by Iseult Murphy

Created on: April 28, 2008

'The Circle Must Be Broken' chant the Ood in episode three of the latest series of Doctor Who.

The Doctor and Donna arrive on the frozen home planet of the Ood, which humanity has taken over in order to lobotomize these peaceful aliens and transport them on a mega scale to all the outposts of the universe for use as slaves. Obedient to a fault, the Ood are little more than organic robots, . However, everything changes when the squid like aliens become rabid red eyed monsters and the Doctor and Donna have to step in to save the unfortunate creatures from total annihilation.

We first encountered the Ood in 2006 with the two part story line 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit'. Although they were more of a side note to the main story line, the squid faced aliens were memorable for their slave status and telepathic powers. In 'The Planet of the Ood', the subject of their oppression is more fully explored, as well as the attitude to slavery that future humans possess.

It is hard not to sympathize with the Ood. Parallels with no doubt be drawn to Earth's real life history of slavery and, to paraphrase the Doctor in response to Donna's disgust at the Forty Third Century solution to manual labor; Who makes your clothes?' showing that, despite our enlightened attitudes, slavery is still very much alive and well in modern Twenty First Century Earth.

However, this episode is not all about weighty issues. There are plenty of action sequences, including a thrilling chase through a warehouse with a mechanical claw trying to catch the Doctor and a stomach churning transformation scene. Catherine Tate as new companion Donna Noble continues to impress and goes from strength to strength with each new episode. There are also plenty of hints for the observant viewer of things to come later on in the series, most notably the mention of the disappearing bees, which has cropped up in the previous episodes.

The Planet of the Ood' continues the high standard of episodes already established in season four. If the quality continues at this level, this latest series could prove to be the best since the Doctor returned to our screens.

Learn more about this author, Iseult Murphy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.