Love & Monsters (TV story)

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Love & Monsters was the eleventh episode of the second season of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who. It was the first episode since "Mission to the Unknown" whose focus was entirely on a character other than the Doctor. It was also the only episode to be told in the first person. It included important development of the character of Jackie Tyler, the first mention of Harold Saxon, and an explanation for why Torchwood could not use Rose Tyler as a way to track the Doctor.

From a production standpoint, it was notable for including a monster created by a child for a Blue Peter competition. It was further important for being the first story in the programme's history written specifically so that it could be recorded at the same time as another story — a process called "double banking". By minimizing the appearances of the Doctor and his companion, the production team were able to record 14 episodes in the same time that it took to make 13. Russell T Davies was sufficiently pleased with the results that the concept — dubbed a "Doctor-lite episode" — would become a regular feature of each subsequent season.

Synopsis

An ordinary man becomes obsessed with the Doctor and Rose, and uncovers a world of living nightmares.

Plot

An awestruck young man approaches sheepishly the Doctor's TARDIS then finds the Doctor and Rose tackling an alien-looking monster in a warehouse. The Doctor asks the man if they have ever met before, at which he panics and runs away.

The young man, a typical Londoner by the name of Elton Pope (not to be confused with the rock singer), narrates his story to us via his video camera. He introduces himself and tells how, when only three or four years old, he came downstairs one night to find a strange man in his house: the Doctor. Elton had gotten up in the massacre by the Autons and a year later watched as an alien ship crashed into Big Ben. Following another alien invasion last Christmas Day, Elton looks for information on the strange goings on and finds a photo of the Doctor, looking exactly as he did all those years ago. Elton meets Ursula Blake, who posted the photo on "My Invasion Blog" and believes his story about the Doctor. Ursula introduces Elton to her group of friends Bliss, Bridget Sinclair and Mr. Colin Skinner - who have all heard of the Doctor and meet regularly to discuss their findings. Despite the name Elton coins for them (London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency, or LINDA), they soon become more of a social group, helping each other through their problems and enjoying each other's company.

That all changes with the arrival of Victor Kennedy, an evidently wealthy gentleman who doesn't touch people on account of a skin condition, and who also wishes to find the Doctor. He soon takes over LINDA, forcing the members to work harder. Bliss vanishes. Elton manages to track down the Doctor and, as Elton explained, he then panicked and ran away.

Elton recording to his camera

Victor is furious, but decides to change plans: they will look for Rose. Elton locates Rose's mum Jackie with surprising ease, visiting her often supposedly to do odd jobs but really because Jackie finds him attractive. One night Jackie tries to seduce Elton, but a phone call from Rose brings her to her senses. Elton feels ashamed of using her, realising at the same time that he loves Ursula. When Jackie finds a photo of Rose in Elton's jacket she rounds on him and tells him to leave and says bitterly that no one has any interest in her.

Elton tells Victor he's ruined LINDA and that the three remaining members are leaving, noting that Bridget has gone, just like Bliss. He asks Ursula out to dinner, but Mr. Skinner stays behind as Victor offers to help him find Bridget. Ursula forgets her phone, and when the pair return for it they find Mr. Skinner has disappeared and Victor has transformed into a corpulent green alien - the Abzorbaloff, as Elton names it. The Abzorbaloff reveals he's absorbed him. Mr. Skinner is now in its belly while Bridget has been absorbed into his back. The sound of Bliss straining to say something comes from within the Abzorbaloff who tilts to one side, taking his weight off one of his buttocks, allowing her to tell Elton, admist the rumble of flatulence, that he doesn't want to know. Bliss groans as her face is squashed back on the chair. It makes hideous rumbling sounds. It wants to find the Doctor, which it believes will be the ultimate feast.

Ursula grabs the Abzorbaloff's cane and threatens to beat him with it unless he returns the LINDA members to their former states. The Abzorbaloff seems genuinely terrified by this thought and begs for mercy, which causes Ursula to hesitate; a decision which proves fatal as the Abzorbaloff grabs hold of her arm. A single touch is all that is needed for a victim to be absorbed, and Elton watches in horror as Ursula is gradually fused into the Absorbaloff's body, with her face ending up on his chest. Elton begs for Ursula to be returned, but the Abzorbaloff reveals that her original form is gone forever, and taunts Elton about the feelings Ursula had for him, which the Abzorbaloff now has access to. Likewise, Ursula can also access the Abzorbaloff's thoughts, and yells for Elton to flee, as he's next to be absorbed.

Elton runs, the creature chasing after him, until the TARDIS appears.An angry Rose has come to confront Elton about him upsetting her mother, while the Doctor questions the Abzorbaloff about such things as his home planet (which turns out to be Clom, the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius). The Abzorbaloff tells them of his scheme to lure in the Doctor to absorb him for "A delicious feast". Before the Abzorbaloff can try to consume Elton or the Doctor, the absorbed members of LINDA manage to distract it, Ursula telling Elton to snap its cane. This destroys the limitation field that maintained its integrity, and the Abzorbaloff dissolves into liquid and seeps into the ground along with the people absorbed by it. The Doctor then explains to the distraught Elton that on the night that they met, so long ago, he was hunting a living shadow which had escaped its home dimension; he caught it, but not before it had killed Elton's mother.

Elton muses that a meeting the Doctor is fraught with danger, but that he did save Elton one last time: with the sonic screwdriver, he was able to partially restore Ursula, who now exists as an unaging face in one of the paving stones where the Abzorbaloff had melted. The pair have found some happiness despite their ordeal, and Elton comments that he now knows the meaning of Stephen King's quote "salvation and damnation are the same". However he ends on a positive note, saying that the world isn't all it seems - it is better.

Cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          
  • William Grantham, the creator of the Abzorbaloff, was not a professional. Instead, he was the 9-year-old winner of the 2006 Blue Peter design-a-monster competition. On the commentary which accompanied the episode, producer Phil Collinson said Grantham was disappointed with the small stature of the finished monster. He claimed Grantham said, "It was meant to be as big as a double-decker bus." Some doubt has since been cast on this story by Grantham himself. In the BBC DVD documentary, Who Peter, an older Grantham expressed no misgivings about the creature's realization, but rather claimed to have been "stunned" because the monster had been so well-realized by Millennium FX.


References

  • Abzorbaloff is from Clom, the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius.
  • If you look at the newspaper that the Abzorbaloff is holding, the headline states that Saxon is ahead in the polls, making this the introduction of Mr. Saxon.
  • The Doctor refers to the living Shadow that killed Elton's mother to be from 'The Howling Halls'.
  • Elton John appears on screen very briefly in a performance clip.
  • Russell T Davies, mentions the Buffy episode "The Zeppo" as a possible influence for this episode.
  • The Abzorbaloff farting on Bliss could be a reference to the Slitheen's Gas Exchange.
  • The Rose/Doctor/Hoix corridor chase sequence is reminiscent of similar scenes in Scooby-Doo.
  • Abzorbaloff bears resemblance to Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movie series.
  • LINDA plays the song Don't Bring Me Down.

Story notes

  • The working title for this episode was "I Love The Doctor" and was created as a comic strip.
  • Bella Emberg was to reprise her role as Mrs Croot in The Runaway Bride, but was edited out.
  • This episode contains each of the first four series' story arcs: Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Mr. Saxon and a (soon to be) missing planet (Clom).
  • Clom would also later be revealed as one of the the Missing Planets (DW: The Stolen Earth), but this was not revealed in this episode.
  • There are references to Rose, Aliens of London and The Christmas Invasion, with new footage showing Elton's point of view of those events.
  • In the episode commentary, Russell T Davies notes that in an early draft, Elton had been witness to more events in Doctor Who history: in this draft, Elton's third birthday party was evacuated because of the "Shoreditch Incident", his mother was killed by a plastic daffodil, and Elton also witnessed the Loch Ness Monster rising from the Thames. Davies had also considered making the viewpoint character of the story a woman.
  • This is the first attempt at a 'Doctor-lite' episode; in these episodes, the Doctor's appearances are restricted to only a few select scenes, in order to allow two episodes of the series to be filmed at the same time; this scheduling was introduced with the 2006 season in order to allow production of a 14th episode, a Christmas special, in the same time it takes to produce 13 regular episodes. This would become an annual tradition henceforth, with a "companion-lite" episode, "Midnight," being introduced during the 2008 season.
  • Radio Times credits Peter Kay as Victor Kennedy/Abzorbaloff, while the on-screen credit reads Victor Kennedy.

Ratings

  • 6.7 million, 15th-highest-watched episode of any programme for the week

Myths and Rumours

  • The Hoix heavily resembled a Sycorax, leading it to be mistaken for one in the "next time..." trailer.
  • Mrs Croot could be the mother of Billy Croot, whom Jackie said had asked her out in Aliens of London.

Filming locations

Love and Monsters was written specifically to be shot mostly on location, so that another unit could be simultaneously filming another episode in studio. Consequently it has one of the highest location counts in the history of Doctor Who.

  • Adam Street Car Park, Cardiff — The scenes with the Doctor, Rose, Elton and the Abzorbaloff
  • Burnell Street, Newport — Scenes near the warehouses in the teaser
  • Frederick Street, The Hayes, Cardiff
  • Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University
  • Hayes Island, Cardiff — Elton in the flashback to Rose
  • Helen Place, Splott, Cardiff — Elton spots Jackie Tyler in the street
  • Heol Pentwyn, Cardiff — Elton's childhood home
  • Jacob's Antique Centre, West Canal Wharf, Cardiff — LINDA headquarters interiors
  • Llandaff Fields, Llandaff, Cardiff — Elton and Ursula's initial meeting
  • Maeifa Shopping Centre, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff — Elton finds Jackie shopping
  • Newport Docks Impounding Station, Newport — The Doctor and Rose's initial scenes with a Hoix
  • The Port of Cardiff, Cargo Road, Cardiff Docks — Elton finds the TARDIS in the teaser
  • St. David's Market, St. David's Hall, Cardiff — Elton finds Jackie shopping again
  • St. Peter's Sports and Social Club, Minster Road, Cardiff — scenes with "young Elton"
  • Wash Inn, Broadway, Splott, Cardiff — Laundry scenes with Jackie and Elton
  • West Canal Wharf, Cardiff — Brief sequence of Elton running from Abzorbaloff, just prior to Doctor's arrival
  • West Wharf Road, Cardiff — LINDA headquarters exteriors

Studio work was completed in one day at Unit Q2, Imperial Park, Imperial Way, Newport

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • Colin Skinner's voice is muffled even though he is only concealed behind a newspaper.
  • In the TARDISode the tea lady is never pictured on the Abzorbaloff but the nose and mouth are only seen.
  • When Elton flashes forward to the clip of Victor Kennedy, the clip is horizontally inverted.
  • When Ursula films Elton the camera is distorted and has frame lines but later they are gone and the view is normal.
  • When Ursula first reveals Victor Kennedy Elton asks who he is but when Ursula first meets Victor, Elton is there with her.

Continuity

Timeline

Home video releases

Series 2 Volume 4 DVD Cover

See also

External links


Template:Series 2

v • e
Auton stories
For the purposes of this list, an "Auton story" is one in which one living, authentic Auton plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as Love & Monsters are absent due to the Autons' only contribution being references to past Auton stories.
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