The Doctor had never been a shrinking violet...until Flatline. |
First Impressions.
The very first thing I thought of when I saw the cubby house (U.K readers that is Australian name for a Wendy House, U.S readers, you know this as a tree house or play house.)sized TARDIS, was the Fourth Doctor's final story, Logopolis. In that story, the TARDIS begins to shrink due to the Master's interference in the block computation transfer, but in that story it is also the internal dimensions of the time vessel shrinking which threaten to squash the Doctor, in Flatline, it is only the outer dimensions of the TARDIS which are shrinking. My question is, were the Boneless shrinking the TARDIS to convert it into a two dimensional article or where they draining the ship's energy to gain entry into this dimension?
I know this may seem like a picky point but consider this, if the Boneless were using the energy from the TARDIS to enter our dimension then what energy source were they using before the TARDIS arrived? This may be one of those questions that only pedantic Whovians like myself would ask but I believe if a writer is going to introduce a brand new (relatively) alien then these sort of details need to be made clear, especially if these aliens are ever to make a return appearance.
By and large, having Clara step up to plate for this story did work, thankfully the writer didn't include too much in the way of relationship dynamics with her and Danny Pink or the whole thing may have gotten bogged down focusing on dysfunctional relationships between Clara the Doctor and Danny. The only thing I found mildly annoying was Clara's need for a 'pat on the head' from the Doctor. Her constant, "did good didn't I?" began to sound like a child looking for compliments because she cleaned her room. Other companions never seem to question the part they've played in helping the Doctor, perhaps another one of Clara's characteristics is a lack of self assurance on some level.
I know this may seem like a picky point but consider this, if the Boneless were using the energy from the TARDIS to enter our dimension then what energy source were they using before the TARDIS arrived? This may be one of those questions that only pedantic Whovians like myself would ask but I believe if a writer is going to introduce a brand new (relatively) alien then these sort of details need to be made clear, especially if these aliens are ever to make a return appearance.
Doctor Clara Oswald.
With the Doctor literally having to sit this one out, having Clara taking on the investigation was very much a make or break situation for the character. I personally didn't like the way Clara parodied how the Doctor solves mysteries, by insulting everyone and telling everyone to trust him because he is the Doctor and he is terribly clever.There are many out there (and I've spoken to a few on Twitter) who dislike Clara and having her sent up the Doctor and his mannerisms may actually alienate them even further. To be fair though, this was a brave attempt to show Clara that it wasn't easy being the Doctor. When she tried to use the psychic paper on someone and it didn't work she was left to momentarily fluster her way through the situation. It is something the Doctor has had hundreds of years to get used to and bounce back from but not so easy for a school teacher.
By and large, having Clara step up to plate for this story did work, thankfully the writer didn't include too much in the way of relationship dynamics with her and Danny Pink or the whole thing may have gotten bogged down focusing on dysfunctional relationships between Clara the Doctor and Danny. The only thing I found mildly annoying was Clara's need for a 'pat on the head' from the Doctor. Her constant, "did good didn't I?" began to sound like a child looking for compliments because she cleaned her room. Other companions never seem to question the part they've played in helping the Doctor, perhaps another one of Clara's characteristics is a lack of self assurance on some level.