Whilst Keith
Temple’s story delivers on just about every level, coming as it does,
hot on the heels of two truly outstanding episodes, an episode that is merely
‘alright’ was always going to seem lacking. Objectively though, Planet of the Ood is an all fours with
offerings
the calibre of The Long Game and New Earth. Whilst it isn’t a classic by
any stretch of the imagination, it is a good, solid Doctor Who story
nonetheless.
For starters, I’m pleased to see that the production team have now cast
off their fear of alien planets. Christopher Eccleston’s short reign as
the ninth Doctor (on television, at least) was notable for the lack of any
stories set outside Earth’s solar system and I think that it suffered as a
result of this restriction. The Ood-Sphere serves as a staggering example
of just how convincingly an alien vista can be realised on the show’s
budget – it is simple, beautiful and utterly believable. There’s no need
to have a screen filled to bursting with deft little touches
of CGI - a couple of exotic planets in the sky and one convincing rocket
ship are perfectly sufficient to establish the episode’s extra-terrestrial
setting.
Above: The Sensorites - distant cousins of the Ood?
I also appreciated the nod to the Sense-Sphere, a
planet not seen on
television since William Hartnell’s
first season in the role. When you
think about it, the fact
that the Ood share a solar system with the Sensorites
makes a lot of sense, particularly when you consider
just how
visually alike they are. In fact, I’m just surprised
that The
Sensorites wasn’t dusted down and given a
DVD release to tie-in with the airing of this episode –
2 Entertain have certainly missed a trick there, which
really isn’t
like them.
However, I think it’s fair to say that - for the third week in
a row - it
is Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble that maketh
the episode. As Russell T
Davies promised, we are
learning that there is far more to Donna
than attitude;
indeed, she’s got soul. In last week’s episode, Donna
learned just how painful travelling with the Doctor could
be, and in
Planet of the Ood it’s a lesson that she has
to endure once again.
“Are there any free Ood?”
It’s interesting to watch how, over the course of the episode, Donna’s
feelings towards the Ood turn from fear and ignorance into compassion. Her
initial reaction to the dying Ood that she discovers in the snow – “…it’s
face…” – is predictably human, and even her amusing gaffe with the
translator ball only goes to show just how different she is to an Ood. Yet
within twenty minutes of screen time she’s shedding a tear for the Ood and
their song of captivity.
And, just like she did in Pompeii, Donna’s constant and grinding battle
with the Time Lord’s often quite callous philosophy influences him for the
better. When the Doctor encountered
the Ood in Matt Jones’ outstanding “Satan Pit” two-parter, he was far too
busy dancing with the Devil to spare the servile Ood a thought (“Last time
I met the Ood I never thought. I never asked”). Here though, with some
cajoling from Donna, the Doctor is given the opportunity to make up for
his neglect.
“They’re born with their brains in their hands. Don’t you see,
that makes them peaceful!”
As for the Ood themselves, I have to say that I love what Temple does with
them here. Not only does Planet of the Ood give them a home, but it
also gives them a history and even a unique biology; we learn far more
about them in this one episode than we did in two back in 2006. The notion
of this secondary “hind brain” – a brain that they have to carry around
with them in their hands – is an astonishing science-fiction concept, as
is the idea of this third, communal brain that somehow ties all the Ood
together. The real beauty of the idea though is that in effectively
cutting off the Ood’s hind brain and isolating them from the Ood master
brain, the humans of 4126 are proving themselves to be every bit as
self-interested and as cruel as, say, the Pyrovile or the Adipose. There
really is something to be said about stories where the Doctor has to lock
horns with humanity as opposed to simply trying to save the Earth. He is
still trying to save the humans here, of course. Just in a different way.
I was also very impressed with the little “Ood gimmicks” littered
throughout the episode. The Ood commercial that opened the story, not to
mention the glut of psychedelic artwork, really helped to get over the
notion of Ood as property to be packaged and sold, and I absolutely loved
the comical scene demonstrating the Ood’s translator ball settings – “doh!”
-, though I did feel that the production team really missed out by not
having a Robin Ood setting.
The above notwithstanding, I didn’t find the Ood of this episode anywhere
near as creepy
as those found in The Satan Pit. Clearly the Ood
work well as out-and-out monsters when they are rabid or suffering from
“red eye”, but what really set them apart originally was
the fact that they were being controlled by Satan. Hordes of Ood muttering
in unison that “the circle must be broken” may still be disquieting in a
cryptic sort of way, but I’m afraid that it isn’t even in the same league
as “the Beast and his armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against
God”. Without the biblical slant, the Ood aren’t half as effective.
But of course, the Ood are not the monsters here; that particular honour
falls to Mr Halpen and his unscrupulous corporation. Tim McInnerny (Blackadder)
gives a delightfully heartless performance as the vile, malting slave-trader, but the characters of Solana (Ayesha Dharker)
and
Roger Griffiths’ thoroughly vile security chief (“My pleasure, sir”, he
says, meaning every word) are every bit his match. Solana in particular is
frighteningly real – the quintessence of a modern saleswoman – and I
really like how Temple has her almost convinced to help the Doctor,
only to chicken out at the last minute. Lovely writing.
“We do not just breed the Ood. We make them better.
Because at heart, what is an Ood, but a reflection of ourselves?”
Nevertheless, of all the humans, it was Dr Ryder (Adrian
Rawlins) that surprised me the most. In the episode of Doctor Who
Confidential that followed this episode’s broadcast, Davies noted that
Dr Ryder seems to blend into the background, making his eventual face-turn
all the more shocking, and he’s right on the money. Rawlins unassuming
performance was so subtle that I barely acknowledged the character’s
existence, let alone assumed him to be of any import. In fact, the only
thing that I found remarkable about him prior to the big reveal was that I
thought he looked a bit like a nerdy version of Torchwood’s Captain
John Hart.
“I think your song must end soon.”
The ending of the episode is somewhat perplexing. From Ood Sigma’s ominous
comments, it would be reasonable to infer that the tenth Doctor hasn’t got
much distance left to run. Now on the one hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if
David Tennant bowed out at the end of this series – three years, after all,
is a long time to be playing the Doctor, particularly these days. On the
other hand though, I’d assumed that the impending hiatus had come about so
that Tennant’s reign could be extended for at least a handful of
feature-length specials. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
If Tennant is leaving though, I sincerely hope that the press don’t get
wind and spoil it – I would love, just for once, to be taken by surprise
by a regeneration.
On a final note, it should be recognised that this episode features some
terrific set pieces such as ‘the claw chase scene’, the Ood revolution,
and Halpen becoming an Ood to name but a few. On balance though, I don’t
think that Planet of the Ood is going to go down as one of the
revived series’ better episodes. Whilst without doubt it’s a brilliant bit
of telly, this one simply doesn’t stand out in the way that many, if not
most, new episodes do. I suppose they can’t all be classics.
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