Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Ood (Part Two)

Excerpts from Jason Arnopp’s article from DWM #395

Over to Catherine Tate, who nominates them as her favorite creatures of Series Four, no less.

“All the alien enemies are so brilliantly realised in Doctor Who,” she says, “but for me, the Ood are especially brilliant. They basically look so alarming and yet as a race they are benign. That’s a great juxtaposition of appearance and personality. They have a nice ambiguity about them.”

“Everyone was quite taken with the Ood when we had them on the first time,” says David Tennant, “so it just seemed obvious that there was another story going on there, and it made you wonder what that back story might be. They’re a fascinating race. You think, ‘What does it all mean? How do they communicate.’”

[…] “They were very enigmatic last time,” considers David Tennant. “There was a lot unsaid. You were asked, as a member of the audience, to accept that they were a slave race who loved doing what they were told. Which, of course, was great from the point of view of that plot. But then if you think about that for more than five minutes, you start wondering, ‘Well, how did they end up there?’ So I think it was just ripe for discovery. Plus, the design is fantastic - it makes you want to see more of them. Even on set, you find yourself staring at these creatures, because it doesn’t look like somebody in a mask. It looks like something… other. Ood Sigma’s animatronic head is incredible, the way it twitches and winks at you. You find yourself staring into its eyes, just trying to find something.”

Later, Catherine’s young daughter Erin visits the set and is thankfully delighted, rather than petrified, to see an Ood standing nearby. She waves at the Ood… and it waves back. Cutest moment ever? You bet.

Other parts of this set:  [ one ]
The rest of my behind-the-scenes photosets are available [ here ]

It’s kind of sad how perfect this is. The Ood: the red shirts of the Doctor Who universe.

Artwork by JK Woodward.