purplecat: The Tardis against a sunset (or possibly sunrise) (Doctor Who)
purplecat ([personal profile] purplecat) wrote2015-03-04 08:10 pm

NuWho Rewatch: Planet of the Ood

Speaking of giant pink brains, which I have been doing intermittently since the Randomizer served up Time and the Rani...

To be brutally honest, I'm not sure big pink brain effects have progressed a great deal since 1987. The Ood central brain is definitely one of the weak points of this story both in terms of scientific plausibility and in terms of special effects.

Beyond that observation I'm not sure I have a great deal to add to my comments when the randomiser served this story up. It has the potential to be both strange and complex but in the end decides to focus its energies more on running around than examining the ideas it raises.

I had forgotten (though I think there was some discussion when the story first aired) that the Doctor and Donna end up as figures of reverence in both this story and Fires of Pompeii. NLSS Child noticed and commented upon the link directly. It's an interesting idea, especially given the way Davies is building the Lonely God characterisation for the 10th Doctor, but I think it must have been a coincidence since we don't see it repeated again.

It's one of the season's weaker stories, but it holds up pretty well, all things considered and doesn't feel like a place filler in the way some of the stories in seasons 2 and 3 appeared.

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