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| "It's a relationship... of sorts. But we manage. We've even got a bit of a love life." |
Love is in the air, so I'm compelled to share one of Russell T. Davis's most bizarre episodes from his original stint as writer and showrunner on Doctor Who (1963 - 2024).
Largely considered as one of the weaker episodes from the noughties relaunch, Love & Monsters focuses on a small collective of people obsessed with the titular Time Lord, while presented like a mockumentary. The concept is sound; the execution, not so much. What was originally intended as a lighthearted filler episode, especially after the Prince of Darkness (1987) and Event Horizon (1997) callbacks from The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit two parter, became nightmare fuel, thanks to its villain and disturbing epilogue.
With its human disguise, an alien villain known as the Abzorbaloff (Peter Kay), quickly takes leadership of the group and gradually consumes them for sustinance. The victims end up like the trapped souls within Freddy Krueger's body. The Doctor eventually saves the day (or does he?) and manages to give Ursula (Shirley Henderson), the last of the Abzorbaloff's victims, a fate worse than death by placing her within a slab of concrete. Adding to the disturbing mix is Elton (Marc Warren) and Ursula's relationship blossoms romantically and sexually.
The Abzorbaloff was a winning design by a nine year old on the long running children's BBC show Blue Peter. Therefore, it's a safe bet that Doctor Who was really cashing in on its family show rep at the time. Now, imagine the shock horror of the parents watching that particular episode knowing that it signs off with the hint that a man is having sex with a paving slab.
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| "Garlic bread?" |
This is one I've never seen and always look at on iPlayer like "nah!"
ReplyDeleteYou've sold it to me.
Love & Monsters is generally regarded as the one of worst episodes from the relaunch, but there are a bunch of Chibnall era ones that I find much worse; like Orphan 55.
ReplyDeleteRight, I just watched this and really liked it. It's kinda like Round The Twist's creator Paul Jennings did an episode of nu-Who.
ReplyDeleteDespite Peter Kay playing the villain, it’s a depressingly downbeat episode for what’s essentially meant to be Doctor Who-lite.
ReplyDeleteA bunch of parents must have felt uncomfortable with that ending. 😀