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{{Infobox NewTV
{{title dab away}}
|story name= Silence In The Library
{{real world}}
|image= [[Image:Silence in the library promo.jpg|250px]]
{{ImageLinkTV}}
|series= [[Doctor Who]] - [[List of Doctor Who television stories|TV stories]]
{{Infobox Story SMW
|number= [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]]
|image                = The Library.JPG
|story number= 195a
|series               = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]
|season number         = Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)
|companions= [[Donna Noble]]
|series episode number = 8
|enemy= [[Vashta Nerada]]
|story number         = 195a
|setting= [[The Library]] [[51st century]]
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-4-episode-8-silence-in-the-library-goldenrod-revisions-11022008.pdf
|writer= [[Steven Moffat]]
|doctor                = Tenth Doctor
|director=[[Euros Lyn]]
|companions           = [[Donna Noble|Donna]]
|producer=[[Phil Collinson]]
|featuring            = River Song{{!}}River
|broadcast date=[[31st May]] [[2008]]
|featuring2            = Charlotte Lux
|format=1x45 minute episode
|enemy                 = [[Vashta Nerada]]
|production code= 199 a
|setting               = [[The Library]], [[5150]]
|previous story= [[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]
|writer               = Steven Moffat
|next story= [[Forest of the Dead]]
|director             = [[Euros Lyn]]
|producer             = [[Phil Collinson]]
|confidential          = Shadow Play (CON episode)
|broadcast date       = 31 May 2008
|network              = BBC One
|format               = 1x45 minute episode;<br/>Part 1 of 2
|production code       = 4.9
|prev                  = The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)
|next                 = Forest of the Dead (TV story)
|made prev            = Turn Left (TV story)
|made next            = Forest of the Dead (TV story)
|clip                  = Meet the Vashta Nerada - Silence In The Library - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip2                = Donna Noble Has Left The Library - Silence In The Library - Doctor Who - BBC
|epcount              = 1
}}
}}
{{Quote|4022 saved, no survivors|[[Strackman Lux]]}}
'''''Silence in the Library''''' was the eighth episode of [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 4]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
 
It marked the first appearance of [[River Song]], a mysterious woman with an important role in [[the Doctor]]'s personal future.
 
Donna's departure at the end of the series is hinted at in this episode. River reacts upon learning who Donna is, but refuses to answer why she doesn't know her in the future despite knowing the Doctor. It slightly touched upon River and the Doctor's future interactions, as River speaks of "the [[Eleventh Doctor|future]] [[Twelfth Doctor|you]]" suggesting she and the Doctor would know of each other well into his future adventures.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
One hundred years ago, the universe's greatest [[The Library|library]] was sealed off, leaving only an enigmatic warning: "Count the shadows". But now, the shadows are moving again. The Doctor and Donna must uncover the terrible truth behind the Nodes and the Data Ghosts, to find The Library's secret, and on the way they try to avoid the [[Vashta Nerada]], piranhas of the air, shadows that melt the flesh.
The [[Tenth Doctor]] takes [[Donna Noble]] to a [[planet]]-sized [[library]] in the [[52nd century]]. They find it empty of [[human]] life, with countless other living beings. An information kiosk warns them to "count the shadows". An [[archaeological]] expedition arrives, led by the mysterious [[Professor]] [[River Song]], who brings the cryptic last message sent from the library: "4022 saved, No survivors".


== Plot ==
== Plot ==


A [[Charlotte Lux|little girl]] seems to be going through a therapeutic session with psychologist named [[Doctor Moon]]. She reveals that she has a Library, a whole world, which she sees whenever she closes her eyes. The Library is a world, home to every book ever written, powered by the most powerful computer ever. It is a peaceful place; entirely empty of human life... but suddenly the girl's imaginary world is interrupted by the arrival of two mysterious strangers.  
[[Charlotte Lux|A little girl]] is in a session with her psychologist, [[Doctor Moon]]. She says she has a [[library]], a whole world, which she sees whenever she closes her eyes. It is a peaceful place, entirely empty of [[human]] life. Suddenly, the world she sees is interrupted by loud pounding on a locked door. As the door bursts open, two mysterious strangers rush in – the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Donna Noble]]...


The Doctor and Donna arrive, in the [[51st century]], on a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library". Though the Doctor has received a message for help on his psychic paper, and though the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" are present, they find the Library deserted. A Node, a statue with a strangely realistic human face, warns them to beware the shadows... just as the lights begin to go out around them. The travellers race through the Library stacks, eventually finding a central room that is well lit. As they try to figure out more about the Node's enigmatic warning, they encounter a team of explorers led by archeologist [[River Song]]. Professor Song explains that she and her team are there with Mr. [[Strackman Lux]] (whose family had built the Library) to learn why the Library has been sealed for the last one hundred years.
In [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], the Doctor and Donna arrive in the [[52nd century]] on a planet-sized [[book]] repository called simply "[[the Library]]". It is an entire world, holding every [[book]] ever written, and powered by the most powerful [[computer]] ever. Shortly after arriving, they realise however that the Library is completely empty. The Library's computers confirm that they are the only humanoid life at present, but it then claims there are over "a million million [[lifeform]]s" in the Library. Donna asks why they really came here, and the Doctor admits that he earlier received a message for help on his [[psychic paper]]. He doesn't know who it's from, but Donna observes that it was signed with a kiss. Nearby, a statue with a strangely realistic human face, called a [[Node]], warns them to count the shadows... Donna is shocked to find that the faces are selected by the Nodes from those which have been "donated" by the deceased. Just then, the lights begin to go out around them. Wary of the warning regarding shadows, they race through the Library aisles until they reach a well-lit room. The doors are locked, but Donna kicks them open.
[[Image:4022 saved. No survivors.jpg|200px|thumb|left|4022 saved. No survivors]]


The Doctor quickly organises the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that the shadows are occupied by the [[Vashta Nerada]], microscopic carnivorous creatures that use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. The team works to find a way out of the library. However, Mr. Lux's assistant, Ms. Evangelista, wanders off and falls prey to the Vashta Nerada, her body eaten away in seconds. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team each wears a communication device which has a glitch called "Data Ghosting" where a copy of a person's consciousness is temporarily held within it for a short time after death, allowing them to communicate briefly with the living.
There they see a spherical security camera hovering in the air. In her living room, the little girl opens her eyes at the same moment the camera shuts itself down. The Doctor scans the camera with his [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]]. The girl screams, terrified by the sound of the sonic screwdriver inside her head. The camera sends the Doctor a message that begs him to stop the noise, which he does. The camera and the girl both warn that "others" are coming; the Library has "been breached". The door opens, and a team of explorers in spacesuits enter. The leader walks up to the Doctor and greets him, "Hello, sweetie." She tells the others they can take off their helmets, and the Doctor begs them all to leave immediately. Another member of the group complains that there shouldn't be anyone else there, he had paid for exclusive rights to the expedition. On hearing the word "expedition", the Doctor questions whether they're [[archaeologist]]s and says that, as a time traveller, he points and laughs at archaeologists. The leader then introduces herself as Professor [[River Song]], archaeologist. She explains that her team are there with Mr [[Strackman Lux]], whose family built the Library, to learn why it has been sealed for the last hundred years.


Professor Song's behaviour throughout is markedly curious. First, she appears to know the Doctor quite well, though from some point in his own personal future. She carries a diary that seems to be about the Doctor's life with a cover that looks like his TARDIS, and she possesses a more rugged version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, which she claims was a gift from the Doctor himself. Also, when the Doctor mentions Donna's name, she knows her surname and seems shocked that its her, when Donna asks her if she travelled with the Doctor then why doesn't he know her, River goes silent.  
[[File:4022 saved. No survivors.jpg|thumb|left|4022 saved. No survivors.]]
The Doctor quickly organises the team to make sure the area is well lit. He says the shadows are occupied by the [[Vashta Nerada]], microscopic, carnivorous creatures which use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. The team work to find a way out of the Library. River calls the Doctor over in private, where she reveals that she was the one who sent the message on the psychic paper while merrily opening a [[River Song's diary|diary]] with a cover that looks like the Doctor's TARDIS. It seems to be about his life. She tries to find out in which part of the Doctor's life she's in but realises he is so young he does not know her. From his perspective, this is the first time they have met. She, on the other hand, seems to know him well.


The young girl who dreams of the Library, meanwhile, sees the team through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room; later, they appear on her television as the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers... and when she fiddles with the television's remote, she causes events to occur in the Library. The girl is under observation from Dr. Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr. Moon appears to have significant knowledge of the situation of the Doctor, Donna, and the exploration team. He reveals that her reality is an illusion, that her nightmares are reality, and that only she can save all the people trapped in the Library. The final mystery appears to be the word "CAL" that appears at times on the Library screens, the Doctor wondering who or what that means.
One of the team activates one of the computer systems, and causes a steadily repeated sound exactly like a ringing [[telephone|phone]]. At the same moment, the girl hears the phone in her house ringing, although her father doesn't. She hesitates to answer and the phone stops ringing. The Doctor hacks into the computer. The young girl then sees the Doctor and the team on her [[television]], replacing the cartoon she was watching. A disturbance occurs and the Doctor loses the image of the girl. As he hacks into the computer, he sees River's diary and moves to pick it up. River stops him, saying it's against the rules - his rules.
[[File:Silence_in_the_Library_359.jpg|thumb|The Library is on the television.]]


The team's investigation is interrupted when the pilot Dave acquires an extra shadow. The Vashta Nerada have attached themselves to him, and though the Doctor attempts to save him, he is quickly eaten away, the organisms taking control of his suit. Dave's Data Ghost echoes his last thoughts as the suit approaches the rest of the team. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong in the teleport and Donna fails to materialize 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 girl fiddles with the television's remote and books fly into the air from the shelves in the Library. Donna calms Mr Lux's assistant, Miss [[Evangelista]]. The word "CAL" appears at times on the Library screens and the Doctor asks Mr Lux about it. Mr Lux refuses to help, claiming that he is protecting his family's pride. The Doctor berates him and tells him that the team is in grave danger.


== Cast ==
Miss Evangelista sees a secret door when the girl pushed a random button from the remote. She tries to tell the others, but they don't listen. She wanders off and is quickly killed by the Vashta Nerada. The team hear her scream and run into after her, only to find her skeleton. The communication device worn by the exploration team on their spacesuits allows for a glitch called "Data Ghosting"; a copy of a person's [[consciousness]] can be temporarily held in it for a short time after death, allowing them to communicate briefly with the living. Miss Evangelista speaks briefly to the "nice woman", Donna, just before her consciousness is lost. As the team listen on sadly, her last words, "[[ice cream]]", are repeated.
*[[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
*[[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
*[[River Song]] - [[Alex Kingston]]
*[[Charlotte Lux|The Girl]] - [[Eve Newton]]
*[[Doctor Moon]] - [[Colin Salmon]]
*[[Strackman Lux]] - [[Steve Pemberton]]
*[[Proper Dave]] - [[Harry Peacock]]
*[[Other Dave]] - [[O-T Fagbenle]]
*[[Anita]] - [[Jessika Williams]]
*[[Evangelista|Miss Evangelista]] - [[Talulah Riley]]
*[[Jelivia Lux]] - [[Mark Dexter]]
*710/aqua - [[Sarah Niles]]
*[[Node]] - [[Joshua Dallas]]


==Production crew==
Back in the little girl's home, Dr Moon asks to speak to her alone before he leaves. He asks if she knows the difference between dreams and reality. She says that of course, she does. He tells her that her reality is an illusion; her nightmares are the true reality, and only she can save all the people trapped in the Library.
''to be added''


== References ==
The Doctor proves the Vashta Nerada's existence by throwing a [[chicken]] leg from River Song's lunchbox into the "shadow"; the leg is stripped to the bone before it hits the floor. The Doctor explains that the Vashta Nerada exist on many planets, including Earth, but he has never seen an infestation on such a scale or this aggressive. Donna objects, pointing out that if they existed on Earth people would know, only for the Doctor to explain that Vashta Nerada usually live on roadkill; however, there have been cases where people have gone missing without a trace... not everyone comes back out of the dark. When he mentions Donna's name, River recognises it. Her reaction seems to be a mixture of shock and sadness. Donna asks where she is in this future when River knows the Doctor. River goes silent. The team's investigation is interrupted when the pilot, "[[Proper Dave]]" — in contrast with the [[Other Dave|other "Dave"]] — acquires an extra shadow. The Vashta Nerada have attached themselves to him. The Doctor orders everyone's helmet on, as it might slow down the Vashta Nerada a bit. He also finds that River possesses a more advanced version of his sonic screwdriver, which she claims was a gift from him.
* When he and Donna arrive at the Library, the Doctor makes reference to author [[Jeffrey Archer]], the [[Bridget Jones]] franchise, and ''[[Monty Python's Big Red Book]]''.
*The Keyboards seen throughout the episode are Macintosh keyboards.
*The Doctor notices (and says so) that River Song has a [[sonic blaster|squareness gun]], much like the one that [[Jack Harkness]] used in ''[[The Doctor Dances]]''. The episode takes place in the [[51st century]], from which Jack originated. In the associated [[Doctor Who Confidential]] episode, [[Steven Moffat]] says that he imagined [[River Song|River]] found the gun (as left behind by Jack) in the TARDIS during her future travels.
*The Doctor received a message from River Song on his [[psychic paper]].
*The Doctor uses a [[teleport]] to send Donna to [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] but mentions that he could only do this for Donna as the TARDIS wouldn't recognise the others.
*[[Vashta Nerada]] are said to exist on a billion worlds, including [[Earth]].
*A model of [[Robby the Robot]] is visible in the young girl's home.
*The relationship between [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[River Song]] is similar to the novel ''[[Wikipedia:The Time Traveler's Wife|The Time Traveler's Wife]]'' by [[Wikipedia: Audrey Niffenegger|Audrey Niffenegger]]. That story is about a man who travels in time, so that the first time he meets his partner she has already met him before. That meeting also occurs in a library, and, like River Song, she gives him a diary of their time together.
*The story also has considerable commonality with a [[Fifth Doctor]] illustrated text story, "[[Catalogue of Events]]", from the [[DWMS Summer 1983|1983 ''Doctor Who Magazine Special'']].
*The [[sonic screwdriver]] doesn't work on wood and hairdryers can interfere with it.
*The girl watches ''[[Wikipedia:Pedro and Frankensheep|Pedro and Frankensheep]]'' on her television. When she changes channels (causing the books to fly around in the library) a brief snippet of dialogue from an episode of ''Ren and Stimpy'' can be heard.
*River and the Doctor will/have shared a picnic at [[Asgard]].


== Story notes ==
[[File:Silence_in_the_Library_675.jpg|thumb|left|"Hey, who turned out the lights?"]]
*Transmission of this episode was delayed by one week due to the Eurovision Song Contest, as was the case with the [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] gap between ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'' and ''[[42]]''.
As Donna does not have a spacesuit for protection, the Doctor teleports her back to the TARDIS. He cannot send the others, because the TARDIS wouldn't recognise them. Over Donna's objection, he stays behind to lead the rest of the team to safety. However something goes wrong during the transport and Donna's signal is lost. Meanwhile, the Doctor attempts to save proper Dave, but Dave is quickly eaten away. As proper Dave's data ghost echoes his last thoughts ("Hey, who turned out the lights?"), the Vashta Nerada take control of his suit and approach the rest of the group. River uses a [[sonic blaster]] to make a hole in the wall, and they race away from the possessed suit. They run down a dead-end hallway as the suit approaches. The Doctor tells River that he has five hours to get back to the TARDIS before [[Emergency Program One]] activates to take Donna home, but then realises that Donna never made it as the console hasn't signalled him about the security breach. As a nearby [[Node]] turns around, the Doctor is horrified to find it has Donna's face on it. It states that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved", as the Vashta Nerada advances on the Doctor's group.
*According to Russell T Davies this episode is more frightening than [[Steven Moffat|Steven Moffat's]] series 3 episode ''[[Blink]]'', which rated a 5.5 out of 5 on the official Doctor Who website 'Fear Factor' feature.  
*While the Doctor is hacking into Girl's TV she is watching the CBBC show Pedro and Frankesheep which makes it the second time in this series someone has been watching a real-life kids show after [[The Doctor]] watching Tommy Zoom in [[The Poison Sky]] and the third since the series revival.
*Professor River Song mentions having "been to the End of the Universe" with the Doctor.
*Excluding the Children in Need specials, this is the 50th episode of Doctor Who since the series returned in [[2005]].
*[[Steve Pemberton]] is the second of the League of Gentlemen to appear in [[Doctor Who]], the other being [[Mark Gatiss]] who appeared in [[The Lazarus Experiment]] as [[Richard Lazarus]].
*When The Girl collapses due to the Doctor's tampering with the security camera, the pattern of the rug she collapses on is the same as the red pattern on the computer screens reading "Access Denied". It also can be briefly seen on the lens cap of the security camera, and repeated in the metalwork in the background of the circular room much of the library scenes take place in.
*Additionally, when Doctor Moon and her father rush to her side when she collapses, a plastic tag reading "CAL" can be briefly seen on Doctor Moon's briefcase.
*The security camera appears to have angel wings carved on its sides.
*Steven Moffat continues his theme of highlighting childhood fears. In ''[[Blink]]'' it was statues coming to life, in ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'' it was monsters under the bed, and in ''[[The Empty Child]]''/''[[The Doctor Dances]]'', the fear of war and bombardment.
*[[Talulah Riley]] is the second major cast member of the 2005 film ''Pride &amp; Prejudice'' to be featured in a Steven Moffat story, the first being [[Carey Mulligan]] in ''[[Blink]]''.
*The spoilers theme may be an in-joke about DW spoilers (especially online).
*Professor Song says to the Doctor, with astonishment, "you're so young!", which implies that the Doctor will live long enough to make his present age of 900+ years seem young in comparison.
** She also says, "going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah?" which may imply that their relationship begins when he still has the same face, i.e. is still in his tenth incarnation. If this is true, then his tenth incarnation may be exceptionally long-lived.
*There is, perhaps, unintentional irony to the Doctor's line, "No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring." David Tennant was himself born on a Sunday. Given that Saturdays are "good", according to ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'', it could also be a reference to the fact that, to kids, the day after a new episode of ''Doctor Who'' is broadcast is comparatively boring. It is important to note that companion [[Ace]] mentioned that she found Sundays boring in [[Survival]].
*The Library's front desk looks like a redecorated version of a control consle from The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky or the teleport control unit from [[Voyage of the Damned]]
=== Ratings ===
*Official BARB - 6.27 million viewers


=== Myths and rumours ===
== Cast ==
* The mystery of River Song led to much online fan speculation over her identity. Possibilities cited ranged from River being an iteration of [[Bernice Summerfield]] (as the two share similar personalities and are both space archeologists) to a disguised Time Lord like [[Romana]].
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* Evangelista's last words have occasionally been misinterpreted as "I scream." ''On the official BBC subtitling, her final words are, "I... Ice cream. Ice cream." Which is in keeping with her (initially) childlike demeanour.''
* [[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* [[River Song|Professor River Song]] - [[Alex Kingston]]
* [[Doctor Moon|Dr Moon]] - [[Colin Salmon]]
* [[Charlotte Lux|The Girl]] - [[Eve Newton]]
* [[Dad (Silence in the Library)|Dad]] - [[Mark Dexter]]
* [[710/aqua|Node 1]] - [[Sarah Niles]]
* [[Mark Chambers|Node 2]] - [[Joshua Dallas]]
* [[Anita (Silence in the Library)|Anita]] - [[Jessika Williams]]
* [[Strackman Lux]] - [[Steve Pemberton]]
* [[Evangelista|Miss Evangelista]] - [[Talulah Riley]]
* [[Other Dave]] - [[O-T Fagbenle]]
* [[Proper Dave]] - [[Harry Peacock]]


=== Filming Locations ===
== Crew ==
*The main library scenes for the episode were filmed at Swansea Library and Brangwyn Hall, Swansea.
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|Note=This episode won a prestigious [[Video Effects Society]] award for its digital [[matte painting]]s by [[Simon Wicker]], [[Charlie Bennett]], [[2D artist]] [[Arianna Lago]] and the uncredited [[Tim Barter]].  It was the only [[visual effect]]s award during the first [[RTD]] era of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', despite several nominations.
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=== Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors ===
== Worldbuilding ==
*When standing on the balcony upon entrance, the Doctor remarks on how, being near the equator, they must be in or near the Biography section, though when the screen pans down, a Traffic sign can be seen with a marking to the left with the Words Xenobiology. ''It also had "Art" underneath it, both with arrows pointing to the left.''


* At the beginning when we see the Doctor and Donna enter the room from the little girl's point of view we see the door is kicked multiplied times before they enter however when we see it from the Doctor and Donna's point of view we see Donna kicks it once before entering. ''The Doctor tries to open it without the Sonic Screwdriver before Donna Kicks it open.''
=== Cultural references from the real world ===
[[File:Bad Wolf Rose Tyler Reference Silence in the Library.jpg|thumb|right|Pictured just above mid-centre: two familiar images dot the girl's home: a [[Rose Tyler|blond girl]] and a [[Bad Wolf meme|wolf]].]]
* When he and Donna arrive at the Library, the Doctor makes reference to author [[Jeffrey Archer]], the [[Bridget Jones]] franchise, and ''[[Monty Python's Big Red Book]]''.
* A model of [[Robby the Robot]] is visible in the young girl's home.
* On the little girl's wall are two drawings: [[Rose Tyler|a blond]] and a [[Bad Wolf meme|wolf]].


*The keyboards on the computer terminals in the library are, in fact, the latest incarnation of Apple Computer's Bluetooth keyboard.  
=== Locations ===
* River and the Doctor will share/have shared a picnic at [[Asgard]].


* Despite the Doctor stressing to the entire team about not staying in the shadows, all but one are standing blatantly in the shade when talking to the already-dead Miss Evangelista. This is revealed from a downwards shot on the team, with the ray of light almost completely neglected as protection..
=== Species ===
* [[Vashta Nerada]] are said to exist on a billion worlds, including [[Earth]], but in small numbers and mainly feeding on road-kill.


*The Doctor receives a message on the psychic paper which shows up and he shows it to Donna. Donna takes it from him and shows it to him but it is now blank. ''This has happened a lot of times on the series, and can be interpreted as a feature of the psychic paper''
=== Technology ===
* River Song has a [[sonic blaster|squareness gun]].
* The Doctor receives a message from River on his [[psychic paper]].
* The Doctor uses a [[teleport]] to attempt to send Donna to [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], but mentions that he could only do this for Donna as the TARDIS wouldn't recognise the others.
* The [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] doesn't work on wood. Some very strong signals and certain types of hairdryers can interfere with it.
* The Doctor recommends that a [[quarantine beacon]] be placed around the Library.
* The Doctor suggests using a [[Code-Wall]].


*Also in this shot when Donna holds the psychic paper the green screen can be seen behind the books.
== Story notes ==
* An early title for the episode was ''A River Song Ending'' which [[Steven Moffat]] conceived as a joke with [[Russell T Davies]] for having a crude acronym and then decided to create a character named "River Song" to fit the title.<ref>Steven Moffat On Writing For Doctor Who, Weeping Angels & MORE! - Doctor Who: [[The Fan Show]]</ref>
* Transmission of this episode was delayed by one week due to the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], as was the case with the [[Series 3 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 3]] gap between ''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]'' and ''[[42 (TV story)|42]]''.
* [[Russell T Davies]] felt this episode was more frightening than [[Steven Moffat]]'s ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', which rated a 5.5 out of 5 on the official ''Doctor Who'' website 'Fear Factor' feature.
* While the Doctor is hacking into the girl's TV, she is watching the CBBC show ''[[Pedro and Frankensheep]]''. Previous real-life kids shows whose clips have been shown on ''Doctor Who'' include ''[[Tommy Zoom]]'' in ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'', ''[[Teletubbies|The Teletubbies]]'' in ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'', and ''[[The Clangers]]'' in ''[[The Sea Devils (TV story)|The Sea Devils]]''.
* Excluding the [[Children in Need]] specials, this is the 50th episode of ''Doctor Who'' since the series returned in [[2005 (releases)|2005]].
* When the girl collapses due to the Doctor's tampering with the security camera, the pattern of the rug she collapses on is the same as the red pattern on the computer screens reading "Access Denied". It can also be briefly seen on the lens cap of the security camera and is repeated in the metalwork in the background of the circular room where much of the library scenes take place in.
* Additionally, when Doctor Moon and her father rush to her side when she collapses, a plastic tag reading "CAL" can be briefly seen on Doctor Moon's briefcase.
* The security camera appears to have angel wings carved on its sides.
* [[Steven Moffat]] continues his theme of highlighting childhood fears: in ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', it was statues coming to life; in ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]'', it was monsters under the bed; and in ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]''/''[[The Doctor Dances (TV story)|The Doctor Dances]]'', it was the fear of war and bombardment.
* There is, perhaps, unintentional irony to the Doctor's line, "No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring." Given that Saturdays are "good", according to ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'', it could also be a reference to the fact that the day after a new episode of ''Doctor Who'' is broadcast is comparatively boring. Former companion [[Ace]] also once mentioned that she found Sundays boring in ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]''. In [[PROSE]]: ''[[Wetworld (novel)|Wetworld]]'', the planet that he and [[Martha Jones|Martha]] visited was called [[Sunday (planet)|Sunday]].
* In the ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' episode associated with the second part of this story, ''[[River Runs Deep (CON episode)|River Runs Deep]]'', Steven Moffat says that he imagined [[River Song|River]] found the gun as left behind by Jack in the TARDIS during her future travels.
* [[Steven Moffat]] stated that British newspaper ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_(United_Kingdom) The Sun]'' got a hold of the script for the episode and threatened to publish it. Moffat jokingly told them to do it; he later remarked, "I'd like to see ''The Sun'' publish that many words in a day."
* The [[The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)|previous episode]] ended with the Doctor showing a traditional paper-bound [[book]] dating from the far future, a thematic lead-in to this visit to the Library (although dialogue indicates that he and Donna were originally travelling elsewhere).
* As shown on the BBC ''Doctor Who'' website, there are a number of [[book]]s in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], ''[[Origins of the Universe]]'', ([[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)|Destiny of the Daleks]]'') ''[[The French Revolution]]'', ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') ''[[A Journal of Impossible Things (Human Nature)|A Journal of Impossible Things]]'', ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|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]]'', ([[TV]]: ''[[The Creature from the Pit (TV story)|The Creature from the Pit]]'') and ''[[Black Orchid (book)|Black Orchid]].'' ([[TV]]: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'')
* The story also has considerable commonality with a [[Fifth Doctor]] illustrated text story, ''[[Catalogue of Events (short story)|Catalogue of Events]]'', from the [[DWMS Summer 1983|1983 ''Doctor Who Magazine Special'']].
* This episode and ''[[Forest of the Dead (TV story)|Forest of the Dead]]'' are the only TV stories featuring River Song not to have been shot in high-definition.
* [[Steven Moffat]] didn't tell any of the actors (except [[Alex Kingston]] and only very few of the crew) just who River Song is. [[David Tennant]] had no idea how to act opposite her, to great effect. On the DVD commentary, he says that he had the Doctor assume she's a future regeneration of him, because even though that made no sense, it made more sense than anything else he could come up with.
* [[Alex Kingston]] took the part of River Song under the assumption that the character would appear only in this two-parter. However, she was delighted to learn that [[Steven Moffat]] had longer-term plans for the character.
* The episode ran short,t, largely because of the pace with which the cast was performing their material. [[Steven Moffat]] quickly provided extra dialogue, with the chief beneficiary being the discovery of Miss Evangelista's body.
* [[Michael Gambon]] and [[Ian McKellen]] were offered the part of Doctor Moon.
* The 51st century keyboards in The Library are early 21st century Apple keyboards inset to the kiosks, both regular and extended, UK models, with some distressing. Each kiosk has one of each.
* When the Doctor shows Donna the psychic paper, the message is signed with an "x" Donna remarks, "with a kiss?" In actual life, when [[David Tennant]] signs his autographs he ends his name with an "X".
* The little girl was originally a boy. It was felt that a young female character would be seen as more vulnerable.
* Filming in Swansea was hit with some rather noisy weather, wind and rain, which despite the sound department's best efforts to create silence in the library in post production, can sometimes still be heard in the background whenever anyone speaks undubbed during a quiet scene.
* [[David Tennant]] and [[Talulah Riley|Talulah Rilely]] went on to play opposite each other in ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Trinian%27s_2:_The_Legend_of_Fritton%27s_Gold St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold]'', as Sir Piers Pomfrey and Annabelle Fritton respectively.
* River asks the Doctor, "...picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" Earlier in the episode, [[Joshua Dallas|Josh Dallas]] appears as one of the library's info nodes; he played [https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Fandral Fandral], an Asgardian, in ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(film) Thor],'' while [[Talulah Riley]] appeared in ''Thor: The Dark World''.
* [[David Tennant]] and [[Steve Pemberton]] both appeared in ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool_(TV_series) Blackpool]''.
* [[Steven Moffat]] had planned to write an episode set in the biggest library in the universe for [[Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|seasons two]] or [[Series 3 (Doctor Who 2005)|three]].
* It was while [[Steven Moffat]] was developing this episode that [[Russell T Davies]] approached him about taking over as showrunner.
* [[Steven Moffat]] was interested in provoking viewers' curiosity about what the future held and thus wanted to reassure audiences that there was plenty of excitement ahead after [[Russell T Davies]]' departure, and that they should look forward to experiencing the Doctor's forthcoming adventures. As such, he decided to introduce a character who had already met a later incarnation of the Doctor. This became Professor River Song.
* [[Steven Moffat]] and [[Russell T Davies]] had privately discussed the possibility that River might be the wife of a future Doctor.
* [[Steven Moffat]] imagined that the Doctor Moon might be so-called because the Doctor himself would one day be uploaded there as a data ghost (following his eventual demise) and he and River would therefore be reunited in a kind of afterlife.
* This two-parter formed Block Eight of season four.
* [[Steven Moffat]] wrote an opening TARDIS scene, in which the Doctor received River's mysterious summons en route to a beach holiday. However, he felt that the episode worked better if the Doctor and Donna dove right into the plot, and so he was glad when [[Euros Lyn]] determined that there was no need to record the new TARDIS sequence.
* Discussing her role alongside [[David Tennant]] and [[Catherine Tate]], [[Alex Kingston]] said, "We just clicked. I've done guest roles on other shows, but rarely have I felt such a warm bond."
* About working with [[Alex Kingston]], [[Catherine Tate]] later said that, "I'm a huge ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER_(TV_series) ER]'' fan. When you hold people in awe, it's almost a disappointment when they come in and they're utterly normal. But Alex isn't disappointing at all. She's such a lovely person." [[David Tennant]] was quoted as saying that, "Alex is terrific. When she's telling you stories about hanging out with [[George Clooney]], you know she's pretty cool."
* The presence of the Vashta Nerada was created with lighting managed by director of photography Rory Taylor. To draw the eye toward the shadows, they were deepened in post-production by [[The Mill]].
* The establishing shots of the CGI cityscape of the Library was created in Cinema 4D using the Advanced Render 3 module. This effort was nominated for a VES Award in 2009.
* River Song was originally created for the plot to make more sense. [[Steven Moffat]] knew that the team of archaeologists would have to trust the Doctor, but that the Doctor's psychic paper could not explain and convince the team why he had appeared in a sealed-off library. Therefore, Moffat intended for the Doctor to know one of the archaeologists. Later, he decided that this idea was too "dull", and instead opted to have one of them know him.
* At the time of production, [[Steven Moffat]] privately intended Dr. Moon to be a future Doctor. In a [[2008 (production)|2008]] email to [[Russell T Davies]], Moffat explained that River Song was in fact the Doctor's widow, and had witnessed the death of the [[45th Doctor]] on a battlefield before she began having adventures with his younger selves. Although Moffat considered it unlikely that this would ever be confirmed in a story, he thought River would ultimately learn that her dying husband had uploaded his consciousness to the Library's moon so that he could be reunited with her. In [[2020 (releases)|2020]], Moffat said that he thought a version of this idea could still work, and Davies revealed that he had always thought, ''"It's him, it's the Doctor, and no one knows!"'', when watching the episodes. ([[REF]]: ''[[Showrunner Showdown]]'') This would make Dr. Moon the first mainstream incarnation of the Doctor to be played by a nonwhite actor, predating [[Jo Martin]]'s role as the [[Fugitive Doctor]] in ''[[Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)|Fugitive of the Judoon]]''.


*After Proper Dave has been turned into the suit creature, the green lights on his comm system are no longer on, even though Dave's Data Ghost is still talking. ''The vashta narada are learning to use his voice, making it unclear if it is really still his data ghost at that point.''
=== Ratings ===
 
* Official BARB - 6.27 million viewers<ref>[http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&start=100&type=date&order= Doctor Who - consolidated ratings]</ref>
*After the shot where in Proper Dave is seen to have two shadows, there is a short shot from a different camera angle where in the Doctor passes Dave his helmet. In this short shot, Dave is seen to have but one shadow. When the shot returns to the previous camera, Dave has two shadows, as before.
 
*When the Doctor and group are talking to the little girl on her TV you can see them all standing around the console but when the shot pulls back and they all back away from the console you can see that half of them have changed positions. Mr Lux, Proper Dave, Anita and Miss Evangelista have all changed from their positions seen on the TV to when you cut to the group.


=== Myths and rumours ===
* The mystery of River Song led to much online fan speculation over her identity. Possibilities cited ranged from River being an iteration of [[Bernice Summerfield]] (as the two share similar personalities and are both space archaeologists) to a disguised Time Lord like [[Romana]]. Additional ideas abound.'' In [[TV]]: [[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]], it was revealed she wasn't a previously seen character, but the human (with Time Lord DNA) daughter of [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]].''
* Evangelista's last words have occasionally been misinterpreted as "I scream." ''On the official BBC subtitling, her final words are, "I... Ice cream. Ice cream," which is in keeping with her (initially) childlike demeanour.''


*Also Donna who is clearly close to the Doctor's right is not shown leaning to look into the console but jumps back like everyone else as if she had been looking into it. How does River Song recognise the Tenth Doctor? The Tenth Doctor changes his appearance to the Eleventh Doctor (as confirmed in the fifth series). River does mention that the Doctor's appearence is 'young' but not different. ''However, River does discover that the Doctor is an earlier form of himself than the Doctor she tried to contact and that is why he does not recognise.''
=== Filming locations ===


==== Studio ====
* Upper Boat Studios, Trefforest


==== Location ====
* Hensol Castle, Hensol
* Victoria Park, Cardiff
* Palace Road, Cardiff
* Crwys Medical Centre, Cardiff
* St Mary's Of Angels, Canton
* Dyffryn Gardens, Vale Of Glamorgan
* Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
* Alcoa Emp Swansea, Swansea
* Swansea Library, Swansea


*The message on the psychic paper doesn't say the time or date that the Doctor should land in the Library so how does he manage to arrive a few minutes before River Song arrived? Additionally how does he know to land in the section that she will arrive in? ''He doesn't he landed in the library because he got the call on the Psyhic paper, but was probably just looking around when they met River'' .
=== Production errors ===
*Why doesn't River Song close the square with the Sonic blaster like Captain Jack did in [[ DW|DW]]:[[The Doctor Dances]]?&nbsp;
{{discontinuity}}
* After River Song greets the Doctor with "Hello, sweetie", in the next shot of the Doctor, Donna and River, a boom mic is just barely visible in the top left corner above River's head.
* After the shot in which Proper Dave is seen to have two shadows, there is a short shot from a different camera angle wherein the Doctor passes Dave his helmet. In this short shot, Dave is seen to have but one shadow. When the shot returns to the previous camera, Dave has two shadows, as before.
* When the Doctor and others are talking to the little girl on her TV you can see them all standing around the console but when the shot pulls back and they all back away from the console you can see that half of them have changed positions. Mr Lux, Proper Dave, Anita and Miss Evangelista have all changed from their positions seen on the TV to when you cut to the group. Also Donna who is clearly close to the Doctor's right is not shown leaning to look into the console but jumps back like everyone else as if she had been looking into it.
* When Miss Evangelista dies, you can see that she has lost one green bar, but in a later shot she loses the same bar again.
* In the house, when CAL is telling her Dad that the phone is ringing while he's talking to Doctor Moon, a boom mic can be seen at the top centre of the shot where both Doctor Moon and Cal's Dad are talking.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
*A similar species which could take over the light but weren't hostile were the [[Cimmerian]]s in the [[BFA]]: ''[[Embrace the Darkness]]''.
* The Doctor previously encountered the Vashta Nerada during his [[Fourth Doctor|fourth]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Night of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Night of the Vashta Nerada]]'') and [[Eighth Doctor|eighth incarnations]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Day of the Vashta Nerada]]'') He would later face them again during his [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnation]]. ([[GAME]]: ''[[Shadows of the Vashta Nerada (video game)|Shadows of the Vashta Nerada]]'', [[COMIC]]: ''[[Space Oddity (comic story)|Space Oddity]]'')
* A similar species which could take over the light but weren't hostile were the [[Cimmerian]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Embrace the Darkness (audio story)|Embrace the Darkness]]'')
* The Doctor makes mention of "[[Emergency Program One|Emergency Programme One]]" which would return Donna home. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* The Doctor has received a message on his psychic paper before. ([[TV]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'')
* The Doctor once again expresses his affinity for little gift shops of the type found in [[museum]]s and [[hospital]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'', ''[[Smith and Jones (TV story)|Smith and Jones]]'')
* River Song, although she never confirms it, appears to know about Donna's future memory wipe. ([[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'')
* When River Song goes through her diary to check where the Doctor is in his timeline, she mentions "The Crash of the [[Byzantium (spacecraft)|Byzantium]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of Angels (TV story)|The Time of Angels]]''/''[[Flesh and Stone (TV story)|Flesh and Stone]]'')
* When River displays her sonic screwdriver, she says, "Snap," a reference to the card game {{w|Snap (card game)|Snap}}, in which players must say "Snap" when two identical cards are played. The [[Second Doctor|Second]] and [[Sixth Doctor|Sixth]] Doctors said "Snap!" to each other upon meeting in [[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]''. The Tenth Doctor also used this expression to the Fifth Doctor when he put on glasses in [[TV]]: ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]''.
* Mr Lux says that River and the Doctor are bickering away like an old married couple. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]'')
* One of the incarnations of [[Clara Oswald]] was present during these events but went unnoticed by the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'')
* In spite of River claiming that the Doctor is "younger than [she's] ever seen [him]", she had previously met him in four previous incarnations, through his [[Fifth Doctor|fifth]] to his [[Eighth Doctor|eighth]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Rulers of the Universe (audio story)|The Rulers of the Universe]]'', ''[[The Unknown (audio story)|The Unknown]]'', ''[[World Enough and Time (audio story)|World Enough and Time]]'', ''[[A Requiem for the Doctor (audio story)|A Requiem for the Doctor]]'') and at some point had met or at the very least seen his earliest incarnations ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of Angels (TV story)|The Time of Angels]]'', ''[[The Husbands of River Song (TV story)|The Husbands of River Song]]''). Peter Davison was 29 when he got the role as the fifth doctor whereas when David Tennant got the role as the tenth doctor he was 34.


*As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for the [[TARDIS]], ''[[Origins of the Universe]]'' ([[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''), The French Revolution ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]''), the Journal of Impossible Things ([[DW]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)]]''/''[[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 ([[DW]]: ''[[The Creature from the Pit]]'') and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the [[Fifth Doctor]] serial [[DW]]: ''[[Black Orchid|of the same name]]'').
== Home video releases ==
*The Doctor makes mention of 'Emergency Program One' which would return Donna home, this was first seen and used in [[DW]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]''.
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
*The last time the Doctor received a message on his psychic paper was in [[DW]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]''.
File:The Complete David Tennant Years Region 1 US DVD cover.jpg|The Complete David Tennant Years DVD<br />Region 1 US cover
*This is the second time the Doctor has arrived 'too early' (or rather the TARDIS has brought him too early), this previously occured in [[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]''.
File:Bbcdvd-s4-v3.jpg|thumb|Series 4 Volume 3 DVD Cover
*The Doctor once again expresses his affinity for little gift shops of the type found in museums and hospitals, having mentioned them in [[DW]]: ''[[Smith and Jones]]'' and [[DW]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]''
File:Series-4-boxset.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series'' DVD cover
*The previous episode ended with the Doctor showing a traditional paper-bound book dating from the far future, a thematic lead-in to this visit to the library (although dialogue indicates that he and Donna were originally travelling elsewhere).
File:Bbcdvd-series1234.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four'' DVD box-set
*River Song, although she never comfirms it, appears to know about Donnas memory loss at the end of Series 4.
File:Bbcdvd-series1234567.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven'' DVD box-set
*On the little Girl's wall are 2 Drawings: A blond &amp; a Wolf.''This is a sign of Rose's return as Blond(the colour of Rose's hair) &amp; (Bad Wolf''
</gallery>


== DVD and other releases==
* This story was released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 4]] DVD box set in [[November (releases)|November]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]] along with the rest of the series.
[[Image:Bbcdvd-s4-v3.jpg|thumb|120px|Series 4 Volume 3 DVD Cover]]
* It was released in Series 4 Volume 3 in a vanilla edition with ''[[Forest of the Dead (TV story)|Forest of the Dead]]'' and ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]''.
*Released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] DVD boxset in [[November]] [[2008]] along with the rest of the Series.
*Released as Series 4 Volume 3 in a vanilla edition alongside [[Forest of the Dead]] and [[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]].


==See also==
== External links ==
''to be added''
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_08 Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for '''Silence in the Library''']
{{dwrefguide|who_tv39.htm|Silence in the Library}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/2008hi.html|Silence in the Library}}
* {{locguide|silenceinthelibrary|Silence in the Library}}


==External links==
== Footnotes ==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_08 Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for '''Silence in the Library''']
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 52nd century]]
[[Category:Series 4 (Doctor Who) stories]]
[[Category:Vashta Nerada stories]]
[[Category:Television stories that use Murray Gold's 2nd main theme]]
[[Category:Stories set in virtual realities]]


{{Series 4}}
[[fr:Silence in the Library]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor episodes]]
[[he:שקט בספרייה]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[it:Silence in the Library (TV)]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 51st century]]
[[pt:Silence in the Library]]
[[ro:Silence in the Library]]

Latest revision as of 05:19, 17 December 2024

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Silence in the Library was the eighth episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It marked the first appearance of River Song, a mysterious woman with an important role in the Doctor's personal future.

Donna's departure at the end of the series is hinted at in this episode. River reacts upon learning who Donna is, but refuses to answer why she doesn't know her in the future despite knowing the Doctor. It slightly touched upon River and the Doctor's future interactions, as River speaks of "the future you" suggesting she and the Doctor would know of each other well into his future adventures.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Tenth Doctor takes Donna Noble to a planet-sized library in the 52nd century. They find it empty of human life, with countless other living beings. An information kiosk warns them to "count the shadows". An archaeological expedition arrives, led by the mysterious Professor River Song, who brings the cryptic last message sent from the library: "4022 saved, No survivors".

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

A little girl is in a session with her psychologist, Doctor Moon. She says she has a library, a whole world, which she sees whenever she closes her eyes. It is a peaceful place, entirely empty of human life. Suddenly, the world she sees is interrupted by loud pounding on a locked door. As the door bursts open, two mysterious strangers rush in – the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble...

In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Donna arrive in the 52nd century on a planet-sized book repository called simply "the Library". It is an entire world, holding every book ever written, and powered by the most powerful computer ever. Shortly after arriving, they realise however that the Library is completely empty. The Library's computers confirm that they are the only humanoid life at present, but it then claims there are over "a million million lifeforms" in the Library. Donna asks why they really came here, and the Doctor admits that he earlier received a message for help on his psychic paper. He doesn't know who it's from, but Donna observes that it was signed with a kiss. Nearby, a statue with a strangely realistic human face, called a Node, warns them to count the shadows... Donna is shocked to find that the faces are selected by the Nodes from those which have been "donated" by the deceased. Just then, the lights begin to go out around them. Wary of the warning regarding shadows, they race through the Library aisles until they reach a well-lit room. The doors are locked, but Donna kicks them open.

There they see a spherical security camera hovering in the air. In her living room, the little girl opens her eyes at the same moment the camera shuts itself down. The Doctor scans the camera with his sonic screwdriver. The girl screams, terrified by the sound of the sonic screwdriver inside her head. The camera sends the Doctor a message that begs him to stop the noise, which he does. The camera and the girl both warn that "others" are coming; the Library has "been breached". The door opens, and a team of explorers in spacesuits enter. The leader walks up to the Doctor and greets him, "Hello, sweetie." She tells the others they can take off their helmets, and the Doctor begs them all to leave immediately. Another member of the group complains that there shouldn't be anyone else there, he had paid for exclusive rights to the expedition. On hearing the word "expedition", the Doctor questions whether they're archaeologists and says that, as a time traveller, he points and laughs at archaeologists. The leader then introduces herself as Professor River Song, archaeologist. She explains that her team are there with Mr Strackman Lux, whose family built the Library, to learn why it has been sealed for the last hundred years.

4022 saved. No survivors.

The Doctor quickly organises the team to make sure the area is well lit. He says the shadows are occupied by the Vashta Nerada, microscopic, carnivorous creatures which use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. The team work to find a way out of the Library. River calls the Doctor over in private, where she reveals that she was the one who sent the message on the psychic paper while merrily opening a diary with a cover that looks like the Doctor's TARDIS. It seems to be about his life. She tries to find out in which part of the Doctor's life she's in but realises he is so young he does not know her. From his perspective, this is the first time they have met. She, on the other hand, seems to know him well.

One of the team activates one of the computer systems, and causes a steadily repeated sound exactly like a ringing phone. At the same moment, the girl hears the phone in her house ringing, although her father doesn't. She hesitates to answer and the phone stops ringing. The Doctor hacks into the computer. The young girl then sees the Doctor and the team on her television, replacing the cartoon she was watching. A disturbance occurs and the Doctor loses the image of the girl. As he hacks into the computer, he sees River's diary and moves to pick it up. River stops him, saying it's against the rules - his rules.

The Library is on the television.

The girl fiddles with the television's remote and books fly into the air from the shelves in the Library. Donna calms Mr Lux's assistant, Miss Evangelista. The word "CAL" appears at times on the Library screens and the Doctor asks Mr Lux about it. Mr Lux refuses to help, claiming that he is protecting his family's pride. The Doctor berates him and tells him that the team is in grave danger.

Miss Evangelista sees a secret door when the girl pushed a random button from the remote. She tries to tell the others, but they don't listen. She wanders off and is quickly killed by the Vashta Nerada. The team hear her scream and run into after her, only to find her skeleton. The communication device worn by the exploration team on their spacesuits allows for a glitch called "Data Ghosting"; a copy of a person's consciousness can be temporarily held in it for a short time after death, allowing them to communicate briefly with the living. Miss Evangelista speaks briefly to the "nice woman", Donna, just before her consciousness is lost. As the team listen on sadly, her last words, "ice cream", are repeated.

Back in the little girl's home, Dr Moon asks to speak to her alone before he leaves. He asks if she knows the difference between dreams and reality. She says that of course, she does. He tells her that her reality is an illusion; her nightmares are the true reality, and only she can save all the people trapped in the Library.

The Doctor proves the Vashta Nerada's existence by throwing a chicken leg from River Song's lunchbox into the "shadow"; the leg is stripped to the bone before it hits the floor. The Doctor explains that the Vashta Nerada exist on many planets, including Earth, but he has never seen an infestation on such a scale or this aggressive. Donna objects, pointing out that if they existed on Earth people would know, only for the Doctor to explain that Vashta Nerada usually live on roadkill; however, there have been cases where people have gone missing without a trace... not everyone comes back out of the dark. When he mentions Donna's name, River recognises it. Her reaction seems to be a mixture of shock and sadness. Donna asks where she is in this future when River knows the Doctor. River goes silent. The team's investigation is interrupted when the pilot, "Proper Dave" — in contrast with the other "Dave" — acquires an extra shadow. The Vashta Nerada have attached themselves to him. The Doctor orders everyone's helmet on, as it might slow down the Vashta Nerada a bit. He also finds that River possesses a more advanced version of his sonic screwdriver, which she claims was a gift from him.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

As Donna does not have a spacesuit for protection, the Doctor teleports her back to the TARDIS. He cannot send the others, because the TARDIS wouldn't recognise them. Over Donna's objection, he stays behind to lead the rest of the team to safety. However something goes wrong during the transport and Donna's signal is lost. Meanwhile, the Doctor attempts to save proper Dave, but Dave is quickly eaten away. As proper Dave's data ghost echoes his last thoughts ("Hey, who turned out the lights?"), the Vashta Nerada take control of his suit and approach the rest of the group. River uses a sonic blaster to make a hole in the wall, and they race away from the possessed suit. They run down a dead-end hallway as the suit approaches. The Doctor tells River that he has five hours to get back to the TARDIS before Emergency Program One activates to take Donna home, but then realises that Donna never made it as the console hasn't signalled him about the security breach. As a nearby Node turns around, the Doctor is horrified to find it has Donna's face on it. It states that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved", as the Vashta Nerada advances on the Doctor's group.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

This episode won a prestigious Video Effects Society award for its digital matte paintings by Simon Wicker, Charlie Bennett, 2D artist Arianna Lago and the uncredited Tim Barter. It was the only visual effects award during the first RTD era of Doctor Who, despite several nominations.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cultural references from the real world[[edit] | [edit source]]

Pictured just above mid-centre: two familiar images dot the girl's home: a blond girl and a wolf.

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • River and the Doctor will share/have shared a picnic at Asgard.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Vashta Nerada are said to exist on a billion worlds, including Earth, but in small numbers and mainly feeding on road-kill.

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • River Song has a squareness gun.
  • The Doctor receives a message from River on his psychic paper.
  • The Doctor uses a teleport to attempt to send Donna to the TARDIS, but mentions that he could only do this for Donna as the TARDIS wouldn't recognise the others.
  • The sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. Some very strong signals and certain types of hairdryers can interfere with it.
  • The Doctor recommends that a quarantine beacon be placed around the Library.
  • The Doctor suggests using a Code-Wall.

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • An early title for the episode was A River Song Ending which Steven Moffat conceived as a joke with Russell T Davies for having a crude acronym and then decided to create a character named "River Song" to fit the title.[1]
  • Transmission of this episode was delayed by one week due to the Eurovision Song Contest, as was the case with the Series 3 gap between The Lazarus Experiment and 42.
  • Russell T Davies felt this episode was more frightening than Steven Moffat's Blink, which rated a 5.5 out of 5 on the official Doctor Who website 'Fear Factor' feature.
  • While the Doctor is hacking into the girl's TV, she is watching the CBBC show Pedro and Frankensheep. Previous real-life kids shows whose clips have been shown on Doctor Who include Tommy Zoom in The Poison Sky, The Teletubbies in The Sound of Drums, and The Clangers in The Sea Devils.
  • Excluding the Children in Need specials, this is the 50th episode of Doctor Who since the series returned in 2005.
  • When the girl collapses due to the Doctor's tampering with the security camera, the pattern of the rug she collapses on is the same as the red pattern on the computer screens reading "Access Denied". It can also be briefly seen on the lens cap of the security camera and is repeated in the metalwork in the background of the circular room where much of the library scenes take place in.
  • Additionally, when Doctor Moon and her father rush to her side when she collapses, a plastic tag reading "CAL" can be briefly seen on Doctor Moon's briefcase.
  • The security camera appears to have angel wings carved on its sides.
  • Steven Moffat continues his theme of highlighting childhood fears: in Blink, it was statues coming to life; in The Girl in the Fireplace, it was monsters under the bed; and in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, it was the fear of war and bombardment.
  • There is, perhaps, unintentional irony to the Doctor's line, "No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring." Given that Saturdays are "good", according to The Stolen Earth, it could also be a reference to the fact that the day after a new episode of Doctor Who is broadcast is comparatively boring. Former companion Ace also once mentioned that she found Sundays boring in Survival. In PROSE: Wetworld, the planet that he and Martha visited was called Sunday.
  • In the Doctor Who Confidential episode associated with the second part of this story, River Runs Deep, Steven Moffat says that he imagined River found the gun as left behind by Jack in the TARDIS during her future travels.
  • Steven Moffat stated that British newspaper The Sun got a hold of the script for the episode and threatened to publish it. Moffat jokingly told them to do it; he later remarked, "I'd like to see The Sun publish that many words in a day."
  • The previous episode ended with the Doctor showing a traditional paper-bound book dating from the far future, a thematic lead-in to this visit to the Library (although dialogue indicates that he and Donna were originally travelling elsewhere).
  • As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe, (TV: Destiny of the Daleks) The French Revolution, (TV: An Unearthly Child) A Journal of Impossible Things, (TV: 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, (TV: The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid. (TV: Black Orchid)
  • The story also has considerable commonality with a Fifth Doctor illustrated text story, Catalogue of Events, from the 1983 Doctor Who Magazine Special.
  • This episode and Forest of the Dead are the only TV stories featuring River Song not to have been shot in high-definition.
  • Steven Moffat didn't tell any of the actors (except Alex Kingston and only very few of the crew) just who River Song is. David Tennant had no idea how to act opposite her, to great effect. On the DVD commentary, he says that he had the Doctor assume she's a future regeneration of him, because even though that made no sense, it made more sense than anything else he could come up with.
  • Alex Kingston took the part of River Song under the assumption that the character would appear only in this two-parter. However, she was delighted to learn that Steven Moffat had longer-term plans for the character.
  • The episode ran short,t, largely because of the pace with which the cast was performing their material. Steven Moffat quickly provided extra dialogue, with the chief beneficiary being the discovery of Miss Evangelista's body.
  • Michael Gambon and Ian McKellen were offered the part of Doctor Moon.
  • The 51st century keyboards in The Library are early 21st century Apple keyboards inset to the kiosks, both regular and extended, UK models, with some distressing. Each kiosk has one of each.
  • When the Doctor shows Donna the psychic paper, the message is signed with an "x" Donna remarks, "with a kiss?" In actual life, when David Tennant signs his autographs he ends his name with an "X".
  • The little girl was originally a boy. It was felt that a young female character would be seen as more vulnerable.
  • Filming in Swansea was hit with some rather noisy weather, wind and rain, which despite the sound department's best efforts to create silence in the library in post production, can sometimes still be heard in the background whenever anyone speaks undubbed during a quiet scene.
  • David Tennant and Talulah Rilely went on to play opposite each other in St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold, as Sir Piers Pomfrey and Annabelle Fritton respectively.
  • River asks the Doctor, "...picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" Earlier in the episode, Josh Dallas appears as one of the library's info nodes; he played Fandral, an Asgardian, in Thor, while Talulah Riley appeared in Thor: The Dark World.
  • David Tennant and Steve Pemberton both appeared in Blackpool.
  • Steven Moffat had planned to write an episode set in the biggest library in the universe for seasons two or three.
  • It was while Steven Moffat was developing this episode that Russell T Davies approached him about taking over as showrunner.
  • Steven Moffat was interested in provoking viewers' curiosity about what the future held and thus wanted to reassure audiences that there was plenty of excitement ahead after Russell T Davies' departure, and that they should look forward to experiencing the Doctor's forthcoming adventures. As such, he decided to introduce a character who had already met a later incarnation of the Doctor. This became Professor River Song.
  • Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies had privately discussed the possibility that River might be the wife of a future Doctor.
  • Steven Moffat imagined that the Doctor Moon might be so-called because the Doctor himself would one day be uploaded there as a data ghost (following his eventual demise) and he and River would therefore be reunited in a kind of afterlife.
  • This two-parter formed Block Eight of season four.
  • Steven Moffat wrote an opening TARDIS scene, in which the Doctor received River's mysterious summons en route to a beach holiday. However, he felt that the episode worked better if the Doctor and Donna dove right into the plot, and so he was glad when Euros Lyn determined that there was no need to record the new TARDIS sequence.
  • Discussing her role alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Alex Kingston said, "We just clicked. I've done guest roles on other shows, but rarely have I felt such a warm bond."
  • About working with Alex Kingston, Catherine Tate later said that, "I'm a huge ER fan. When you hold people in awe, it's almost a disappointment when they come in and they're utterly normal. But Alex isn't disappointing at all. She's such a lovely person." David Tennant was quoted as saying that, "Alex is terrific. When she's telling you stories about hanging out with George Clooney, you know she's pretty cool."
  • The presence of the Vashta Nerada was created with lighting managed by director of photography Rory Taylor. To draw the eye toward the shadows, they were deepened in post-production by The Mill.
  • The establishing shots of the CGI cityscape of the Library was created in Cinema 4D using the Advanced Render 3 module. This effort was nominated for a VES Award in 2009.
  • River Song was originally created for the plot to make more sense. Steven Moffat knew that the team of archaeologists would have to trust the Doctor, but that the Doctor's psychic paper could not explain and convince the team why he had appeared in a sealed-off library. Therefore, Moffat intended for the Doctor to know one of the archaeologists. Later, he decided that this idea was too "dull", and instead opted to have one of them know him.
  • At the time of production, Steven Moffat privately intended Dr. Moon to be a future Doctor. In a 2008 email to Russell T Davies, Moffat explained that River Song was in fact the Doctor's widow, and had witnessed the death of the 45th Doctor on a battlefield before she began having adventures with his younger selves. Although Moffat considered it unlikely that this would ever be confirmed in a story, he thought River would ultimately learn that her dying husband had uploaded his consciousness to the Library's moon so that he could be reunited with her. In 2020, Moffat said that he thought a version of this idea could still work, and Davies revealed that he had always thought, "It's him, it's the Doctor, and no one knows!", when watching the episodes. (REF: Showrunner Showdown) This would make Dr. Moon the first mainstream incarnation of the Doctor to be played by a nonwhite actor, predating Jo Martin's role as the Fugitive Doctor in Fugitive of the Judoon.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Official BARB - 6.27 million viewers[2]

Myths and rumours[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The mystery of River Song led to much online fan speculation over her identity. Possibilities cited ranged from River being an iteration of Bernice Summerfield (as the two share similar personalities and are both space archaeologists) to a disguised Time Lord like Romana. Additional ideas abound. In TV: A Good Man Goes to War, it was revealed she wasn't a previously seen character, but the human (with Time Lord DNA) daughter of Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
  • Evangelista's last words have occasionally been misinterpreted as "I scream." On the official BBC subtitling, her final words are, "I... Ice cream. Ice cream," which is in keeping with her (initially) childlike demeanour.

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Studio[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Upper Boat Studios, Trefforest

Location[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Hensol Castle, Hensol
  • Victoria Park, Cardiff
  • Palace Road, Cardiff
  • Crwys Medical Centre, Cardiff
  • St Mary's Of Angels, Canton
  • Dyffryn Gardens, Vale Of Glamorgan
  • Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
  • Alcoa Emp Swansea, Swansea
  • Swansea Library, Swansea

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • After River Song greets the Doctor with "Hello, sweetie", in the next shot of the Doctor, Donna and River, a boom mic is just barely visible in the top left corner above River's head.
  • After the shot in which Proper Dave is seen to have two shadows, there is a short shot from a different camera angle wherein the Doctor passes Dave his helmet. In this short shot, Dave is seen to have but one shadow. When the shot returns to the previous camera, Dave has two shadows, as before.
  • When the Doctor and others are talking to the little girl on her TV you can see them all standing around the console but when the shot pulls back and they all back away from the console you can see that half of them have changed positions. Mr Lux, Proper Dave, Anita and Miss Evangelista have all changed from their positions seen on the TV to when you cut to the group. Also Donna who is clearly close to the Doctor's right is not shown leaning to look into the console but jumps back like everyone else as if she had been looking into it.
  • When Miss Evangelista dies, you can see that she has lost one green bar, but in a later shot she loses the same bar again.
  • In the house, when CAL is telling her Dad that the phone is ringing while he's talking to Doctor Moon, a boom mic can be seen at the top centre of the shot where both Doctor Moon and Cal's Dad are talking.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Complete David Tennant Years DVD Region 1 US cover

    The Complete David Tennant Years DVD
    Region 1 US cover

  • Series 4 Volume 3 DVD Cover

    Series 4 Volume 3 DVD Cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

    Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Steven Moffat On Writing For Doctor Who, Weeping Angels & MORE! - Doctor Who: The Fan Show
  2. ↑ Doctor Who - consolidated ratings
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