Ood

The Ood are a fictional alien species from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who with telepathic abilities. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future (circa 42nd century).

The creatures' unusual appearance has made them a referent in British popular culture. For example, in 2009 fashion journalist Hilary Alexander compared an unusual costume worn by singer Lady Gaga to an Ood.

Physical characteristics

The Ood are humanoid in appearance with coleoid 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. 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, and they say they require no names or titles as they are "one", but they do have designations such as "Ood 1 Alpha 1". The Ood are empaths, sharing among themselves a low-level telepathic communication field. When reaching out with their telepathic fields, it can be heard as singing.

History within the show

The Ood are a slave race to humanity, performing menial tasks, and it is claimed that every human has an Ood servant. In their debut story "The Impossible Planet", 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 of a group called the "Friends of the Ood" 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. According to the monster book Creatures and Demons, published in 2007, it says they come from the "Ood Sphere", close to the "Sense Sphere" planet, home to the Sensorites, who share a similarity with the Ood. 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.

The Ood were defeated when Danny Bartok, the expedition member in charge of them, broadcasted 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. It is unknown if the Ood on Earth, which were seen in "The Impossible Planet"'s TARDISODE, and on their home planet of the Ood Sphere, were influenced by the Beast's control, or not.

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 reengineer 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.

Ood Sigma, a character from "Planet of the Ood", returns again 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. Ood Sigma further appears in the subsequent, two-part story The End of Time.

It would appear that the Ood are capable of time travel, since the Ood Sigma was first sighted in 4126 (Planet of the Ood) and later contact the Doctor in 2059 (Waters of Mars). It may have been a projection of Ood Sigma that appears on Earth in 2059 to summon the Doctor to the Ood Sphere in 4226, so the Ood are at least capable of projecting an image back in time 2167 years.

Appearances

• Series 2 (2006)
  • "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit"

• Series 4 (2008)
  • "Planet of the Ood"

• Specials (2009-10)
  • "The Waters of Mars"
  • The End of Time