Doctor Who 2x10 - "Love & Monsters"
 

Plot Summary
An ordinary man called Elton becomes obsessed with the Doctor and Rose and their mysterious blue box. But when Elton's investigations bring him to the attention of the enigmatic Victor Kennedy, his harmless hobby suddenly plunges him into a living nightmare.

Danny's Review
Wow... that was weird. And I must say, not very Doctor Who-ish. The plot was okay, but the execution was poor, and the little added bits (like the Doctor "saving" Ursula, and the whole concept of restoring the absorbed... eh... well, let's just put it that I liked "New Earth" better than this, and I called "New Earth" the worst of the series so far when it aired... 3/10.

I agree with Danny, yes the monster was created by a 9 year old, and i praise Russell T Davies for continuing to make Doctor Who so interactive and something to get involved with, but did the really need to take the focus away from the Doctor? Was some of it quite nessasary? like part fo that recording? I can't really explain how dissappointed i am, and like Danny, i thought 'New Earth' was bad, but this takes the buiscuit quite sharply.

And it gets worse, too. Here are some highlights of reviews posted on Outpost Gallifrey.

Before the episode even finished:

Immediately after the episode:

It makes you sad, doesn't it? :(

Bloody heck! And some of these were before the episode was finished. And i am sorry to say that i must agree, i lost interest in that episode fast, I enjoyed Peter Kays acting, he was one fo the best parts of it. But overall, it was crap! Russell T Davies has done 2 stinkers, 3 at the most so far, and this episode is not up to scratch. Absolutley dreadful, I seriousy hope next weeks episode is better, because i am starting to think hard about it, and failing that, the finalie better be a dramatic, wonderful, brilliant 2 parter. Because now im wondering. And what does make the episode even worse is the fact you were not convinced by it Danny, ;) But this episode was Doctor Who with hardly any Doctor, just people disscussing him, thats only good for so far. So it must rank as one of the lowest points of the series.

Well I actually found this episode quite enjoyable. Ok, the part at the start where the doc, Rose and that monster are running through those doors like the Scooby Doo clan was quite silly, but I thought it was a nice story, and a breath of fresh air to have a story with little Doctor in it, to focus around the people who are affected by the Doctors actions. Peter Kay was very funny, "Yeah, Abzorbaloff I like that one." People who are critising the show because they don't like Peter Kay are just shallow. People who are complaining are just scared to see a different sort of episode.
I enjoyed the episode. Cut it some slack ok?

People were not just critisizing it just for Peter Kay, read all the OG comments, this episode was the worst yet, and if the Beeb has any sense, Russell T Davies will write less episodes next season, as for the running through the corrodor trick, thats lame, how many times have you seen it before? Thats just not Doctor Who. It's the Doctor who makes the show, you don;t just farm it out to a supporting cast.

On a good Note, Captain Jack will be back next series at least, he will appear at the start to console the Doctor :) it will be good to see him, i have actually missed the character somewhat :)

Completely agreed with Chris's latest post.

You're on your own as far as DannyStewart.com members so far.

Actually that was one of the parts of the episode I enjoyed more. Not to say I enjoyed it at all, but...

Isn't that a contradiction in terms? A Doctor Who story with little Doctor being a breath of fresh air?

You can show the Doctor's impact without removing the Doctor. But even the plot was shallow and meaningless to me. If it was well done, that would be one thing, but this was about as far from well done as humanly possible. And the blame for that rests solely on the shoulders of Russell T. Davies.

Peter Kay was very funny, if you have the sense of humor of a two-year-old who's mentally retarded and doesn't understand the English language and just sees a big fat green thing flopping around on that box that gives off light and noise. (Please note that this is not directed at you, Ronn, nor at anyone who did find him funny, so please don't take offense. This is just the sense of humor that I feel the episode must have been catered towards.)

I will agree with you there. Judge the story on its own merits or lack thereof.

That's a generalization and I don't appreciate it. I welcome different kinds of episodes, as long as they're handled well. And this was not handled well. That's not the fault of the production team, it's the fault of our lord and master RTD, in whom my faith dwindles with each passing RTD-written episode (except "Tooth and Claw").

Luckily due to freedom of thought and expression I don't have to cut it any slack, and I won't be, because I found no merit in it nor did I derive any enjoyment from watching it. If I thought there were good things about it, I most certainly would cut it some slack. But as I said, I just don't see very many good things about the episode. I'm sorry.

I didnt even read all of those reviews Danny because quite frankly, I dont know where they were, but they were not watching the same episode I was. I thought it was a great episode, one of the best in the series behind the Impossible Planet.

I thought Peter Kay would've been poor, but it surprised me how good it was. Personally I dont see how you could possibly view it that way, your TVs - and Danny's downloading service - must be defective.
Yeah well I agree with Ronn on that point, you guys are just being far too critical, just because a different kind of humour and plot is being used.

What Humor? I loved the humor as it was, in the other episodes. There was no humor at all in this, i was actually crepped out by Elton slightly. Ross, My TV was not defective, and this is how i feel and i won't be had a go at for it, i know you have your opinion, and i do respect that, but please respect mine, i really thought this was bad. and i will avoid watching thsi on the DVD's if possible. I will hope that more episodes will be done by others next season.

I will point out one thing from that episode i did like. The little club became a group of friends who wanted ot have a nice time, i did feel that was like us in a way, the forums are the same, a small group of friends, devoted to Sci Fi, who share interestes, make jokes and fit in well. That was the single bit of the episode i did find appreciation for, since it reminded me of this place here. :)

[QUOTE=Danny Stewart;16452]

"Isn't that a contradiction in terms? A Doctor Who story with little Doctor being a breath of fresh air?"

I just mean it was nice and different, to have a story with little Doc in it.

"You can show the Doctor's impact without removing the Doctor. But even the plot was shallow and meaningless to me. If it was well done, that would be one thing, but this was about as far from well done as humanly possible. And the blame for that rests solely on the shoulders of Russell T. Davies."

The plot was not meaningless, A group of investigators were looking for the Doctor, Peter Kay comes along and takes charge of the group, so he can find the Doc and absorb him, therefore making him more intelligent. Anyone who gets too close gets absorbed by him. It was quite a nice plot and a nice light hearted episode.

"Peter Kay was very funny, if you have the sense of humor of a two-year-old who's mentally retarded and doesn't understand the English language and just sees a big fat green thing flopping around on that box that gives off light and noise. (Please note that this is not directed at you, Ronn, nor at anyone who did find him funny, so please don't take offense. This is just the sense of humor that I feel the episode must have been catered towards.)"

I think this IS directed at anyone who finds it funny Danny, you are trying to say that only a Spastic who couldnt understand the english language would like it. Maybe, just maybe, RTD wanted to make an episode that focused more on children for a change. Peter was very
funny in his character. This is the firsts RTD episode where I hav'nt disliked Tennants performance.

I dont see how that cant be directed towards people who found it funny. Personally I thought that kind of humour was the same as some of the other jokes in other non-RTD episodes, and that it was actually quite funny.

Well, to each his own, but I found the humor very childish, and I don't enjoy childish humor. It makes me cringe and almost be embarrassed to be a Doctor Who fan at that point in time. Neither of my parents liked it either, nor did any of the friends I showed it to, so draw your own conclusions.

Oh, and also, I can't let this one fly:
Yeah, because he was in a sum total of two minutes of the final episode!

Look I cant just stand by and let that one go. Has there ever been an episode where the Doctor has been in less. Im guessing no. It's a lot better if this happens every once and again. Besides, it's better with less Rose, time she was killed off or abandoned already.

Let which one go?

Then you would guess incorrectly. There was a William Hartnell (First Doctor) episode in 1965 that had no Doctor or supporting cast (companions) at all.

No, never. I will not ever agree with that. The show is called Doctor Who because we watch and follow the adventures of the Doctor, that's it. If you're going to start abandoning the Doctor now and then you'd have to change the name and premise of the show, and then I'd stop watching.

That's another matter. Frankly a lot of Rose or a little of Rose doesn't really bother me one way or the other, so I won't disagree with you on that.

If Rose dies she dies, im not fussed, Bille has done a good job, she wants to leave, thats ok, as long as we don't see tripe, like that episode ever again.

Tripe? Satan Pit was tripe, not this.

The Satan Pit was enthralling, exciting, and thrilling action-drama. This was tripe.

Nonsense. The Satan Pit was tripe. This was good.

That's just ridiculous. Maybe you didn't like it but it wasn't tripe. This was awful.