Short Trips: Monsters - #5:

--- "Flashpoint" by Matt Grady

Plot:
In Rome, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is on the case of a mysterious bust of Emperor Nero, that contains an unexplained heat source within its centre. However, after hitting dead end after dead end, she's assisted by a young blonde in cricket wear, who calls himself Dr. Jonas Smythe.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Flashpoint is just good fun. It's not the most complex of stories and there are certainly better tales out there, but it's a decent enough and self-contained short story with some great characters and a cool threat. Liz and Five are a pair I didn't expect to bounce off each other so well, but they're a joy to read; Liz is a companion that everybody agrees got fewer episodes than she deserved and, whilst Five isn't a personal favourite of mine, he's still incredibly fun and lively in this story. The creature in the bust that serves as this story's antagonist, whilst not an all time great monster of the week, is pretty damn serviceable and the imagery of this otherworldly phenomena is decently imposing, especially with the ambiguity surrounding what the creature is or where it came from, a feature I always seem to enjoy in alien threats.

Though, praising the creature, I think its weird telepathy factor felt off and it made what was this strange, unknowable thing just a bit more knowable. If we never heard these psychic messages, I think it would've added to the eeriness of the bust. Also, I think the decision to have the Doctor pretending to be a random scientist, whilst fun, doesn't make much sense in context, as he probably should've just let Liz in on the secret.

8/10

Pros:
+ Five and Liz work great together and are both characterised fantastically
+ The bust creature is a simple but imposing threat
+ Really tightly written, it doesn't feel underbaked like a lot of short stories do

Cons:
- The bust's telepathy and eventual chattiness diminished from its redeeming qualities
- The whole "Jonas Smythe" thing felt a bit pointless.

Monsters | Ranked:
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5. Last Rites by Marc Platt - 6/10
4. The Touch of the Nurazh by Stephen Hatcher - 7/10
3. From Eternity by Jim Mortimore - 8/10
2. Best Seller by Ian Mond and Danny Oz - 8/10
1. Flashpoint by Matt Grady - 8/10

Overall - 7.4/10