... was designed by nine–year–old William Grantham of Colchester, Essex, for a "Design a Doctor Who Monster" competition held by Blue Peter. The 43,920 entries were judged by a panel comprising Blue Peter editor Richard Marson, presenter Gethin Jones, Doctor Who producer Russell T. Davies, and the incumbent Doctor, David Tennant.
Davies later revealed that Grantham had imagined the Abzorbaloff to be the size of a double–decker bus, and was initially disappointed to see the final size of his creation. But his design had not included size specifications (although the remains of the monster's victims on and within his body provided hints) and a larger size would not have fitted the rules of the competition unless the monster were superimposed on footage later on a larger scale. In the end, CGI was used for some shots of the talking faces on the Abzorbaloff.
The Abzorbaloff is a creature that absorbs other living beings into his body with a simple touch. In doing so, the Abzorbaloff makes his victims part of himself, adding their memories and knowledge to his own. The victims retain their identity and consciousness for at least several weeks after absorption, during which time their faces can be seen embedded in his flesh, but eventually these too are eliminated as they are fully absorbed.
Thanks to Wikipedia for this insight!
© Haydn Thompson 2018