Planet of the Ood by: Keith Temple and directed by: Graeme Harper

 

“Planet of the Ood” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble with Tim McInnerny as Mr. Halpen, Ayesha Dharker as Solana Mercurio, Adrian Rawlins as Dr Ryder, Paul Kasey as Ood Sigma, and Silas Carson as the Voice of the Ood.  It was written by: Keith Temple and directed by: Graeme Harper with Lindsey Alford as Script Editor, Susie Liggat as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 19 April 2008 on BBC One.

 

When “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” were written, Russell T. Davies immediately saw the potential in exploring the society and the Ood as aliens further.  Originally intending to give Chris Chibnall the Ood as a feature in “42”, those plans fell through when that episode needed a lower budget deferring the appearance to the fourth series of the revival.  Davies came up with “Planet of the Ood” as a morality tale on one form of modern day slavery that upholds modern day culture, the slave underclass of sweat shops responsible for making several of the goods people buy every day.  It’s important to note this when looking at “Planet of the Ood” as while slavery historically has had a component of race, the episode does not develop on this aspect instead specifically being about how capitalism keeps an underclass down represented by the Ood which is a simplification of applicability losing some of the historic dimension of why certain areas still have slavery, even in these slightly less obvious forms.  Once again Russell T. Davies, while having an idea for what “Planet of the Ood” should be about, would be unable to write the episode himself due to other scripting and showrunning duties.  Keith Temple was selected for writing duties based on a 2006 television film script sent to Davies, Temple being a candidate to write for the third series which did not come to pass.  Initially, Temple wished to include another character from “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” with Ida Scott and initial drafts were including Penny Carter as companion, with quite a dark script that Davies asked to be lightened in tone.

 

Ida was cut from the script during this process while Penny was replaced with Donna, the episode being moved from the second to third slot in the broadcast order, being assigned to the second production block with another simpler episode under producer Susie Liggat so Phil Collinson could focus on arranging location shoots for “The Fires of Pompeii” which would be the third production block.  It was also around this time where David Tennant made clear that with the fifth full series of Doctor Who being delayed to film in 2010 he would be leaving the role in either 2009 or at the end of the fifth full series, so Temple was asked to include a moment of foreshadowing to the Doctor’s imminent regeneration which would eventually occur at the end of the 2009 specials.

 

“Planet of the Ood” as an episode works so well because Temple is unflinching in showing the horrors of slavery and the dangers of a slave rebellion.  There is a virus like condition infecting the Ood making them aggressive is inherently linked to the idea of slaves rising up against their oppressors, Temple not flinching on showing the violence, though converted to more fantastical violence for the wider audience, is to be admired in a script like this for a show aimed at the entire family.  Graeme Harper’s direction at the climax of the episode is perhaps his weakest effort however, while it attempts to be a frantic action sequence, Harper makes it too unclear as to what’s actually happening in the sequence as it bridges to the actual climax of the episode.  This is also one of the few stories in the entire series where the Doctor does not actually have an effect on the time and place they have landed.  While the Doctor and Donna explore the location, disarm a bomb, and disarm the machine blocking the Ood as a species from their telepathic field, these are all superficial actions that had the Doctor and Donna not been there would have been done by Ood Sigma, the Ood servant to the CEO and central oppressor of the Ood Mr Halpern, played by Tim McInnerny.  This is subtly lampshaded by the Doctor, pointing out that while some Ood were lashing out and despairing, Ood Sigma had patience, slowly converting Halpern into an Ood leaving the episode on this note of body horror leading to freedom for the Ood.  McInnerny as Halpern is great at playing this suitably over the top villain that befits a capitalist character like Halpern, the cruelty being treated as completely normal, almost blasé.

 

While this is certainly something that lessens the episode once you have finished, it does not mean “Planet of the Ood” is without merit.  The performances are what largely supports this, and the fact that the revolution is particularly messy.  McInnerny’s performance above indicates blasé capitalism, but Ayesha Dharker’s turn as head of marketing Solana Mercurio encapsulates the willing collaborator brilliantly.  Solana does not think about the fact that the Ood are slaves because she benefits from the high position, and the episode makes a point to not give her some punishment, she is someone normal who is allowed to escape.  This communicates to the viewer a need to question the system one actually lives in in a very subtle way, Solana is normal, questioning the viewer’s own complicity and benefit in the capitalist system.  It’s subtle, but it’s there, contrasted with Catherine Tate’s unsubtle performance fueling Donna with emotion and care for the Ood, despite initially being taken aback by their appearance.  Tennant and Tate, once again selling the episode on their chemistry, make their redundancy be largely avoided by being actively attempting to make things better and unraveling the mystery of what the Ood are which is a perfectly fine exploration of an alien race for an episode that otherwise wouldn’t need them.  Temple also includes these wonderful little character moments where the Doctor questions his love of humanity despite the horrors and atrocities they commit.

 

Overall, “Planet of the Ood” is not perfect, the action needed a little more editing at the climax, perhaps an issue with editing over directing as the script was considerably toned down from Temple’s original idea.  The messaging is one of the high points of the era and there’s a clear reason the Ood themselves are a memorable species.  The cast is top notch as well that are elevating a plot that has been severely toned down from an original pitch, while still managing to pack quite the punch for an episode of a family show.  8/10.