Ode to the Ood

After reading previews where the Ood were constantly referred to as vile-looking, I was hoping the Doctor would turn to one of them and say, "You're beautiful, you are" but, unfortunately, he didn't; though, I'm sure Sil would've found their visage pleasing enough! At least they weren't wearing as much eyeliner as Billie Piper!! Here was an opportunity to explore further, definitions of beauty which "Doctor Who" has been flirting with all season; the Doctor recognising it frequently, where others may not. It's easy to say something is ugly without really looking at it properly and, actually, the Ood were quite charming and courteous, until they became possessed, possessed by the devil...

The stranding of the TARDIS crew was handled better in the latest episode, "The Impossible Planet", than it was in "Rise of the Cybermen". Where, in the Cybermen story, the ship's "death" was almost immediately resolved, literally with a glimmer of light, here the craft is lost, following a quake, without any possible means of even future retrieval open to our heroes. The Doctor and Rose look a little out of place on Sanctuary Station, even before they meet the crew, not having made any effort to blend in, as they so often do on their sojourns to the past. It was suggested their arrival was random, however, instead of the recent trend to (usually) choose their destination but I did find myself wishing John Hurt was playing the Doctor for this story!

Instantly assigning the Doctor to laundry duties brought about a wry smile, though, fair dues, he did actually change into a James Bond number for the aforementioned Cyber-outing! Comedy in new "Who", nevertheless, is a mixed bag. The mickey taking, pardon the pun, at the start of "Rise" left a bad taste-in-the-mouth making this viewer feel the Doctor and Rose to be more heartless than any Cyberman. "The Impossible Planet" included a real hackneyed old joke, when the Doctor, preparing for his descent into the bowels of the planet, said to Rose, "See you later", to which she so obviously replied, "Not if I see you first", which I thought the script could've done without. I wonder if the Doctor retained his pinstripe under the spacesuit?!!

I would love a story in which the Doctor and Rose don't actually mention Jackie at all. Also, Rose seems to be getting through an awful lot of mobile phones. Is this what she brought on board in her rucksack/backpack at the start of "New Earth", a supply of cellphones, to hand out to her various boyfriends or throw away when the mood takes, and her make-up bag?!! On the whole, the episode was tautly written, seriously acted and directed, and I can see fandom taking this story to its bosom. Just one more quibble! Did they have to kill off Scooti quite so soon? They did it last year with Suki, though Lynda, with a y, lasted a little longer. Why do I always fall for the minor, doomed, characters? I never got the chance to say, "You're beautiful, you are"!!!