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“PRISONER OF THE OOD – OOD ENOUGH, BUT NO GREAT ESCAPE”

Prisoner of the Ood, the second story in Jenny: The Doctor’s Daughter, keeps up the light tone of the opener while transplanting Jenny into a very different setting—suburban Earth in the early 21st century. Writer John Dorney takes the “Time Lord meets mundanity” formula popularised by The Lodger and Closing Time and filters it through the eyes of someone who’s never even heard of Earth. The result is breezy, entertaining, and occasionally sharp, but it also leans heavily on cliché and never quite escapes the gravitational pull of the average.

JENNY VS THE COUNCIL ESTATE

The biggest asset once again is Georgia Tennant, who imbues Jenny with infectious energy, quick wit, and a charming impatience that’s straight from her dad. Jenny is a fish so far out of water she’s practically airborne, and Dorney gets good comic mileage out of her trying to make sense of bins, domestic disputes, and oddly passive humans.

Landing in the middle of a suburban housing estate and befriending a freshly divorced single woman, Jenny finds herself in what feels like a sitcom setup, albeit one with a crashed spaceship on the lawn. Her banter with the locals, questions about Earth’s social norms, and frustration with human inaction help keep the story ticking along with an amiable tone. There’s a touch of satire in the way the neighbours react to a giant glowing pod on their street—assuming it’s a prank, a secret art installation, or simply someone else’s problem.

OOD TIMES AND OLD TRICKS

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Doctor Who story without aliens. The titular Ood are back, and their inclusion is mostly surface-level. There’s a fun twist involving the old Planet of the Ood trick of an Ood inside a human body, which leads to some effective tension and confusion. Silas Carson, as always, does excellent vocal work, giving the Ood both menace and melancholy. But overall, they don’t get much development beyond “scary psychic aliens being manipulated again.”

That manipulation comes courtesy of the episode’s true villain, Valderon, a mind slaver who’s trapped in another dimension and hoping to use the Ood to free himself and enslave Earth. The problem is, Valderon barely appears. His presence is mostly told through exposition or brief flashbacks, meaning he never feels like a proper threat. It’s difficult to care about his plan when the script treats him like a minor inconvenience.

NOAH NOWHERE

While Jenny gets plenty to do, her would-be companion Noah is pushed almost entirely to the sidelines. He only appears in a flashback explaining how Jenny got to Earth, and otherwise has no bearing on the story. If he’s meant to be Jenny’s co-lead in this series, Prisoner of the Ood doesn’t do much to sell him as vital.

RUNAROUND FATIGUE

The second half of the story devolves into a fairly standard “chase the MacGuffin, stop the villain, reset the damage” structure. Jenny runs about, the Ood cause panic, and there’s the inevitable noble plan to close the dimensional rift. It’s fine, but uninspired. The setup was charming; the resolution feels perfunctory.

Still, there’s fun to be had along the way. The orchestral-rock rendition of the Doctor Who theme is a lovely touch, adding flair to the series identity. And Dorney’s knack for dialogue—especially Jenny’s sarcastic asides and awkward interactions with humans—helps keep things light and accessible.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE:

Prisoner of the Ood is a serviceable second outing for Jenny, with a fish-out-of-water charm and Georgia Tennant’s irrepressible energy carrying it through. The Ood are underused, the villain is underdeveloped, and the story loses steam in the second half—but there's still fun to be had in watching Jenny try to survive the suburbs. 6/10.