Planet of the Ood (TV story)

"The circle must be broken!"

- The Ood

Synopsis
After setting the TARDIS controls to random, the Doctor and Donna arrive on the Ood Sphere, in the 42nd century. The sentient Ood are being sold as servants to rich citizens of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire. But what is possessing the Ood? And what is the circle? Why must it be broken?

Plot
The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space and arrives at the snow-covered Ood Sphere. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, member of a species the Doctor had previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". The Doctor watches as the Ood's eyes turn red, and springs back as it attacks him. The Doctor muses that the Ood were being influenced by the Devil on their previous encounter, and concludes that their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who have been selling the Ood as a slave race since 3914. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the year 4126.

The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the Doctor's and Donna's arrival. An affected Ood, in addition to the red-eye and the violence, will repeat, cryptically, that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations had noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to Foot and Mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical.

Donna becomes sympathetic to the plight of the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood, noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and find a captured group of wild Ood, Ood that had not yet been prepared for service or equipped with translation spheres. Instead of a translation sphere, an Ood in its natural state hold a "hind brain" that gives it individuality: the process that renders the Ood subservient and prepares them for sale consists of removing the hind brain and replacing it with a translation sphere. The Doctor is appalled at Halpen for lobotomising members of a sentient species.

The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked "warehouse 15". The warehouse contains a large brain, the last element of the Ood's collective consciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder, and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma, Ryder, an activist for "Friends of the Ood", had lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood.

The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
 * Solana Mercurio - Ayesha Dharker
 * Mr Halpen - Tim McInnerny
 * Sigma - Paul Kasey
 * Dr Ryder - Adrian Rawlins
 * Commander Kess - Roger Griffiths
 * Mr Bartle - Paul Clayton
 * Rep - Tariq Jordan
 * Ood - Paul Kasey
 * Voice of the Ood - Silas Carson

Production crew
to be added

Story Notes

 * The snow scenes were shot in a boiling hot week in August, using fake snow. This was done using tiny pieces of paper, as pointed out in this episode's Confidential.
 * The transformation of Halpen into an Ood was originally far more graphic, but after the footage was viewed it was re-edited to be less horrific for a family audience.
 * Russell T. Davies noted during production of the Ood's introductory episodes that he considered their home world to be close to that of the Sensorites.
 * This episode was originally intended to be episode 2.
 * The theme of humans exploiting alien life had previously been touched upon in two Season 2 episodes of Torchwood that aired a few months before this episode: Meat and Reset. The difference here is that freedom for the aliens in the Torchwood episodes came through their deaths, whereas most of the Ood survive.
 * At one point in the episode, there is a shot from the Ood's point of view, showing a soldier raising a gun to shoot him. This may be a reference to the video game Metal Gear Solid 3, in which there is an identical shot from an identical point of view with an identical weapon being used (The Patriot).

Ratings

 * Final Ratings - 7.50 million viewers

Myths and rumours

 * This is set before The Impossible Planet. (Most fans assume this because the pre-publicity stated that we would find out why the Ood were slaves and the date for that story was 43k2.1 but we never found out what those numbers meant, and there is no reason why this cannot be after that story.  If Impossible planet was after this story, all the ood on Sanctuary base would not be slaves. Not necessarily, it's possible the people on the sanctuary base did not hear about these events, as they may have been away from civilization for some time.)
 * A snippet of the separation music from Doomsday can be heard after the Ood tells the Doctor "you song will end soon." He also said that "every song must end." This led to speculation that this was a reference to Rose Tyler's return, and/or an imminent regeneration for the Doctor. It is also a reference to River Song in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, and to the end of Donna's time with the Doctor.  All four are songs, and each one ended, as predicted by Ood Sigma.

Filming Locations

 * Blue Circle Cement Works, East Aberthaw, The Vale of Glamorgan

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * When Halpen and Ryder first go to Warehouse 15, Halpen pours his "hair tonic" onto the Ood Brain. When he retreats from the edge of the containment area, there is still tonic in his glass which he drinks and then leaves. He probably got another one from his Ood in between these events.
 * As the Ood begin to turn bad, the Ood behind Solana briefly stops panicking.
 * Ood fighting against the armed guards are seen not to be suffering from Red Eye.
 * When The Doctor and Donna are escaping Warehouse 15, Solona Mercurio joins out of nowhere.
 * When The Doctor and Donna are leaping to avoid the barrels that are exploding behind them, you can clearly see snow on the lens of the camera.
 * The Doctor criticises Donna's apparent hypocrisy, pointing out that her clothes were made by (effectively) slave labour. However, in Gridlock, he says that Janis Joplin gave him his coat, implying that it is a coat which was made on Earth and would therefore have been made in similar conditions. Not necessarily, as Janis Joplin was a folk singer from the Hippie culture of the 1960's and not likely to have owned much in the way of mass produced clothing from sweatshops.
 * Why wasn't Ood Sigma affected by Red Eye? He was modified as a custom ood, hence resisting the effects of Red Eye.

Continuity

 * The Ood previously appeared in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. Although the Doctor's timeline has progressed, it is not stated whether the events of this episode occur before or after the events of the two-parter from the Ood's perspective. It takes place after because this episode takes place in 4126 and the 2 parter takes place in 4100. (The events on the Planet of Ood may have stopped the production of more Ood-slaves, but perhaps not all Ood in the Universe have stopped being slaves - especially not ones on the remote mining ships in far-off galaxies)
 * The Doctor refers to the time when he couldn't save the Ood from falling into the black hole in The Satan Pit.
 * The Doctor comments that he visited the Sense-Sphere "ages ago". (DW: The Sensorites)
 * Massive brains had previously appeared in DW: The Brain of Morbius, DW: Time and the Rani and in NA: Deceit.
 * When the Doctor and Donna exit the TARDIS and see the Ood-Sphere for the first time, the Doctor comments that for once, he is glad to see it snow for real. During the new series, it has snowed four times, however it was only real snow in The Unquiet Dead. In The Christmas Invasion, the snow was the ash from the Sycorax ship breaking up in the atmosphere. In The Runaway Bride, the Doctor used the TARDIS to influence the Earth's atmosphere and force it to snow. Finally, in Voyage of the Damned, Mr. Copper tells the Doctor that the snow is really ballast from the Titanic as it flew over London. Ironically fake snow was used to film that scene in this episode.
 * The Third Doctor occasionally went by the name Doctor Noble.
 * In this episode, Donna tries to be friendly with the Ood, just like Rose befriended the Dalek in DW: Dalek and Martha befriended Hath Peck in DW: The Doctor's Daughter.
 * When the Ood say DoctorDonna this is actually a reference to Journey's End when Donna is a human but has the mind of the Doctor.
 * The song played as the Doctor and his companions tow Earth home is actually the Ood Song Journey's End.

DVD Releases

 * Released in the Series 4 DVD boxset in November 2008 along with the rest of the Series.
 * Released as Series 4 Volume 1 in a vanilla edition alongside Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii.
 * The BBFC has rated this story a 12 certificate citing a 'moderate gory scene'. Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii were also both given PG certificates.