Planet of the Ood

Season 4, Episode 3, Aired
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Episode Summary

Location: Ood-Sphere
Date: 4126
Enemies: Mr. Halpen, Ood Operations

The Doctor and Donna find themselves on an icy planet known as the Ood-Sphere. There they discover what drove the Ood to be a servant race. Can they free them before it's too late?

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Fan Episode Reviews (22)

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  • Little slips, but otherwise a decent episode

    8.5
    "Great"
    By eva1307, Jan 12, 2011 Report Abuse
    Once again, we meet the Ood in this episode. Of course, the subject of them being slaves is tackled by the Doctor's companion. Donna reacts the same way as Rose: she is heart-broken and tries to persuade them to be free. What is interesting is that she does not bother me, she seems perfectly natural at it.

    The concept is pretty interesting: why are the Ood acting so strange and killing people? There is a lot of tension and puzzlement within Donna and the Doctor. The supporting actors are, as always, well chosen and really pull off the characters. However, there are some things that caught my eye. The first is no doubt what must be the worst special effect in Doctor Who: the scene where Dr. Ryder falls off the railing. Anyone could have seen that was very unrealistic.
    Secondly, they seem to stress the fact that the Doctor has a tragic faith in the latest episodes (here it was hearing the Ood sing). We all know that, but over-emphasising it can ruin the whole thing. Overall, it was a decent chapter and returning more to its usual self.moreless

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  • The Ood make a not so welcome return

    6.1
    "Fair"
    By inakaguy, May 15, 2010 Report Abuse
    The Impossible Planet and the Satan pit were a couple of my favourite episodes from the second season of Dr Who. I quite liked the Ood as a series of protaganists who actually had very little say in the matter. We get just enough backstory about who or what they are to actually care when the Dr says "I couldn;t save the Ood," at the end of the episode. This is my favourite kind of Sci Fi, the feeling that everything has a story but that we don't necessarily need to know it (one of the reasons I enjoyed the first Star Wars movie so much).

    It was nice to know that the Ood were slaves and humanity wasn't all it was cracked up to be, without having it rammed down our throats. Unfortunately, this episode brought one hell of a big rammer!

    Basically, the Ood go nuts again, but rather than the plucky band of "Alien" rip off freedom fighters that we had in the first episode, it is just a bunch of overpaid lazies and military idiots who get slaughtered, led by a woefully one dimensional Tim McKinnery (who surely can't have sunk this low after the wonderful Blackadder).

    The explanation of the translation spheres was ok if you don't examine it too closely. The part where McKinnery turns into an Ood (a separate species) is ludicrous no matter how closely you look at it.

    Donna developed as a character but some of the annoying parts from "The Runaway Bride" slipped back into the character as well. Hopefully this is just an abberation, but I'm not confident.moreless

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    2 3

  • This episode makes you want to find a ood and squish it with hugs... my little sister now wants to start an ood farm!!! Werid, but still good... like the thing with the bees...???moreless

    8.5
    "Great"
    By BrijalaGirl, Aug 12, 2008 Report Abuse
    I felt real sorry for the ood in the beast episode... no animal or humanoid should be treated like they were and it was good to see them get their own back! XD I was screaming Viva Revolution! through it... and silently hopeing donna would get hit with a wrongly directed blast and die... its not personal... its just shes one of the most annoying assistants theres ever been (yet). I hope she gets better. Anyway, great episode to make you feel all tingley with... or start an ood farm. Hmmmm.... I wounder what other doctor who creatures you could farm...?moreless

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    2 1

  • A good episode in a bad series of Doctor Who.

    8.9
    "Great"
    By TVsheep, Jun 22, 2008 Report Abuse
    This year's series hasn't been very good, but this is definitely a good episode.

    Good:
    Well written. I felt sorry for the ood and that they were being enslaved by humans.
    It was scary when that dying ood suddenly sat up with his eyes glowing red,, and when that ood suddenly jumped out and killed that guy.
    It was an acion-packed episode, yet still with a moving storyline.

    Bad:
    When Mr. Halpen transfromed into an ood. That was just strange.
    When he pushed the scientist into the giant brain. Also strange.
    The scene in the warehouse where that guy was trying to pick up the doctor whith a crane.
    Mr Halpen seemed like he was drunk all through the episode.
    I didn't really get what was happening.

    A very good episode with a few cheesey moments.moreless

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  • A classy episode with a great ending

    8.7
    "Great"
    By dalekmonster, Jun 22, 2008 Report Abuse
    What really annoyed me this season was the lack of ideas and villans who were the same. Although in this case the villans were the same. The Ood never seem to get old. The story kept leaving you thinking whats going to happen next and way it was laid out was genius although the bit that I found rather strange was, why was it a brain. Ok it may seem a strange question but why would u hold a brain in captivity.

    There were very good bits. Including the ending which was flashy and so cheesy it made it great. But the bad bits really were easy to spot out. Seeing as Cathrine Tate is the Doctors assistant there is going to be some cheap and silly laughs. The character Donna Noble is amazing but the cheap laughs have really got to stop. Yes she is a funny person. Yes she can be funny but lets not force the laughs out. Great episode. Good Villan. Ok story line.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Salana says that drinking is not allowed on the site, however later on in the episode a drunken visitor tells Salana that it is an open bar. Edit
    • Donna's comparison of the TARDIS to Halpen's rocket- 'You've got a box; he's got a Ferrari'- is similar to the Doctor's comparison between the TARDIS and Captain Jack's Vortex Manipulator in Utopia (in which he says 'I've got a sports car, you've got a space hopper'.) Edit
    • Several references are made to The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit (the previous episodes to feature the Ood), such as the Doctor referring to the stronger power overtaking the Ood as 'The Devil' and him mentioning that he had to let the Ood die. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Overnight UK viewing figures for this episode were 6.9 million, with the final viewing figure at 7.50 million. Edit
    • International Airdates: United States: 9 May 2008 Australia: 20 July 2008 New Zealand: 27 July 2008 Turkey: 20 February 2011 Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Ood Sigma: Take this song with you. Donna: We will. The Doctor: Always. Ood Sigma: And know this, Doctor-Donna, you will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor-Donna, and our children's children, and the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever. Edit
    • The Doctor: Funny thing, the subconscious. It takes all sorts of shapes. It came out in the red-eye as revenge. Came out in the rabid Ood as anger. And then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy focused on Ood Sigma. How's that hair loss, Mr Halpen? (Halpen reaches to his head and pulls a clump of hair out) Halpen: (speaking to Ood Sigma) What have you done? The Doctor: Oh, they've been preparing you for a very long time. Edit
    • (In Warehouse 15, the Doctor and Donna find a massive brain) The Doctor: The Ood Brain. Now it all makes sense. The missing link. The third element, binding them together. Fore-brain, hind-brain and this. The telepathic centre. It's a shared mind, connecting all the Ood in song. (Halpen advances on them, holding a gun) Halpen: Cargo. I can always go into cargo. I've got the rockets; I've got the sheds. Smaller business, much more manageable. Without livestock. Dr Ryder: He's mined the area. Donna: You're going to kill it? Halpen: They found that… thing centuries ago beneath the northern glacier. The Doctor: Those pylons… Donna: In a circle. The circle must be broken. The Doctor: Dampening the telepathic field. Stopping the Ood from connecting for two hundred years. Halpen: And you, Ood Sigma, brought them here. I expected better. Ood Sigma: My place is at your side, sir. Halpen: Still subservient. Good Oo… Donna: If that barrier thing is in place, how come the Ood started breaking out? The Doctor: Maybe it's taken centuries to adapt? The subconscious reaching out? Dr Ryder: But the process was too slow. Had to be accelerated. You should never have given me access to the controls, Mr Halpen. I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends of the Ood, sir. It's taken me ten years to infiltrate the company and I succeeded. Halpen: Yes. Yes, you did. (Halpen throws Ryder over the side and onto the Ood Brain, which absorbs him) Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Some of the marketing graphics used by the company have a strong stylistic resemblance to work by Andy Warhol. For example the artwork behind the PR woman, Solana, as she stands on the pedestal giving her presentation to the buyers. Edit
    • Donna: What is it with that Persil ball? Persil is a brand of clothes washing powders and liquids that are designed to be delivered to the wash via a palm-sized dosing ball. Edit
    • The Doctor: Snow! Ahh, real snow! Proper snow at last. The joy expressed by The Doctor at the appearance of natural snow is a reference to all the fake snow he's seen in the previous Christmas Specials. The Sycorax ship burning up in the atmosphere in 'The Christmas Invasion', the TARDIS induced atmospheric excitation in 'The Runaway Bride' and the contents from the damaged ballast tanks in 'Voyage of the Damned'. Edit

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