Forest of the Dead (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox NewTV
{{Infobox NewTV
|story name= Forest of the Dead |
|story name= Forest of the Dead  
|image= [[Image:River Song and The Doctor.jpg|250px]]|
|image= [[Image:River Song and The Doctor.jpg|250px]]
|series= [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] |
|series=  [[Doctor Who]] - [[List of television stories|TV stories]]
|number= 8
|number= [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]]
|doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]] |
|story number= 8
|companions= [[Donna Noble]] |
|doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]  
|enemy= [[Vashta Nerada]] |
|companions= [[Donna Noble]]  
|year= [[51st century]], [[The Library]] |
|enemy= [[Vashta Nerada]]  
|writer= [[Steven Moffat]] |
|year= [[51st century]], [[The Library]]  
|director= [[Euros Lyn]] |
|writer= [[Steven Moffat]]  
|producer= |
|director= [[Euros Lyn]]  
|producer= [[Phil Collinson]]
|broadcast date=[[7th June]] [[2008]]
|broadcast date=[[7th June]] [[2008]]
|setting=[[51st century]], [[The Library]]|
|setting=[[51st century]], [[The Library]]
|format=|
|format= 1 x 45 minute episode
|production code= 4.9|
|production code= 4.9
|previous story= [[Silence in the Library]] |
|previous story= [[Silence in the Library]]  
|next story= [[Midnight (TV story)| Midnight]] |
|next story= [[Midnight (TV story)| Midnight]]  
}}
}}


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*[[Joshua McAvey]] - [[Alex Midwood]]
*[[Joshua McAvey]] - [[Alex Midwood]]


== References ==
==References==
*The [[Vashta Nerada]] give the Doctor a day to sort everything.
*The [[teleport]]s can only teleport three people at a time.
*The Doctor uses [[River Song's Screwdriver]] to save her neural pattern within [[CAL]].
 
===[[:Category:The Doctor|The Doctor]]===
*The Doctor says "Who are you?" to [[River Song]], ironic because he is always the one being asked that.
*The Doctor says "Who are you?" to [[River Song]], ironic because he is always the one being asked that.
*River Song whispers the Doctor's name in his ear to convince him to trust her.
*River Song whispers the Doctor's name in his ear to convince him to trust her.
*At the end of [[Planet of the Ood]], Ood Sigma says that the "Doctor's song" may soon end.
*River Song indicates that "her Doctor" is a future version of the Tenth Doctor. It remains to be seen how this will reconcile with later adventures of the Tenth Doctor up to and including his eventual death and regeneration.
*At the end of this episode, the Doctor shouts that "Everybody lives!". This is very similar to what he says at the end of another of [[Steven Moffat|Steven Moffat's]] episodes, [[The Doctor Dances]] ("Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once — everybody lives!")
*The Doctor learns the fate of River Song, and retains this memory through to their "first" meeting in the future. The future Doctor will adjust his sonic screwdriver in order to preserve Song's consciousness so his younger self will be able to preserve her within Cal.


== Story notes ==
==Story Notes==
*The working title for this story was: '''River's Run'''
*The working title for this story was: '''River's Run'''
*In River Song's voice over, she mentions the "skies of all the world may just turn dark" in another mention of the new series' recurring reminder about darkness.
*CAL was also the name of the computer graphics company that created the title sequence used between [[1987]] and [[1989]] for the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s TV adventures. A result of this work was the creation of the first photo-realistic CGI TARDIS, featured in [[DW]]: ''[[Time And The Rani]]''.


=== Ratings ===
===Ratings===
''To be added''
''to be added''


=== Myths ===
===Myths===
Following the broadcast of ''[[Silence in the Library]]'' there was much discussion in the ''Doctor Who'' fan community over the identity of River Song, with speculation that she might be a future incarnation of [[Romana]] or an alias of [[Bernice Summerfield]] being two of the ideas put forth. The episode, ultimately, leaves her origin ambiguous.
Following the broadcast of ''[[Silence in the Library]]'' there was much discussion in the ''Doctor Who'' fan community over the identity of River Song, with speculation that she might be a future incarnation of [[Romana]] or an alias of [[Bernice Summerfield]] being two of the ideas put forth. ''(The episode, ultimately, leaves her origin ambiguous.)''


=== Filming locations===
===Filming Locations===
''To be added''
''to be added''


=== Continuity ===
===Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors===
 
*It is never explained how the Doctor got out of the handcuffs as it was shown that he couldn't reach the sonic screwdriver and there is no evidence that anyone freed him. ''There were 4,022 people in the Library. There is a very high chance that one of them found him and handed him the screwdriver. This well may have been Donna as the Doctor knew straight away that she was looking for Lee the first time we see them properly together in this episode.
*The Doctor says that the auto destruct in [[The Library]] could 'crack the planet open like an egg' the [[Seventh Doctor]] said the same about what the [[Imperial Dalek]] mothership's weapons could do to the Earth ([[Remembrance of the Daleks]]).
*What happened to the [[Vashta Nerada]]? ''The Vashta Nerada agreed to give the Doctor one day to free the saved souls in return for the planet itself.  It will be interesting to see if the "recovery" of River crops up in a future season...'' Why do they do that? How can they survive on an empty planet? ''Remember, they survived an entire century without meat while the people were 'saved'''
* When River Song says goodnight to her "children" there are three beds in the room, but when Donna is in the bedroom there are 2 beds. ''An extra bed was put in the room for Cal.''
*If the Vashta Nerada are now living on the planet, does that not mean that CAL and its hardrive will be destroyed? ''Even assuming they could destroy the computer without physical bodies, they have no reason to - they cannot feed on CAL.''
*It is curious how in this episode, a click of the fingers opens the [[TARDIS]] doors whilst in [[The Long Game]], when the Doctor and Rose clicked in close proximity to the [[TARDIS]], nothing happened to the TARDIS.''Presumably with the TARDIS being telepathic, it has to do with the intent the Doctor has in mind when snapping as well.''
==Continuity==
*At the end of [[Planet of the Ood]], Ood Sigma says that the "Doctor's song" may soon end.
*The Doctor says that the auto destruct in [[The Library]] could 'crack the planet open like an egg' the [[Seventh Doctor]] said the same about what the [[Imperial Dalek]] mothership's weapons could do to the Earth ([[DW]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'').
*River Song says the Doctor has taken her to the "end of the universe", suggesting the Doctor at some point returns to the general time period seen in ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' which is also described as being at the end of the universe.
*River Song says the Doctor has taken her to the "end of the universe", suggesting the Doctor at some point returns to the general time period seen in ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' which is also described as being at the end of the universe.
*In both this episode and the one preceding, River Song indicates that "her Doctor" is a future version of the Tenth Doctor. It remains to be seen how this will reconcile with later adventures of the Tenth Doctor up to and including his eventual death and regeneration.
*The question of the Doctor's real name dates back to the earliest days of the series ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'', ''[[Silver Nemesis]]''), though in more recent episodes ([[DW]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'', ''[[The Shakespeare Code]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'', etc.) the fact his name is a mystery has been amplified. When River reveals that she knows his true name, this marks the first time anyone on screen has shown this knowledge.
*The Doctor learns the fate of River Song, and retains this memory through to their "first" meeting in the future. The future Doctor will adjust his sonic screwdriver in order to preserve Song's consciousness so his younger self will be able to preserve her within Cal.
*At the end of this episode, the Doctor shouts that "Everybody lives!". This is very similar to what he says at the end of another of [[Steven Moffat|Steven Moffat's]] episodes, ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'' ("Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once — everybody lives!").
*The question of the Doctor's real name dates back to the earliest days of the series, though in more recent episodes (i.e. ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'', ''[[The Shakespeare Code]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'', etc.) the fact his name is a mystery has been amplified. When River reveals that she knows his true name, this marks the first time anyone in the series has shown this knowledge, although it's possible that [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], being his granddaughter and [[Romana]] and [[The Master]], being fellow Time Lords may have been aware of it.
*The Doctor says to River Song "history can be rewritten" to which Song replies "not one line" a reference to [[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs]]''.
*In River Song's voice over, she mentions the "skies of all the world may just turn dark" in another mention of the new series' recurring reminder about darkness.
*The Doctor has previously spoken his name in [[EDA]]: ''[[Vanderdeken's Children]]''.
 
*The teleport system is similar to that used in [[DW]]: ''[[The Ark in Space]]'' in that it is limited to three at one time.
=== Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors ===
*It is never explained how the Doctor got out of the handcuffs as it was shown that he couldn't reach the sonic screwdriver and there is no evidence that anyone freed him. ''There were 4,022 people in the Library. There is a very high chance that one of them found him and handed him the screwdriver. This well may have been Donna as the Doctor knew straight away that she was looking for Lee the first time we see them properly together in this episode. Or perhaps Felman Lux - who knew the Doctor was at the planet core, and who had been shown to be a more compassionate man than originally implied - went to look for him.''
*What happened to the [[Vashta Nerada]]? ''The Vashta Nerada agreed to give the Doctor one day to free the saved souls in return for the planet itself.  It will be interesting to see if the "recovery" of River crops up in a future season...'' Why do they do that? How can they survive on an empty planet? ''Remember, they survived an entire century without meat while the people were 'saved'''
* When [[River Song]] says goodnight to her "children" there are three beds in the room, but when Donna is in the bedroom there are 2 beds. ''An extra bed was put in the room for Cal.''
*If the Vashta Nerada are now living on the planet, does that not mean that CAL and its hardrive will be destroyed? ''Even assumming they could destroy the computer without physical bodies, they have no reason to - they cannot feed on CAL.''
*It is curious how in this episode, a click of the fingers opens the [[TARDIS]] doors whilst in [[The Long Game]], when the Doctor and Rose clicked in close proximity to the [[TARDIS]], nothing happened to the TARDIS.''Presumably with the TARDIS being telepathic, it has to do with the intent the Doctor has in mind when snapping as well'.'


== DVD and other releases==
== DVD and other releases==
Line 94: Line 102:


==External Links==
==External Links==
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_09 BBC Website - Episode Guide: '''Forest of the Dead''']


{{Series 4}}
{{Series 4}}

Revision as of 15:08, 8 June 2008


SpoilersRiver Song

Synopsis

Plot

River Song uses her gun to blast a hole in the wall, enabling her, The Doctor and the others to escape the shadow-possessed Proper Dave.

Donna wakes up in an ambulance with no memories of her past life. She is treated in a facility by Doctor Moon and life quickly flies by. Before she knows it, she is married to her ideal man Lee, who has a stammer, and has two kids of her own. She is then approached by a hooded figure in a playground, who turns out to be Miss Evangelista. She warns Donna that the world is not real. Donna soon observes that all the children in the playground have the same face.

The Doctor squabbles with River Song, but is soon stunned when he learns that he tells her his true name at some stage in his future. The Time Lord tries to reason with the Vashta Nerada and finds out they came as microspores in millions and millions of books and then hatched.

The Doctor figures out that the library computer's hard drive - CAL - is the key to bringing Donna back, for it has literally saved her to its hard drive. The team travels to the core of the planet to locate the computer. It transpires that the little girl is in fact the hard drive, and was originally a relative of Strackman Lux.

River Song knocks The Doctor out to prevent him stopping her sacrificing herself to bring back Donna and the others. In order to restore those who have been saved, she has to provide memory to Cal, which burns out her mind. She dies, as the Doctor looks on, handcuffed to a wall.

Donna and the other saved people return, but she cannot find Lee and thinks that perhaps he didn't exist after all. Lee sees her but his stammer prevents him from calling out to her before he is teleported away.

The Doctor realizes in the nick of time that, knowing River's fate and having years to think of a way to save her, his future self must have given her the screwdriver for a reason. He finds that, like the data ghosts, her consciousness has been saved in her sonic screwdriver. River Song comes back to life in the fantasy world of the hard drive, meeting Miss Evangelista and the rest of her team again.

Cast

References

The Doctor

  • The Doctor says "Who are you?" to River Song, ironic because he is always the one being asked that.
  • River Song whispers the Doctor's name in his ear to convince him to trust her.
  • River Song indicates that "her Doctor" is a future version of the Tenth Doctor. It remains to be seen how this will reconcile with later adventures of the Tenth Doctor up to and including his eventual death and regeneration.
  • The Doctor learns the fate of River Song, and retains this memory through to their "first" meeting in the future. The future Doctor will adjust his sonic screwdriver in order to preserve Song's consciousness so his younger self will be able to preserve her within Cal.

Story Notes

  • The working title for this story was: River's Run
  • In River Song's voice over, she mentions the "skies of all the world may just turn dark" in another mention of the new series' recurring reminder about darkness.
  • CAL was also the name of the computer graphics company that created the title sequence used between 1987 and 1989 for the Seventh Doctor's TV adventures. A result of this work was the creation of the first photo-realistic CGI TARDIS, featured in DW: Time And The Rani.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

Following the broadcast of Silence in the Library there was much discussion in the Doctor Who fan community over the identity of River Song, with speculation that she might be a future incarnation of Romana or an alias of Bernice Summerfield being two of the ideas put forth. (The episode, ultimately, leaves her origin ambiguous.)

Filming Locations

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • It is never explained how the Doctor got out of the handcuffs as it was shown that he couldn't reach the sonic screwdriver and there is no evidence that anyone freed him. There were 4,022 people in the Library. There is a very high chance that one of them found him and handed him the screwdriver. This well may have been Donna as the Doctor knew straight away that she was looking for Lee the first time we see them properly together in this episode.
  • What happened to the Vashta Nerada? The Vashta Nerada agreed to give the Doctor one day to free the saved souls in return for the planet itself. It will be interesting to see if the "recovery" of River crops up in a future season... Why do they do that? How can they survive on an empty planet? Remember, they survived an entire century without meat while the people were 'saved'
  • When River Song says goodnight to her "children" there are three beds in the room, but when Donna is in the bedroom there are 2 beds. An extra bed was put in the room for Cal.
  • If the Vashta Nerada are now living on the planet, does that not mean that CAL and its hardrive will be destroyed? Even assuming they could destroy the computer without physical bodies, they have no reason to - they cannot feed on CAL.
  • It is curious how in this episode, a click of the fingers opens the TARDIS doors whilst in The Long Game, when the Doctor and Rose clicked in close proximity to the TARDIS, nothing happened to the TARDIS.Presumably with the TARDIS being telepathic, it has to do with the intent the Doctor has in mind when snapping as well.

Continuity

  • At the end of Planet of the Ood, Ood Sigma says that the "Doctor's song" may soon end.
  • The Doctor says that the auto destruct in The Library could 'crack the planet open like an egg' the Seventh Doctor said the same about what the Imperial Dalek mothership's weapons could do to the Earth (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks).
  • River Song says the Doctor has taken her to the "end of the universe", suggesting the Doctor at some point returns to the general time period seen in Utopia which is also described as being at the end of the universe.
  • The question of the Doctor's real name dates back to the earliest days of the series (DW: An Unearthly Child, Silver Nemesis), though in more recent episodes (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace, The Shakespeare Code, The Fires of Pompeii, etc.) the fact his name is a mystery has been amplified. When River reveals that she knows his true name, this marks the first time anyone on screen has shown this knowledge.
  • At the end of this episode, the Doctor shouts that "Everybody lives!". This is very similar to what he says at the end of another of Steven Moffat's episodes, The Doctor Dances ("Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once — everybody lives!").
  • The Doctor says to River Song "history can be rewritten" to which Song replies "not one line" a reference to DW: The Aztecs.
  • The Doctor has previously spoken his name in EDA: Vanderdeken's Children.
  • The teleport system is similar to that used in DW: The Ark in Space in that it is limited to three at one time.

DVD and other releases

  • It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.
  • It will be released as Series 4 Volume 3 alongside Silence in the Library and Midnight in August 2008.

External Links

Template:Series 4

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