Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Mike Eveleigh

Well, that took some absorbing. (Sorry)

I can usually form a pretty strong immediate opinion of an episode these days. Subsequent viewings tend to highlight strengths or weaknesses and my opinion can be revised somewhat. It was rather different when I were a lad; for example, at the time I loved 'Time-Flight' as much as 'Kinda'. (No guesses which story I rate highly now!)

We fret about falling viewing figures because we care about this unique programme, and in the week that Billie Piper's leaving is announced (well timed to ratch up interest in the season finale) we have one of the strangest 'Doctor Who' episodes ever broadcast. I admit that my initial reaction to 'Love & Monsters' was something like "Ummm..." , mixed with a bit of "weeelll..."; throw in some "hmmmm..." too. Blimey, how articulate!

I'd felt challenged...and I rather like that. Maybe Episode 10 will become the 'quirky episode' slot? Twice now we've had a (in my view) classic two-parter followed by something different and interesting. (I liked 'Boom Town' .)

Well, it took another viewing, but I like this episode too. I have reservations, but I thought it had a generosity of spirit typical of RTD. (Well generally speaking; still don't like Adam's treatment in 'The Long Game'!) The casting was obviously even more important than usual, and I thought Marc Warren was absolutely terrific as Elton Pope. I've never seen him act before, and I was most impressed. Shirley Henderson was great, and new to me too. Lovely, sweet, relationship. Indeed, all of 'LI'n'DA' (!) were very well scripted and portrayed, making you care for them in a short period of screen time. There was no mean-spirited 'Whizzkid from 'Greatest Show in the Galaxy'-type scenario' here. (Actually, that's my favourite McCoy story!) The fandom references are very obvious, but not too self-indulgent; well, maybe a little bit...

I thought Camille was great here, whether being scarily flirtatious, angry, sad or vulnerable. Elton's "Steps 1 to 4 of infiltration" mirroring Jackie's 'pick up' technique was hilarious, and Ursula's piqued "...and what a chest" line made me laugh out loud.

Peter Kaye played straight perfectly well as 'Victor Kennedy' , and then had a chance to really enjoy himself as the northern-accented Abzorbaloff. It was pretty funny stuff, and I really howled at the "I spit on them...Klum (sic?)" part. Boy, is this episode going to get a mixed reaction!!!

Okay, 'Love And Monsters' felt like it was walking a tightrope a lot of the time. Moments that didn't make me laugh on first viewing include the 'red bucket' / 'blue bucket' bit (way too pantomime, but, well, I did smile on the subsequent viewing, I admit!) and the reference to a 'love life' between Elton and the unconvincingly 'trapped' Ursula. I'm no prude, but it felt like I was being nudged in the ribs and winked at by Monty Python's "Say no more!" character. How adult and daring! (Still, it was only one line, so perhaps I should lighten up a bit? Nah...I thought it was a badly judged moment.)

So...a very curious episode, probably destined to be a cult in future years, which some will love and others will loath. I'll stick to "like", I think. It was very interestingly structured, and had enough moments about love, loss and repressed childhood memories to balance Peter Kaye running around in a 'fat suit' , the odd crass line and some unbelievable set-ups.

So curious, I can't give it a mark. I don't mean 0/10, I just mean I don't think I've entirely got my head around it!





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor

Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Alex Child

No, no, no! Dear oh dear what was Russell T Davies thinking? So far this series I have enjoyed every single episode, and the previous two adventures "The Mysterious planet", and the "Satan pit" where two of the best episodes id ever seen. Murray Gold as a composer is, in my opinion getting better and better, and shows the ability to create frankly beautiful work ( an example being the piece that accompanies the scene where the Doctor and the rest of the crew discover the floating body of Scooti Manista outside).We have also had new blood in directors, script writers who show the ability to bring new energy to the show and Ive enjoyed every minute of it, but what the hell happened here?.

While I could hug Davies for bringing back my favourite show, I could equally strangle him for this panotmine of an episode. The quite frankly brilliant cast are completly wasted here, especially poor old Marc Warren, who does the best he can with this rubbish.

I dont mean to be completly negative, but even David Tennant and Billie Piper give below average performances here as we are presented with Benny Hill style run arounds and a naff chase sequence involving a fat man in a rubber suit. Im sorry, but I just got the impression that they'd used up all the budget on the last few episodes!.

I can see what Davies is trying to do here, but Doctor Who has allways had a format, start messing with that and it all falls apart. If your going to do this sort of thing, why not regenerate the Doctor into a woman, give the Tardis console lips and a geordie accent! That would really kill the show off!

I only hope a return to normality next week will repair the damage, and we can just pretend it never happened!





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor

Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Richard Walter

It is strange how mood and perceptions can affect your opinion of an episode of Doctor Who. I was, I think, overly critical in my review of The Satin Pit as having watched it again, enjoyed it more on second viewing. I suspect I had built up an unfair expectation following the superb episode The Impossible Planet that led to some initial disappointment.

Alternatively I had a mixed bag of feelings about how "Love and Monsters" would hold up being very much marketed as experimental Doctor Who. And you know what? I rather liked it in the end!

Lets get the criticisms out of the way. I did not enjoy the Doctor/Rose/monster/buckets sequence - carried out in true Benny Hill tradition. I know it was a sort of "dream/memory" sequence but I think it would have worked far better as a serious confrontation with a bit of true menace. I could live with the ELO references and the L.I.N.D.A. tribute band but it was a typical RTD "lets throw something a little bizarre in" idea that might have been best left out. Barring that there were many impressive factors to the story.

Number one was the clever way of including references to the previous earth bound invasion stories from Season 1 and 2. Simple flash backs could have been used (and indeed there were some familiar sequences) but there was new material too and what a joy to see new Auton footage with Elton involved in the action!

Then we had the emotional rollercoaster ride of Jackie Tyler - still flirting like mad but brought back to Earth (so to speak) with a bump when Rose phones her from somewhere in the space and time vortex. It was nice to see her get a part without having to scream at Slitheens and Christmas Trees!!!

The central characters forming the group L.I.N.D.A. were all good - Marc Warren was the ideal Elton and his past was nicely brought out during the story leading up to the explanation of why the Doctor appeared in his living room when he was 3. I liked the character and wonder if we may see him again at some point.

Peter Kay was excellent as the chilling Victor Kennedy and played the part entirely straight. It was not actually until he morphed into the Abozorbaloff that you could tell he was Peter Kay - his accent seemed to get stronger - I suppose some aliens have a Northern accent!!! Playing a distant relation of the Slitheens the monster was reasonably credible given its Blue Peter design a monster status and indeed quite a clever idea.

The idea of victims being absorbed into the big wobbly alien was quite good and the tragedy of their loss was not underplayed.

I particularly liked the ending with Rose coming looking for the man that upset her mother and then totally sympathising with Elton and his scary past - most of the guys problems had after all been caused by the Doctor!!!

This then was a strange but credible "break in the plot" which fills the gap between the Tardis crews encounter with the Devil into the two partner finale which will see some real danger for the future of our Earth and the departure of the much loved Rose (and Jackie??). What a fast and giddy season this has been!!!





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor

Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Angus Gulliver

In one word, CRAP! In nine words, a genuine contender for worst Doctor Who episode ever. Really, this plumbs depths previously only explored by the likes of Dimensions In Time. I’d rather be watching Timelash.

There were good aspects to it though. I had reservations about a story centred around a monster designed by a Blue Peter viewer, but the absorbaloff was quite well realised and given a believable reason for absorbing people. And as Victor Kennedy or the absorbaloff it was well acted by Peter Kay. I have no problems with a story concerning a group of people whose lives have somehow been touched by the Doctor getting together to search for him. But the script must have spent twenty minutes establishing the history of their group when three would have done. Dan Zeff’s direction was adequate, I don’t think he could have done much to add pace to a script that simply had nothing to engage the viewer until the final 15 minutes.

As for the rest of the story, utter tripe. Sorry Russell but this one should have never been allowed to be filmed. I actually think that given the premise, I could come up with a better story. The Doctor sort of saving Ursula in the form of a face protruding from a paving stone, with the utterly gratuitous line “we have a sex life, of sorts” was shameful.

1/10





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor

Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Calum Corral

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!!!





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor

Love & Monsters

Monday, 19 June 2006 - Reviewed by Wil Valentino

I have been a DOCTOR WHO fan since 1978. I remember thinking at the time what a great story THE SUNMAKERS was when it first rolled out.It was lighthearted,funny and satirical to the bone and different to alot of what was being done at the time of its production. Unfortunately, a few years earlier when Mary Whitehouse started to point her fingers at the show for being too violent and scary for children, the show suddenly shifted as Graham Williams took over from the wonderful Phillip Hincliffe and closed the door on a golden era of Doctor Who. The SUNMAKERS was a bright spot, but soon THE HORNS OF NIMON would make me cringe to the point of embarrassment and Tom Baker's wit and humor would start to go over the top and bleed off into camp. I remember celebrating the show's 20th anniversary in 1983, and now over 20 years beyond the transmission of THE FIVE DOCTORS, let me tell you that I thought" LOVE AND MONSTERS " was one of the most absolutely entertaining hours I have ever spent in front of the televsion. It was FRESH, ORIGINAL,and CUTTING EDGE like the way the best episodes have always been. It was a daring attept to try new things and while I was never a fan of overt over the top comedy and campiness in DOCTOR WHO, this was a darker than dark, pitch black comedy about the Doctor's dizzy universe and the innocent people who fall into it. This perspective has become one of the hallmarks of Russell T. Davies' repackaged resurrection of the old series. This had its own style,its own rythym and beat, and Dan Zeff, the director has done a wonderful levitation act with the material and prevented it from going over the top . And what to do with the Absorbaloff???,a creature created for a BLUE PETER contest with no connected story or plot whatsoever.This was an episode that I actually FEARED I would instantly hate. However,amusingly, Russell T Davies' has unw ittingly tapped into the utter and intangible vestibule containing the pure unrefined magic of what DOCTOR WHO is. Uncle Russell manages to achieve this through focusing on a loveable bunch of characters woven into this story who become "L.I.N.D.A.,the London Investigative...N' Dectective agency spearheaded by Elton Pope who happens on a chance meeting with the Doctor as the episode begins and suddenly finds his life changed forever by the Doctor.

Russell T Davies vision for the series has always been to shove " a great chunk of the 21st century" right in the middle of Doctor Who and these elements have been hallmarks of alot of his penned episodes. This has never been demonstrated more brillantly by the wake of the storm left behind by one of the Doctor's visits. In LOVE AND MONSTERS, we see the Doctor as a total stranger, the mysterious alien as we first saw him in Totters Lane through the eyes of the Londoners who have united in a similar cause to find answers to this mysterious entity they find showing up in history books, old photos, in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, and on the internet. I was always disappointed nothing was ever made about that "WHO IS THE DOCTOR" website seen in the "ROSE" episode and continued by the BBC as a fictional novelty website that Mickey administrated. The Earth that the Doctor and Rose return to in pa st and future times is a new Earth that has seen alien invasions and the impossible happen live on network telvision. Elton Pope is a young man who has witnessed the Auton invasion in "ROSE" and has woken up on Christmas Day to the arrival of the Sycorax fleet of starships hovering above London. His world has changed ,and with it, come new obsessions. Russell T. Davies' brilliantly executed and entertaining script takes the Doctor's existance in that world for granted and treats us to Hard Rock jam sessions with L.I.N.D.A.,a romance with Jackie Tyler,the Autons and the Slitheen spacehip,BAD WOLF, Torchwood, Pizza, Laundramats, and the MUSIC.......ELO!!!! and a clip of ELTON JOHN! Oh This was so British, Soooooo Doctor Who and proof that the Doctor is trully a legend,in Elton's world and in our own. The absence of David Tennant and Billie Piper through much of the episode is not even felt because Uncle Russell has given us so much brain candy in an episode de livered in the first person narrative of our hero, Elton. I know it was different, and fans will be debating its merits for years to come, but it could have been so contrived,yet it was staggeringly innovative and was quite literally about....love....and well......er.....Monsters. Spoiler revealed. My only quarrel is the loss of most of the L.I.N.D.A. operative as I would have loved to have seen this merry bunch of misfits sleuthing with the Doctor in a future episode and dancing to more music of the "Electric light Orchestra". Another lost oppotunity it seems in what has become a season of many earthly and unearthly delights, and I hope I am not premature on this, evidence of a comfort zone that RTD has achieved with his scripts so far this season,which continues to astound in its varied patina of adventures.

There seems to be an interesting thread that has run through the fisrt two seasons of the new series. This began with Clive's comments to Rose in the first episode about the Doctor's constant companion being Death and you have to begin to wonder where Russell Davies is going with this.The darkness has crept in again,as Elton comments at the close of the episode that everyone who comes in contact with the Doctor faces death. It seems RTD is turning Doctor Who into an Anti-Hero again. It's actually a bit unnerving but it does seen to be true. Elton becomes the sole survivor of L.I.N.D.A.along with Ursula, well, at least a part of Ursula whose character seems right out of a Quentin Taratino movie. As Elton points out, Time may be running out for Jackie and Rose as well. I am not too clear on exactly why the Doctor would visit Elton as a childremarkin g something about a 'shade" in the house with him,which is a reference to a ghost and this may be a connection to the Finale in a few weeks time. The episode had its fair overbrimming share of sexual inuendo laced scenes mostly involving Jackie and Eltonwith some very adult references being played out in what is considered "family' entertainment.It was however very nice to see Jackie involved in her ordinary life, waiting for Rose to telephone or return, a reverse perspective of what we are used to seeing that fleshes out her character that much more. She also has alot of time on her hands, and while the Doctor may have "just" escaped her romantic clutches, I think her tryst with Elton may further heat up speculation about her and Mickey keeping each other company , not that it hasn't already been suggested. She seems to be a "busy" gal in the Powell Estate. ! Surprisingly, the episode ends by plunging every viewer,including children into suddenly facing the death of a parent, which is some pretty heavy stuff to serve up in the final minutes of a light hearted adventure. I am also surprised Elton didn't blame the Doctor all those years for his mothers death since the Doctor's mysterious presence in the house Elton refers to was on the night his mother died. Small complaints in what is a wonderfully entertaining little story. LOVE AND MONSTERS reminded me of how THE SUNMAKERS first blew up all away.Like Elton's poignant closing remarks about life ,this episode was a little mad and crazy, and so much more!





FILTER: - Television - Series 2/28 - Tenth Doctor