"Love & Monsters"

The frenetic nature of the production process for Doctor Who meant a very interesting creative decision for the production team- mounting a story that would be shot at the same time as another episode with minimal appearances for the Doctor- the so-called ‘Doctor-lite’ episode. "Love & Monsters" tells the story of one Elton Pope, an ordinary Londoner who is obsessed with finding the Doctor and what happened when he found like-minded individuals along the way. By telling the tale of people who have noticed the Doctor, it becomes a love-letter to fandom. There are those who have followed the Doctor all their lives, those who have turned to the Doctor to mask other tragedies and Elton, who remembers the Doctor from his childhood and wants to know more. The members of LI’n’DA (as they eventually dub themselves) are not the usual ‘anoraks’ that are used to denote fans- they are a diverse group of people who have other interests and find something more in LI’n’DA - shared interests lead to genuine friendships developing, and perhaps something more. Of course, there are some who take it a bit too seriously and the character of Victor Kennedy takes control of LI’n’DA , whose ’ec-zee-ma’ is more than it appears to be. RTD calls this story "Love & Monsters" and there is certainly both- Elton’s shadowing/ stalking of Jackie turning into feelings of friendship that awake what he has been feeling for Ursula all along. And there’s the Absorbaloff, a fun monster created by a young fan, that is used in an inspired fashion. Davies makes this a story of real human beings confronted with the unearthly, yet still wanting to live their lives.

Elton is not only the central character, he is the narrator for this story, which means that director Dan Zeff had an interesting set of options for visualising the story. The use of Elton’s video camera must have tempted Zeff to tell the story as a faux-video diary, à la The Blair Witch Project or Diary of the Dead. However, Zeff realised that this would not suit the mood of the story- this is not just about experiences of the Doctor, but about fantasy and memory, as, indeed, is our perception of the show itself. In addition, the comedy would be far less nuanced if the entire story was shot in that way. It is clear that a fair few of the scenes merely represent Elton’s internal perception- the comedic chase of the Hoix in the opening sequence, the literal internet meltdown. The mood changes subtly as the story progresses and Zeff is up to the challenge.

The cast is great. Marc Warren makes Elton very likeable and the adorable Shirley Henderson is wonderful as Ursula. All the members of LI’n’DA come across as likeable people thanks to the wonderful performances. Camille Coduri is given her meatiest role yet and her lovably slatternly pursuit of Elton is both funny and touching. Then there is Peter Kay as Victor/ The Absorbaloff. The idea of a posh-sounding gentleman with a cane being unmasked as an absorbing green blob with a Lancashire accent makes me giggle and Kay, though funny, never overplays the role. It goes without saying that David Tennant and Billie Piper are as excellent as ever in their limited roles,.

"Love & Monsters" is a wonderful and wholly successful experiment- don’t miss it!

NEXT: "Fear Her"