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Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood

An Ood with Tim McInnerny as Mr Halpen in Doctor Who
  • Posted at 12:44pm
  • 21 April 2008
  • by WilliamGallagher-RT

So this time when someone stopped me in the corridor, I was ready. You'd like this guy, it was Moray Laing: tall, smart, and he edits Doctor Who Adventures magazine, so he knows everything. Including how I would react to this week's episode.

"You'll cry," he warned me. And I don't want to say whether he was right or not but, cough, the rest of this blog is about football.

He did have one thing to ask me, though: "Do you write your blog immediately after the show?"

What does he think I am? What kind of social life does he think I have? Saturday night? Of course I don't start writing the moment Doctor Who finishes.

I watch Doctor Who Confidential first.

But, listen, I don't really think this says as much about me as it does about Doctor Who. What other show do you go out of your way to watch when it airs? I've got Sky+, I use the BBC iPlayer so much that my internet service provider is thinking of getting out of this game and into something less stressful, and behind me as I write there are shelves upon shelves of TV DVDs.

Yet the only time I am not at home to watch Doctor Who air is when I've finagled a preview DVD ahead of time. This has happened all of once so far, with Daleks in Manhattan last year, and I still wanted to watch that on the night. It's a social thing: literally, in that I'll watch with my wife and often with friends, but also metaphorically - knowing that millions are watching at the same time does make a difference. It's how TV used to be, a collective experience.

So you were right there on Saturday night, weren't you? When Donna heard the Ood song, did you feel a little watery-eyed or what? No, no, I didn't think so. Me neither. What about Man U, eh? Something. I can't remember the last time we saw the idea of becoming one's own enemy done so literally as when Mr Halpen became an Ood. That was fun - it was gooey gore, too, but it was fun. Actually, I also can't remember the last time an episode saw the Doctor being more of a witness to events than a catalyst. I'm not saying he didn't lend a hand, but there was nothing that wouldn't have happened sooner or later, even if he hadn't arrived on the planet of the Ood.

So that was unusual: this is turning out to be a surprising run, with cuddly monsters as well, and it's good to see our expectations given a shove every now and again.

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