Doctor Who: Silence in the Library (Episode 408/3108)

Spoilers!

For the first time ever, the opening quote not only introduces some meta-moments and a motif that pervades this episode, but also is a great warning for this recap.

Warning: Spoilers ahead and I just learned Steven Moffat owns my soul for a multitude of reasons. I’m betting he owns a few.

We open with a little girl’s daydream. Whenever she closes her eyes she’s in a library that goes on forever. In order to get to any part of the library, all she has to do is wish.

The little girl, who is being interviewed by Dr. Moon and being watched over by her father, suddenly panics as someone is in her library. The doors bust open, confirming that it this really is my version of heaven.

Unfortunately, it’s terrifying for the little girl, as the library is in her mind and the Doctor and Donna just invaded it. The Doctor and Donna are taking over one’s thoughts? Wait! I think I’ve just come up with the perfect name for the little girl.

New Who credits.

Flashback: The Doctor is waxing on the beauty and wonder of books. Despite all the new gadgets humanity had, books will always win out. As for where they are, it’s The Library. “So big it doesn’t need a name, just a great, big, The.” So, The Library is like The Doctor. It’s a world full of every book ever written and the centre of the planet is the hard drive of the catalogue.

So, with every book ever written, what does the Doctor reference? Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones and Monty Python’s Big Red Book. Talk about a way to make my English degree seem useless. The least he could’ve done is mention the works of Agatha Christie . Although, I am curious as to how serious he was about a whole continent of Bridget Jones.

They’re in the biography section, which is very apt for the Doctor as there’s usually a death at the end. Usually, I’d make a crack about the anvil of foreshadowing but you see I’ve –

“Spoilers!” The Doctor snatches a book away from Donna that’s been written well after her time. He doesn’t want her “peeking at the end” and he’s always tried to keep her away from major plot developments that would spoil her future. Somehow, I just think we met Moffat’s opinion on the whole to spoil or not to spoil issue.

Except, the Doctor earns a massive fail in not spoiling. He’s like the white text you simply need to scroll over to see, even when you’ve told yourself you won’t read the spoilers or is that just me because he’s brought Donna to the biggest library in the universe. She could look up anything she ever wanted, anyone could.

The problem is that The Library is dead silent. We aren’t just talking some really effective librarians shushing people, no, the library is empty. There are only two humanoids, but the scans say there are over 1000000000000 life forms.

This brings me to my first major disappointment in Donna Noble: she complains about being in The Library because they were supposed to go to the beach. Then she comments that “books can’t be alive.”

Suddenly, something shouts out ‘welcome” and the Doctor and Donna are greeted by a courtesy node. Both Donna and I find these nodes creepy because they have an actual face on them but the Doctor's not disconcerted. The node also has the warning from the head librarian. While I’m used to warnings about turning off one’s cell phone and respecting the other patrons, the whole “OMG RUN NOW AND PS COUNT THE SHADOWS” is a new one. Although, this is an episode of Doctor Who, of course running is expected.

The Doctor ominously warns Donna to stay out of the shadows and finally confesses as to the reason they’re there. He got a message on the psychic paper asking him to come as soon as possible and it’s signed with a kiss. It’s a cool trick and I wonder what I would send him, if I could.

We’ve seen that before but only by former companions when they need to see him. I would comment on that one way or another, but I’ve seen the second half of this and –

And I remember the opening quote.

The lights suddenly start shutting off and we get some of that trademark running. They’re blocked by a large wooden door, and Donna’s appalled to find out the sonic screwdriver can’t help as “it doesn’t do wood.” BTW, there’s no way to say that without it coming out dirty, so I’ll just leave it and snicker like a 12 year-old in sex-ed class.

In order to save themselves, Donna shows us her mad door-kicking skills. / End flashback.

While Fandom sees the image of herself floating around the library, the Doctor and Donna see a floating security camera that shuts itself off upon their arrival in The Library’s shop (cleverly called The Shop, and we all know the Doctor’s fondness for shops) . The Doctor tries to restart the camera with the sonic screwdriver, only to have Fandom screaming for him to stop it. A computerized message tells the Doctor, while Dr. Moon and Fandom’s father (someone really needs to do the essay explaining who that is) stand around, concerned.

The Doctor and Donna aren’t the only one in The Library. Nope, there are others. Fandom warns Dr. Moon and her father, while the security camera warns the Doctor and Donna. She asks one of the nodes, claiming that because it has a face, it should help her. Umm, has Donna ever gone to the local big box / chain bookstores? Every one of the people there have a face but not one of them can help you unless you’re looking for Harry Potter or Twilight.

She backs away from the face (which was donated and I’m with Donna on the squickiness of this), only to be grabbed by the Doctor when she nearly steps into the shadows.

She slaps him back for being all grabby hands, until he points out there’s a strange shadow on the floor and nothing is casting it. You know, for all the people who are afraid of the dark, this episode isn’t going to help them one bit. Anyway, the Doctor realizes what’s going on; the shadow moves and the node reminds the pair The Library has been breached.

“Hello, Sweetie.” Look, it’s Alex Kingston!

To be honest, I had issues with this character from the get-go. I think the problems all trace back to this scene. The “Hello, Sweetie,” sounding like she owns the Doctor, tricking her employer and being the one career the Doctor hates (archeologist – so he really must’ve hated Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ) all adds up to never really liking the character.

I’m not saying she isn’t interesting or Alex Kingston does a poor job, nothing of the sort. I’m just saying that if this were real life, Professor River Song and I would never hang out. Then again, I wouldn’t hang out with River Tam either. Maybe it’s just the name.

But I digress so back to the plot. The Doctor orders everyone to leave, but no one is listening. Hey, whenever the Doctor pulls out his ANGRY DOCTOR IS ANGRY routine, I find it’s best to listen. These people don’t. So, who are these people? Besides Professor Son, we have Other Dave (not to be confused with Proper Dave), Anita, Strackman Lux and Miss Evangelista (who fails at getting the Doctor and Donna to sign some sort of personal experience contract). All of whom (along with the Doctor and Donna) are in danger from the Vashta Nerada. It’s what was always waiting in the dark to get you and the only way to stay safe is to stay in the light. After this episode, I think there was a power spike in Britain as no one would want to turn the lights off.

The Doctor orders light and River Song gives a few orders of her own. The first is for Lux to put on his helmet. The second is that “pretty boy” should step into her office. Okay, that grated a little on my nerves, but it’s instantly made up for when the Doctor doesn’t realize that he’s “pretty boy.”

There is one member of the team I really do feel for, and that’s Miss Evangelista. She keeps trying to help but is pushed away. Other Dave and Anita mock her for not being able to tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom (twice) and when she goes to help Lux, which is her job, he does the whole talk to the hand routine. It’s interesting because even though she’s not very intelligent, she’s astute enough to pick up on everyone’s feelings about her, as she’s painfully awkward the whole time. Donna also feels for her, which isn’t surprising, considering how her own friends and family talked about her at her wedding.

As for River Song, she pulls out a well-used book that shares a remarkable similarity with the TARDIS in both appearance and pattern, and proceeds to spoil the Doctor on his life. There’s something about Byzantium and a picnic at Asgard until she realizes that he hasn’t even met her yet.

She says he’s so young. Well, I’ve heard of having a thing for older men, but really, once you hit 900+, you don’t get called young again.

An alarm goes off, but it sounds like a phone. Well, it sounds like a phone because it is a phone, right into Fandom’s living room. She ignores it, calling for her father to answer it, but her father says the phone isn’t ringing. Just as she goes to pick it up, it stops ringing, as the Doctor is now trying another method of communication – the television. Both the Doctor and Fandom are surprised when they’re able to communicate (very meta) as the Doctor is surprised when she says “Dad” and she’s shocked The Library is on television. Can I just say now, without spoiling anything, that these traditional, mundane methods of phone calls, and communication through the television is very Life on Mars.

Fandom frantically plays with her remote control, trying to get the Doctor back, while the Doctor tries to access the data core once again, that is, until he’s distracted by River Song’s personal journal of impossible things. All he has to do is pick it up and finally answer the question of how she knows him but River Song stops him, as it’s against his rules. Arg! Since when has the Doctor ever stuck to rules (unless needed for a plot device)?

While playing with her remote, Fandom inadvertently starts throwing books at everyone in The Library. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a meta-tantrum in the history of television. The girl keeps pressing buttons and the Doctor gets a message on the computer that CAL access is denied.

While the music is all very Harry Potter style, indicating fun, Miss Evangelista doesn’t like people throwing their knowledge at her head. It’s probably not the first time it’s ever happened to her, poor thing. Donna takes pity on her but laughs at her comment that she was pleased when her father told her she had the IQ of plankton. The problem is that she didn’t mean it as a joke.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is stuck trying to figure out why there’s a little girl in the computer, and the little girl is trying to figure out why there’s a Doctor on her television. Both of them are stumped because they aren’t getting the information they need. For Fandom, she hesitates pressing the reveal button on her remote, which is the same hesitation when I click on any posting, anywhere that says “spoilers.” For the Doctor, he’s confounded because he didn’t sign the personal experience contract earlier.

The Doctor is furious that Lux is protecting a patent but Lux is as honest as he gets, that is until next week, when he says it’s more about family pride. Oh, and even though River Song taunts the Doctor for not signing the contract, she didn’t either. I know it’s supposed to come off all witty and wonderful because she’s learned from the Doctor but it really comes off more on the bitchy side of the scale.

The Doctor wants the story of what happened 100 years ago to empty The Library. All they know is there was a message about the lights going out, “4022 saved, no survivors” and then nothing. It’s taken a full hundred years to even get back on the planet.

Lux is all angry about River Song telling the Doctor everything, but her insistence, her deep, almost instinctual trust of the Doctor, is the one thing that prevents me from disliking her completely.

While all this is going on, Fandom’s opened up a door in The Shop, which Miss Evangelista tries to point out everyone, but is quickly dismissed. She realizes that it could be important and goes through it, winding up in what looks to be a government hall, filled with books.

She screams and brings everyone to her, except they don’t know it’s her. As River Song tries to raise Miss Evangelista on the communicators, they here an echo in the room and realize the skeleton on the chair is all that is left.

In the creepiest thing ever in the new series, and yes, I mean creepier than gas mask children or statues that kill, Miss Evangelista “ghosts.” Essentially, her consciousness is trapped in her communicator. Miss Evangelista keeps calling out and is worried that she can’t see. In her last moments, she asks for “the nice woman” which is a whole level of pathetic I didn’t know was possible. I don’t mean pathetic as in laughable, more pathetic as in when Miss Evangelista, in her last moment, is looking for someone to be kind to her, she has to ask for a woman whose name she doesn’t even know.

At first, Donna can’t say anything.

Yet her horror is overcome by her humanity, and she promises Miss Evangelista not to say anything about being her being stupid. Again, it’s overwhelmingly sad as everyone is standing around listening, and yet Miss Evangelista is still trying to curry their favour, even though she’s dead. The communicator repeats the plea not to be laughed at and how she can’t think, as the pattern fades. The woman’s very last thought was not to be laughed at.

It’s now the Doctor’s turn to show everyone what is going on, but in order to do so, he needs a packed lunch. Luckily, River Song has chicken and salad, that an a whole massive book detailing her life with the Doctor which I’d really like her to tell us about –

Fine, Professor River Song, if you’re going to be that way about it but if that book goes missing, don’t ask where it went. I didn’t take it.

So now the Doctor is going to call out the Vashta Nerada using only a torch and some chicken and salad.

We flip back to Fandom, where Dr. Moon has a serious discussion with her. Everything in her nightmares is real. There really are people in her library (which is inside her head) that are in danger and need to be “saved.” Only Fandom can save them. With that, despite having seen the second half already, Dr. Moon earns a new title.

While the Doctor is doing something, well, Doctor-ish with his sonic screwdriver, River Song takes a moment to talk to Donna. She’s all upset that the Doctor arrived “too early” and that he has no clue who she is. Plus, she talks in circles about the Doctor knowing her yet not knowing her, so when Donna yells at her, I smirk. I would’ve done the same damn thing. On the other hand, the professor does know who Donna is and that’s definitely not comforting.

Before we can get any spoilers, the Doctor introduces everyone to the Vashta Nerada. They’re the “piranhas of the air” and ever planet has them, even Earth. We just haven’t noticed because they usually live on road kill and our parents lied to us about what the little particles in sunbeams were. I guess the lie that the particles are just dust, or something more creative like bits of Tinkerbell’s fairy dust is much nicer than saying it’s really a swarm of flesh-eating creatures that will get you when the lights go out, is really just preventing as many nightmares as there are Vashta Nerada.

The Doctor demonstrates this by throwing a chicken leg at the shadow, where it’s promptly stripped of all the meat. To make things worse, the Vashta Nerada can’t be defeated as simply as Daleks or Sontarans . All you can do is run.

Well, one of them won’t be running. Proper Dave is going to have to stand completely still because, suddenly, he has two shadows. To try and save him, they seal his helmet on, hoping the Vashta Nerada won’t be able to get at him. Yeah, like that’s going to work.

Also, Donna’s able to point out that neither she, nor the Doctor, has a suit. Oops.

As for River Song, she’s got a suit and something else, a future version of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. The Doctor looks appalled at this idea, and I’m thinking his reaction reflects a good portion of the fandom’s (not Fandom’s, that’s different).

The Doctor rushes Donna into the other room. She hopes it’s time for shopping, but he’s using the local teleport to send her safely back to the TARDIS. At first, she refuses to leave, but the Doctor distracts her by saying he’ll explain, only to activate the teleport. Oh Doctor, you’re so going to pay for that later.

So with Donna having disappeared, I would just like to take a moment to say that my earlier threat of snarking TPTB if anything bad happens to Donna, was serious. Kthanxbai.

The Doctor is back with the expedition, and proper Dave is relieved that he only has two shadows. You know, I’d be okay with two shadows if said second shadow behaved like the one from Peter Pan, but as this one plans on eating him, I’d start wondering where the second shadow moved to. The Doctor also wonders this, and really, I’m not going to prolong this, as the Vashta Nerada eat their packed lunch.

When Proper Dave starts asking about the lights, the Doctor realizes what’s to become of him. His helmet is dark and after a moment of twitching, just like Miss Evangelista, Proper Dave still talks, but he’s ghosting. As the skull of Proper Dave falls against the visor, the Vashta Nerada take control of the suit and tries strangling the Doctor but River Song steps in and defends him with her sonic screwdriver.

They all back away; comforted by the fact the suit isn’t moving quickly. Well, it is “a swarm in a suit” the Doctor points out and considering the size of a particle of dust in the sunlight, we’re talking a lot of cooperation here. You have to give that to the Vashta Nerada. They can get an entire swarm to cooperate moving the suit. Human beings can barely have half a dozen people in any room before disagreements begin. Or is that just my work?

The swarm’s shadows grow, River Song proves that not only did she travel with the Doctor, but also she took a few souvenirs from the TARDIS, including Captain Jack’s squareness gun. Personally, I would've enjoyed it more if she'd accidentally pulled out a banana.

As they turn to run, River Song, in all seriousness, does prove that she’s a companion.

Fandom is looking forlorn as she doesn’t understand what’s happening in The Library. Well, neither does the fandom, so again, she’s reflecting us. She does give us a little bit of hope.

The Library is dead silent, with the exception of the hum of a sonic screwdriver. Except River Song’s screwdriver works far better than the Doctor’s current model and the lights are turned back on at full. Yes, we get it, she’s somehow special to him, but really, to continue dropping hints like this is just mean, Moffat!

As the Doctor is without a plan, all he knows is that he has a time limit, 5 hours before the TARDIS takes Donna home. Well, that is, if Donna Noble was in the TARDIS, which he’s only now realizing she isn’t. Not to make excuses or anything, but he was running from a slow-moving swarm in a suit.

He runs to a Node, asking about Donna’s whereabouts, only to be answered by a very familiar looking face.

“Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved.”

As the Doctor looks devastated at the loss of his companion, River Song gives us hope by asking how all this is possible. Well, she’s the one with the big book of spoilers, so she’d know.

Before anyone else can take comfort in this, the swarm in a suit is announced by the ghosting Proper Dave, who is asking who turned out the lights. River Song grabs the Doctor away, pulling him back into action, and again, she does something to endear herself to me, no matter how irritating she can be. Thus, we’re left with the node!Donna announcing she’s been saved, and everyone else being chased by a swarm in a suit and then trapped bunch of shadows.

Of course, I know how all this turns out, and I’d tell you, but then I remember the opening quote.

You know, maybe River Song was right and sometimes rules are a good thing.