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| 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.
2D or Not 2D.
There's little doubt that writer Jamie Mathieson loves to creep his audience out with the 'unseen' menace threat. He did this very effectively in Mummy On The Orient Express and he does the same with the Boneless. Whether you found these creatures frightening is subjective, I thought they looked a little too much like holographic zombies or mummies but there can't be much argument that a monster that slides out from walls and floors hits upon some of our darkest fears.
Overall.
Flatline is the second story in the series to demonstrate an overall improvement in series content. Official ratings figures also confirm that this story achieved the highest ratings of the series so far. It is a cudo to Jamie Mathieson's writing skills that he has written two stories that have been so well received by fan (myself included).
The cloying atmosphere of terror wasn't present as it was in Mummy but that is because Mummy used the classic technique of having people trapped in an area of limited space and nowhere to run to whereas Flatline was, for the main part set in everyday Bristol. The story moved along quite briskly and once again we managed to get a little further into Danny and Clara's relationship (she has lied to the Doctor about Danny being ok with her TARDIS trips.) without it taking over the main part of the story. It was also interesting because the Doctor now knows Clara has lied to him and this will give their relationship some extra dynamics to work with.
I enjoyed Flatline, perhaps not quite as much as Mummy On The Orient Express, but it was still a fine attempt at giving us more chills and thrills.
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