Solana Mercurio (Doctor Who Series Four)

First Appearance: Doctor Who Series Four Episode Four: "Planet of the Ood"

Played By: Ayesha Dharker

Head of marketing and Intergalactic Relations for Ood Operations, Solana Mercurio is in charge of pitching to clients interested in purchasing the Ood as well as tours of the facility.

She was killed by the Ood in the year 4126 after the outbreak of red-eye.


"Planet of the Ood"

Contacting Mr. Bartle (managing Director) of the company on his request, Solana is given instructions to "pitch like never before" to make up for the fact that the price of Ood had been reduced to fifty credits. 

Solana and the new head of the Ood Management-Dr. Ryder- personally met with Chief Executive Klineman Halpen after the latter arrived to deal with the latest death in the companies personnel. Ryder states that Solana has the information of deaths that had recently happened in the company after Halpen disregards Ryder's attempted small talk and introduction and demands to know what had been happening in his absence. Halpen comments that being in "P.R" she was exactly what he needed and tells her to not have of the information released to anyone outside the Ood Operations compound. She looks slightly offended by his belittling of her job title and barging past with the persistence to find out "how many were dead?" 

Following him into the office, she explains that "in the last financial quarter, we've had three deaths in the complex." Each of the deaths had apparently been from "industrial accidents" of "heart attacks,"   until footage of Bartle's death had been recovered showing the cause of death to match those of the others. 

After hearing Halpen and Ryder's suspicions of the Ood catching red-eye, Solana questions what the problem was and listens to Ryder's description of the "infection." When Halpen orders Ood Sigma to pour him a drink, Solana reminds him of his own rules about having "no alcohol allowed on base." He remarks coldly that it was "hair tonic if you must know"  and that it was being used to combat his hair loss from five years ago as resulted in "stress."

Solana greets the potential buyers and representatives of various organisations to the Ood Sphere, making a joke about the weather. As the Ood flanking her hands out information packs, she explains that the packs contained "3-D tickets, a map of the complex and vouchers" and that they had probably all "spoken on the Vid-Phone." Just as she tells them to all follow her, the Doctor and Donna arrive and uses the Psychic Paper to identify them as representatives of "The Noble Corporation, P.L.C Limited, Intergalactic." She apologises and wonders whether their names had "fallen from my list. It won't happen again." She asks them to follow- mistaking them both for a couple and is slightly bemused by the reaction that this had caused from the two denying it, handing them the packs personally. She calls to the others to come with her as it is warmer inside the "executive sweets." She quickly makes up the excuse that the alarm that had just been set of by Commander Kess to signal an escaped rabid Ood as being "a siren for the end of work shift." 

During her pitch, Solana enthusiastically pitches the Ood as being "happy to serve" and boasts that; they live in "facilities of the highest standard," the treatment of Ood as "trusted friends," keeping the Ood "safe and educated" and that they "make them better," proposing that "the Ood are a reflection of us" and stating that "if your Ood is happy, then you'll be happy too."

Moving on to new Ood Operations innovations, Solana showcases the "variety package" for the Ood translation ball with the three additional voices; standard, "something for the gentleman" and the "Homer Simpson"- testing each out to the amusement of the representatives and adding in the fact that this package was on sale for five additional credits. She invites them to have more food and drink.

Just as an Ood begins revealing the existence of "the circle" to the Doctor and Donna (who only had heard about it once when Delta-Fifty died), Solana orders the Ood to return to "hospitality stations."

After another alarm was set of by Kess, Solana reassures the reps that it was "nothing to worry about" and it was "just a fire drill," claiming that the system was tested at that time daily. She excuses herself and hurries to Ood Cargo, where she berates Kess for trying to take down the Doctor with a crane as Halpen wanted both the Doctor and Donna alive.

Solana witnesses a fight between the Ood Operations security forces, fleeing with the Doctor and Donna. They stop when they are far away from the cargo, where Donna states her shock that people on Earth don't know what was happening on the Ood Sphere, However she tells Donna not "to be stupid" and that they do know, yet nobody asks questions which she coints as being the "same thing." The Doctor questions her to know how the Ood are processed to become the "products," but she states that she had no knowledge of what Dr. Ryder did as "it was his territory." Solana begrudgingly reveals Ryder's lab to being "beyond the red section" of the map. The Doctor asks her to come with her and tells her that she can help him, doubting that she really approves of how the company operates. Considering his offer for a moment she calls out to the guards, giving away their location. She communicates with Halpen with her wrist device and informs him of the Doctor heading to the Ood Conversion center.

Joining Halpen and Ryder at the locked Conversion door, she is ordered to return to the reps and stop them from discovering the mass extermination of Ood, whilst also seperating them from any Ood in the sweet for fear of a red eye outbreak. He yells at her to "hurry up" and she complies to his demand.

Solana tries to persuade the reps to move into the education room, but is questioned by a drunk rep who claims that they are in "a free bar." Choosing a different tact, she asks the Ood to return to their quarters as it is "feeding time." The Ood begin to submit to the red-eye and shrink away in pain, which the rep thinks is funny and jokes that she has "upset them", drunkenly telling her to "leave them alone."  She tries again, but is horrified to see that it is too late and the Ood have succumb to the "infection." She tries in vain to get the guests to retreat via the fire escape, however the Ood begin killing the reps and she is forced to leave 

The guards rush over to her and report that all the Ood have "gone insane" and are advancing from the sleeping quarters. She orders them to kill them and runs behind several barrels, watching the soldiers progress in their new task. However just as she turns around she is electrocuted by an Ood, who has appeared from the door beside her.