2.10: Love & Monsters
Synopsis: Elton Pope is searching for the Doctor, whom he briefly met as a child at the time of his mother's mysterious death. He forms a group called LINDA (London Investigation 'N' Detective Agency) comprised of regular folks with irregular problems, all looking for the Doctor. They become great friends, have fun, support one another, and their focus eventually shifts away from the group's original purpose.
That is, until a man called Victor Kennedy turns up and takes over the group. He attempts to pose as someone who is just like them, searching for the Doctor, but he is much more "thorough" and ruthless about his mission. He turns the group into a reluctant work-force, hunting down the Doctor, not just following him online and casually seeking his whereabouts.
Meanwhile, members of LINDA go missing one by one. Elton and his friend Ursula discover that Kennedy is, in fact, a hideous creature which absorbs people for sustenance (Elton dubs him an Abzorbaloff), and the creature consumes Ursula. While he's being pursued by the creature, the Doctor and Rose arrive in order to take Elton to task for messing with her mum (under Kennedy's orders). Elton and his still-conscious absorbed friends dispense with the Abzorbaloff, and the Doctor is able to save Urusla... after a fashion.
And at last, Elton is able to speak with the Doctor, and find out what he needed to know about the night his mother died.
Golden Comic Moment: Just in case anyone has missed it, all three of David Tennant's seasons contain a "Doctor Lite" episode, in which the Doctor and/or his companion only appear in a couple of scenes. These tend to be very clever stories, because the writer must find a way to make the Doctor a looming presence, while still giving the actors time to work on other things. This episode makes the Doctor and Rose ever-present by discussing them a lot, putting Jackie into the picture, and giving us the comforting sound of the TARDIS on a regular basis.
We speculate, as well, that these episodes must be difficult to cast, because one must find "supporting" players who can hold their own for forty-five minutes without the lead actors' help retaining the audience's attention. Marc Warren was a coup - what a sweetness he gave to Elton, without making him a moron! (And we'll also point out that Warren made a very scary villian in Life on Mars, so he's versatile as well)
So, if you're going to have an episode in which your heroes are largely AWOL, their scenes have to count! Thank goodness, then, for that opening sequence in the industrial space! In particular, we will point out the shots in which the alien is chasing the Doctor and Rose back and forth across the screen (or they are chasing it) in various combinations of running, screaming, and wielding buckets. It's one of the few bits of slapstick that we get from Doctor Who, but still, it's intelligently done!
Golden Fangirl Moment: Continuity references are always cool, and reward faithful viewers with a bit of a wink (that's wink, not wank - there is a subtle distinction). Elton describes the day when everything changed for him as the day when the department store dummies came to life. This, of course, took place in the first episode of Doctor Who in the twenty-first century. Then, he describes a spaceship landing in the Thames and damaging Big Ben in the process (Aliens of London), followed by a giant spaceship just hovering there on Christmas (The Christmas Invasion).
It's hard to describe why seeing established events from a different point of view is twitterpating for fans. Perhaps it's because while Elton is seeing the events from the point of view of an "ordinary" guy, we know that the Doctor is out there somewhere, about to save his skin, and everyone else's on Earth. It's a bit of dramatic irony that vindicates us as followers of the Doctor!
Cringeworthy Moment: Much like Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel, the cringeworthy moment here is actually meant to make us cringe. And it is owed to great performances by Camille Coduri and Marc Warren. We like to cringe at these times, when "hard to watch" is a good thing, something accomplished, rather than something that we just happen to hate.
When it looks like Elton and Jackie might hit the sheets, it actually feels right. We have seen them become friends, and we know that they are, in their own way, both lonely souls, and good people. Ironically, this is brought home, literally, when Rose phones, and Jackie loses her impetus for love. Elton stands there shirtless, childishly trying to hide his nakedness, and Jackie says, "Oh, put your shirt back on." And if she were mean about it, it wouldn't be as difficult, but she's not - she sounds like a mother. In that moment, that's all she is.
Golden Moment: After Jackie realises that Elton befriended her merely to find the Doctor, she lets him have it, and says, "Let me tell you something about those who get left behind, because it's hard!" And this is a statement that sort of sums up the theme of the episode. The story is about people who get "absorbed" in something, and those who get left behind. Yes, there is the literal absorbing committed by the Abzorbaloff and the sadness of the dwindling remaining members of LINDA, but this is embodied also in Elton's quest, because his mother died, and he has no idea why. Bridget is beside herself because her daughter is lost to drugs, and Jackie is lonely and worried because Rose has been swept off her feet by the Doctor.
In the end, Elton sums it up. "Salvation and damnation are the same thing... because the Doctor might be wonderful, but... I had this nice little gang, and they were destroyed... Maybe that's what happens if you touch the Doctor, even for a second." Notice that he does not say, "that's what happens if you touch the Abzorbaloff, even for a second," which would have been the superficial response.
And so, with all of the metaphorical absorbing and leaving behind, it all comes back down to the Doctor, and how much of a mixed blessing it is to become part of his world. Elton even speculates as to how long Rose can sustain the relationship before "pay[ing] the price," of course a foreshadowing of the events coming three episodes hence.
Here's a question for the ages: is the Doctor the real Abzorbaloff?
Why I Beg To Differ: DWM names the seduction scene between Jackie and Elton, in which Jackie accidentally-on-purpose spills wine on Elton's shirt. As reasoning, they cite the fact that someone is finally appreciating how brilliant and funny and wonderful Jackie Tyler is, and how instrumental she has been to the series.
We agree - Doctor Who scenes are generally made more, rather than less, interesting with Camille Coduri in them, and that being Jackie Tyler seems like it could be a thankless job. But this seems like very superficial logic to us. Doctor Who episodes are generally deeper than they seem, more than just straightforward sci-fi fodder. So, if one is going to claim that the seduction of Elton Pope is a Golden Moment, then it is because it embodies the "left behind" syndrome that all of the characters feel (even the Doctor and Rose, though it will take three more episodes).
And Elton himself articulates it beautifully.
That is, until a man called Victor Kennedy turns up and takes over the group. He attempts to pose as someone who is just like them, searching for the Doctor, but he is much more "thorough" and ruthless about his mission. He turns the group into a reluctant work-force, hunting down the Doctor, not just following him online and casually seeking his whereabouts.
Meanwhile, members of LINDA go missing one by one. Elton and his friend Ursula discover that Kennedy is, in fact, a hideous creature which absorbs people for sustenance (Elton dubs him an Abzorbaloff), and the creature consumes Ursula. While he's being pursued by the creature, the Doctor and Rose arrive in order to take Elton to task for messing with her mum (under Kennedy's orders). Elton and his still-conscious absorbed friends dispense with the Abzorbaloff, and the Doctor is able to save Urusla... after a fashion.
And at last, Elton is able to speak with the Doctor, and find out what he needed to know about the night his mother died.
Golden Comic Moment: Just in case anyone has missed it, all three of David Tennant's seasons contain a "Doctor Lite" episode, in which the Doctor and/or his companion only appear in a couple of scenes. These tend to be very clever stories, because the writer must find a way to make the Doctor a looming presence, while still giving the actors time to work on other things. This episode makes the Doctor and Rose ever-present by discussing them a lot, putting Jackie into the picture, and giving us the comforting sound of the TARDIS on a regular basis.
We speculate, as well, that these episodes must be difficult to cast, because one must find "supporting" players who can hold their own for forty-five minutes without the lead actors' help retaining the audience's attention. Marc Warren was a coup - what a sweetness he gave to Elton, without making him a moron! (And we'll also point out that Warren made a very scary villian in Life on Mars, so he's versatile as well)
So, if you're going to have an episode in which your heroes are largely AWOL, their scenes have to count! Thank goodness, then, for that opening sequence in the industrial space! In particular, we will point out the shots in which the alien is chasing the Doctor and Rose back and forth across the screen (or they are chasing it) in various combinations of running, screaming, and wielding buckets. It's one of the few bits of slapstick that we get from Doctor Who, but still, it's intelligently done!
Golden Fangirl Moment: Continuity references are always cool, and reward faithful viewers with a bit of a wink (that's wink, not wank - there is a subtle distinction). Elton describes the day when everything changed for him as the day when the department store dummies came to life. This, of course, took place in the first episode of Doctor Who in the twenty-first century. Then, he describes a spaceship landing in the Thames and damaging Big Ben in the process (Aliens of London), followed by a giant spaceship just hovering there on Christmas (The Christmas Invasion).
It's hard to describe why seeing established events from a different point of view is twitterpating for fans. Perhaps it's because while Elton is seeing the events from the point of view of an "ordinary" guy, we know that the Doctor is out there somewhere, about to save his skin, and everyone else's on Earth. It's a bit of dramatic irony that vindicates us as followers of the Doctor!
Cringeworthy Moment: Much like Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel, the cringeworthy moment here is actually meant to make us cringe. And it is owed to great performances by Camille Coduri and Marc Warren. We like to cringe at these times, when "hard to watch" is a good thing, something accomplished, rather than something that we just happen to hate.
When it looks like Elton and Jackie might hit the sheets, it actually feels right. We have seen them become friends, and we know that they are, in their own way, both lonely souls, and good people. Ironically, this is brought home, literally, when Rose phones, and Jackie loses her impetus for love. Elton stands there shirtless, childishly trying to hide his nakedness, and Jackie says, "Oh, put your shirt back on." And if she were mean about it, it wouldn't be as difficult, but she's not - she sounds like a mother. In that moment, that's all she is.
Golden Moment: After Jackie realises that Elton befriended her merely to find the Doctor, she lets him have it, and says, "Let me tell you something about those who get left behind, because it's hard!" And this is a statement that sort of sums up the theme of the episode. The story is about people who get "absorbed" in something, and those who get left behind. Yes, there is the literal absorbing committed by the Abzorbaloff and the sadness of the dwindling remaining members of LINDA, but this is embodied also in Elton's quest, because his mother died, and he has no idea why. Bridget is beside herself because her daughter is lost to drugs, and Jackie is lonely and worried because Rose has been swept off her feet by the Doctor.
In the end, Elton sums it up. "Salvation and damnation are the same thing... because the Doctor might be wonderful, but... I had this nice little gang, and they were destroyed... Maybe that's what happens if you touch the Doctor, even for a second." Notice that he does not say, "that's what happens if you touch the Abzorbaloff, even for a second," which would have been the superficial response.
And so, with all of the metaphorical absorbing and leaving behind, it all comes back down to the Doctor, and how much of a mixed blessing it is to become part of his world. Elton even speculates as to how long Rose can sustain the relationship before "pay[ing] the price," of course a foreshadowing of the events coming three episodes hence.
Here's a question for the ages: is the Doctor the real Abzorbaloff?
Why I Beg To Differ: DWM names the seduction scene between Jackie and Elton, in which Jackie accidentally-on-purpose spills wine on Elton's shirt. As reasoning, they cite the fact that someone is finally appreciating how brilliant and funny and wonderful Jackie Tyler is, and how instrumental she has been to the series.
We agree - Doctor Who scenes are generally made more, rather than less, interesting with Camille Coduri in them, and that being Jackie Tyler seems like it could be a thankless job. But this seems like very superficial logic to us. Doctor Who episodes are generally deeper than they seem, more than just straightforward sci-fi fodder. So, if one is going to claim that the seduction of Elton Pope is a Golden Moment, then it is because it embodies the "left behind" syndrome that all of the characters feel (even the Doctor and Rose, though it will take three more episodes).
And Elton himself articulates it beautifully.