Doctor Who: 10 Underrated Stories In New Who
8. Love And Monsters
Love and Monsters is widely regarded as one of New Who’s worst episodes. Some would go as far as to say that it’s the worst episode of all time and space. It does suffer in that it’s a drastic change of pace, and the first time audiences experienced a Doctor-lite episode, in which the Doctor plays only a tiny part.
It also incorporates a very odd story about a group of people hunting down the Doctor and introduces Peter Kay as the Abzorbaloff, who was shamefully underused. Yes, the Abzorbaloff was ridiculous but it could have been better if the script had allowed it.
On his search for the Doctor, the protagonist, Elton gets close to Jackie Tyler as an excuse to get to Rose, and therefore, the Doctor. In their scenes together, Jackie and Elton begin to get closer and develop a romantic connection. Sadly, Jackie discovers that Elton is just using her. The scene that follows is heartbreaking, and we see a side of Jackie that we can’t help but love. Despite her obvious pain at being betrayed, she defends Rose and drops Elton without a second thought.
It’s this character development for one of New Who’s greatest supporting characters, and that makes Love and Monsters an underrated gem.