Pop Vultures

Doctor Who, S04 E08: Silence in the Library

This is the first episode by Steven Moffat since the announcement that he is to be the showrunner when Russell T Davies steps down at the end of this series, and if we didn’t already know how awesomely perfect he is for this job, then this stellar episode should do the trick. Moffat is funny, he’s brilliantly imaginative, and he knows EXACTLY how to push a kid’s fear buttons. Also, he is the genius behind the glorious Press Gang, and hence can do no wrong (besides the generally crappy Coupling, but I like to pretend he didn’t write that).

Anyway, on with the recap.

We begin with a very cute small child being questioned by a psychiatrist. Dr Moon (no relation to the Mighty Boosh’s Howard, I sadly presume, as he is neither wearing tweed nor listening to jazz fusion). Apparently, when the child closes her eyes she finds herself in a fantastical library. Usually, she’s alone. But this time, there’s someone there. The noise of their footsteps gets louder as they approach, and the girl screams as the door bursts open to reveal the Doctor and Donna. And…credits.

When we return, the Doctor and Donna are arriving at the library, which the Doctor tells Donna contains all the books ever written. They’ve been summoned there by a mysterious message on the Doctor’s psychic paper, signed with a kiss. The library, however, seems to be totally deserted, although a search on a handy computer terminal informs them that there are a “million million lifeforms” knocking about the place somewhere. Could the books be alive?

The duo encounter an information Node, a sort of peanut shaped sculpture that speaks with a donated human face. In its bland automatic voice, the device replays its last message, telling them that “they’re here. Run. Run.” Apparently 4022 have been “saved, no survivors.” So creepy. Continuing the last message, the Node tells them to “watch the shadows.” Our nervous heroes look around and the Doctor notices a large shadow - “but what’s casting it?” They take the advice of whoever left that last message and run, eventually barging through a set of doors and slamming them behind them. Hey, this is where we came in! There’s no sign of the girl, but the Doctor is sure all will be well, because they’re in the library shop. Another Node turns around and tells them that “others are coming.” If I were a child, I would be hiding behind the sofa by now. Hell, I’m 32 and I was half way behind it.

The others turn out to be a team of archaeologists led by the charismatic Professor River Song, played by the excellent Alex Kingston, who greets the Doctor with a foxy smirk and “hello, sweetie!” The library has been sealed off from the outside for 100 years, and they’ve just managed to break the seals in an attempt to find out what’s actually there. The team includes two blokes called Dave (one known as “Proper Dave” and the other as “Other Dave”, a joke that could have come straight out of Press Gang), a rich man called Mr Lux (played by none other than Steve Pemberton from The League of Gentlemen, the second cast member to grace the Who set since Mark Gaddis’s appearance last year) and his attractive but ditzy assistant Miss Evangelista, who is generally ignored by everyone but Lux, who just bosses her about.

The Doctor has guessed why the shadows are so dangerous. He explains that everywhere, all over the universe, people have “an irrational fear of the dark”. Pause. “But it’s not irrational”. See what I mean about Steven Moffat pushing kids’ fear buttons? What with this and the glorious ‘Blink’, he must be fuelling lots of nightmares. Anyway, the shadows are the “Vashta Nerada,” microscopic “piranhas of the air” who look like shadows and can consume someone in seconds. Yikes.

Professor Song obviously knows the Doctor, but he doesn’t know her. There’s a very funny bit where she calls, “Hey, pretty boy,” and the Doctor is adorably bewildered as he realises she means him. “I’m the pretty boy?” he says. Donna immediately answers “Yes! Wow, that came out a bit fast, didn’t it?” Heh. Anyway, the Doctor joins the Professor, who keeps saying how young he looks, and it soon becomes apparent that they know each other in his future but her past, a la The Time Traveller’s Wife (what a creepy, unlikeable book that was, by the way). Song has a diary (that looks like a Tardis!) that she won’t show the Doctor because, as she tells him, it’s “full of spoilers.” Steven Moffat is a proper fanboy.

Everyone’s trying to access the library’s computer system. Meanwhile, the little girl is watching telly when the phone rings, but her dad can’t hear it! Yikes. Suddenly, the Doctor appears on her telly. When she fiddles with the remote control, books fly off the shelves in the library. This is such a cool episode.

Everyone’s doing important investigatory things while Miss Evangelista stands around awkwardly. Donna feels sorry for her and goes for a chat. Poor Miss E is a bit dim but she knows everyone thinks she’s stupid. Donna comforts her sweetly, but she’s called away just before the little girl’s remote fiddling opens a mysterious door in the library. Miss E is the only person who notices it, but everyone ignores her when she tries to draw their attention to it. She decides to investigate this shadowy new room on her own. Oh dear. This will not end well.

A few seconds later there’s — surprise, surprise! — a hideous scream. Everyone rushes into the uncovered room to discover a skeleton in a space suit. The vashta nerada really are like piranhas. But what’s this? Miss Evangelista is still talking! Except she isn’t, really - her electronic speaking device is “ghosting”; it was linked to her nervous system and has retained some memory of her mind so will keep going until the batteries run down. It’s a brilliantly distressing idea, executed perfectly as the dead Miss E asks why it’s so dark and whether “the nice woman” is there. She means Donna, and there wasn’t a dry eye in my house as Donna gently talks to the dead girl’s memory, who tells Donna that she wandered off and asks that she “don’t tell the others, they’d only laugh” before she dies away. Sniff.

Away from the library, Steven Moffat freaks out the kiddie viewers even more when Dr (Not Howard) Moon sits the little girl down for a chat. He tells her there is the real world, and the world of nightmares, and even my grown-up blood runs cold when, without missing a beat, he subverts all expectation and calmly says that actually, “the nightmares are real,” not the other way round, and there are people the girl needs to save. Yikes!

Prof Song is talking to Donna and sort of freezes when she realises that Donna is “Donna Noble.” Donna is perturbed that this woman from the Doctor’s future has heard of Donna but never met her. Oh dear. This doesn’t bode well. There is a lot of gloomy foreshadowing in this episode, in case you hadn’t noticed.

The Doctor is looking out for the vashta nerada. “They won’t be in every shadow, but they could be in any shadow”. Oh Moffat, you mean, mean man. The Doctor notices that Proper Dave has two shadows. Uh oh. He sends Donna back to the Tardis - but almost as soon as she arrives there she evaporates with a shriek. Jaysus! Surely she can’t be dead?

Back in the library, Dave is afraid to move. The Doctor thinks he’s vanquished the vashta nerada – until Dave starts saying weird things and it’s revealed that the vashta nerada have got into his space suit and are moving it around! Proper Dave is ghosting, of course, and pursues the terrified explorers around the library saying, “Hey, who turned out the lights?” So creepy. They escape thanks to Prof Song’s….sonic screwdriver?! It looks like an older version of the Doctor’s - which it may well be, because apparently he gave it to her. Their relationship - or future relationship - really intrigues me. I actually wondered if she was meant to be a grown-up Rose - they do look a bit alike - but that wouldn’t make sense because this wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen the Doctor at this age. The Doctor tries to communicate with Donna and realises she’s not in the Tardis, so he asks a Node to locate her - and when it turns around it’s got Donna’s face. Even though I kind of guessed this would happen, it was still a horrible shock. “Donna Noble has been saved” says the Donna Node. “Donna Noble has left the library.” And that’s it for this week. I seriously can’t wait for the next episode. As Lynda from Press Gang would say (because she couldn’t bring herself to say she loved Spike), I vole you, Steven Moffat!