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The Doctor: David Tennant
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Jackie Tyler: Camille Codouri
Victor Kennedy/Abzorbaloff: Peter Kay
Elton Pope: Marc Warren
Ursula Blake: Shirley Henderson
Mr Skinner: Simon Greenall
Bridget: Moya Brady
Bliss: Kathryn Drysdale
Old Woman: Bella Emberg
Synopsis:
An ordinary man named Elton Pope (right) becomes obsessed with The
Doctor and joins a group of like-minded people in hopes of finding him.
But when the mysterious Victor Kennedy joins the group, the fun soon
stops and Elton discovers a darker side to his hobby.
Russell T. Davies eschews the Doctor Who formula for Love & Monsters,
an episode that removes the emphasis on The Doctor and focuses on obsessive
loner Elton Pope (Marc Warren, a sort of younger-looking Malcolm McDowell
- DVDfever Dom adds: "I'm so glad I'm not the only one who
thinks this!")
It transpires that Elton met The Doctor when he was small boy and has become
obsessed with finding him ever since - so much so that he joins a group
of like-minded people who call themselves the London Investigations 'N
Detective Agency (L.I.N.D.A).
Love & Monsters walks a fine line between being agreeably different
and embarrassingly awful. For the most part is succeeds on a silly level
that kids will enjoy, and Davies is clearly having fun with the chance to
fool around with Who conventions. The episode also gives Davies a chance
to flex his comedy muscles with more success than when he shoehorns gags
into dramatic stories.
Here, the emphasis is clearly on comedy from the opening sequence (which
includes The Doctor, Rose and a monster in homage to Scooby Doo!) I
still don't find Davies particular brand of family-friendly comedy
particularly amusing, but there are some nice scenes and a few gags that
hit their targets.
Peter Kay makes an impression as Victor Kennedy (a posh eccentric with a cane, top-right),
and his alter-ego The Abzorbaloff (a sort of cross between Fungus The
Bogeyman and Fat Bastard from Austin Powers, right).
Marc Warren performs well in a comedic role, managing to keep the right
level of dramatics and comedy bubbling along. The supporting cast are
mainly inconsequential, although Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle
in the Harry Potter films) was a memorably geeky love-interest.
Camille Codouri also returned as Jackie Tyler, a character that
can veer from extremely irritating to lovably real in the blink of an
eye. Fortunately, Davies wrote her particular subplot with just the right
combination of laughs and humanity - as Elton infiltrated her life
to find Rose, while Jackie had more romantic thoughts in mind.
The effects are fairly good, particularly the rubber-suit of the
Abzorbaloff with its CGI-assisted faces of past victims appearing all
over its body. Quite a freaky effect and expertly achieved. However,
later sequences when the Abzorbaloff is called upon to run around outside
should have been abandoned. There's nothing quite as silly as seeing a
full-body shot of a man running around in a rubber fat-suit (but maybe
that was the intention.)
In essence, I was entertained by Love & Monsters most of the
time, particularly in its first-half, but the joke began to wear thin
after a while. Davies is still completely out of his depth when it comes
to plotting science-fiction, and the whole Kennedy/Abzorbaloff plot was
obvious and sign-posted at every turn.
The Jackie/Elton romance was far more interesting, yet tragically underused.
Davies is also a writer clearly in love with his own written mythology, so
there are lots of comments about past Davies-penned episodes and flashbacks.
Luckily, in the context of the plot these worked much better than you'd
expect - particularly the scenes where Elton witnessed key events such
as the Auton attack (Rose), the alien ship crash-landing (Aliens
Of London) and a giant spaceship appearing overhead (The Christmas
Invasion).
Overall, this was a brave episode for daring to think outside of the box,
but a stronger overall plot would have made all the difference. Love & Monsters
was just too frivolous and empty most of the time, lacking an emotional
bite - despite a ham-fisted attempt to provide one when Elton's relationship
with The Doctor is finally explained.
I can't say I hated this episode, because at least it attempted to do
something different and it did provide a few cheap laughs along the way,
but ultimately it was just too unsubstantial and light-hearted to make much
of an impression.
However, I suppose Russell T. Davies does deserve some kudos for managing
to allude to a face-on-a-paving stone giving its boyfriend a blowjob.
NEXT WEEK: The Doctor and Rose arrive in 2012, just in time to witness
the London Olympics...
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Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Series 1 Boxset:
Synopsis:
An ordinary man named Elton Pope (right) becomes obsessed with The
Doctor and joins a group of like-minded people in hopes of finding him.
But when the mysterious Victor Kennedy joins the group, the fun soon
stops and Elton discovers a darker side to his hobby.
Peter Kay makes an impression as Victor Kennedy (a posh eccentric with a cane, top-right),
and his alter-ego The Abzorbaloff (a sort of cross between Fungus The
Bogeyman and Fat Bastard from Austin Powers, right).
