Rate and Discuss: Flatline

[Rob McCow]

Have you ever wanted to lose weight? Really lose weight? Flatten out a bit? Total flatness? No bumps at all? Skinny? Absolutely flat? No parts of your body hanging out? Squashed, squeezed and squished? Hips, bums and tums all flat? Washboard stomach only flat? Very, very flat? Flat? FLAT? FLAT??!?!?!??!

Well maybe that's what tonight's Doctor Who is about.

[SiHart]

Oh my!

Another great episode. Lots of properly chilling moments balanced with some nice bits of humour. Lots of memorable images, great!

[dalekkiller]

An excellent episode Jamie Mathieson is a brilliant new writer for the series.

[Andrew Curnow]

How extraordinary, a guest writer comes in and writes too consecutive stories, both of which turn out to be absolute gems...

But anyway, enough reminiscing about David Fisher's contributions to the Key to Time, what about tonight's instalment of BBC TV's popular 'Dr Who' programme?

[Andrew Curnow]

Another good one, wasn't it!! The sequence with the policewoman, through to the escape through the window, was great; the eerie 'A-Ha video' look of the 3D'd 2D creatures lumbering through the tunnels was extraordinary; and although it must have been boring for him to film, all on his own, Peter C's scenes in the TARDIS were fully part of the story while still (presumably) allowing it to be a Doctorlite period in the recording schedule.

Full marks to Jenna C, of course, and the gradually emerging theme now of Clara becoming too much like the Doctor is very intriguing.

[Jon Masters]

DW is on fire at the moment- another great episode. Not quite a 10 - needs another watch to finalise why. Great base under siege though !

[Alex]

Really enjoyed that again, a very strong episode with some lovely images - the Doctor in the tiny Tardis and the 2D monsters especially - along with Clara finally becoming an interesting / non annoying companion. 8/10

An excellent episode Jamie Mathieson is a brilliant new writer for the series.

He should be the new showrunner!

[Nyder]

Yep another very strong and enjoyable episode. Loved the teeny-tiny TARDIS and the way it became Thing from The Addams Family! And what's this - more old skool SFX in the TARDIS?? I didn't quite buy the fact that Rigsy (I keep wanting to say Rigsby!) could simply hop onto a train and within seconds start driving it. I'm sure there's more to it than that. But yes, a mighty fine episode - again!!


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[SiHart]

The 2 D monsters were brilliantly realised and really quite scary. Especially so when the gaint hand reached down and took that guy away. We both jumped here!

[Martin Curnow]

Another superb episode. The Caretaker has been the only dud in the season for me.

And I'm finally warming to Clara.

[dalekkiller]

Without a doubt Fenton is one of the most obnoxious twats ever to appear in Doctor Who.

[Perry Vale]

The first 'excellent' from me this year, exceptional stuff. It did scary, and it did funny just right, and another wonderful performance from Coleman. And finally a Capaldi is the Doctor moment at the end with his speech (for me, at least).

A couple of minor quibbles...I found the incidental music very poor, and jarring to the feel of it, and it was rather too obvious right from the start that grafitti boy would have to paint something to resolve the plot - although the resolution was more than satisfactory when it came to it.

An easy 9/10 and approaching a 10, I need to give it some thought. 'Fear Her' done right, by the BBC Bristol Casualty team.

[Mike Saville]

The best story of the season. The best produced/directed episode of for what to me has been a very weak season. Less jarring science flaws. Less irrational Doctor by Capaldi. The graffiti part of the story was well realised and sufficiently scary, though the monsters lacked depth ( ;-) ) they were something new- a hard act in a 50 year old show.

The rascal comment: "This Doctor is letting everyone and their mother travel in the TARDIS. I must be the only person in Britain that hasn't had a go."

[Si Hunt]

'Fear Her' done right

Exactly my comment. Enjoyed this one, when Clara was holding the miniaturised TARDIS and the Doctors hand was poking out I just thought "Wow - 50 years and someone has done something completely new with Doctor Who. Isn't that fantastic!". The 3D monsters lurching along the tunnels were lovely and scary too.

If I have one complaint it's that, just when we were almost home and dry, the Doctor got weird and rude again. I'm not quite sure what the gist was of his being nasty to everyone at the end again - was it that Clara was like him and he didn't like that? Not really the place for more emotional trouble and I'd have preferred it if the new Doctor, having resolved all that last week, just congratulated her on a job well done.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

just congratulated her on a job well done.

But people died. What I read from it was that the Doctor doesn't want Clara to become too much like him.

If I had sufficient faith in the production team, I'd want the season finale would revolve around whatever-it-is that's driving the Doctor's actions at the moment. There's something going on behind the Doctor's attitude.

Anyway, I love that the Doctor is now a little less predictable. There's a lot of danger and excitement in Capaldi's performances, even if this isn't always reflected in the writing.

[Si Hunt]

That wasn't her fault though. I felt he was being too harsh. In "Into the Dalek" people died and he appeared not to care. In this occasion, we were told that this was because "sometimes there are no right choices." Now Clara is doing the same and he's cross. This makes him seem like an arsehole.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

There's definitely more to it than just being moody. It seems he wants to protect Clara from becoming like him - Or maybe he's too proud to tell Clara she's done well.

What's more likely is that he's upset because he doesn't want her to relish the danger. (After what happened to his previous companions, he's fairly justified in that. As soon as Rose became too Doctor-like, she was snatched away. The same happened to Amy & Rory in the end.) So anyway he's more guarded and careful.

[dalekkiller]

I would agree with what's being said Fear Her done right. The problems I had with Fear Her can be basically summed up as bad acting from the mother and child, the whole Olympics stuff not to mention the one note and one-dimensional characters. Flatline took a premise Killer Graffiti that on the surface sounded ridiculous and made it into a scary and not to mention interesting story.

[Philipnet]

And another reference to the Doctor not being a Good Man.
Or at least he doesn't see himself that way (care of Mr Moffat of course

[Stuart Wallis]

A decent enough way to pass 45 minutes. 7/10

[Darren]

8 out of 10

Another good episode with ingenious ideas.

[Andrew Curnow]

What's more likely is that he's upset because he doesn't want her to relish the danger.

That's certainly what I took from it - that he sees her faced with the sort of difficult choices that are normally down to him (what was it he said at the end of last week's episode, in that extraordinary beach scene? Sometimes there are only bad choices, something like that) and, because he cares about her, he is concerned that she doesn't seem to have been that worried by it all. And I think, with this Doctor at least, there's maybe some self-loathing, in that he sees Clara being a bit like him, and he feels it is his fault.

Hopefully there will be some kind of pay-off/resolution to it.

[Rob McCow]

Hopefully there will be some kind of pay-off/resolution to it.

Oh yeah, like that time the TARDIS blew up every sun in the Universe.

[Jon Masters]

9/10 from me

Loved:

Capaldi top of the list again - from his genuine puzzlement to what was going on, his treatment of Companion 2.0, getting cross with Clara, giving the monsters a chance, and then making it clear he'd given them a chance, and perhaps best of all when he thinks that everything is failing but wants to spends his last few minutes talking to Clara. Not a line out of place.

Clara - much more interesting as a character now, and I'm afraid she did need bringing down to earth again at the end (I suppose it wouldn't do to show PC giving her an actual slap like she gave him in ITD, but she needed one for the same reasons). As the Doctor says, nothing good was done that day - only preventing something worse happening, but still having lots of people die.

The monsters - another very good idea well executed. Started to not like them so much when they conveniently developed powers they didn't have at the start, but at least it wasn't just for coolness (remember the Angels mark 2 and 3 ? )

Only quibble - the stuff with the train. Didn't really see why we needed to crash a barrier ? Nor why Rigsy would want to sacrifice himself - all that bit came across as a bit forced and stupid. No idea how they travelled so little distance from the other guy on a train travelling so fast, and then survived jumping off. And if the creatures are blocking the tunnel ahead, why not just drive the train backwards to get away ? (oh, and the nasty character surviving has been done before - not like)

So, slightly spoilt in that one section, but loved the payoff.

[dalekkiller]

BTW does anyone wonder what Missy means by saying that she has chosen well to a picture of Clara.