Ood
Encyclopedia
The Ood are a fictional alien species with telepathic abilities from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who
. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future (circa 42nd century).
Whilst the Ood initially appear as a slave race who become hostile, over the course of the stories they are shown to be a naturally peaceful race, and by The End of Time
have progressed to becoming an advanced civilisation which the Doctor thinks is impossible to have happened in the time span that it did (100 years from the end of their enslavement)
, sharing among themselves a low-level telepathic
communication field. When reaching out with their telepathic fields, it can be heard as singing.
", it is established that the Ood offer themselves for servitude willingly, having no goals of their own except to be given orders and to serve. It is also claimed that they cannot look after themselves, and if they do not receive orders, they pine away and die. However, mention is made, by a scientist working at an Ood factory, of a group called the "Friends of the Ood", also known as FOTO, who are apparently lobbying for Ood freedom.
According to the Official Doctor Who Annual 2007, the Ood live on a planet in the Horsehead Nebula
where they were governed by a Hive Mind but it was destroyed by Human colonists. The monster book Creatures and Demons, published in 2007, elaborates that the Ood came from the "Ood Sphere", close to the "Sense Sphere" planet, home to the Sensorites
, who share a similarity with the Ood, both mentally and physically. With no hive mind the Ood offered themselves to the Human colonists and became a slave race.
When encountered by the Tenth Doctor
and Rose Tyler
in "The Impossible Planet", a large number of Ood accompanied a human-led expeditionary force on the planet Krop Tor, orbiting a black hole
. The empathic nature of the Ood seemed to make them susceptible to psychic possession by the Beast, who formed the Ood on the base into his "Legion". While possessed, the Ood killed two human security guards by throwing their translation spheres at them and using them to electrocute them to death.
The Ood were defeated when Danny Bartok, the expedition member in charge of them, broadcast a telepathic flare which reduced their field to "Basic Zero", creating a "brainstorm" which caused them to collapse. However, the telepathic field began to reassert itself after a time. When Krop Tor was sucked into the black hole, the Doctor was unable to save any of the Ood on the base who had been freed of the Beast's control, and all of them perished. The Ood were listed as having died with honors along with the rest of the base personell killed.
On the return of the Ood in the 2008 episode "Planet of the Ood
", it was revealed that they are not born to serve but are an enslaved race, with the translation spheres actually replacing their hind brain which had contained their individual personalities. The Doctor aids and successfully frees the race by releasing the main Ood brain, which links all Ood with a telepathic link. Before this time, it had been sequestered from the Ood for 200 years by Ood Operations, the corporation that processed the Ood slaves. Over that time the brain adapted, allowing it to influence the Ood's actions. It made some Ood feral and vengeful while directing another to genetically re-engineer the head of the slave trading company into an Ood. Once the Hive brain was freed, the Oods' song could be heard throughout the Human Empire, by Ood and Human alike. After this, all Ood were freed and sent back to the planet of the Ood. As they parted from the Doctor, Ood Sigma prophesied that the Doctor's "song" was soon coming to an end.
Ood Sigma returns as part of the 2009–2010 specials in the episode "The Waters of Mars
", where he appears after the Doctor's conversation with Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor then asks him whether this is his death, at which point the Ood disappears. The Ood, including Ood Sigma appear in the subsequent, two-part story The End of Time
. In this story, the Doctor discovers that the Ood's civilization has advanced rapidly, gaining the ability to see, and project themselves, through Time. The Ood reveal that this is a consequence of Time "bleeding," alluding to the events that were to follow in the Doctor's relative future which would threaten to destroy Time. At the end of Part Two, Ood Sigma appears again to the Doctor as he begins to succumb to the effects of radiation poisoning. He comforts the Doctor by telling him that "the Universe will sing you to your sleep" and that "this song is ending, but the story never ends." This helps the Doctor muster enough strength to make it to the TARDIS and set a course before he regenerates into the Eleventh Doctor
.
A singular Ood referred to as "Nephew" appeared in the 2011 episode, "The Doctor's Wife
", under the influence of an entity called House. It is killed when the Doctor and Idris land a makeshift TARDIS on it, atomizing it. After it dies the Doctor remarks, "Another Ood I failed to save", referencing his previous adventures. Notably, Nephew's eyes glowed green as opposed to red.
A scene cut from A Good Man Goes to War would have seen the Doctor meeting up with Ood Sigma again. Russell T Davies is still credited at the end for the scene despite it being cut.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future (circa 42nd century).
Whilst the Ood initially appear as a slave race who become hostile, over the course of the stories they are shown to be a naturally peaceful race, and by The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
have progressed to becoming an advanced civilisation which the Doctor thinks is impossible to have happened in the time span that it did (100 years from the end of their enslavement)
Physical characteristics
The Ood are humanoid in appearance with tentacles on the lower portions of their faces. They require a translator device, a small sphere connected to their "mouths" by a tube, to facilitate speech between them and humans, as they do not have vocal cords. The tube was originally connecting their external brains to their body, but to use the creatures, far future humans would amputate the brain and instead fix the translator sphere where the brain used to be. There appears to be no gender differentiation among the Ood, though the Doctor seems to be able to determine their gender, when Donna refers to a dying Ood as an "it", he replies that the Ood is "a 'he', not an 'it'". The Ood say they require no names or titles as they are "one", but they do have designations given to them by humans such as "Ood 1 Alpha 1" or "Ood Sigma". The Ood are empathsEmpathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
, sharing among themselves a low-level telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
communication field. When reaching out with their telepathic fields, it can be heard as singing.
History within Doctor Who
The Ood first appear as a slave race to humanity, performing menial tasks, and one person states in the episode that every human has an Ood servant, although it is not clear whether he is speaking literally or facetiously. In their debut story "The Impossible PlanetThe Impossible Planet
"The Impossible Planet" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first part of a two-part story, followed by "The Satan Pit". The TARDIS lands in a base on a planet orbiting a black hole, an allegedly impossible situation that stumps even the Doctor...
", it is established that the Ood offer themselves for servitude willingly, having no goals of their own except to be given orders and to serve. It is also claimed that they cannot look after themselves, and if they do not receive orders, they pine away and die. However, mention is made, by a scientist working at an Ood factory, of a group called the "Friends of the Ood", also known as FOTO, who are apparently lobbying for Ood freedom.
According to the Official Doctor Who Annual 2007, the Ood live on a planet in the Horsehead Nebula
Horsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest east on Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth...
where they were governed by a Hive Mind but it was destroyed by Human colonists. The monster book Creatures and Demons, published in 2007, elaborates that the Ood came from the "Ood Sphere", close to the "Sense Sphere" planet, home to the Sensorites
The Sensorites
The Sensorites is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from June 20 to August 1, 1964. The story is notable for its early demonstration of Susan's telepathy and references to the Doctor and her home planet.-Plot:The...
, who share a similarity with the Ood, both mentally and physically. With no hive mind the Ood offered themselves to the Human colonists and became a slave race.
When encountered by the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
and Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
in "The Impossible Planet", a large number of Ood accompanied a human-led expeditionary force on the planet Krop Tor, orbiting a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
. The empathic nature of the Ood seemed to make them susceptible to psychic possession by the Beast, who formed the Ood on the base into his "Legion". While possessed, the Ood killed two human security guards by throwing their translation spheres at them and using them to electrocute them to death.
The Ood were defeated when Danny Bartok, the expedition member in charge of them, broadcast a telepathic flare which reduced their field to "Basic Zero", creating a "brainstorm" which caused them to collapse. However, the telepathic field began to reassert itself after a time. When Krop Tor was sucked into the black hole, the Doctor was unable to save any of the Ood on the base who had been freed of the Beast's control, and all of them perished. The Ood were listed as having died with honors along with the rest of the base personell killed.
On the return of the Ood in the 2008 episode "Planet of the Ood
Planet of the Ood
"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. It features the return of the Ood, who appeared in the second series episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".The episode...
", it was revealed that they are not born to serve but are an enslaved race, with the translation spheres actually replacing their hind brain which had contained their individual personalities. The Doctor aids and successfully frees the race by releasing the main Ood brain, which links all Ood with a telepathic link. Before this time, it had been sequestered from the Ood for 200 years by Ood Operations, the corporation that processed the Ood slaves. Over that time the brain adapted, allowing it to influence the Ood's actions. It made some Ood feral and vengeful while directing another to genetically re-engineer the head of the slave trading company into an Ood. Once the Hive brain was freed, the Oods' song could be heard throughout the Human Empire, by Ood and Human alike. After this, all Ood were freed and sent back to the planet of the Ood. As they parted from the Doctor, Ood Sigma prophesied that the Doctor's "song" was soon coming to an end.
Ood Sigma returns as part of the 2009–2010 specials in the episode "The Waters of Mars
The Waters of Mars
"The Waters of Mars" is the second 2009 special of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010...
", where he appears after the Doctor's conversation with Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor then asks him whether this is his death, at which point the Ood disappears. The Ood, including Ood Sigma appear in the subsequent, two-part story The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
. In this story, the Doctor discovers that the Ood's civilization has advanced rapidly, gaining the ability to see, and project themselves, through Time. The Ood reveal that this is a consequence of Time "bleeding," alluding to the events that were to follow in the Doctor's relative future which would threaten to destroy Time. At the end of Part Two, Ood Sigma appears again to the Doctor as he begins to succumb to the effects of radiation poisoning. He comforts the Doctor by telling him that "the Universe will sing you to your sleep" and that "this song is ending, but the story never ends." This helps the Doctor muster enough strength to make it to the TARDIS and set a course before he regenerates into the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
.
A singular Ood referred to as "Nephew" appeared in the 2011 episode, "The Doctor's Wife
The Doctor's Wife (Doctor Who)
"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as in the United States...
", under the influence of an entity called House. It is killed when the Doctor and Idris land a makeshift TARDIS on it, atomizing it. After it dies the Doctor remarks, "Another Ood I failed to save", referencing his previous adventures. Notably, Nephew's eyes glowed green as opposed to red.
A scene cut from A Good Man Goes to War would have seen the Doctor meeting up with Ood Sigma again. Russell T Davies is still credited at the end for the scene despite it being cut.
Appearances
- Series 2 (2006)
- "The Impossible PlanetThe Impossible Planet"The Impossible Planet" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first part of a two-part story, followed by "The Satan Pit". The TARDIS lands in a base on a planet orbiting a black hole, an allegedly impossible situation that stumps even the Doctor...
" - "The Satan PitThe Satan Pit"The Satan Pit" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the second part of a two-part story, following "The Impossible Planet". With the TARDIS seemingly lost, Rose and the remaining humans are trapped on the base with the possessed Ood, while the planet...
"
- "The Impossible Planet
- Series 4 (2008)
- "Planet of the OodPlanet of the Ood"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. It features the return of the Ood, who appeared in the second series episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".The episode...
"
- "Planet of the Ood
- Specials (2009-10)
- "The Waters of MarsThe Waters of Mars"The Waters of Mars" is the second 2009 special of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010...
" - "The End of TimeThe End of TimeThe End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
"
- "The Waters of Mars
- Series 6 (2011)
- "The Doctor's WifeThe Doctor's Wife (Doctor Who)"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as in the United States...
" - "Death is the Only AnswerDeath Is the Only Answer"Death Is the Only Answer" is a special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on BBC Three , on 1 October 2011. It was written via a competition , in which junior schools were asked to write a script including the Eleventh Doctor and an enemy...
"
- "The Doctor's Wife