Doctor Who 4x03 - "Planet of the Ood"

MI7 · #1 April 19, 2008, 1:14 PM

"Planet of the Ood" by Keith Temple
The Doctor and Donna land on an ice planet called the Ood-Sphere, and the Doctor discovers what drove the Ood to become a servant race.

Ronnie Rowlands · #2 April 19, 2008, 1:41 PM

If that didn't shut up the new who cynics, I don't know what will. That was the most brilliant and thought provoking episode ever! I just found it really scary and dark, and also sad. It makes a welcome departure from the Doctor banging on about how humans are "great" and "fascinating," to a more dim and horrid light which showed us as the bastards we really are, it's about time Doctor Who had that back.

I particularly enjoyed Tim McInnerny, but it was hard not to notice a couple of "Captain Darling" faces shine through

. One scene that stuck out as awesome was where the "unspoiled" Ood were first seen, singing as they were. So well directed and superbly lit, and the music in this was just fine. I only hope that the Ood are left to rest and not brought back for a while. Their character and story are so strong so it would be a shame to see them overused and eventually shat upon. Next week's looks awesome, and another of my comedy idols (Christopher Ryan) stars. From what I saw he sounded really good, and very angry- perfect. Could still tell it was his voice though

A strong, firm and voluptuous 9/10 from me.

Jez · #3 April 19, 2008, 1:55 PM

Got bored with all the *run away from X, run away from Y* that was going on.

Storyline was good though, and it's nice to see some background to the Ood.

Ben Dawson · #4 April 19, 2008, 2:32 PM

I don't need to explain myself, it was a beautiful episode, with a beautiful performance, and it was...are what the hell, the whole thing was just beautiful. I can honestly say that I was almost moved to tears when Donna heard the Ood singing, I found that scene really powerfull.

Jamie Minty · #5 April 19, 2008, 3:20 PM

I loved the episode but I have to re-watch the whole "Ood Healing" before I get it properly!

It seemed a bit odd (that isn't a purposeful pun). I do agree though it was very beautiful and it had a sort of "epic" feel to it. It was the Doctor's soul duty to do this. Everyone else feels a bit of what he does but the Doctor's the only one who will dare to stop it.

And Catherine Tate was great yet again. I'm looking forward to how the Doctor treats Martha now that she is a "soldier" next week

Chris Britton · #6 April 19, 2008, 3:21 PM

What can I say, the new series has gotten better and this was a cracking episode. not only was it great to see more background to the Ood but it was written in such a compelling and emotional way. the parallels to modern day Earth were moving and portrayed realistically and it was also quite creepy, especially the part where the boss guy gets transformed into an Ood. Tim McInnerny was splendid and it was a joy to see him again. I was quite reminded of Lord Percy and Captain Darling in parts. the ood remind me so much of The Borg in parts and that also made it quite creepy

What struck me was the line at the end which seems to hint at The Doctors future. i wonder if that might tie into The Doctors Daughter somehow and DT's future. I did like The Sensorites reference too.

Nexts weeks looks quite nice too, and as for me, this episode gets a 9/10, the Ood are some of the best written races and I hope we shall see them again in a few years. the series is definitely winning me over. I thought the Ood episode would be one of the better written ones and it did into disappoint.

Danny Stewart · #7 April 19, 2008, 8:37 PM

Things I enjoyed:
- Ood being related to the Sensorites
- Lots of death and violence (can we get more of this plz? kthx)
- Fairly dark plot; concept of revolution
- Use of the Doctor's telepathic abilities
- Portrayal of humans as douchebags (because we are)

Things I did not enjoy:
- The whole episode was a bit random, wasn't it?
- Guy turns into Ood; wtf random
- Ending was not only random but annoyingly happy
- The scene with all the alternative Ood voices was cringeworthy
- Still a bit too hesitant to actually show all the violence
- Donna was embarrassingly annoying at the start
- The Doctor was also a bit too happy, excited, and energetic at the start
- Stupid ****ing Murray can't stop using ****ing Doomsday

Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Things I already like about next week's episode:
- Yay Martha
- Yay UNIT

Things I already don't like about next week's episode:
- Sontaran faces are too cheesy-looking and should be much less expressive
- Sontaran voice isn't strained and whispery enough ("We have an intruder!" sounded almost gutteral)
- Interior design of the Sontaran ships -- what happened to the one-man spheres?
- Sontaran color choices -- blue for uniforms and purple for ships? um, no

Mister_Wilbur · #8 April 19, 2008, 8:38 PM

Wow. It keeps getting better and better! 10/10.

Danny Stewart · #9 April 19, 2008, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Mister_Wilbur

Wow. It keeps getting better and better! 10/10.

Seriously? 10 out of 10? This ranks among the absolute best, most brilliant pieces of television you've ever seen in your entire life?

I wish people would learn to count their rating scales from the bottom up rather than from the top down. Just because an episode does not have anything majorly wrong with it does not mean it automatically deserves a perfect rating.

Jez · #10 April 20, 2008, 5:24 AM

Personal opinions will differ. You might not agree with other people's opinions but it doesn't mean they're wrong.

Danny Stewart · #11 April 20, 2008, 5:26 AM

Originally Posted by Jez

Personal opinions will differ. You might not agree with other people's opinions but it doesn't mean they're wrong.

Of course it doesn't mean they're wrong. That's not what I was saying. I just think anyone who gives something a 10/10 either hasn't properly thought it through or hasn't properly justified it. Maybe there are things that actually speak to him enough to think that the episode is perfect, but it doesn't sound that way from his post. If I'm wrong then I'll stand corrected. But from his original post, it just sounds like "wow, this is good stuff, yay -- perfect score." I dislike that way of thinking. Count the points it earns -- not the points it loses.

Jamie Minty · #12 April 20, 2008, 5:36 AM

Was it Doomsday or The Doctor's Theme that played?

And I agree with Danny, the Sontaran ship interior looked weird being purple. It looked like a disco room!

Ronnie Rowlands · #13 April 20, 2008, 7:03 AM

God, so what? Why can't they have new ships made? You think an alien race is going to use the exact same colour scheme and the exact same exteriors and the exact same body armor and the exact same everything for their entire run as a species? You think that someone watching us right now is going to think "**** what happened to silver body armour and horses, these camouflage suits and tanks just suck!" My point is evolution, if our human race changes things, makes things better, more suited, easier to use, upgraded, anything, why can't the Sontarans maybe devise a new ship that is more powerful, a new body armor that is stronger, their faces changed in the old series, why can't they change now? I also think by the way that the faces are very realistic and much more expressive. Sontarans are angry and warlike, and it will be nice to see that in their faces as well as their actions.

Whew, so, now that I know that this personally won't ruin the episode for me, I shall allow either the plot or the acting to spoil the episode for me.

Alexus · #14 April 20, 2008, 7:11 AM

I return briefly and unannounced to take a cheap shot!

- Stupid ****ing Murray can't stop using ****ing Doomsday

Ever heard of leitmotifs?

Thank you, and goodnight.

MI7 · #15 April 20, 2008, 7:49 AM

Originally Posted by Alexus

I return briefly and unannounced to take a cheap shot!

Ever heard of leitmotifs?

Thank you, and goodnight.

Perhaps, but that doesn't mean he has to recycle the same piece every time something story-arc related comes up. Though to be fair, he did manage to edit this one into the soundtrack much better than the last time.

Chris Britton · #16 April 20, 2008, 8:31 AM

Originally Posted by MI7

Perhaps, but that doesn't mean he has to recycle the same piece every time something story-arc related comes up. Though to be fair, he did manage to edit this one into the soundtrack much better than the last time.

I just say get Frank Klepacki in to compose with Danny and Dom. As far as eliteness and awesome go it's a winning formula, although due to the amount of Awesome BBC Wales might explode.

Jamie Minty · #17 April 20, 2008, 9:49 AM

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

God, so what? Why can't they have new ships made? You think an alien race is going to use the exact same colour scheme and the exact same exteriors and the exact same body armor and the exact same everything for their entire run as a species? You think that someone watching us right now is going to think "**** what happened to silver body armour and horses, these camouflage suits and tanks just suck!" My point is evolution, if our human race changes things, makes things better, more suited, easier to use, upgraded, anything, why can't the Sontarans maybe devise a new ship that is more powerful, a new body armor that is stronger, their faces changed in the old series, why can't they change now? I also think by the way that the faces are very realistic and much more expressive. Sontarans are angry and warlike, and it will be nice to see that in their faces as well as their actions.

Whew, so, now that I know that this personally won't ruin the episode for me, I shall allow either the plot or the acting to spoil the episode for me.

Calm down a bit! I just said that the ship looks funny. Never said I didn't like it. I love the Sontarans new look. I agree with everything you say up there!

Also the newspaper says this will be the most "classic series" like episode we've seen since Doctor Who came back on our screens.

Ronnie Rowlands · #18 April 20, 2008, 10:04 AM

not attacking you, just making a point.

A good nugget of info, but then again, it *is* the newspaper. Which one was it by the way?

Chris Britton · #19 April 20, 2008, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

not attacking you, just making a point.

A good nugget of info, but then again, it *is* the newspaper. Which one was it by the way?

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

Jamie Minty · #20 April 20, 2008, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Ronnie Rowlands

not attacking you, just making a point.

A good nugget of info, but then again, it *is* the newspaper. Which one was it by the way?

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!