10 Simple Fixes That Would’ve Improved Doctor Who
6. Don’t Shoot The Abzorbaloff In BROAD DAYLIGHT
Love & Monsters is considered, almost universally, one of modern Who’s weakest episodes. The first of many stories to follow the Doctor/companion-lite format, it received very divisive opinions from fans. Some applauded the offbeat structure of the episode, while others criticised it for feeling like a parody, rather than a proper episode of the show.
The overall storyline of the episode actually showed potential, but the main gripe viewers had was the questionable design of Peter Kay’s Abzorbaloff. Extremely grotesque in premise but rather laughable and fake-looking in its execution (it must be acknowledged that the design of this creature was created by the young winner of a Blue Peter competition), one cannot help but criticise the final “masterpiece”.
Of course, in the classic era of Doctor Who, the costumes and makeup were much simpler, and lacked the budget or technology of modern VFX - but you would expect a creature that was created in the same year as the Ood or the Clockwork Men to be a lot more refined.
There is, however, a simple fix that would’ve at least helped to make the Abzorbaloff appear more intimidating and less rubber-looking: shoot those scenes with more shadows and dimmer lighting. By simply adding an element of ominous mystery and darkness, this creature could’ve been much scarier. Or, at the very least, they could’ve given him some pants!