Love & Monsters (2810/210)

[IMForeman]

Romana went off into e-space when I was too small to be able to remember twenty-five years on what e-space is. Might Romana have survived the Time Wars? (If she has, I hope her straw hat hasn't...)

Sadly, no. In his article about the Time War in a DWM Annual, RTD stated that Romana was Lord President of Gallifrey when the Time War was fought. One can assume that she perished with the rest.

[Darkseid]

Sadly, no. In his article about the Time War in a DWM Annual, RTD stated that Romana was Lord President of Gallifrey when the Time War was fought. One can assume that she perished with the rest.

I've always had a theory that she was the one who saved the planet.....but that's a different thread.......

[ShadowMaat]

Y'know, I've been watching my S1 DVDs and I noticed that at the end of WWIII The Doctor gives Mickey a virus to upload to destroy evidence of his (the Doctor's existence). The AoL/WWIII ep is also the one where the TARDIS got graffitied with "Bad Wolf."

Now, in Love & Monsters we have the Abzorbaloff (from Glom, sister planet to Raxacoricofallapatorius) dishing up info he supposedly got from Torchwood... with some gaps caused by the Bad Wolf virus.

The link HAS to be common knowledge, but I'd never noticed it before and I don't remember it being discussed here. Mostly it was just folks saying how absolutely crap the ep was.

...Or was that what Digi meant by the virus being retconning?

[Albion]

Well, I didn't expect to like this one. I'd been warned it was dire by some long time fans. But, you know...I just adored it. Yeah, it didn't have much of The Doctor or Rose in it, but surprisingly I didn't mind that at all. I thought it was hilarious. A real laugh riot.

I loved Elton and his little gang. The way they got together initially to talk about the Doctor, but slowly grew to be friends. I loved the Doctor and Rose at the start with the monster and the whole "Someone wants to talk to you/You upset my mum!". ROTFL!

Also ROTFL'd at Jackie eyeing up Elton and his naive commentary was priceless: "The fuses kept blowing out. I think this flat is jinxed."

I also found it very poignant at moments - Jackie describing her loneliness and obviously missing Mickey. Made me realise that with him gone she has no one at all she can share her worries about Rose with. No one who understands how she feels about time travelling all around the universe. And her response to being 'betrayed' by Elton was desperately sad.

Also when Elton lost Ursula - had a few snuffles then. I loved Rose's heart going out to him and her going to comfort him, even though she'd been pissed at him just moments before. A really sweet character moment.

And, frankly, anyone who loves ELO is a hero in my book.

It all got a little silly by the end - was anyone else reminded of that ad with the belly chasing the guy down the street when the Peter Kay alien was chasing Elton? Peter Kay was my only downside on this one. I've never been much of a fan of his and his personality did tend to overwhelm the alien at times, which just sounded waaaaay too weird.

And for some reason I found The Doctor suddenly yelling, "Elton! Fetch a spade!" absolutely hysterical. Although I tend to agree with ShadowMaat:

Except for the paving stone thing, which was creepy and pathetic. And I really can't imagine the Doctor condemning someone to a horrific half life like that.

I still have very bad pictures in my head as to what their 'love life' is like. Urgh. But it doesn't bother me to the extent that it spoiled the episode. Thought it was a little gross and not really the cute 'happy ending' that I suspect RTD thought it was when he penned it, but it was a fleeting moment for me.

So, overall, I really enjoyed this one and it's one I'll watch again. So count me in the minority who loved it, didn't mind it didn't feature our heroes much, and thought it was just a fun romp with some delightfully sweet characters.

Albion

[ShadowMaat]

Had a Love & Monsters moment watching Jeopardy the other night. The answer was eczema and Alex Trebek said, "EcZEEma. ...Or eczema." Hee!

[Col.Foley]

Just got done watching it. One of the most boring episodes that I have seen, had its few slight chcukles in it. Like a big fat green alien monster chasing a blond headed guy through London, in his Underwear. Not enough of the Doctor. After last weeks episode, a major let down.
6.5/10

[ShadowMaat]

I know everyone hates this ep to pieces, but I still love it. And just think: dippy, goofy, brainless Elton is going to be ruthless, psychotic, deadly Teatime in Hogfather... I can't wait!

[Col.Foley]

Although, there were the occasional good moment. However, i know some other fans have been complaigning about the Rose family, how the Doctor keeps on going back to that moment in time. I agre, I am getting tired of it, move on, give us some more off planet stuff.
However, she did surprise me, that bit while Elton was holding the Pizza was great, nice speach. I wonder what her speech will be if Rose really does die in battle.

[ShadowMaat]

Usually I'm one of the first to say I'm sick of Rose and her damn family drama, but I liked the way it worked in this ep, maybe because Rose wasn't there and so it was more about Jackie (who can admittedly be irritating but came through gloriously this time around).

[lord-anubis]

expet for the whole scooby doo case seen that was great. i the whole ep seem boreing to me. im probly going to watch it again any ways its about to come on over here on the west cost. i like next weeks ep just a little bit more fear her.

[MarshAngel]

Nice to see I wasn't alone. This episode was a yawn. I really didn't like the characters. My sister saw this episode as her intro to Dr. Who... she fell asleep and complained when she was awake. Jackie can be annoying but she was the only redeeming part of this episode.

[Nolamom]

Different. Missed the Doctor. Interesting to see things from a new, albeit goofy, perspective. Can't decide if I liked it or hated it. Jury is still out. Ursula was a distraction - gotten too used to the actress as "Moaning Myrtle" and I kept thinking of that every time she spoke.

[SGalisa]

okay, my hubby and I thought it was a fairly shallow episode (Jackie's obvious flirtatous moments), considering the past 2 seasons have been better for the most part.

...Elton's personal autobiography...
not to be confused with that other "Elton" {Elton John}...
but even tho I didn't recall hearing Elton's last name, I wondered if his middle name was "John"... anyway...

Torchwood... here in the USA, the eps are a bit behind the BBC, but loved the connection to Torchwood.

Problem is though, in The Christmas Invasion, Harriet Jones was one of few people that actually knew of Torchwood's existence, and even she wasn't supposed to know about it. Torchwood was an incredibly secret organisation that only a few people in top positions knew about.

But suddenly, in Love & Monsters, Torchwood seems to be public domain, and LINDA hacks into their files on the Doctor with seemingly no effort at all.

Maybe they went public?

or they popped up as the latest chain of conspiracy theories already out there - as in "AREA 51" and Roswell, New Mexico being mostly of the conspiratorial UFO fame in the USA.

or.. maybe the fat alien ate / absorbed someone who was directly connected with and privy to the secrets of Torchwood, or a rogue hacker kid (possibly similar in geeky savvy to Micky), and that's how he ("Kennedy" the alien) managed to track Elton's new group down. Maybe Elton's group were easier targets chosen for infiltrating, because as *LINDA* - they were already attempting to track the Doctor as obsessed *fans* of the Doctor, and were not military -- so they weren't necessarily deemed as "armed and dangerous" and mostly likely would be more vulnerable in executing any proverbial "divide and conquer" tactic.

[Kingomon]

Nice to see I wasn't alone. This episode was a yawn. I really didn't like the characters. My sister saw this episode as her intro to Dr. Who... she fell asleep and complained when she was awake. Jackie can be annoying but she was the only redeeming part of this episode.

I'm with you, I like to give things a chance but
I'm haveing a sg-1 200 flash back but at least it had it's characters. Come on, about some slobs life who likes the doctor and wants to meet him. I boo this episode and hope this guy never shows up again and they stay with the Doctor and Rose from now on.

[Josephine]

I liked this as a one shot episode, but only once a season, if that. I liked the bit where the Doctor stopped and said (paraphrasing) "Don't I know you?" to Elton.