10.34: Planet of the Ood

In which we learn that capitalism and bondage slavery are bad.

Broadcast: April 2008

Watched: September 2021

“Are we like explorers or more like a virus?” “I sometimes wonder.”

A mark of this era’s confidence: just an album track, an episode that’ll never be anyone’s favourite, but really well done with a theme and everything. Also, the theme is the same anti-corporate imperialism of the Pertwee era, which is generally a good start.

It begins with the exact same joke as The Impossible Planet, followed by a clue there’ll be no mucking around this time, the Ood are going to go psycho from the very start. The snowy backdrop is a nice way of marking it out visually, even if the CGI now looks a bit dated. 

This may be the most action-y single episode we’ve had so far? It’s all running about and things blowing up. It is *extremely* game-like: especially the sequence in which the Doctor is running from the grabber. Love the sequence where Everton from Chef is hunting down Ood during a marketing presentation about how much the company cares about the Ood.

The actress playing the PR is great: the way she cheerily lies, and then her face falls the moment she looks away. I love the moment when it looks like she’s going to help, but then gives the Doctor up. Interesting that they gave that character an Indian accent; the annoying businessman is also Asian. There’s probably a post-colonial reading in here somewhere.

I had written “not everyone in the corporation is evil!” because Doctor Ryder is trying to help people but then it turned out he was literally the traitor, righto. I’m not entirely sure it makes sense that Tim McInnerny turns into an Ood at the end, either thematically or in plot terms: maybe there’s something in there about how we could end up on either side of injustice? But I can’t help but think it’s in there mostly to f**k up some kids.

Some other things that don’t quite make thematic sense: the Ood song is used again at the end of the season when the TARDIS is towing the Earth home; the unresolved conflict between RTD’s “yeah travelling is really cool!” interpretation of the Doctor’s life, and his interest in the “get too close it will mess you up” one (this is the first time I think that a companion literally asks to go home because it’s too horrible). I’m not sure it quite maps onto reality: you can probably read Amy’s Choice as an attempt to address this.

Anyway, that’s really enjoyable, and I will now never think about it again.

Other things:

• Something I’ve only just noticed: at the start of each new era, RTD keeps the Doctor and the new companion together for much of the story, only giving them separate threads later one.

• The Ood-sphere is near the Sense-sphere, obviously. Shame the Ood don’t have distinguishing sashes.

• Donna repeatedly stressing that she doesn’t fancy the Doctor is hilarious, but an obvious over reaction to the Martha plotline.

• Sexy female ood voice, gah, no.

• For the second story running, the Doctor and Donna become legends... Again, I wonder if there was meant to be a version of this season where the Doctor was more obviously humbled. It’s there in the Children of Time stuff, and again in the specials... but I dunno, it never quite lands for me.