Elton Pope is looking for the Doctor. TV Club is joining another club for this week’s discussion - the lovely L.I.N.D.A.
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Rate and review below:
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7 Likes
Love that they tried a totally different approach here. Elton is a super likeable main character and London Investigation ‘N’ Detection Agency is such a fun group.
Bridget & Mr. Skinner 
The Absorbaloff is not a bad idea for a monster, but the design of it is ridiculous. There must have been some seriously rubbish designs in that competition if that won…
Best Jackie Tyler story by far though!
And then Rose turns up at the end, and is just super annoying again. Can we get to the end of Doomsday soon? I need something to cheer about 
3,5/5 
for a flawed story that still is in the top 3 of series 2, damning it with faint praise that…
Oh look, I came through that without mentioning paving slab sex 
Oh…
14 Likes
I think that this episode is one of the most underrated episodes of RTD1. It is fun and I love the interactions with LINDA. The only problem is that the monster design doesn’t work at all. It might have worked in a different setting but this story would have been so much better with a more serious monster (or no monster at all). 4/5
13 Likes
Surprised by how much I liked this as I didn’t remember it fondly. Think this was genuinely funny with some really heartfelt moments.
Took some notes as I was watching
- The scooby doo esque joke in the opening has some obvious cuts. Real lack of polish.
- Always nice to see callbacks to past stories
- Linda is obviously a bit of a stand in for Who fans. I think it strikes a nice balance of poking fun a bit whilst still being appreciative
- The inclusion of Jackie really makes the Ep. She gets some great comedy moments but the standout is the more emotional bits. RTD really hit the nail on the head first time with companion families.
- The Abzorbaloff design is very silly but I don’t hate it
Stories vary on whether having the Doctor come into your life is awful or wonderful. Love and monsters gets it right that it’s both.
13 Likes
It’s a weird one in that the slab joke and the bad boss design overshadow it, but it definitely had some things going for it. I do like Elton, and the the whole group he had going. I love ELO, and “Mr Blue Sky”. Jackie Tyler is always great.
It was a bit of a missed opportunity when we had Ryan and his youtube channel not to bring back Elton. They also absolutely should bring Elton and Ursula back in Big Finish…
15 Likes
I don’t actually mind the silly design that much because of the way they put it to use. From the Doctor and Rose’s perspective (and so also the viewer’s), this is just another silly monster, like so many others. This one is even more ridiculous than usual and is defeated in a minute or what.
But this time the story isn’t about how we jump into the episode and defeat the killer monster, but it’s about those that the monster killed. The characters that we see walking into dark rooms at the start of an episode, from whom we cut away and play the opening/cliffhanger sting over. Those characters that are usually made fun off for being stupid, for the scene being cliche, and for the portrayal being generally seen as silly.
But we see these kinds of people live their lives, and see what a huge impact only a silly gag monster has on them. The Doctor and Rose only see that silliness, but for once, we as the viewer, see the very grounded drama behind it. The Abzorbaloff looks dumb from the usual Doctor perspective, but is a real threat from the perspective of the victims, and I think it does its job at enforcing this divide of perspective very well.
13 Likes
I don’t plan on rewatching this yet, but I remember I really can not stand this story at all.
5 Likes
I’m a big fan of a lot of the domestic stuff RTD does and I love it here, it’s jsut a shame about the ending.
The scene with Jackie in the laundrette (“I’d been trained for this”) is just hilarious and gets me every time, Jackie is always fun to watch, and the one off cast here are all great too
10 Likes
An oddity, for sure, but an oddity that I do enjoy. This story is so very polarising and I don’t think it deserves the poor reputation that it is perceived as having. I absolutely agree that the joke at the end is misjudged, though the beating heart of this story is characterisation. Every time I watch this, I enjoy spending time with Elton, Ursula, Mr Skinner, Bliss and Bridget. Moreover, as @BillFiler, @SweetAIBelle, @joerack, @Owen have noted, Jackie is simply marvellous in this story.
It’ll never be a favourite of mine.
It’s far from perfect.
But, by 'eck, it’s fun, heartwarming and wonderfully different!
12 Likes
I noted it too!!!
Dont’ forget me!!!
/lh
10 Likes
While the idea of a Doctor-lite story is good, and will be shown in the future to produce some of the best serials, this one is just a miss for me.
I don’t really like any of the actors. Peter Kay can take a long walk off a short pier as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t connect with any of the characters. The “comedy” isn’t intentionally funny.
They got something on screen which is a miracle, but for that I can only give it a 1/5.
6 Likes
I… I don’t even know what to say about this story.
Whatever reappraisal it’s getting, I still think it’s a thoroughly bizarre and misguided story that had an interesting idea behind it.
Some of the stuff with Jackie is nice but this episode is RTD camp at its most self indulgent.
Also, what did Elton do to that paving slab!
3/10
10 Likes
You know full well what Elton did… 
8 Likes
NuWho’s Krotons!
I know this Episode isn’t held in any high regard and I can totally see why, it’s quite flawed, but… Similar as to Krotons, I think there are some genuinely great bits in here and some “so bad it’s good” bits.
The domestic part written here in this Episode are great. The whole Idea of “LINDA” is a well-thought idea that is approached with enough care, where it can be fun, but never comes across in a mocking or mean-spirited way, which I appreciate. Jackie is great, perhaps one of RTD’s best Characters we have gotten, she is both great at the comedic bits, and the serious ones.
That said some of its execution can be quite poor at times, some dialogue doesn’t wanna work. And yes, the Abzorbaloff is a bit of a weird choice including here, then again I kinda take this over something more generic. At the very least, it’s not very boring.
Probably one of the ones I rate higher in this Series (not saying much since Series 2 is pretty low in my overall season/series ranking).
10 Likes
Am I the only one who thinks fandom overreacts to that joke? You know it could just mean they kiss (the line says they have ‘love life’ not a ‘sex life’).
I can imagine RTD chortling away as he wrote it - and maybe then regretting it once he saw it on screen - hindsight is 20/20 but I think it is such a tiny thing in a story packed with so much goodness.
The Abzorbaloff - silly? He’s grotesque and horrifying. His victims are still sentient and absorbed in his flesh - what the ■■■■! I can’t help but be reminded of the horror film Society which scarred me as a teenager watching it by myself in my room.
Is Peter Kay right for the role? I don’t think he’s bad but maybe a bit ‘large’ when he is being the monster - but as Victor I think he’s pretty good. Is he a spoof of Ian Levine? Who can say?
But this is a story about fandom. It is a group of people brought together by a shared interest and then discovering they have even more in common and from that true relationships are formed. LINDA are all of us - it’s my friendship group in real life; it’s TARDiS Guide’s community. Those scenes with LINDA hanging out are so lovely and - when you know what’s coming - horribly tragic.
And then along comes Victor and his ‘super-fan’ tendencies. He just wants information. He just wants fandom to be conducted the way he wants it to be conducted because that’s how his obsession works. He sucks all the joy from the group and then literally sucks all the life from the group.
A group of people who found a way of dealing with their own personal tragedies - and way of moving on - have that cruelly taken away - and it’s the Doctor’s fault. Love & Monsters is a tragic tale (in the best possible sense).
That RTD created this story out of a Blue Peter competition is astounding (and it will never stop being funny that no one realised the boy who drew it meant the monster to be gigantic and that he was terribly disappointed when he eventually saw a normal man-sized Peter Kay).
And wrapped around this tragic story are some brilliant comic moments - the Scooby Doo Hoix chase; Jackie Tyler’s flirting; Elton being part of various Doctor Who stories in flashback; the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius, Clom.
Does one silly gag - which is only as filthy as we choose to make it - ruin all that? Not even in the slightest.
I watched this episode in unusual circumstances. It aired on the day of my brother’s stag do and we were all at a party at his house share in Manchester. I didn’t know anyone there except my brother but was made to feel pretty welcome. Time for Doctor Who came and my brother told me to go and watch it if I wanted. I sat on the floor in front of the TV like a kid at Christmas and was joined by one of my brother’s work colleagues (who was clearly a bit of a geek too). I loved the episode although I remember the other guy being a bit nonplussed by it. But I certainly didn’t feel the embarrassment some fans seems to have about this episode existing.
This is a definite 8/10 for me and it only loses a couple of points because of it looking slightly too cheap in places and Rose, as is common in this time in the show, being fairly insufferable.
15 Likes
He basically forces to learn more and more about the doctor devoting all of their time and energy to learning everything there is to about Doctor Who and the only reward they get is some badges no wait hang on a second /j
14 Likes
Awww, sorry! Didn’t mean to miss you out. Thought I’d got everyone! 
5 Likes
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Ra
Ax
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Fall
Lap
Pat
Tor
Tar
Pit
Or
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Sofa
Orac
Rot
Tap
Rustic
Focus
5 Likes
Acari (as in ticks and mites)
Oh, what the heck. I’ve started so I might as well carry on:
Corporators
Coaxial
Calculators
Capitulars
Capitals
Factorials
Calorifics
Trifocal
Axial
Axis
Crux
See what you’ve started now, @deltaandthebannermen? 
6 Likes