Normality

"'Normal' was the worst insult in the world."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2015

Printed in: Heroes and Monsters Collection 24 

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

Clara Oswalds hangs out of the TARDIS taking in all of the wonders of space. Except, she wants normality as well. The Doctor gives her a bit of space for that, but a chance encounter with a Tonnchenform makes her realise that life should be unique.

Verdict

Normality was an outstanding adventure and surely must rank as one of my all time favourite short stories! I was quite blown away by how good this was and continued my reading of the original tales in the Heroes and Monsters Collection quite wonderfully! I honestly wasn’t expecting this to be so good, but I found it thrilling. Having Clara as the lead character is always going to work for me as she is one of my very favourite companions to ever enter the TARDIS, but to get the insight into her thoughts of travelling with the Doctor, standing out in space and her job as a teacher was really great. It was brilliant to read her thoughts and also see just how much she enjoyed travelling with the Doctor. But that wasn’t enough for her and it was all because of a quote she had read in the dedication of a second hand book. She knew her responsibility lay with great potential which meant she was teaching children. I liked that a lot and although I have firmly disregarded any career prospect of becoming a teacher, I really can appreciate the little ones in life. The passage with Clara letting herself be consumed by space, whilst being kept okay due to the safety parameters of the TARDIS of course, is nothing new but getting to know what she was thinking was. It worked really well. The mystical arrival of the Tonnchenform was fantastic and I loved how the Doctor was clearly loving his current situation. He’d lived countless lifetimes and had never come across this rarity in the wild and yet he wanted Clara to see it in front of her without him getting in the way. That was really nice. The pairing of the Eleventh Doctor and Clara didn’t have enough time together on screen so this little story is a good bonus to their adventures and they just worked so well in it. They really are excellent together. The Doctor describing to her all about the microscopic Tonnchenforms on Earth and how they lived in the air and the water was wonderful and I really enjoyed it when he got her to close her eyes and then momentarily see one. Those little black dots weren’t liquids at all. Rather than being scared or disturbed, Clara was just intrigued and I’ve always loved the inquisitive nature of her character. It’s certainly one of the reasons I like her as much as I do as companion. With how incredible this moment was for Clara, it was also surreal. She just wanted a bit of normality in her life and that wasn’t new. We’d seen that on screen in the second half of Series 7. Sure, there was no problem facing Ice Warriors in Cold War for example as referenced, but now she was just teaching children at Coal Hill School. This was normal. Courtney Woods giving her hell. Kids throwing water balloons at each other. Near class rebellions. Love notes. This was what she wanted. And yet, she soon realised that normal was boring and got to teaching her class about uniqueness. She changed their day from a mind numbing routine. She did the unexpected. Clara would teach her class about the Tonnchenform and Tardigrades. She’d take them outside. Uniqueness was important and that really resonated with me. I’m six weeks into a new job and my daily commute and actual carrying out of my job has become routine now and I have a consistent one for the first time in quite a while. I really do now appreciate how un-normal my life was at university and I’d love to go back to that. Sure, my life now is more productive and I earn a decent amount of money, but normal is boring. Here’s hoping my Masters graduation next week can break things up a bit. For now though, this little gem of a short story changed my morning commute for the better. A sublime adventure that even had Clara warned about the Rift in Cardiff! Overall, just superb. 

Rating: 10/10