Flatline

"Could you not just let me enjoy this moment of not knowing something? I mean, it happens so rarely."

Writer: Jamie Mathieson 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 18th October 2014

Series: 8.09

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Clara mistakenly land in present day Bristol. Upon arrival, the TARDIS has shrunk and something is draining its power. With the Doctor stuck inside the miniaturised TARDIS, Clara must go it alone in tackling creatures from the universe of two dimensions.  

Verdict 

Flatline was an excellent episode and my opinion has greatly changed from what I thought on its original broadcast back in October of last year! The episode only just scraped an 8/10 rating from myself and I had it as the worst episode of the series (excluding the Christmas special), not to say it wasn't good but it just lacked something the rest of the episodes had. Now, maybe that was the Doctor? This was what seems to be a pretty much traditional Doctor-lite episode but thanks to some great writing from Jamie Mathieson, following up from his incredible Mummy on the Orient Express, you wouldn't notice that the Doctor wasn't supposed to be featuring as much. It started off very well and with immediate fear as a man on the phone was literally pulled into the ground. The arrival of the Doctor and Clara was quite humorous with the TARDIS not quite landing close to home for the latter. Instead they'd arrived in Bristol and the TARDIS was considerably smaller on the exterior. The Doctor could only just manage to wedge himself out and I adored how despite things obviously being precarious, he revelled in not knowing what had happened! Clara was worried whilst the Doctor was excited. The finger point to Clara saying she was annoying was superb. The Doctor had his moment of not knowing and now it was time to fix it. He wedged back into the TARDIS whilst Clara set off around the estate to see what she could find. When she returned, she could pick the TARDIS up in her hands! Something was draining the TARDIS of its exterior dimensions and now there was no way out for the Doctor. Clara was on her own. The way she pretended to be the Doctor was excellent but I loved how this gave us an insight to the Doctor's mind in similar situations he's faced in the past. The comment about lying to his immediate associates so they'd run quicker was quite harrowing but it's nice to see the Doctor does all he can to keep them alive. Clara realising that she had to do all she could to keep these people alive was a wonderful moment. The Doctor telling her that a leader was soon to emerge within the group was magnificent and I loved how Clara immediately took that position. This was one of her better episodes and I think that's down to her having the absolute lead role. She commanded the use of the sonic screwdriver and psychic paper and she even took up a trait of the Doctor's that she hated. Lying. The Doctor hearing in on her conversation with him was good but I liked how he didn't judge. I really like Jamie Mathieson's style in having a silent enemy. We didn't hear the Foretold speak in the previous episode and we didn't hear the Boneless speak here. To be fair, they were 2D creatures. The idea of an invasion from a universe made of two dimensions was incredible. It took the loose concept that also featured in Fear Her and just wiped the floor of that episode! The Boneless were reaching out and seemingly studying three dimensional creatures. The nervous system and blown up skin murals were rather disturbing. The ability of the Boneless to flatten objects was great and posed great awkwardness to Clara and co. I really liked her relationship with Rigsy who was a very good character. Fenton was a right bastard though and it seemed even the Doctor wished he hadn't survived. He didn't even seem grateful. I did like his remark about them being up against killer graffiti though! The Doctor being trapped in the TARDIS for the episode was good and I loved the Addams Family reference with the Doctor pulling the TARDIS to safety from the oncoming train with his fingers. His little dance followed by the TARDIS falling back on to the tracks was hilarious. Drive mode saved the day though and I loved seeing the TARDIS as a little cube! Clara using the Boneless's power against them to give the TARDIS the energy it needed to be restored, thanks to the graphic help of Rigsy, was superb. Out emerged the Time Lord and proclaimed to the evil creature that this plain was protected and he banished them into oblivion. Overall, a great episode and I'm so glad I enjoyed it more this time around. Just a shame with the unmissable production era surrounding Capaldi's haircut. 

Rating: 9/10