Love & Monsters

One of the more bizarre episodes of the new series was aired tonight. It was an enjoyable light-hearted romp. I enjoyed the geeky video by the obsessive character who was trying to find out the Doctor - a video diary. For me though, I thought Peter Kay's character as the villain was slightly disappointing until turning into that green slob. Given his grand entrance, I was expecting a lot more. I just felt he could have been a lot more chilling and evil ... while still maintaining that marvellous sense of humour.

The lack of the Doctor and Rose appearing in long swathes of the story was clearly a measure to save time and money on the BBC's part but bringing in Peter Kay captured the attention. While he showed he was a good character actor, there weren't any major thrills till near the end when he turned into the big green absorbing monster.

It was great to see Rose's Mum again and I would imagine she will also be leaving when Rose goes at the end of the series which will be a great shame as Camille is an excellent actress and you could really warm to her in tonight's episode.

The flashback to the previous series with the autons, and UFO smashing into Big Ben was a nice touch. As usual, the show pulled on the emotional heartstrings towards the end of the episode though I thought the paved stone which the Doctor managed to save with his trusty screwdriver was completely unusual way to finish the episode.

There were some subtle hints to the difficulties the Doctor and Rose have yet to face in future episodes.

It was all very enjoyable stuff tonight and I did enjoy it as it was well filmed with good ideas and a decent premise for a story. Kay's monster look was very good and was suitably grotesque and disgusting with all the faces coming to life. A very good idea from the Blue Peter competition winner (much better than the one suggested in the 1960s. I thought this was when Kay truelly excelled - I just thought that the loss of the characters during the episode was getting a bit hackneyed and predictable as they were asked to wait behind, and then the screams afterwards. This was repeated three times and could have been done with a bit more imagination?

A good fun episode which gave a more rounded look at the Doctor's coming and goings and the impact it has on different people. Incidentally, I thought it was a great touch for the Tardis to appear in those Egyptian hieroglyphics! Now there is somewhere the Doctor should go back to - Ancient Egypt!!!