‘LOVE & MONSTERS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Abzorbaloff and Elton Pope with the Tenth Doctor and Rose
Okay! Let’s get something straight. I quite like ‘Love & Monsters’! There you are. I’ve said it. This is a ‘Doctor Who’ episode that has divided opinion among fans. Some love this; some loathe it.
The majority hate this episode. This is something I can appreciate, yet I still enjoyed watching this. It’s not great, but I still enjoyed it. I suppose because I was new to ‘Doctor Who’, I didn’t know any better.
‘Love & Monsters’ is by Russell T. Davies. It doesn’t feature the Doctor and Rose much, as they appear only at the beginning and the end. It’s narrated by a man obsessed with the Doctor via his video camera.
Elton Pope tells his story about meeting the Doctor. He recollects his encounters with aliens and forms a social group about the Doctor called the ‘London Investigative ‘N’ Detective Agency’ (L.I.N.D.A.).
But their group is soon taken over by the mysterious Victor Kennedy who pushes them forward into finding the Doctor. It’ll mean hurting those closest to who know Elton such as Jackie Tyler, Rose’s mum.
Mark Warren stars as Elton – not to be confused with Elton John. I liked Elton, as the story depicts how a man’s encounter with the Doctor can be life-changing with both exciting and horrible results.
I liked some of the continuity references made to previous ‘Doctor Who’ stories. Elton has encountered Autons from ‘Rose’; Slitheen from ‘Aliens of London’/’World War Three’ and the Sycorax from ‘The Christmas Invasion’.
One of the things I liked about this episode is the inclusion of the Electric Light Orchestra, as I love listening to their music. Elton is so right about one thing with this episode. “You can’t beat good old ELO!”
L.I.N.D.A. are an interesting group of Doctor fans who I liked. As well as Elton, there’s Shirley Henderson as Ursula Blake, Simon Greenall as Mr Skinner, Moya Brady as Bridget and Kathryn Drysdale as Bliss.
The group is soon joined by comedian Peter Kay as Victor Kennedy. He pushes them forward into finding the Doctor with thorough methods. He is so mysterious and has this odd ‘eczema’ about him.
Victor turns out to be the Abzorbaloff, a fat absorbing alien created by 9-year old William Grantham from a ‘Blue Peter’ competition to create a ‘Doctor Who’ monster. He’s very gross and disgusting to look at.
Peter Kay gives a strange performance as the Abzorbaloff, since his voice changes into a strong Northern accent for an alien. Sometimes it’s difficult to take the Abzorbaloff seriously on screen. 😀
Camile Coduri guest stars as Jackie Tyler in this. Elton makes friends with Jackie, as he tries to get to her daughter Rose to find the Doctor. It’s heartbreaking when Jackie discovered the truth about Elton.
As I said, David Tennant and Billie Piper don’t appear much as the Doctor and Rose in this story. They manage to save Elton from the Abzorbaloff, although Rose wants to have it out with Elton for upsetting her mum.
So ‘Love & Monsters’, whilst it’s not a standout favourite, is an enjoyable episode for me. It’s strange the Doctor and Rose aren’t in it much, but Marc Warren is very good as Elton in this episode. I have more positive things to say about this episode than negative, as it’s an interesting experiment.
The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this episode are as follows. There’s an audio commentary with Camille Coduri, director Dan Zeff and executive producer Julie Gardner. There’s also the ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ episode ‘The New World of Who’.
I didn’t enjoy ‘The Impossible Planet’/’The Satan Pit’ as much as I enjoyed ‘Love & Monsters’. ‘Love & Monsters’ was a welcome relief, as it contained plenty of comedic and horror aspects that I liked compared to the dark and sometimes depressing aspects of the Satan two-parter which grew on me.
‘Love & Monsters’ rating – 6/10
| The previous story
For the Tenth Doctor was
For Rose was
|
The next story
For the Tenth Doctor is For Rose is |
| Return to The Tenth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Rose’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to Doctor Who Timelines | |
| Return to Doctor Who | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 
You knew this comment was coming Tim lol, as you know i loathe Love & Monsters with a passion, it’s the most cringeworthy episode I’ve ever seen & if i could I’d burn every copy from existence lol.
I remember watching this upon transmission & felt the like the life was being sucked out of me, Peter Kays awful & the acting hammier than a 1000 ham sandwiches.
Even thinking about it i…neeed …t..o li..e…do..w…n.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I know, I know. I knew that you wouldn’t share the same opinion as me about this ‘Doctor Who’ episode. 😀 I know this episode has the tendency to divide fans with the majority mostly hating it for some reason. But I can’t take that viewpoint so strongly, since I enjoyed it on some level. Yes it’s not a favourite of mine, but I don’t feel so against this episode as many others would.
Perhaps it’s the way the story was presented as a video diary or perhaps it had too many comedic moments. But I can’t help enjoy it for some strange reason. Peter Kay is way over the top as the Abzorbaloff, but my best mate Stephen and I find ourselves enjoying repeating his lines. “No! I’m not that swine! I spit on them! I was born on their twin planet!”
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this episode, Simon. They’ve been very enjoyable to read! 😀 Tim. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arrrrrrrgh this is my kryptonite episode…………my arms, my legs, my everything.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh I wish for the ‘Love and Monsters’ novelization to be made to make the story seem better than it is on TV. Heck, give me a chance and I can write the ‘Love and Monsters’ novelization to make it seem better than it is on TV.
There’s my reviews on ‘The Girl In The Fireplace’ and ‘The Idiot’s Lantern’ to check out by the way.
Tim. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
For an episode with at least something important to say about why we may be interested in certain people, and what makes us truly care about people, I can admire how Love & Monsters achieved that much in a most unique way.
Thank you, Tim, for your review.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Thanks for your positive insight into ‘Love & Monsters’. I’ve always had a soft spot for this ‘Doctor Who’ episode and even though it doesn’t altogether work, especially in how the comedy elements are included, I can appreciate the message it tries to give about how being interested in what we enjoy, how it affects our everyday lives with the people we know and love around us, and how we need to take better care of ourselves because of that. I don’t know if this is a ‘Doctor Who’ episode Russell T. Davies regards fondly or not, but it’s a brave attempt to do a ‘Doctor Who’ story from the angle of someone who’s essentially a fan. I might have done things differently with the approach, but I appreciate the attempt RTD tried to do here.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The kinds of TV episodes and films that we can individually have soft spots for are of course always fascinating. It can enrich what we get out of our entertainment and it quite naturally makes us into more interesting reviewers. In all fairness, no show or film is perfect. Not even the best classics. But that consequently gives audiences and fans more freedom to have their own takeaways. That’s what being a Whovians, and even a Trekker, has taught me ever since childhood.
And you’re welcome, Tim.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks scifimike,
I try my best to be honest and evalulative in my reviews, even for the films and TV shows that are considered bad by the majority. I can say good and bad things about ‘Doctor Who’ stories like ‘The Horns of Nimom’ and ‘Love & Monsters’. Just as much as I can say good and bad things about movies like ‘Batman & Robin’, ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’ and 2004’s ‘Thunderbirds’.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person