Doctor Who 4x03 - "Planet of the Ood"

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Originally Posted by Chris Britton

Does it really matter? They are all the same and act the same really.

Yes, Chris I am aware of that. I was interested in reading the article.

Yuck, not reading it though because it is in the Daily Mail. My hatred for that shitrag is eeeeeeternal.

[Chris Britton]

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

Well it was Live magazine which comes with the Daily Mail.

Their ratings:
PiC: 4 stars
FoP: 5
PoO ():5
TSS: 5

Plus they were handing out lots of dates and facts about the Sontarans and UNIT, so they seem to now quite a lot. Either they spent a long time on Wikipedia or they are proper fans!

Maybe RTD seduced one of them?

[Kody]

Thought it was a good romp, loved the 'darker' touches about humanity, felt classic in that aspect.. I could rant about it all but Danny and others summed it up just fine.

Few random things,

I had such a geeky moment when he was about to share the telepathic song with Donna.. I auctually muttered 'Say 'contact', say 'contact'!'

After he didn't and I snapped out of my whovian fan boy moment, it made sense that he wouldn't say it, seeing as it always was used in a timelord - timelord situation as far as I remember.

Sadly no shadow proclamation or missing planet reference this episode.. but the whole "Your song is coming to an end" seemed foreboding. Almost as if he is going to die, but we're 99% sure that isn't the case?

Oh and another reference to bees vanishing? Setup for the Agatha Christie episode?

In closing, better than I expected.. looking forward to next week.

[Ross Hendrie]

Really good episode, was good to finally see some carnage and destruction etc. though obviously that wasnt the only reason the episode was good. 9/10.

Next weeks episode looks brilliant. The Doctor swanning around on Earth with UNIT running all over the shop. Classic.

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Originally Posted by Larren

Oh and another reference to bees vanishing? Setup for the Agatha Christie episode?

I doubt it. The Agatha Christie episode is called "The Unicorn and the Wasp." That, and it's set in the past, before Donna was born. What do you mean by "another," Larren? Have I missed one?

I've heard from a reliable source, well, Wikipedia, that this episode is to be a comedy one. I'm just hoping that it will be "word" funny and not "slipping over a banana skin" funny.

[Chris Britton]

Oh, fantastic as it's another comedy. >.>

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Just because it's a comedy doesn't mean you should instantly think "oshitz".

A lot of Baker's stories had comedy in them, as well as fantastic stories, it's what his era was renowned for. Comedy in Doctor Who has to be just right, or it fails miserably. The story is being written by Gareth Roberts, who also wrote the fantastic "Shakespeare Code." Roberts actually took advice from Douglas Adams, and I quote, "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it".

So never fear, relax a bit, dude!

[Chris Britton]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

Just because it's a comedy doesn't mean you should instantly think "oshitz".

A lot of Baker's stories had comedy in them, as well as fantastic stories, it's what his era was renowned for. Comedy in Doctor Who has to be just right, or it fails miserably. The story is being written by Gareth Roberts, who also wrote the fantastic "Shakespeare Code." Roberts actually took advice from Douglas Adams, and I quote, "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it".

So never fear, relax a bit, dude!

That era did not have RTD squeezing the life out of it. Tom Bakers era was the peak of the old series in my opinion. I don't mind jokes in Doctor Who, the ones in Planet of the Ood were quite good plus it was a good mix of comedy, action, drama and Sci Fi.

[Ronnie Rowlands]

This episode is not being written by RTD. Have we ever seen a terribly bad non-RTD episode in the new series? Yes, Russell's episodes are the weaker ones in a series, bar 'Atoll K,' 'The Sound of Drums,' 'Doomsday,' 'Army of Ghosts,' 'Bad Wolf,' and 'Parting of the Ways,' but episodes written by the likes of Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall and Stephen Greenhorn have always ranked "good" to "magniff" in my opinion.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

I doubt it. The Agatha Christie episode is called "The Unicorn and the Wasp." That, and it's set in the past, before Donna was born.

Both very good points, however the Agatha Christie episode is the only one I've thought of upon hearing these references. What else do you think it's referencing? Wouldn't it be odd if there were two suspiciously similar bee-esque storylines this season?

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

What do you mean by "another," Larren? Have I missed one?

It was referenced in "Partners in Crime" as well.

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Well, what was the reference in PIC, and I'll have a think about it from that. (I'll Wikiquote it if you don't want to watch it again )

(PS. 'Bee-esque' is my new favorite word, because it sounds a bit like 'BS')

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

Well, what was the reference in PIC, and I'll have a think about it from that. (I'll Wikiquote it if you don't want to watch it again )

Honestly, I don't remember, and I really can't be bothered to sit through it again. It was some conspiracy theory that Donna found on the internet while searching for the Doctor. It was mentioned while they were on the roof, I'm pretty sure.

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

(PS. 'Bee-esque' is my new favorite word, because it sounds a bit like 'BS')

Haha, even better when read in my original context. "BS storylines this year."

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Although so far that hasn't been the case

Story arc wise, Danny, were you aware that RTD has told us that this year features no arc 'word' (e.g. Torchwood, Bad Wolf, Mr.Saxon) but an element from every episode, "whether it's a person, a phrase, a question, a planet, or a mystery," builds up to the grand finale! "You've got to watch and listen closely. It's been seeded for a long time, with small but vital references going all the way back to Series One." Man, this series is really gonna be awesome!

This calls for some speculation! Shall we call them "Arc Points"? We can all try and spot it each time we watch an episode. Here are my guesses so far.

Partners in Crime- Can't remember it enough
Fires of Pompeii- "She's coming back"
Planet of the Ood- "Every song must come to an end."

[Superkid11]

Could that last quote possibly be a reference to the new theme this year?

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Lets hope so. I don't really like it that much. I don't feel hate of the highest degree towards it but it's not as good as the last one.

[Jamie Minty]

Maybe bees and wasps are getting mixed up in the online rumors they mention in PiC.

Maybe all the bees (or wasps) are flying into a rift which takes them to Agatha Christie's time.

or maybe RTD's trying to throw us off course with the whole season arc thing!

[Ronnie Rowlands]

Please tell me that wasn't a serious suggestion...

[Josef Kenny]

Nothing's serious in RTD-land.

[Jamie Minty]

Ronnie if its RTD land anything can happen.

So yeah serious.

[Chris Britton]

Originally Posted by Rat Souffle

Nothing's serious in RTD-land.

It's probably a land reminiscent of a Dr Suess story.