I am – Hercules!!


“Silence in the Library” was penned by Steven Moffatt, who takes over as the “Doctor Who” showrunner for the series’ 31st season in 2010. The reviews are promising!

“Doctor Dan” says:

DOCTOR WHO 4.8 – "Silence In The Library" (Part 1 of 2)

Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Euros Lyn

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Col in Salmon (Dr. Moon), Alex Kingston (Professor River Song), Eve Newton (The Girl), Steve Pemberton (Strackman Lux), Mark Dexter (The Dad), Jessika Williams (Anita), Talulah Riley (Miss Evangelista), Harry Peacock (Proper Dave), O-T Fagbenle (Other Dave), Sarah Niles (Node 1) & Joshua Dallas (Node 2)

The Doctor and Donna visit The Library, a planet-sized depository of every book ever written. But why has it been abandoned for 100 years?

Writer Steven Moffat has been the subject of critical acclaim and fan adoration ever since his two-part episode The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances became highlights of season 1. Since then, his imaginative stories have become the most eagerly awaited instalments of Doctor Who, while also managing to avoid disappointing viewers. And I'm relieved to report that Silence In The Library (the first of a two-part serial) is every bit as intelligent, compelling, rich and creative as you could hope for. The only downside is that the 7 day wait till its conclusion.

Silence In The Library finds The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) arriving in The Library; planet-sized storage for every book ever written. It's a world of futuristic skyscrapers and museum-like interiors, but also totally devoid of readers. Although, after The Doctor uses a computer terminal to scan for life signs, he's confused to discover a million million life-forms are apparently swarming the planet.

As they try to solve the mystery of the abandoned Library, unnerved to find high-tech "Nodes" (with human faces) delivering ominous warnings to "count the shadows", an expedition of archaeologists in space suits later arrive – led by Professor River Song (Alex Kingston). Her team have come to investigate why The Library shut itself off from outside contact a century before, and The Doctor is intrigued when it becomes clear she knows him – but he hasn't met her, yet. Oh, the joys of time-travel...

Adding to the intrigue is The Girl (Eve Newton), who can apparently visit The Library just by closing her eyes, not realizing she has physicality in The Library as a floating surveillance camera. Her mental state is being assessed by Dr. Moon (Colin Salmon), who is clearly intrigued by her strange connection to this "other world" she visits. The plot thickens when The Doctor manages to connect to "her world" through her television (shades of his guiding role in Blink), and later discovers that swarm-like critters known as Vashta Nerada, who live in shadows, are closing in on them...

As you can tell from that brief summary of the episode, Steven Moffat once again proves he's the most gifted Doctor Who writer when it comes to creating stories and situations that draw an audience in. There's more for adults to chew on here, but while the deeper mysteries will likely go over the head of kids, he caters for younger audiences with the spine-tingling "stay out of the shadows" threat and the later appearance of a skeletal astronaut when the Vashta Nerada manage to strip one of River Song's team of his flesh and animate his corpse. Skeleton spacemen in a spooky library is pure Scooby Doo, so youngsters are well catered for.

With more depth and subtleties in the story, it's clear that everyone involved rises to the challenge. David Tennant looks extremely happy to guide us through a sci-fi story with more texture and imagination than usual, while Catherine Tate has really settled into the role of Donna now. Even if it does seem increasingly likely Donna's going to die in the finale, as there are more hints about a downbeat fate from River Song – who appears to be one of The Doctor's future companions. Now that Moffat's been confirmed as the new showrunner of Doctor Who in 2010, it'll be interesting to see if Alex Kingston indeed becomes a companion under his tenure.

The fact this is a two-parter did mean there were moments when the story was being kept in a holding patter to pad out time, but it wasn't too unnecessary and never boring. You could argue that the addition of "ghosting" into the story (where the recently-deceased can continue speaking to the living via comms for a short time), was little more than a writing flourish. But it did results in a few spooky sequences, and might have some greater baring on things in part 2 – who knows?

For now, it's safe to say this is a season 4 highlight and marvellous on every level that counts. It also seems extremely likely that next week's conclusion will trump it, as Silence In The Library was very much a scene-setting episode. The pay-off should be excellent – if only in how it explains River Song's relationship with The Doctor (does she know this Tenth incarnation, or another?) and exactly how The Girl fits into all this. She seems to be living on contemporary Earth, so how can she psychically connect to a distant-future alien planet? Or, as Dr. Moon hints near the end, is The Library the real world, and her home the Matrix-like illusion?

Overall, while not as perfect as last year's Blink (mainly because it's not self-contained or as fast-paced), this was fabulous entertainment that held me rapt for 45-minutes. The hope that this quality will become the norm once Steven Moffat takes over is just too exciting for words. Roll on Forest Of The Dead.

The Good

1. Steven Moffat's script; as engaging, imaginative, thought-provoking and humorous as we've come to expect.

2. Tennant and Tate; both excellent, with Tennant enjoying having a decent plot to work with, and Tate reigning in all traces of her Runaway Bride caricature now.

3. The two main intrigues of the episode (The Girl's link to The Library) and River Song's identity have me hooked to see the answers in part 2.

4. Some brilliant production design for the musky Library, the talking head Nodes, and awesome CGI for the futuristic cityscape of the Library itself. Oh, and the opening teaser was completely enchanting and magical stuff. Perfect.

5. Some great lines; like The Doctor admitting he points and laughs at archaeologists like River Song, being a time-traveller.

The Bad

1. If Moffat has one tiny "flaw", it's his propensity to use similar ideas to stir up chills. The Doctor communicating to The Girl through the TV was very much like Blink's video-tapes. The use of creepy catchphrases ("stay out of the shadows", etc) was also a bit overdone, particularly in the closing scene – when chilling phrases became a cacophony. And he's used that before in Empty Child/Doctor Dances and Blink.

2. The fact the BBC didn't show part 2 straight after (to make up for missing last week for Eurovision). A feature-length episode would have been perfect.

3. A bit too much reliance on the sonic screwdriver, again. A typical criticism of RTD episodes, but even The Moff isn't immune it seems. Ironically, the one thing the screwdriver couldn't do was open a simple door at one stage – because it was made of wood!

The Geeky

1. Many books in the library reference past episodes and are in-jokes: an 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" (author Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who), "Everest In The Easy Stages" (The Creature From The Pit), "Black Orchid" (a book seen in the same-titled Fifth Doctor serial).

2. Incredibly, this is the 50th episode of the revived series.

3. Steve Pemberton is the second member of The League Of Gentlemen comedy troupe to star in Doctor Who, after Mark Gatiss who appeared as Dr. Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment. He has also starred alongside David Tennant in an episode of the revived Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

4. Steven Moffat is the only writer, other than Russell T. Davies, to have contributed scripts to all four seasons of the revived series.

Rating: 4 / 5

“Spud McSpud” says:

Hey Herc, Who's back - written by the Grand Moff himself!

**SPOILERS AHEAD - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY begins with an intriguing teaser of a little girl under hypnosis, being spoken to by a psychiatrist (we think). We see from her perspective: in her mind, she is floating through a vast library, a world created with the universe's largest hard drive at its core: a planet just called The Library, a repository of ALL knowledge. Alone in this vast, dead place, the little girl is scared, standing in a room, when she is startled by something battering at the door. Something demanding to get in. Then the doors smash open --

It's the Doctor and Donna. In a little girl's mind! Credits roll.

Some very effective, gothic Olde English style scene-setting going on: the library is awash with old oak, and the Doctor is talking to a security camera (inlaid with dark oak, beautifully carved!) which, it seems, is directly linked to the little girl's mind. How are they connected? Dunno. The Doctor and Donna, through talking to Information Nodes (that features actual reconstructed dead flesh faces on them!), discover that the last message sent from the library was the generic EVENT HORIZON type - basically, don't come here, they're going to get us, they're here, "Count the shadows!" and then AAAAARGHHH - and then "Others are coming". The Others turn out to be an expeditionary force of archaeologists (nice nod back to IMPOSSIBLE PLANET/SATAN PIT - the Doctor being exasperated at this dumb, wondrous need to throw themselves into the unknown) who are coming to find out why The Library suddenly lost over 4,000 people over a hundred years previously. They are led by Prof River Song (the gorgeous Alex Kingston), and Steve Pemberton (League of Gentlemen - Pauline! Pens are friends!), whose family created The Library. After some topical stuff about not signing privacy agreements, The Doctor and Donna get into why they are here, and why the expedition are too. After some initial tantalisingly baffling dialogue with River, who not only knows the Doctor VERY well but seems to trust him with her life, things get under way - the Doctor works out that the stuff in the darkness is actually Vashta Nerada - "piranhas in the air", the dust in the sunlight that is actually a swarm of invisible creatures that can strip flesh from bone in seconds. They have to stay in the light (and no Vin Diesel to help them shiv the bad guys either) and find a way out. The first expendable redshirt in the group is offed pretty quickly, and we are intorduced to the gruesome concept of data ghosts - where the death of a person is extended as their consciousness is copied into their comlinks, so they are heard wondering why they can't see / hear / feel anything as their consciousness comes to terms with their deaths. And, no matter how scary man-eating shadows are, this is far, far more creepy. Downright unsettling.

After the notion of data ghosts, stuff kicks into high gear with redshirt Proper Dave (it's explained in the episode) getting infected with Vashta Nerada, and promptly growing extra shadows that can creep up and kill people. Somewhere around this point, the Doctor tells Donna he has to get them both back to the TARDIS - and promptly lies to her, teleporting her back to the TARDIS and himself staying at The Library. Cut to the TARDIS - and Donna screaming, as her transporter pattern distorts, fades - and she's gone!

We now get the terrifying visual of a skeleton in a spacesuit chasing people down corridors. Proper Dave has gone proper mental and is now trying to infect everyone else with Vashta Nerada, and then the Doctor - in the midst of another tantalising conversation with River about who she is, and River telling him that she can't tell him yet (she knows more about him, and has read a future diary/book about the Doctor that she forbids him to read - "By who's rules?" "Yours, Doctor") - realises that his sonic screwdriver should have told him that Donna's back in the TARDIS. It hasn't. He asks an Information Node where Donna is - and the Node has DONNA'S FACE!

Proper Dave is in hot pursuit. Donna is now presumed dead - "saved", the Node tells us. Back in the world of the little girl, her psychiatrist tells her that the real world is a lie, The Library is real, and everyone there is counting on HER to save them! Is she in the Matrix? Why does River Song have a copy sonic screwdriver (very old and battered looking) of her own, and why does she say the Doctor gave it to her? WHY won't she let the Doctor read the mysterious book (that looks a bit like a TARDIS on the cover)? Has he crossed his own timeline - a big no-no for a Time Lord? WHAT the hell is going on?!?!?

And in the trailer for next week: last shot - the Doctor flying through the Time Vortex BY HIMSELF - and wielding his sonic screwdriver...

THE GOOD: Some great mysteries being set up by the master, Grand Moff, here. The whole River Song / Doctor future mystery is brilliantly teased at, and could form some great future stuff. Is she the Rani? Is this like the ending to BLINK, where she's gone to the ends of the universe (River says she did!) with the Doctor, and he doesn't know it yet? The sonic screwdriver River had - is she telling the truth? She certainly knows how it works! The concepts of Information Nodes (bleurgh - real dead faces giving info?) and Data Ghosts (horribly effective, real stick-in-your-imagination-and-haunt-you-for-weeks stuff). The whole "are we in the little girl's imagination or is she in a fake reality?" dichotomy Moff hints at. The way the psychiatrist, Doctor Moon, looks a little like Morpheus when he tells the little girl that her world is fake and The Library is real. The future diary the Doctor seems to have told River not to reveal to himself. The skeleton in a spacesuit. The fantastic old oak inlaid security camera - British Library circa year 5,000 AD! The whole foreboding feel to this fantastically creepy, intelligent tease of the episode! Alex Kingston!!!

THE BAD: A severe case of LOST syndrome for the characters' motivation. In LOST, it took almost four seasons for someone to ask someone else who knew (Locke asking Ben) how the smoke monster worked. It would have been the first thing anyone asked, but to suit the plot, everyone ignored it until the end of Season 3 / beginning of Season 4. Same thing happens here: River is acting very hurt at the Doctor not recognising her, yet seemed to expect it. She forbids him from reading a book she carries, and says he told her himself not to allow his younger self to read it. She has a sonic screwdriver, tells him he gave it to her, and that's that. Does anyone else think the Doctor might have sat down and said "Right, before we go any further, you need to tell me EVERYTHING you can tell me about who you are to me and what this has to do with you sending me a distress signal via psychic paper!". All of this is left to the second part, presumably as part of whole tease that this episode is. But it does seem to be a little contrived...

Oh, and a lot of the first part of this episode feels suspiciously like filler instead of essential atmosphere and creating the world of the episode. I think maybe Moffat is one of the writers who writes best in the pressure cooker of a single episode (BLINK / GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE) than he does in the space of two eps (EMPTY CHILD / DOCTOR DANCES and this one). Maybe this would have made a tighter, more scary and urgent one-parter than a slightly slow-starting first of two-parter - but next week will tell us whether or not this two-ep style was needed for this story, or whether its more filler. Very minor gripes, though, for easily the scariest story this season. Moffat scores again - but it's not quite BLINK. Still the best so far in Season 4!

If you use this, call me... SPUD McSPUD, scourge of the Medusa Cascade!

“DJ Bollocks” says:

Evening....

Oh the joy.... the rapture..... Moffatt is back....

It would be predictable to list the plaudits , a Doctory love in... but this is why I watch Doctor Who. I genuinely cheered in an unlike me fanboyish way when I heard the news that Moffatt was going to be taking over Doctor Who and for any doubters (still ?) this and the Doctor Who Confidential that followed afterwards was proof if proof be needed why this man will make this series so much better than what has preceeded it.

As a lover of many programmes but particularly The Wire tonight's episodes had all the things I love about Baltimore's finest...The use of language, fantastic imagery, intruiging plotlines, brilliant performances - a genuine sense of fear and forboding and a story that is so simplistic and yet so moreish that for the first time this series I'm desperate for next Saturday.

Who is Alex Kingston's character ?
How does she know the Doctor and when will we see those stories ?
Is Donna dead (of course not) but how will she have survived ?
and the little girl and the psychiatrist - what's that all about ?

This is the Doctor Who they were trying to do with Sylvester McCoy but failed because anyone had long since stopped caring... See it download it immerse yourself in it - if you thought Blink was good this has the potential to be even better.

And maybe you'll sleep with the light on tonight....