Love & Monsters

В“Doctor Where,В” as Peter Kay said on Tonight With Jonathan Ross, just about sums this one up. This is an episode that is really gonna court controversy and divide opinion. Personally, I thought it was a good solid forty-five minutes of televisionВ… but it was more romcom than Doctor Who. Actually, it reminded me very much of the madcap В‘comedyВ’ episodes of The X-Files. Once or twice a season theyВ’d try something like this, and sometimes IВ’d be a hit and sometime itВ’d be bloody awful. В“Love & MonstersВ” is far from bloody awful. ItВ’s a charming little episode that I have to say I enjoyed, but after watching it I did feel like IВ’d been robbed of my weekВ’s В‘properВ’ Doctor Who.

For the first time since it came back last year, Doctor Who takes time to wallow in the events of the new series, rehashing the events of old episodes. WeВ’re not talking В“Another Simpsons Clip ShowВ” bad, but much of the episode does have a recycled feel. The reduced role Tennant and Piper play in the episode is also a bone of contention, but then again in the sixties Hartnell and Troughton (as well as all their companions) would often get a bump on the head or kidnapped at the end of one episode only to reappear about three weeks later! And who remembers the infamous В“Mission To The UnknownВ”? All the regular cast missed that one! Of course, this is a different age with different standards, but if anything, В“Love & MonstersВ” only goes to show just how versatile the showВ’s format is. Moreover, this episode has two big pros that outweigh all the cons В– firstly, it is beautifully written by the man, the legend, Russell T. Davies (no mean feat considering the В‘shopping listВ’ he had to work with) and secondly, it has one hell of a cast.

Of course, the media latched onto Peter KayВ’s role in the episode straight away, but really it is Marc WarrenВ’s show. The whole episode is told as homemade documentary by Elton Pope (Warren) who is a fairly normal bloke, a bit geeky, a bit soft, who just so happens to have had his life touched by the Doctor. His friends at В‘LINDAВ’ (donВ’t ask me to remember what it stands for!) are all a pretty likeable bunch В– Shirley HendersonВ’s Ursula Blake is a nice little character, and I particularly liked В‘MichaelВ’ from IВ’m Alan Partridge as Mr. Skinner. Davies certainly knows how to take the piss out of fans with their meetings and conventions!

So what is Peter Kay like? Worth all the hype? IВ’m probably a bit biased because IВ’m such a big fan of the man, but I thought he was very good. As the human Victor Kennedy he played it completely straight, without even his trademark northern accent, and he came across as genuinely sinister! Thankfully, his comic talents werenВ’t wasted and as soon as he became the Abzorbaloff, the voice, the wise cracks; everything just fell into place. В“Clom!В” В– absolute genius! What a prize young William Grantham won! Not only to you get to see your own monster in Doctor Who, heВ’s played by Peter Kay!

В“I keep thinking of Rose and Jackie. How much longer before they pay the price?В”

Camille Coduri is also given a chance to shine here - in В“Love & MonstersВ” sheВ’s at her absolute best. I absolutely love RoseВ’s Mum; sheВ’s absolutely brilliant. You really feel for Jackie in this story; she comes across as a really lonely woman - one moment desperately trying to have her wicked way with Elton, the next showing us her more vulnerable side as she gets a call from Rose.

However, I can see why a lot of people wonВ’t like this episode. When the Doctor and Rose eventually do turn up, the Doctor doesnВ’t really do much В– itВ’s В‘LINDAВ’ that truly saves the day. At the end of the day itВ’s for everybody to make their own minds up, but I think the light-hearted romp that is В“Love & MonstersВ” will prove to be a welcome bit of comic relief, sandwiched between last weekВ’s thrilling dance with the Devil and the climactic end to the season that is now only a few short weeks away. There is so much humour packed in there - Jackie pre-empting all EltonВ’s В‘stepsВ’; В“Clom!В”; the first woman Elton shows his picture of Rose to knowing her whole life story В– its certainly good entertainment. I wouldnВ’t encourage your children to dwell on the love life that Elton eluded to between himself and UrsulaВ’s stone head, but other than that В“Love & MonstersВ” is a solid little bit of family entertainment. IВ’m just a little bit gutted I couldnВ’t spot Barney in his red hat.