Accidentally deleted my draft on this, let’s see how much I remember. Planet of the Ood. Hold up, this story is a Raiders of the Lost Ark situation, where the plot would have happened essentially the same way without the involvement of our lead characters (I know, not the point of Raiders, it’s still a good movie, but bear with me). Ood Sigma was already working on turning Halpen into an Ood, Dr. Ryder would have easily been able to shut down the Circle after that was complete, the unprocessed Ood were able to telepathically control things like the red-eye and such on their own. All of this was already in place and happening before the Doctor and Donna showed up. The Doctor and Donna actually don’t do very much in this story, they’re rather just the audience’s lens into seeing the story as it plays out. What makes this story still pretty good is the effective portrayal of just how horrible things are for the Ood, and character work involved, especially for Donna.
As an apology for the handling of the Ood in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, where they were depicted as slaves who were happy about it before they were unceremoniously killed off as Krop Tor fell into the black hole, this episode gets the job done. They don’t shy away from how terribly they’re treated. They’re shot, whipped, threatened to be gassed, lobotomized, locked up in shipping containers, separated from their hive mind they need to survive properly, their big brain disrespected and risked being damaged by people getting thrown in them or shots of Ood graft getting poured into it (though that last one might have been ok, putting Ood in Ood). They’re very much saying, “no, the Ood are slaves, and no slave wants to be that way, why would you think they would?”
Donna is very good in this story. If last time was an appetizer for the horrible things out there for her to see, this was her first main course. The big scene is in the cage, where the Doctor unlocks her mind for her to hear the Ood’s song of captivity. (Speaking of which, great work from Murray Gold, the Ood songs of captivity and freedom are among my favorite of his tracks.) Donna really sells just how terrible it all is from her reaction. And in turn, that also really gets across the pain and suffering the Ood feel that is harder to get across with just their own tentacly, alien faces. Some of the moments in this one are a huge part of what sold me on her character beyond just the sassy and loud Catherine Tate comedy stuff. Not that she didn’t have great moments before, like the “just save someone,” but she’s just excellent throughout this one. Still has some of her humorous aspects like the stuff with the coat and comparing the TARDIS to a rocket, but that’s mixed with the cage scene and telling Halpen off about how the Ood had to be peaceful given their condition and some other moments.
The other characters are a bit less of a stand out. Halpen is just your typical evil businessman that the show has done before with little to make him particularly unique. Though, I will say the part where he turns into an Ood, peeling his skin off, coughing up the extra brain, was really cool. Maybe a bit graphic, but still cool. Dr. Ryder is one of the good guys of course, but has very little to do. Commander Kess is ridiculously over-the-top kinds of sadistic and cruel in a way that’s beyond believable. Sometimes that can work, but I really don’t think it does here. He’s “always wanted” to play the claw game to kill someone? Really? That is very specific. Still, I like the poetic justice as he gets gassed by the Ood, just like he was about to do to them. And then there’s Solana, someone who is pretty high on my most hated Who characters list. She’s so bad because she’s the type who knows everything that’s going on, but doesn’t care. She even tries to justify hiding the full extent of Ood Operations’ actions by saying people “don’t ask.” The willfully ignorant or the people who are just willing to let something like this slide because it gets them a paycheck are some of the worst people just in life, Solana being very realistic in that regard. And just to top it off, the Doctor and Donna give her a chance to do the right thing, and she decides to call the guards on them anyway. When the Ood gets her I’m practically cheering.
As I alluded to, the Doctor and Donna are kind of just along for the ride, learning things as we do, and not ultimately doing much in this episode, but it is still fun and satisfying to see the revolution unfold around them. Someone who prefers the main characters to have a more direct role in how the story plays out may not care for this one as much though. I like seeing the Ood rise up and be free, I like seeing the slave owners get what’s coming to them. They do suggest that as soon as the circle is broken that all the Ood across the empire are free in that moment, and I don’t see that as being realistic. Just like those in power are reluctant to part with it, slave owners are reluctant to give them up. I think they should have made it clear that while they may have shut down OO, there was still going to be the struggle of helping to free the Ood that are already owned by so many throughout the empire. I also really think the Doctor shouldn’t have taken the moment away from Ood Sigma to throw the switch that freed the Ood brain, Sigma absolutely should have gotten to do it. I think as well as being a bit of a convenient resolution a lot of the rest of the story is a bit predictable.
I’ll stick with a 7/10 for this one, it’s still pretty good, but stops a bit short of great.