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"Doctor Who"
Planet of the Ood (2008)

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
An "old school" episode with oodles of atmosphere, 20 April 2008
Author: DVD_Connoisseur from England

You can always spot a Graeme Harper directed episode - it may be the pace or the themes but there's a certain gritty atmosphere in his tales that's quite unique.

In "Planet of the Ood", The Doctor and Donna visit the Oodsphere, a beautiful snow covered world where humans are exploiting the planet's occupants. It's a welcome change to see the action taking place on an alien world and the episode successfully captures the feeling of another planet.

Tim (Percy from "Blackadder") McInnerny is a memorable balding baddie whose follicle obsession takes centre stage in his thoughts. McInnerny's treatment of the Ood race is despicable but there's the feeling throughout the episode that his comeuppance is nigh.

This is very much an "old school" episode. It feels like "classic" "Doctor Who" and contains at least one disturbing scene and quite a high body count. There's questionable morality in this story, as acknowledged by The Doctor himself. This could well be a darker season of new "Who" but early signs are that this is going to be the best one yet.

Observant viewers will by now have latched onto the "disappearing bees" sub-plot. I wonder what this could be about? Whatever the outcome, it's definitely this year's "Bad Wolf" / "Saxon" guessing game. And then there's the musical cue from "Doomsday" to consider. I have thoughts about how and why The Doctor's "song" will end but time will tell...

8 out of 10. A strong episode, beautifully produced and directed by the team.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Good effort from Keith Temple, 19 April 2008

Author: AdnanZ from Canada

What really initially stands out in "Planet of the Ood" is that it sure is great to leave Earth for a while! Seriously, what is wrong with visiting some alien planets once in a while? Take a break from the space ships/vessels/stations and Earth and get some good old fashioned Doctor Who planet visitation done! The next thing that stands out is what an absolutely brilliant job Graeme Harper does directing Doctor Who. I've never seen a badly-directed episode from him and this is no exception, as "Planet of the Ood" is filmed so well and looks so good you barely notice some of the flaws in the script.

I say the script is flawed, but it's nothing too serious, maybe a little unsure on the mix between comedy and drama which it alternated between a little too quick at times.

All in all, "Planet of the Ood" is a fun, exciting Doctor Who adventure, nothing too special overall, but with some lovely parts to it. There was also an air of the Pertwee era in the story, definitely. The last two minutes or so once again very interesting, with the line "every song must end" in relation to the Doctor's 'song' being especially interesting.

7/10

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Ood, Glorious Ood, 21 April 2008

Author: Stargazer59 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'll lay my cards immediately on the table and let you all know that I absolutely adored the latest episode in the new series of "Doctor Who", "Planet of the Ood"! It's as big a surprise for me as it is you, dear reader!! In spite of Tate, regardless of Davies and notwithstanding a rather naff gag dependant on, admittedly minimal, knowledge of "The Simpsons", I would love it if the programme were like this more of the time. I confess I'd been looking forward to this episode, more than any other, because the Ood story from two years ago is my favourite of the tenth Doctor's era, to date. Ironically, considering my preference for the classic series, but not being particularly partial to the Sontarans, I haven't been looking forward to next week's two-parter nearly as much! One of the things I like about these Ood tales is the turning on its head of the master-servant/slave relationship. Usually, it's the humans who are subjugated in "Doctor Who", not the aliens. At the start of the story, a mystery is quickly inaugurated for the Doctor and his companion to investigate when the pair chance upon what-is-soon-to-be-revealed-as a red-eyed Ood dying in the snow whose last words plead, "The circle must be broken". The whole setup of this adventure is very similar to that of "Revelation of the Daleks", with the fast-fading Ood being comparable to the forgiving mutant near the start of the earlier escapade. Both stories feature a trudge through snow, from where the TARDIS has materialised, across an alien landscape. Both include the aforementioned preliminary confrontation before reaching the hub of the action. And, both deal with the nature of conducting business while, perhaps revealingly, both are directed by Graeme Harper! It doesn't take the time travellers quite as long to reach their destination in "Planet of the Ood", however, as it did the Doctor and Peri twenty-three years ago!!

As "Planet of the Ood" hurtles towards its climax, the Doctor and Donna make an alarming discovery. Huddled together in a cell, singing the song of captivity, are a group of natural born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery, unspoilt. They carry their secondary hind-brain in their cupped hands. Donna finds the music overwhelmingly unbearable, emotionally speaking, and asks for it to be taken away. I used to have the same problem whilst spinning discs for customers, when working in a record shop back in the Eighties! Joking aside, the use of music here is exemplary, for once, and connected to a warning in the final moments of this sequel, when, speaking to the Doctor, an Ood forewarns, "I think your song must end soon. Every song must end." Earlier, the Doctor offers stunning marketing manager Solana Mercurio, played by the beautifully named Ayesha Dharker, the hand of friendship which she briefly considers then rejects. She proceeds by betraying both him and Donna at the first available opportunity, not being able to step outside her own small, seemingly secure, world of the workplace. This is a minor moment of momentous tragedy, more real than any of the nonsense concerning the separation of Rose from her mentor at the end of Series Two! And, the themes of this Ood episode have resonance, not just emotional content. We are privy to a great big (business) empire built on slavery, witness to battery-hen farming for Ood-kind. There is a slowness and precision in both manner and movement of the Ood which makes them a very dignified race of beings, and that is key to their success. As Tennant said in the following "Doctor Who Confidential" documentary, "Oods and Ends", "they are benevolent and non-invasive". By way of contrast, this time round there are also rabid Ood, perhaps comparable in concept to rogue Cybermen as seen in "The Invasion" and "Attack of the Cybermen".

I guessed, before "Planet of the Ood" commenced, that the Doctor wouldn't be able to resist mentioning the "real" snow, on this occasion, as opposed to the raining ash etc of previous instances! I also predicted the fate of Tim McInnerny's Klineman Halpen, when he first commented upon his hair loss ten minutes into the episode, even though the manner in which it happened was still a pleasant surprise! Transformed into the very creature he's been abusing, it's not quite as agreeable for the character as the viewer but justly deserved, nevertheless, for both murder and as amoral "owner of the franchise for selling Ood, domestically, across the known and unknown galaxy"!! A nice commentary on the nasty and seedy nature of business, generally, I thought. I hope Sir Alan was watching, though I'm not sure he would heed any message even if attuned to literary subtext! The enemy within Halpen's company was successfully disguised throughout by the discreet performance of Adrian Rawlins, as much put upon Dr Ryder, having been a friend of the Ood, working for their release, for the past ten years! The almost-chanted and oft-repeated phrase, "Doctor, Donna, friends", will no doubt pass into the folklore of the programme though I'm more likely to remember the Time Lord's criticism, "Who do you think made your clothes?" As producer Susie Liggat indicated, "Planet of the Ood" is a really important story about liberating repressed people, a metaphor that can be applied the world over both on a personal level and globally. Writer Keith Temple fashioned what-turned-out-to-be a very old school episode of "Doctor Who", and good on him!!

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0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Worst episode of season 4 so far, 22 April 2008

Author: DoctorWhoFanatic from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This episode started out good, with the Doctor and Donna finding the dying Ood and seeing it turn red-eyed, but it went all downhill from there. The turning of the bad guy into an Ood was disgusting and the song of the Ood had too much of a human religious element to it. And the Ood at the end saying that their children and their children's children and so forth will remember the Doctor and Donna forever was just overdoing it, I think they should just have left right after the Ood were saved. Also, Donna has expressed a wish to go home twice in the past two episodes, yet she remains. Why?

I do like a few lines in it though, like Donna's line, "Why do you say Miss? Do I look single?" were hilarious. I also like the Ood's line, "I think your song must end soon...Every song must end." Very suspicious.

So one point for the funny lines and the song line, one point for being off Earth (finally!), and one point for just being Doctor Who, making a grand total of 3/10. Bleh

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