Well, where to begin? Love & Monsters was the first proper Non-Doctor Doctor Who story since the teaser episode to the Daleks Master Plan way back in the sixties. I know there may be a lot of criticism about doing this, but I believe it had to be done now, simply because RTD and his team have the luxury to do it that productions crews in the past and productions crews in the future have not had and may not have. It's an interesting idea to take an episode from the perspective of a "fan" (sic) and its an approach that builds on the whole pathos of the lives the Doctor changes just by appearing in their lives one day. We've seen it happen to Mickey and Jackie (more of whom later), and now to the assorted members of LINDA.

Centre-stage in this episode was Marc Warren, a wonderfully capable actor better known in Hustle. He was entirely believeable as sad loner Elton Pope and almost single-handedly carried the story on its shoulders. Elton is somebody we all could know or could have known, most likely from university days, from which the character never seemed to have escaped. It is also entirely believeable such a man should set up a group of UFO - spotters, themselves lonely and in need of something in their lives. I think felt sadder for the ruination of the budding romance between Bridget and Mr Skinner than I did for Elton and Ursula. When Victor Kennedy shows up and "the golden age ended", you can't help but feel sorry for the bunch of losers.

The scenes between Elton and Jackie were top-notch. It was good to see Jackie in her own right and not under the shadow of the Doctor and Rose for once, and only fair to Camille Coduri who has made the woman entirely believable. As Rose is to depart in three episodes time, I am glad that she gets her chance to shine in what may be her swansong (although, I sense Pete might be returning in Army of Ghosts for anyone who's read the synopsis). Her wantoness had my Dad and I in creases and, hey, we got to see Marc Warren bend over and topless so this one ain't complaining. The resolution of Ursula Blake now existing as a paving slab was a bit of an odd one, and as the joke about them having a love life, I don't know which is worse - that it was included or the fact I thought about it a second before he said it. Do you think when they row, she accuses him of walking all over her? Boom- boom.

Peter Kay's performance was nothing short of theatrical as Victor Kennedy and typically humourous as the Abzorbaloff. Despite the cartoonishness of the character, it struck me as to what a good actor the man is as I found myself disliking him for being such a bully to the members of LINDA. I predict a good secondary career in the future for this man. Should he ever get bored of comedy, great things beckon. When Peter Kay isnt being Peter Kay, he's believable. As a result, I question as to why the Abzorbaloff had to be Northern at all. I think it detracted from the scenes greatly and wobbled on the line of the golden rule - Always play it straight. Once you start playing Doctor Who for laughs, it becomes ridiculous and destroys it. Still, it was a damn good idea for a monster and well done to the nine-year old who designed him. I still would have loved to have seen more of the monster in the warehouse. I found it all the more engaging.

So, a brave experiment on all counts and one that was largely pulled off with a few minor let-downs. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure. Of course, at the time or writing, everyone's mind is on Billie's departure. A few subtle hints have been worked in already, including the Beast in the Satan Pit saying she will die in battle and Elton Pope in L&M saying death won't be too far off poor Jackie and Rose, and of course all those Torchwood references. I have a suspicion that Rose won't be killed off at all, but will turn in Bad Wolf again, perhaps permanently. I could be wrong, but just three weeks to go before the end of Series 2, starting betting now...

I just want to say how absolutely В‘funВ’ that episode was. Completely left-field and a total change of pace and most importantly Russell T Davies demonstrating how important the flexibility of the format is in its ability to accommodate entirely different modes of storytelling within one series.

This was a В‘Doctor WhoВ’ story from a new perspective. This is the adventures of the Doctor and Rose told from the view of the outsider В– not just Elton, Ursula and the gang but also, quite crucially, from JackieВ’s point of view. Look at what this whole experience does to Jackie for starters and you will begin to understand what this episode is about. Camille Coduri was quite marvellous in showing us a parent so cut off from her own child that she desperately reaches out for relationships that are destined to fail and she is completely self-aware that they will. Her seduction and rejection of Elton was credible and touching. Her maternal protection of Rose and the Doctor shows us that she isnВ’t just some В‘cockney EastendВ’ cipher. This is a woman in pain, frightened and alone and, finally, able to comprehend just what happens to human lives when they come into contact with the Doctor. IВ’m glad Russell gave us this as it really does add layers to the character and fixes her place in the narrative once and for all. And it is done with so much love for the character that it is cleverly poignant.

From the outset let me say that this would not work without the brilliant central performance of Marc Warren as Elton. A smashing tour de force that took us from a kind of grinning understanding of his need to meet like minded people to the sad revelation about his childhood and the death of his mother. Funny, often breathlessly exhilarating, often sexy, and then deeply touching. The majority of the performance being played out via a webcam was a fantastic device that immediately provided a one to one relationship with the viewer. How many television shows in prime time would face the viewer and tell their story so directly? And how many lead characters end up in a relationship with a paving slab?

The editing also must be praised as this is an integral mechanism that enables this first person narrative to work so well. It also justifies some of the more risible elements in the episode. Looking at the opening В‘comedy chaseВ’ it could be seen as rather silly and farcical. But the viewer must understand that we are seeing events through someone elseВ’s eyes whilst Russell T Davies is also turning the whole В‘corridor chase with monstersВ’ trope, so indicative of В‘classicВ’ Doctor Who, on its head in a surreal, slightly mocking, homage.

We could approach the whole episode as a complete love-letter to the series and its fans. The LINDA organisation is fandom. A fandom not governed by rules, a fandom that not only understands its primary function ( e.g. enjoying Doctor Who as a group/connecting with other humans who know about the Doctor) but also by dint of that association socialising, eating together, forming a band as secondary functions. These В‘fansВ’ enjoy themselves. And then uber-fan Victor Kennedy arrives and suddenly there are rules, goals, expectations thrust upon the group. The original group lose sight of why they got together in the first place. Victor Kennedy is a creature with no complexes. He is absent of complexes and where they are repressed, life is vacuous, lonely and empty. The complexes that make us human are about our centres of feeling, they are the inner source of relating to other people and making contact with the outside world. Victor Kennedy is about stifling those desires.

LINDA was a group of normal people who were aware of slightly extraordinary things going on in the world around them. This emphasis is important because if they are representative of fandom then what Russell is saying, and which is neatly summed up by EltonВ’s final speech, is that these people understand that the world is exciting, different and challenging and that their mutual quest for the Doctor is instrumental but not exclusive in their realisation of this. Is he saying В‘fansВ’ have got lives too?

When we recognise these complexes and feelings we often transform them into helpful archetypal figures (Mr. Skinner seems to be doing a lecture on the Doctor as an archetypal figure in the episode) and the archetypal figure helps the individual to fulfil his/her potential. Hence, not only is the Doctor a figure around which individuals can articulate their complexes (Bridget grieving about a child lost to drugs) the Doctor also explains to Elton about his presence at the death of EltonВ’s mother and thus allows him to properly grieve and move on and close that expectation in favour of some other life affirming action.

The strength of a group is also apparent when the absorbed members of LINDA make one final effort to vanquish the Abzorbaloff. They are representative of that continuous tension between social disintegration and dissolution, the tension between your distinction from society as an individual and your relation to the human race as a whole. Without that effort to group together, the victims of the Abzorbaloff are just simply the by-product of a self-destructive urge where no one individual has managed to make a stand. Is Victor Kennedy representative of another kind of 'fan' of the Doctor?

Peter Kay as Victor/the Abzorbaloff pitched this about right. I feared it would end up as another В‘Ken DoddВ’ but found the performance worked well. The prosthetics veered between being really quite excellent, particularly the articulation of the faces on the body, to being В‘rubber suit of the weekВ’. However, I do think that there was an inherent playfulness in the episode that actually acknowledged that this was В‘rubber suit of the weekВ’ because in the past thatВ’s what Doctor Who was perceived as. My view was that Davies was taking this and playing with our perceptions a bit. KayВ’s performance helped sell this idea and there were some genuinely laugh out loud moments. Was Davies saying that we all know this is an actor in a rubber suit but actually itВ’s symbolic and has some interesting things to say about our perceptions?

Musically, I thought the use of ELO was inspired and the re-use of certain motifs by Murray Gold was also welcomed. The remounting of the Auton attack and the Christmas Invasion from EltonВ’s point of view were also very amusing and served as another way of bringing the viewer into his world view. It would be churlish to quibble about the re-use of sequences from previous episodes to flesh this out. Only the Aliens In London flashbask depended more or less on existing footage.

A daring episode, not entirely successful, but not the disaster some were predicting. In fact, it has probably a lot more to say about the Doctor and his world, Rose and JackieВ’s world, and the implications when those collide, than many other episodes in this series as a whole. And EltonВ’s prediction about the fate of Rose and Jackie is a subext so very clearly underlined by the events of this episode too.

So, Doctor Who does 'different'. Russell T Davies certainly isn't afraid to take the series in new directions. It's almost as if being forced to use the Blue Peter competition-spawned Abzorbaloff gave him permission to tear up the new series rule book. He gives the Doctor and Rose near walk-on parts. He chooses to have one-off central character Elton Pope narrate the story (and provide 'video diary' style addresses to camera). He also dispenses with traditional linear storytelling, throwing in flashbacks, flashforwards, speeded-up sequences, and even a brief appearance from Elton John. All of which feels wonderfully fresh and fun.

Marc Warren's performance as Elton Pope is a winning one, and he's ably supported by Shirley Henderson as Ursula Blake, who both turn their shy, geeky Doctor fans into warm, three-dimensional characters. Camille Coduri is given space to shine as Jackie Tyler, and the story gives us a whole new take on her life, going 'a bit mad' while her daughter swans off with the Doctor. The other LINDA members, too, though peripheral, come across as likeable individuals, thanks to Davies' skill at swiftly painting 'real' people - 'I don't know why we call him Mr Skinner', 'Bless Bliss', etc. And the scenes of the group becoming friends and finally forming the band brought a real smile to my face. It's just a shame that neither the band, nor my smile, could last until the end of the episode.

Davies, though a clever writer in many ways, seems determined to take what was going quite well, and generally screw it up. His lovable characters are casually discarded, which might have been okay in a grittier tale, but just seems thoughtless here. He changes tone from comic to tragic to gross-out with the sensitivity of a learner driver crunching gears. This leaves the final scenes where Elton recalls his mother's death completely lacking the emotional weight they were clearly intended to have.

But Peter Kay is good fun, both as Victor Kennedy and the Abzorbaloff - there may not be a more ridiculously funny moment this series than when his blubbery green form half-runs, half-wobbles after Elton. Shame the story resolution was so rubbish. Okay, you could argue that a story like this one doesn't really demand anything great in the plot department, but it feels like Davies just dashed off the first few crazy thoughts that came into his head. The Abzorbaloff absorbs people (for food, we presume), but they can (almost) pull him apart? Oh, and if you snap his walking cane in half it'll break his 'energy field' (or something) and he'll dissolve into a puddle, absorbed by the earth (or something). And then there's Ursula the Paving Slab... Well, ten out of ten for sneaking in a thinly-veiled fellatio reference well before the 9pm watershed, but it wasn't a funny idea, it was an embarrassing one.

Overall then, an interesting and engaging first half, more-or-less ruined by the second half. And, is it just me, or are things generally going a bit wrong this season? Whether its awkward shifts in tone (see above and also New Earth), missed opportunities (see School Reunion) or weak story resolutions (see, well, most of them, but especially The Age of Steel and The Satan Pit), Doctor Who is fast losing its 'must-see TV' crown. I really hope that the remaining three episodes can pull something out of the bag. But the teaser for next week's Fear Her didn't look too inspiring (the preview on the SFX web site is unusually negative as well), which just leaves the Army of Ghosts/Doomsday two-parter. And, though I'm willing (and hopeful) to be surprised, it's written by Russell T Davies (so I'm expecting a massive deus ex machina at the end); it features guest appearances from Derek Acorah, Trisha Goddard and Barbara Windsor (ah...); and the 'surprise' departure of Rose is already well known. Time will tell, I suppose. And at least the much-praised Battlestar Galactica makes its Freeview debut on Thursday...

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.

Love and Monsters begins with the most promising and unusual premise to the new series yet. Elton, an endearingly idiosyncratic young man (we soon learn he likes the soccer, a drink, and the Electronic Light Orchestra), comes across the Doctor and Rose in a disused factory. In a joke that apparently never gets old for the new seriesВ’ writers, the Doctor and Rose are running back and forth across the screen, entering and exiting different doors on either side of the factory hallway, alternately chasing and being chased by a В‘monsterВ’. This Benny Hill type chase scene (complete with bucket of water) seems intended to build the light comic relief which characterises the episode, and this particular monsterВ’s presence is in fact then forgotten for the remainder.

Elton spends the rest of the episode documenting his story through soliloquies to his video camera, with cuts to the real action of the episode as it progresses. Elton recalls, from a strange night in early childhood, finding a mysterious man (the Doctor) in his house for a reason that later becomes clear (although unlikely). With a terrifically amusing sequence, we then see Elton getting involved with four other charming characters who have developed a fascination with the legend of the Doctor. At their regular meetings, they build a happy friendship that is much more fulfilling than the Doctor-obsession that originally brought them together.

Unfortunately, the mysterious and eccentric Victor discovers the group and his depth of knowledge on the Doctor and authoritative air quickly have them running errands trying to track the Doctor down. ItВ’s unfortunate, because one by one Victor asks members of the group to stay behind, and one by one they mysteriously disappear. This is rather annoying, as they all had the potential to offer quite a bit more to the episode. Along the way, Elton has some very entertaining adventures finding and ingratiating himself with RoseВ’s mum, and again, the development of his friendship with her makes him realise that love and friendship in the real world is more fulfilling than his interest in the semi-mythical Doctor.

Sadly, the episode then needlessly self-destructs. The innovation and great comic timing of the parodic first half collapses into distasteful perversity as yet another unlikely monster is revealed, more unsatisfying speculation about the DoctorВ’s dark side is briefly and ineffectively touched on, and Elton is left at the end holding a disembodied (yet alive) womanВ’s head with which we are told he has a В‘love lifeВ’. The inescapable conclusion that this means kissing and fellatio between a man and a disembodied head is off-putting, to say the least.

Despite the poor finale, the beginning of this episode and a few of the other episodes this season do show that the new series of Doctor Who can find interesting new ground. Yet it remains a wasted opportunity that 22 of the first 27 episodes have been grounded on Earth (or in near space). HereВ’s hoping that the remaining two episodes of the season provide some segue for the TARDIS to break free of our solar system for the next season.

PS. I can't help thinking about the Satan Pit. Surely it would be more interesting for the TARDIS to materialise around the spaceship, rather than the rather silly В‘towingВ’ scene. ItВ’s high time we saw some of the cavernous TARDIS interiors beyond the control room.

Do you think ANYONE on the production team is able to turn to RTD and say 'actually, no, Russell- I think it's really bad and quite lazy. What on Earth are you trying to do?'

I just listened to the commentary on this episode. On it RTD chuckles at the absurdity of a steaming bucket being thrown at an alien to attack it and muses on the indignation of fans seeing this and that while the internet is buzzing he'll be in his hot tub. Personally I didn't mind the steaming bucket in the least. I do mind not knowing why it was there or what was going on but then RTD doesn't seem to think anything like plot matters so long as you've got snappy one-liners and soap-opera moments. I don't agree.

This was, in short a complete waste of our time. Yes is was sometimes smirkinlgy funny and quite sweet but so is alot of what's on TV and Dr Who is supposed to be better than that. I'm not just saying that because I count myself as a fan but because the new series have won so many awards, had so many viewers and so many RT covers. It IS better, more interesting and more engaging than most programmes on TV and what Love & Monsters did was, frankly boring.

The metaphor for Dr Who fans is now quite tired and beginning to get boring. Why not include metaphors for the BBC, JNT and Mary Whitehouse and write a plotless character piece about a group of schools kids making a magazine? This was SO trite, banal and pointless- the only vaguely interesting thing was Elton's mother being killed by a Shade escaped from the Howling Halls. But then we al know how good RTD is at thinking up sparkle and dressing without any thought, substance or plot behind it.

Peter Kay is apparently a really good actor aswell as a great comedian. He might be- it may have come across in the episode but to be honest all I could see was reasonable pantomime.

The epsiode was intended as an experiment- a change of format for the show. Good. Fine. Absolutely no problem. The 'Adventuress of Henrietta Street' was a BBC novel with a radically different format, told in the form of fragmented historical documents, heresay and excerpts from prostitutes' diaries. It was also the most engaging, intelligent and exciting Dr Who book I have every read. I have no problem with experimenting with the bounds of the show's format but SURELY if you are going to do something risky and unusual you need a really good REASON to do it? There was nothing here- just some pretty standard TV fair about a group of people enjoying themselves and being taken over by a more coporate/unhappy ethos and then losing friends. It wasn't deep, it wasn't interesting and certainly wasn't worth my time.

It was also a complete spoof. Like the burping bin, the EXCESSIVE farting of the slitheen and the three stooges slaptick at the beginning of the epidose it was a very obvious denial of the world in which the characters live. It's like a boom coming into shot or having canned laughter over the top of the soundtrack. These little quirks and one-liners that pepper RTD's writing are not only pathetic when compared to the comedy and plotting of other writers but also ruin our belief in the world the character's live in- how can we care about Billy's character when we're constantly being made aware of the writer's sense of humour. The kind of ridiculous juxtapositions RTD puts in like the boy-next-door keeping a living paving-stone in his room which whom he has arelationship could probably be carried off by a writer like Paul Magrs- he is outlandish in such a way as create believable worlds with explanations and intelligent themes. Can you imagine the response that the first episode of 2005 would have had if Rose was attacked by and Abzorbaloff in the basement rather than Autons? NO ONE WOULD BE WATCHING.

On a similar theme the Abzorbaloff was terribly realized. The idea the 10y/o kid had is good as far as I can see and despite the Earth-referencing sumo pants and mohican a nice idea for an alien mencace. Contrary to RTD's comments it is perfectly obvious from the drawing that it should have been the size of a double decker bus (a whole body is visible in its forearm) and it should have been see-through... but never mind. Unfortunately it looked like a goblin/orc/gremlin/ogre/troll from any fairy-tale book and NOT like an alien. My point is it looks very much like a human fantasy of a monster - essentially a very ugly human being - rather than something that evolved on a very different work an developed a different culture. Compare this to the Ood who look wonderful and SO believeable. If there was some kind of explanation that the reason we conceive goblins/trolls/bogeymen as looking a bit like Abzorbaloffs etc suchas them actually stalking Bavarian villages in the fifth century and being recorded in our popular consciousness as fairy tale monsters- then suddenly they'd be believable and more frightening. As it is it looks like a fat guy in suit and if I were a 10y/o viewer I'd be insulted.

As I said there were moments that were funny and sweet. But anyone and any TV show can do that- Dr Who needs to have more to it.