Silence in the Library

195a – "Silence in the Library"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)
Guest Alex Kingston – Professor River Song Colin Salmon – Dr Moon Eve Newton – The Girl/CAL/Charlotte Abigail Lux Mark Dexter – Dad Sarah Niles – Node 1 Joshua Dallas – Node 2 Steve Pemberton – Strackman Lux Talulah Riley – Miss Evangelista Jessika Williams – Anita O. T. Fagbenle – Other Dave Harry Peacock – Proper Dave
Production
Directed by	Euros Lyn
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	Helen Raynor
Produced by	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	4.9
Series	Series 4
Running time	1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
First broadcast	31 May 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Unicorn and the Wasp" Followed by → "Forest of the Dead"

"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to the series after "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" in 2005. A few days before the episode aired, the BBC announced that Moffat was to become Head Writer of the programme for the show's fifth series in 2010, replacing then-current Head Writer Russell T Davies, who held the role since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005.

Plot

Synopsis

The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. They then see the overhead lights in front of them turning off one by one. Fleeing from this power cut, they find a small security camera which responds strangely to probing with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, saying that "it hurts". The bot then warns them that "others are coming" and a team of explorers, led by archaeologist River Song, arrives. The team has come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS's "emergency programme one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of spoilers. Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor.

Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl shown throughout the narration; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into the central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr. Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her father. Dr. Moon is there to counsel her about her "fantasy" of the library, but Dr. Moon instead tells her that the library she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, and her real world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved.

Back in the library the Doctor organises the archeology team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, a team member (Miss Evangelista) wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to retain an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness, which is capable of communicating with the living (being 'unaware' that it is dead) but eventually dissipates to the point where it simply repeats the last thing it said or nonsense.

The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialise properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been saved. The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other.

Continuity

As featured on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name).

According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode.

The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed.

The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones".

When Professor River Song opens her diary to compare notes with the Doctor, she asks if he knows about the crash of the Byzantium. This will not happen for the Doctor until "The Time of Angels".

River Song's comment "I trust that man to the end of the universe, and actually, we've been" could possibly be a a reference to "The Big Bang".

Broadcast and reception

"Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. BARB's final figures recorded an audience 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot.

However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest figure the new series had received to date, alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp".

This episode, along with "Forest of the Dead", was nominated for a Hugo Award in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category, but lost out to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

Production

Casting

For the role of River Song, whom producer Russell T Davies describes as "sort of the Doctor's wife", the production sought to cast Kate Winslet. One of Winslet's first acting roles was in the BBC teen drama Dark Season, written by Davies. The role of River Song eventually went to Alex Kingston, about whom Davies said, "I bloody love her!"

Locations

Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales.

Outside references

The girl is seen watching the CBBC cartoon Pedro and Frankensheep.

External links

• Silence in the Library on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "Silence in the Library" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Silence in the Library"MP3 Episode commentary from producer Phil Collinson and director Euros Lyn
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• "Silence in the Library" at IMDb

Fan reviews

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