Series 8, Episode 9 | 1 part | First broadcast: 18 October 2014 | Writer: Jamie Mathieson | Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Cast
- Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor
- Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald
- Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink
- Joivan Wade as Rigsy
- Christopher Fairbank as Fenton
- Jessica Hayles as PC Forrest
- Michelle Gomez as Missy
Summary
The TARDIS’s exterior dimensions begin shrinking after something starts draining its power in present-day Bristol, leaving the Doctor trapped inside while Clara, armed with his sonic screwdriver and psychic paper, takes over investigating on his behalf with the help of local graffiti artist Rigsy. They uncover two-dimensional alien creatures — dubbed the Boneless by the Doctor — that have been flattening missing people into eerie wall murals to harvest the third dimension for themselves, and which soon begin taking on the forms of their victims to hunt Clara’s group through a rail yard and tunnel system. After narrowly escaping and nearly losing the miniaturized TARDIS under an oncoming train, Clara and Rigsy lure the Boneless into powering the TARDIS back to full size using a painted decoy door, allowing the Doctor to banish the creatures back to their own dimension. The story closes with the Doctor pointedly declining to call Clara “a good Doctor,” and an unseen Missy watching approvingly, declaring she has “chosen well.”
Interesting Facts
- This episode marks the first time in the modern series that a companion effectively takes over “being the Doctor,” using his tools and psychic paper to lead the investigation while he is trapped and diminished.
- The TARDIS shrinking to the size of a matchbox recalls two classic-series stories: “Planet of Giants” (1964), where the First Doctor’s TARDIS shrank to an inch, and “Logopolis” (1981), where the Fourth Doctor’s TARDIS became dollhouse-sized.
- Filming took place at the Barry Tourist Railway and Wenvoe Tunnel in South Wales, standing in for present-day Bristol.
- The episode was Doctor Who’s landmark 250th broadcast story, and Radio Times noted it as “an outstanding, gritty tribute to Banksy” for its graffiti-art visual motifs.
- Jamie Mathieson wrote both this episode and the previous week’s “Mummy on the Orient Express,” making him one of only a handful of writers to script two episodes in the same series during this era.
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