Ood

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Ood
Doctor Who race
An Ood on display at the Doctor Who Experience in 2014.
First appearance	"The Impossible Planet" (2006)
Created by	Russell T Davies
In-universe information
Home world	Ood Sphere, Horsehead Nebula
Type	Squid-faced Humanoids
Affiliation	Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire Sensorites

The Ood are an 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).

The Ood are portrayed as a slave race, naturally gentle and kind but readily susceptible to corrupting external influence. They are later emancipated from their slavery and by "The End of Time" have progressed into an advanced civilization.

The Ood are humanoid in appearance with tentacles on the lower portions of their faces. The Ood are a telepathic race; as such, they require a "translation sphere" to communicate with non-telepathic creatures.^[1] The sphere is connected to the Ood via a tube that originally connected their external brains to their body. Humans in the future would physically remove their hind brains and fix the translator sphere where the brain used to be. There appears to be no sexual differentiation among the Ood, though the Doctor seems to be able to determine their sex. When Donna refers to a dying Ood as an "it", the Doctor replies that the Ood is "a 'he', not an 'it'".^[2] The Ood say they require no names or titles as they are connected to a hive mind and function as one unit, but they do have designations given to them by humans such as "Ood 1 Alpha 1" or "Ood Sigma" to differentiate them. The Doctor suggests in "Planet of the Ood" that Ood individuality is a result of the Ood Hive Mind expressing itself differently within each Ood, saying "Funny thing, the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes. Came out in the Red-Eye as revenge, came out in the Rabid Ood as anger, and then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy focused on Ood Sigma." 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. This ability has made them susceptible to telepathic control, and in several episodes they are shown to be controlled by a stronger telepathic force. Oods are a part of the Silence's religious order. They also know the Doctor's name as they had sung it to him in "Planet of the Ood".

The Ood have purple blood.

The Ood debut in the 2006 episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". The Ood are used as slaves by the human crew of a mining outpost on the planet Krop Tor, which is near a black hole. The Ood, due to their psychic link, are possessed by the Beast, who attempts to use them to help break free of its prison beneath the planet's surface. Rose Tyler and the crew are able to create a "mindstorm" which overwhelms the Ood and renders them unconscious. After the Beast's demise, the Tenth Doctor was unable to save the Ood before the planet was sucked into the black hole.

The Ood re-appear in the 2008 episode "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor and his companion Donna Noble visit the Ood's home planet, the Ood-Sphere, where they encounter the base of Ood Operations, which manages the distribution of Ood throughout the human empire of the far-future. The Ood Brain was trapped within a circle of electricity, stopping the Ood from being able to communicate with each other. The Brain begins to break free from the circle, allowing some Ood to fight back. This eventually evolves into a full-scale revolt. Ood Operations' leader, Klineman Halpen, attempts to kill the Ood Brain, which will kill all the Ood, but is turned into an Ood by Ood Sigma, his personal Ood servant, via a liquid Ood Sigma had given him under the guise of hair tonic. The Doctor breaks the circle, and the Ood are subsequently freed from slavery as the Ood from across the empire are brought back to the Ood-Sphere.

Ood Sigma returns in the 2009 episode "The Waters of Mars", where he attempts to contact the Doctor.^[3] The Doctor subsequently visits the Ood-Sphere in the following story, "The End of Time" (2009-2010). Due to damage done to time, the Ood have advanced more rapidly than they should have, allowing them to see and project themselves through time. The Ood Elder reveals a dream involving the Doctor's enemy the Master, leading to the Doctor returning to Earth to stop him. Following the Master's defeat, Ood Sigma gives the Tenth Doctor encouragement as he regenerates.

A single Ood referred to as Nephew appears in the 2011 episode "The Doctor's Wife". Nephew is under the influence of an alien entity called House, who controls Nephew and uses him to attack the Doctor's companions Amy and Rory. Nephew is killed when the Doctor and Idris land a ramshackle TARDIS in the exact spot he was standing.

In the mini episode "Death is the Only Answer", the scientist Albert Einstein is transformed into a red-eyed Ood after ingesting a mysterious liquid. The possessed Ood repeats the phrase "Death is the only answer" before being transformed back into Einstein. In the Pond Life series, a single Ood who had become lost in the TARDIS wanders out into Amy and Rory's house. The Ood acts as their butler for several days until the Doctor can pick it up and return it to the Ood Sphere.

An Ood appears in "Survivors of the Flux", serving as Tecteun's assistant who is powering the next wave of the Flux to destroy the remaining universe. After Tecteun is killed by Swarm and Azure, he assists the Doctor in trying to alter the course of the Flux wave.

The Ood were physically portrayed by actor Paul Kasey. The Ood Elder in The End of Time is voiced by Brian Cox, whilst all other Ood are voiced by Silas Carson.

• "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" (2006)
• "Planet of the Ood" (2008)
• "The End of Time" (2009–10)
• "The Doctor's Wife" (2011)
• Flux
  • "Survivors of the Flux" (2021)
  • ”The Vanquishers” (2021)

• "The Waters of Mars" (2009)
• "The Magician's Apprentice" (2015)
• "Face the Raven" (2015)
• "Revolution of the Daleks" (2021)

• "Death is the Only Answer" (2011)
• Pond Life (2012)

• Ood on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki