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Creating the Ood - Radio Times, June 2006 |
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Nick Griffiths feels a bit queasy as he meets some revolting creatures on a trip to the Doctor Who set in Cardiff.
"The Doctor Who studio on
the outskirts of Cardiff is an
unprepossessing place. To
look at this vast tin hut, you
might imagine it's where people
package tins of cat food into boxes.
Imagine again. The moment you're
through the heavy door and thick,
black drapes that keep out natural
light, you're confronted by the
miniature cathedral that is the Tardis
interior, and the looming space
becomes something special. Behind
the Tardis is the set of space station
Sanctuary Base .
It's a solid construction, in contrast
to certain Doctor Who days of yore:
all metallic walkways and moulded
perspex windows. Were a giant hand
to pick it up and shake it, you sense
that bits definitely wouldn't fall off.
David Tennant, Billie Piper and the
cast are filming writer Matt Jones's
two-parter, The Impossible Planet and
The Satan Pit - the ones Piper told RT
she found the scariest. The story sees
the travellers venturing further than
ever before. Or, as the Doctor puts it,
"We've gone beyond the Tardis's
knowledge - not a good move."
Director James Strong and crew sit
at a monitor, preparing to film the
introduction of alien race the Ood.
But hold on: "Ood"? "I invented the
name," says executive producer Russell
T Davies. "It's nice, isn't it? I thought,
'Well, I loved inventing the Slitheen
and Raxacoricofallapatorius,' and
then I thought, 'Why don't I just call
something the Ood?' Ha ha ha ha!
I did want them to be a bit odd.
"I'm really pleased with them. They
were meant to be a slightly cheap
monster - in some ways this story
isn't about the Ood; it's about the
base and the Satan Pit. So you say to
[prosthetics ace] Neill Gorton, 'Can
you knock us out a monster?' but he
can't just knock something cheap out!
They're the most brilliantly made
monster in the world. I love them!"
Around the corner,
behind Sanctuary Base,
are the Ood themselves,
preparing for their big
entrance.
To face a dozen Ood in
the "flesh" is like walking
into an alien sausage-fetish
convention. Their heads are
the plectrum shape of the
classic alien, with sloping
almond eyes and gill-type
nostrils. But it's those
tentacles - they're a cross
between worms and the inside
of an expensive chipolata.
They're gross. "There's always
a brief description in the
script," says Neill Gorton, "and
for this story it was 'bald albino
things with tentacles like a sea
anemone rather than a mouth'."
These aliens are the result.
They wear identical,
plain outfits, each having a
"translation ball" attached
to their left breast. The head mask is
foam latex, the tentacles, silicone.
"The idea was to have something
internal, from inside the mouth…softer tissue," says Gorton. "So we
made the tentacles out of different
material so they would react
differently under the lights. And
they move beautifully. You wiggle
them and they just wobble." "
**
Now take a look at our full Doctor Who guide.
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