Information
Writer: Keith Temple
Director: Graeme Harper
Script Editor: Lindsay Alford
Producer: Suzie Liggat
Executive Producer(s): Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson
Originally Broadcast: 19th April 2008
Duration: 45 mins
Viewing Figures (in millions): 7.50m
Production Code: 4.3
Monsters/Villains: Mr Halpen, Ood Operations, Ood
Year Set: 4126
Location: Ood-Sphere
Synopsis
The Ood are brutalised in what look very much like concentration camps - before they're dispatched to other planets as slaves, all at the behest of a nasty, besuited villain.
But the sinister process is going wrong - the Ood are turning murderous, something that's so far from the true nature of a gentle race.
When the Doctor demonstrates to an emotional Donna just why, and with what urgency, they need to be set free.
Cast
The Doctor – David Tennant
Donna Noble – Catherine Tate
Mr Halpen - Tim McInnerny
Solana Mercurio - Ayesha Dharker
Dr Ryder - Adrian Rawlins
Commander Kess - Roger Griffiths
Mr Bartle - Paul Clayton
Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey
Rep - Tariq Jordan
Voice of the Ood - Silas Carson
Monster File: The Ood – Part 2
Home Planet: Ood-Sphere
Life Form: Humanoid
The Ood had a total of three brains. One forebrain in their heads, and a hindbrain, in which they originally hold in the hands. Their hindbrain allowed them to connect to a single large brain, which connected and coordinated all individual Ood. When in the servitude of humans, their hindbrain was removed and a translation sphere fitted in place, not only to enable speech, but also to limit their telepathic communications field at "Basic 5" which cut them off from the Ood Brain, making them willing to serve and incapable of surviving on their own. The colour of an Ood's eyes changed with the level of telepathic activity, normally glowing bright-red but turning to white when not connected to a hive mind. Humans, who only knew the Ood in their telepathy-disabled form, misinterpreted the presence of red eyes as a disease, known as "red-eye". When the Doctor and Donna arrived on the Ood-Sphere, they discovered that the disease was caused by the Ood Brain's subconscious reasserting itself over the Ood thanks to the efforts of a member of 'Friends of the Ood' who had infiltrated the company secretly. Ood Operations' head, Klineman Halpen was unwillingly transformed into an Ood as a culmination of him taking hair tonic deliberately contaminated by his own Ood servant. The Ood were set free and allowed to roam their homeworld in peace.
Preceded by: The Fires of Pompeii - Followed by: The Sontaran Stratagem
