Enjoy Your Ood!

I will, thanks. Yes it's another exciting adventure for Doctor Who. (Seriously, is it too much to ask that this is said before every episode?) And once again, it was very refreshing indeed to see a setting that didn't evoke 21st Century Cardiff with perhaps the most convincing alien planet of the series to date. Not much competition I'll grant you...it's like the third one we've had!

NOT a mountaintop in Cardiff

The brief for this episode, I believe, was for new writer Keith Temple to explore exactly why the Ood were "born to serve". Of course, they weren't! Us nasty humans did it to them and made them into our slaves! Not so much a subtle allegorical tale as the episode kinda beat us around the head with the message. the Doctor asking Donna who she thought made her clothes etcetera.

That reminds me...I really need to cook that mince before it goes off

Still, it was a hugely entertaining episode directed by the superb Graeme Harper. I don't know if it was Harper's presence or what but Tim McInnery's Mr Halpen reminded me a lot of the villain in Harper's first story The Caves of Androzani. McInnery played his villain so brilliantly and with real relish, not entirely sure about the science involved in his comeuppance and it wasn't particularly well explained by the Doctor. Tennant was okay this week...his catchphrases, jaw jutting and teeth baring are starting to wear a bit thin, but his "Aaaah let 'em!" was perfect. Catherine Tate, again was pretty damned good and did some more cry-acting (is that a theatrical term?) as she realises that it isn't all wonderful travelling in time and space. (Didn't she do that last week?)

Boo...

So another week, another cracking guest cast and another pretty damned good episode. Series 4 is shaping up very very nicely indeed.

The Geeky:- Nice references, again, to a Hartnell serial, this time The Sensorites who are the Ood's neighbours. That's two Hartnell references in 2 weeks...Mechanoids in the season finale?

Next Time:- Martha's back! Yay! UNIT's back! Yay! The Sontarans are back! Yay! Helen Raynor's back! Oh...is she?