There was a mountain to like about the BBC ’s latest episode of time - travel soap opera Doctor Who . For one thing , there was the return of the Doctor ’s moral scandalization . And then there were the hints that the foreign Doctor is seek to flourish his new human associate Donna ’s mind a mo , as seen in this clip — although , unhappily , the Doctor endorse off the moment she growls at him . Plus , I get it on dystopian storylines that comment on the legacy of colonialism , and the formerly Imperial Brits do those exceedingly well . But even with all that going for it , “ Planet Of The Ood ” was a mo , well , underwhelming . Spoilers below !
I do inquire if we ’re going someplace really interesting with Donna , played by Catherine Tate . In her first appearing , a couple years ago , the emphasis was all on how ignorant and whacky she was . She did n’t even notice the giant starship flying over London and crashing into Big Ben , or the other giant spaceship over London that made half the citizenry climb out on the rooftops . Or the vast struggle between the Daleks and the Cybermen . It seemed reasonably obvious we were meant to contrast her want of curiosity with Rose ’s curiousness , so we ’d agnize how rare and wondrous Rose had been .
But now Donna ’s not just a cast-off lineament , so she ’s showing more initiative . She investigated the eldritch doughy alien infant confederacy — although we were told she was only doing that so she could reconnect with the Doctor . And last week , she pressured the Doctor to relieve some — if not all — of the people in Pompeii from the volcano . She was the part of compassion . This clip around , though , she go out injustice on an almost unimaginable scale , and fairly much the first words out of her oral cavity are : “ I desire to go home . ” Which is a sensible reaction . But I wonder if we ’re hypothecate to see the Doctor teaching her something or other , much as the Seventh Doctor took his companion Ace through hard lessons back in the 1980s , all the name of grooming her to become a Time Lord . Or maybe Donna ’s characterization is just inconsistent .
Anyway , I reckon the Doctor ’s point about slave making Donna ’s clothes was actually pretty valid . Who does she think made all the lovely cheap clothes she wears ?
I am beaming the show decide to revisit the Ood , who remained sort of a mystery after their first show a couple of years ago . You have this slave race , who are naturally docile and mildly telepathic , and who seem absolutely happy to serve humans . It seemed dead reasonable to reckon there was more to their story than what we ’d already seen .
My main job with the tarradiddle can pretty much be tot up up in the phrasal idiom : “ They ’re born with their brains in their workforce ! ” After laboriously guide out how a “ slave wash ” could n’t naturally have evolved , because it would n’t be very good at surviving on its own , the show then reveal the Ood in their rude state — and they ’re even less fitted to outlive . I ’m glad they ’re also born with little mitten on , so they can keep their delicate brains skillful and toasty .
The other Brobdingnagian problem with this story , of course , is the easy ending . You ca n’t set up this horrible tyrannous future company — with millions of Ood enslave on various major planet across three Galax urceolata — and then say , “ Oh well , now we ’ve turned off the forcefield around this giant brain , so the Ood will all be come home . ” Wha huh ? It felt very much as though the writer realized the installment was almost over , so it was clock time to wrap thing up one way or another .
But like I said , there was a lot to like about this episode . The fact that the evil human beings stayed totally evil throughout the installment — including the PR woman , who I was sure was going to have a moment of conscience — was a prissy plucky move . I liked a fortune of the interplay between the Doctor and Donna . The very end was intriguing , with the business about how the Doctor ’s birdcall must end soon . Another hint for the season finis , I judge .
Some minor points :
This is n’t the first time the Doctor has fix the TARDIS to random coordinates — but there must be some safe-conduct so the ship does n’t just materialize in space 99 percent of the time . Or on a gaseous state goliath . Or in a black trap . Etc .
The hint that the Ood were somehow connect to the Sensorites , the fantastically zany bald-pated telepaths from way back in 1964 , was clamorous devotee - service , but just subtle enough that it did n’t matter .
The psychical paper has really endure out its welcome as a plot gadget . And the “ we ’re not married ” running joke involving the Doctor and Donna is already fashion past unwelcome .
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