When I was younger, I couldn’t wait for Doctor Who SPOILERs. Of course, in my younger days, in the dark time before the world-wide web, the only real source of SPOILER information I had came from Doctor Who Magazine. And while it was a good source for tidbits about upcoming stories (yes, I am old enough to recall when the original series was still in production), they weren’t quite the massive, season-ruining SPOILERs that can easily be found with a few clicks of the mouse today.
When it comes to Doctor Who today, I try my best to avoid the big SPOILERs (though some on-line sources make it hard to do that). I do like to have a thumbnail of an idea of what’s coming, including title and writer. But beyond that, I really, really don’t want to know.
It gives the series a chance to pleasantly surprise me. It happened last year with “Deadlock” and this week with “The Planet of the Ood.”
At first I thought about starting out this review, calling out the new series for its lack of ability to create a truly interesting, recurring alien race or monster. What happened to the good old days when we had a plethora of various foes to draw on for the good Doctor to do battle with? Where were the next series of menacing aliens or scary monsters to drive the children behind the sofa?
And no, the Slytheen don’t count.
But then I got to thinking about it and I realize the classic series hadn’t really created a great recurring villain since the mid-70’s. It tried on several occasions but nothing really caught on or sparked the imaginative fires of a generation like the Yeti, the Autons or the Ice Warriors.
Which is what makes what the series achieved with “Planet of the Ood” that much more impressive.
When we first met the Ood in series two, they seemed like nothing more than a random monster created to be a threat to the Doctor as he tried to work out what was going on at the edge of the universe. Visually they were interesting and unique, but beyond the fact that they were some kind of servitor race for humanity, there wasn’t a whole lot about them that screamed out for a sequel.
Or so I thought.
And that’s where “Planet of the Ood” proved me wrong.
The Doctor and Donna arrive at the Oodsphere, the home of the Ood race. And right away, things are different for the series. Last time out, the Doctor gave little or no thought to the plight of the Ood and why they were, essentially, slaves to humanity. This time, the script takes time to explore how and why the Ood are enslaved and to allow the Doctor’s moral outrage to take over. And it also brings out an aspect of the classic series Doctor that might have been missing at times in the new series — the galactic wanderer who sides with those who are oppressed. In the original series, it’d be the Doctor finding a band of plucky rebels and helping overthrow a totalitarian regime. In this case, it’s the Doctor siding against the humans in the story to help the Ood regain their freedom.
As for why the Ood are enslaved, it’s one of the more chilling implications the show has done. The Ood are born with two brains–one in their heads and one that is connected to them and they have to hold in the palm of their hands. The Oods are trusting because they have to be. They are vulnerable because of the external brain. And when we find out that humanity is lobotomizing this part of the Ood to set them up with the translation orbs, it’s one of the truly more chilling moments in the series.
The Doctor is soon joining the Ood to help them overthrow the corporation exploiting them for profit. And, of course, like all good stories along these lines, the evil corporate leaders gets what’s coming to them in the final moments of the story.
All of that said, while I loved 95 percent of the story, there were still some small details that bugged me. In the commentary for the story, writer Keith Temple admits to being a fan of the original series and initial drafts being close to the length of a six-part story (from the show’s initial run). In a way, this shows in the pacing as you can clearly tell that Temple is writing under the original series structure of events building to a cliffhanger. This is especially obvious when Donna is locked in with a create of Ood suffering “red-eye” and the Doctor avoiding certain death at the hands of a vindictive head of the security. The moment is brought up then quickly resolved in a similar fashion to cliffhangers from the original show.
Next is the fact that we don’t really get any idea of just how the Ood attack and kill people with their spheres.
Finally, I am still wary of this whole “Doctor becomes a mythical being to someone” theme that is cropping up this year. Yes, I know Gallifrey is gone and the Doctor can be less worried about getting into trouble with the Time Lords for interference. But it still seems a bit of a sore thumb to me. It was especially obvious in the light of the righteous indignation and overthrowing the oppressor characteristics in the Doctor that we saw in the story.
All that said, I’d be remiss if I also didn’t point out that this story was visually stunning. There’s just something about Graeme Harper’s direction, dating back to his work on “Caves of Androzani.” Set on a world that is has winter-like conditions, the exterior shots with snow falling during the on-screen action were stunning and visually compelling. And Harper even makes looking at the inside of a factory seem new, novel and compelling. It’s always clear when Harper is in the director’s chair. And it was very evident here. This may be the most alien feeling world the new series has created so far.
So, in the end “Planet of the Ood” gets a lot of things right but a few minor nitpicks keep it from being a classic.
Next up: Old friends and an old foe return…
Bronzethumb (from Australia) says
I’d bet my bottom dollar that the recurring thing of “Doctor becomes a mythical being to someone” is gonna be one of the things that comes back in the final episodes to bit him in the arse.
cynthia(from Florida) says
I have to disagree with Michael about the new Dr. Who series. David Tennent(sp.?) gives the new series a fresh exciting vitality that the older ones, featuring decidedly older, more stoic incarnations, lacked. Also, Blink had the most frightening, original premise for a story and monster that I have seen on any sci-fi tv show this decade. And by scary, I do not mean gory, a distinction that has been all but obliterated by modern sci-fi. Russel T. Davies has re-created the series not just modernized the same old stories, a tough job when critics long for ‘the good old days when…’ instead of focusing on the present or the future.