"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008.

The episode takes place in the year 4126 on the Ood-Sphere, the titular planet of the episode. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate Ood Operations, a company that is selling the Ood as a servant race, to discover the reason the Ood are happy to serve. When they find a group of unprocessed Ood, they become horrified at the alterations performed and resolve to free the Ood. The episode was well-received for its central theme of slavery.

Plot
On the planet Ood-Sphere in 4126, a company called Ood Operations has been harvesting and selling the Ood as slaves for 200 years. Solana, the head of marketing, tells the CEO Mr Halpen that three people have been killed in the last financial quarter, and the method of killing each time is identical: the victims are electrocuted by the Ood's translation spheres. Halpen and Dr Ryder, the head of Ood management, go to a secure warehouse to check on the Ood brain, a giant telepathic centre which connects the Ood in a telepathic song, and has been obstructed by a circle of pylons emitting a barrier for 200 years. The Ood have also had part of their brain, which they carry in their hands, lobotomised and replaced with the translation sphere to make them subservient. Ryder is an activist for Friends of the Ood, who slowly infiltrated the company to gain access to the pylons and lower the barrier to their minimum setting to cause the Ood to start a revolution against humanity. Individual rebellions had broken out over time as the Ood brain adapted, though Ryder believed this had progressed too slowly.

Meanwhile, the Tenth Doctor and Donna, posing as company representatives, investigate Ood Operations. They become concerned by the treatment of the Ood. The Doctor and Donna hear the Ood singing their song of captivity and are captured by Ood Operations' security force. The Doctor and Donna escape after convincing the rebelling Ood they are their friends and follow Halpen to the warehouse containing the giant Ood brain. Halpen plans to kill the brain with mines and to cull the Ood servants. Upon learning of Ryder's deception, Halpen kills him by throwing him into the brain. Halpen's personal Ood servant, Ood Sigma, has been using Halpen's hair loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood; he becomes fully converted after threatening the Doctor and Donna's lives. Ood Sigma tells the Doctor and Donna that he will take care of Halpen.

The Doctor shuts down the pylons and the mines, freeing the Ood and allowing them all to sing in a telepathic collective. The Ood’s song resonates across the galaxies, and humans decide to return their Ood servants back to the Ood-Sphere. Ood Sigma promises to include the "Doctor-Donna" in the Ood's song. He also tells the Doctor that his song will soon be ending.

Continuity
The red eye phenomenon in the Ood is a symptom of their being possessed. In "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" they were under the Beast's control. In this episode, the red eye was caused by the telepathic link between the Ood and the Ood Brain. 

The Ood-Sphere is in the same planetary system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites; the Sensorites and Ood are visually and mentally similar.

Production

The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the term "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity. Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that his early draft was "a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes".

Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood under the shadow of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' selfish gene theory. Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion of the Ood changing from her initial disgust at their appearance to empathy for them was important to the episode and her character development. Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who'''s importance—she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally.

The episode's antagonist, Mr Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character—"a middle manager who's out of his depth"—a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!". Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic ... Edgar Allan Poe" fate would be undeserved otherwise.

Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry, on the outskirts of Tredegar, overlooking the Brecon Beacons. Trefil has been used several times including during the film adaptation of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
The external scenes of the complex were filmed at Aberthaw Cement Works, and scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan. CGI was used sparingly in production; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics. McInnerny wore a prosthetic mask with two layers for his transformation scene though the production team's best boy, Peter Chester, provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth when this needed to be refilmed and McInnerny was unavailable.

Reception
"Planet of the Ood" was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 7.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the twelfth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent).

Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gave a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood’s natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... – one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn’t that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves."]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy'' gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit," citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode.
He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity".

In print

A Target Novelisation of this story, written by Keith Temple, was announced on 19 January 2023, to be released in July.

References

External links

Fiction about the Horsehead Nebula
Tenth Doctor episodes
2008 British television episodes
Fiction set in the 5th millennium
Television episodes about slavery
"Planet of the Ood" (KBS 방영 제목: 〈우드의 행성〉)는 영국의 SF 드라마 《닥터 후》 시리즈 4의 세번째 에피소드이다. 2008년 4월 17일 BBC One에서 처음으로 방영되었다. 시즌 2 "The Impossible Planet"과 "The Satan Pit"에서 모습을 비췄던 우드 종족이 주인공으로 다시 한번 다뤄진다.

에피소드 제목과 마찬가지로 서기 4126년 우드 행성을 무대로 하고 있다. 닥터 (데이비드 테넌트)와 동행자 도나 노블 (캐서린 테이트)은 우드가 누군가를 기꺼이 섬기는 이유를 알아내기 위해, 우드를 시종으로 판매하는 회사인 우드 오퍼레이션을 조사한다. 그곳에서 아직 길들이지 않은 우드를 발견한 두 사람은 사실 우드를 시종으로 바꿔놓는 수술이 자행됨을 깨닫고, 우드를 자유롭게 할 방법을 찾는다. 핵심 주제로 노예제를 진지하게 다뤘다는 점에서 평론가들의 호평을 받은 에피소드이다.

줄거리
10대 닥터와 도나 노블은 서기 4126년의 우드 행성 (Ood-Sphere)에 도착한다. 그곳에서는 우드 오퍼레이션 (Ood Operations)이라는 회사가 우드를 시종으로 키우고 판매하고 있었다. 닥터가 도착해보니 최근 몇 주 사이 여러 직원이 살해당한 상황. 우드 코퍼레이션의 CEO인 클라인만 할펜은 닥터에게 그간 피해자가 살해된 방식이 모두 일치한다고 밝히는데, 다름아닌 우드에게 달린 구 모양의 통역기에 감전된 것이었다. 직원을 살해한 우드마다 충혈 증세를 보이고 있었는데, 말 그대로 눈이 빨간빛으로 변하는 것이었다.

행성을 둘러보던 도나는 우드들이 시종이 아니라 노예처럼 굴려지고 있다는 사실에 질색하는 또 한편으로 우드에게 연민을 느낀다. 닥터 역시 그 어떤 종족이든 처음부터 시종 노릇을 위해 진화할 수는 없다고 밝히며 우드의 숨겨진 사연에 관심을 보인다. 계속해서 공장 내부를 둘러보던 닥터와 도나는 아직 길들여지지 않은 듯한 우드 한 무리가 다함께 노래를 부르고 있는 것을 발견한다. 그들은 일괄적인 통역기 대신, 자기 정체성을 부여하는 '두뇌'를 들고 다니고 있었다. 우드에게 원래부터 달려 있던 이 두뇌를 인간들이 제거하여 통역기로 바꿔 달면 순종적인 우드로 태어나게 되는 것이었다. 때마침 들이닥친 할펜과 우드 오퍼레이션의 보안병력. 닥터는 할펜에게 이런 식으로 우드의 뇌를 제거하는 것이 어딨느냐고 따진다. 하지만 결국 닥터와 도나는 보안병력에게 체포되고 만다.

그러던 갑자기 행성 내 모든 우드가 충혈 증세를 보이고, 시설 내 경호원들을 공격하며 거대한 혁명에 나선다. 닥터와 도나는 우드에게 감전사할 위기에 처했다가 가까쓰로 자신들과 같은 편임을 확인시킨다. 우드의 도움으로 탈출한 두 사람은 할펜을 따라가 잠겨진 창고에 들어서게 되는데, 그곳에는 거대한 두뇌가 있었다. 그 두뇌는 다름아닌 우드의 집단 정신으로, 원형으로 설치된 첨탑과 거기서 나오는 힘의 장막 속에 갇혀 우드의 두뇌가 통제되고 있었던 것이었다. 할펜은 두뇌를 아예 죽이고 나아가 우드 전체를 몰살시키기로 마음 먹지만, 닥터와 도나, 라이더 박사의 제지로 실패한다. 그 과정에서 라이더 박사는 사실 '우드의 친구'라는 행동단체의 활동가로 회사에 조금씩 잠입해, 첨탑에 접근하여 장막의 세기를 낮춰 우드의 정신이 깨어나도록 일조한 장본인이었다. 배신감에 분노를 감추지 못한 할펜은 라이더 박사를 두뇌로 밀어넣어 살해한다. 그러나 할펜의 개인 시종인 우드 시그마가, 할펜이 챙겨 마시던 발모제를 바꿔치기하여 할펜을 조금씩 우드로 바꿔버리고 있었고, 결국 할펜은 한 마리의 우드로 변해버린다. 우드 시그마는 닥터와 도나에게 자신이 헬펜을 잘 돌보겠다고 말한다.

닥터는 첨탑의 전원을 내려 우드를 자유롭게 풀어주고, 모든 우드 텔레파시 집단정신을 통해 노래할 수 있게 해준다. 우드의 노래는 저 은하 너머로까지 울려 퍼지고, 그 노래를 들은 인간들은 우드 시종들을 우드 행성으로 돌려보내기로 한다. 닥터와 도나가 떠날 준비를 하자 우드 시그마는 우드의 노래에 "닥터도나" (Doctor-Donna)를 넣어 부르리라 맹세한다. 그러면서 닥터의 노래가 머지않아 끝을 맞이할 것이라는 말을 남긴다.

다른 에피소드와의 연관성
작중 우드의 눈이 붉게 변하는 현상은 그 우드가 누군가에게 정신적으로 지배당하고 있다는 설정으로 설명되는데, 이는 시즌 2의 "The Impossible Planet"과 "The Satan Pit"에서도 나왔던 설정으로 여기서는 야수의 지배를 받고 있었다. 이번 에피소드에서는 우드를 통제하는 거대한 우드 뇌의 텔레파시 연결로 인해 눈이 붉게 되었다는 설정이다.

우드의 행성은 올드 시즌 시리얼인 〈The Sensorites〉(1964년)에서의 무대로 등장하는 센스스피어 (Sense-Sphere)와 똑같은 행성계에 있는 것으로 묘사된다. 또 센서라이트 종족과 우드 종족은 생긴 것도, 정신적으로도 닮아 있다.

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