Love & Monsters

In a season that has bee populated by shoddiness - often good ideas are either poorly executed or laden with useless plot gratuities that have become so ho hum lately or the character of Rose is just annoying - this one is more like a little science fiction romantic comedy that just happens to feature the Doctor and Rose and could easily be viewed and enjoyed without ever seeing any other episode of the series ever again.

The plot concerns a guy who becomes very interested in this mysterious figure the Doctor and hooks up with a club devoted to the same pursuit that he meets online. The club is filled with the same kind of awkward but friendly types and their discussions of the Doctor eventually morph into pot luck dinners and a cute, silly little rock band that does ELO covers - until a mysterious fellow shows up and commandeers the group in order to find more out about the Doctor.

Marc Warren is sweet and goofy as Elton and Peter Kay is nicely over the top as the mysterious guy who takes over. It's very light entertainment, but nonetheless touching and funny . . . and out of left field, really. It's nice to see that in this season of retreads and by-the-numbers half thought out junk that writer Russell T. Davies could take a moment to try something a little different for a change.

I can understand why there is a loathing for the Series' Marmite episode, but I fall into the 'love it' camp. It dares to be different, it is often branded with 'Fear her' as terrible and lazy. Fear her's script was a lazy one, this one isn't, it's different, full of life and full of laughs. The script is a goody, and it falls together nicely.

It's funny throughout, funny and terror work really well together. The funny bits are nuts, from the Jamie/Troughton-esque runs of Rose and the Doctor at the start to the utter brilliance of Camille Coduri, her seducing Elton is class, so funny. Bella Emberg's cameo appearance had me screaming laughing, what a gem!!

There are also some beautifully touching moments, The Doctor's visit of junior Elton and the sadness of his mum's death, the members of LINDA talking. The climax is wonderfully touching, and I applaud Marc Warren's performance.

I bet Peter Kay had the time of his life playing Victor and the Abzorbaloff, he's a great character and the effects are super.

I love the links back to Aliens of London and Rose episodes, so cool to see that done. (Especially with my friend Eve's face behind Marc Warren.) Victor comes from Clom, Clom is one of the planets that disappear when the Daleks take planets out of time and Space for Series 4's finale, and we also get the first mention of Harold Saxon for Series 3's arc.

It is just a joy, I love it 10/10

I actually really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this episode. That was, until the monster is revealed and the rest of the episode becomes disturbingly bad.

Through all I sit here and I wait, this filler episode will just not abate. The poorest show of season 2 (so far), the search by Elton for Doctor Who. But the Lord of Time is barely in it, the writer's fail their scope and remit (they get away with it in Blink though, Season 3). I fear the next (instalment) will not atone (it doesn't, it's gets worse) and Ursula-like, I turn to stone.

Clearly, based on the comments left here, "Love & Monsters" is a love it or hate it affair. And probably all you need to know going into it is that after 45 minutes you'll likely fall into one camp or the other. I can certainly see why it would rub someone the wrong way, and yet I feel for the DW fan who doesn't embrace this episode for the wonderful stretching of the show's format that it is.

The episode, written by show runner Russell T Davies, is a great example of why he's in charge of the new series: He's an idea man, and unafraid to try new things, rather than simply fall back on the tried and true. Maybe some of his more radical ideas don't work for everyone? Even with the most mainstream episodes, Davies & Co. don't please everyone, all the time. After watching "Love & Monsters", my 13-year old son was so into it he immediately said, "I didn't even notice the Doctor and Rose were hardly in it."

In Season One Davies took some baby steps (the highly underrated "Boom Town" springs to mind); in Season Two he's confident and willing to go even further. "Love & Monsters" is a bright, shiny example of DW for the new millennium. While many have concentrated on its humorous aspects, few mention the episode's melancholy, which for me, was the core sell.

And on top of everything else, it's got ELO tunes. This fan was in heaven.