Howling:Silence in Series 5

The Howling → Silence in Series 5

There be spoilers about un-released stories here.
Run back to the forums if you're scared.

So characters have been warning the Doctor that “silence will fall” since the eleventh hour. Now that we know that the Silence edit themselves out of memory it is possible that the silence have been around since the beginning of Moffat’s writing. I am in the process of re-watching the previous episodes to see if Moffat left us clues and came across the final scene of the eleventh hour. During that scene Amy’s face grows grim several times in the scene and she turns away only to look normal again. In addition she fiddles with the Tardis controls several times in the scene. I originally thought it odd, but ignored it since nothing came of it in that series. However, watching it now she appears to search for a particular control and flips it and then turns around quickly to mask the fact that she just did something to the Tardis as if the silence told her to do something. Perhaps a Silent has been in the Tardis all this time. This would also explain why we hear the voice in the Tardis in The Pandorica Opens.

Now on a side note, I also rewatched The Edge of Destruction recently and can see a lot of illusions to something getting into the Tardis. Barbara, Ian, Susan and the Doctor all start acting differently and also seem to be fighting these new traits (which feels like subliminal messages). Something affects the Tardis and causes it to malfunction (much like Pandorica Opens). And to top it all off Susan even mentions Silence. I am not saying that this is connected, just that I found it really funny. However, if Moffat links all the way back to the third story of Doctor Who, then I think Moffat is an even more amazing writer than I ever thought.

Anyways, I would like others to post here other instances where characters might see Silence so that we can discuss their legitimacy. MasterIII 21:47, May 3, 2011 (UTC)

It is incredibly unlikely that the writers of the 3rd episode of the show were setting up a plot arc that wouldn't be resolved for almost half a century. In Edge of Destruction, everything that happened had to do with the TARDIS being alive and telepathic, and trying to warn them that the fast-return-switch was broken.(Although it would have been simpler to ring the cloister bells or something.)Icecreamdif 22:29, May 3, 2011 (UTC)

No I think you misunderstood me. I am sure that the writers of Edge of destruction had intended for the episode to be concluded after the two episodes. What I was trying to say is that Stephen Moffat may be a clever enough writer to have seen possibility in that episode and to write elements of that into this season's story arc so as to link back to it. Again that was just a side note in this thread and highly unlikely, mostly I am interested in scenes in Moffat written stories and in series 5 as a whole that may be interperated as a charachter seeing silence.MasterIII 03:14, May 4, 2011 (UTC)

Someone just pointed out to me a few things to add to this, all in the soundtrack:

• The background music that's used as the Silence theme in the series 6 opener also appears in various places in series 5.

• The "electronic lion purr" sound that follows the Silence around also appeaed in various places.

• The high pitched noise right after the Doctor interrupts the companions having their huddled conversation underneath the TARDIS control panel appeared multiple times, often near lines about Silence, but also in A Christmas Carol and other places that don't seem relevant.

At this point, I'm just forwarding someone else's idea; I haven't gone back and watched series 5 yet to see if there's anything to it... not that I'm complaining about having another good excuse to do so. :) --99.33.24.89 11:13, May 28, 2011 (UTC)

Also, on the Edge of Destruction bit, it's not impossible that the Moff thought about that. He's talked about rewatching the early episodes recently, and he's retroactively added "unintended premonitions" into past episodes before, albeit mostly his own RTD-era episodes. (In fact, this episode may have another one: What happened when the Doctor and Martha were stranded in 1969 in Blink, and did it have anything to do with the fact that for some reason they ended up watching the moon landing 4 times?) Edge also seems to have some premonitions of The Doctor's Wife. (And the classic story that episode referenced most directly, War Games, was the 1969 story where Zoe's and Rory's memories were wiped, and the Doctor went off on his "Season 6B" adventures that nobody remembered until the Virgin novels decades later... a lot more happened than most people remember indeed....) --99.33.24.89 11:29, May 28, 2011 (UTC)

The bit about Amy fiddling with the Tardis console and then acting like she had no idea what she'd just done, was extremely alarming to me the first time I saw it. It reminded me of Turlough, albeit that Turlough knew what he was doing at the time. I'd be very interested in a list of "electronic lion purr" noises and musical cues, such as 99.33 mentions.

Also, some things are a bit odd to me about the warning Prisoner Zero gives the Doctor: 1- PZ is the Doctor's enemy, so it doesn't make sense for PZ to give helpful clues. It seems more like a taunt. 2- Why would the fall of the Silence's dominion over earth, be a taunt? Was demonizing the Silence a mistake? 3- Same question if it's a warning... why warn the Doctor that evil domineering aliens will fall?

Some of these elements surrounding the Silence are starting to seem like an arsepull... let's hope not. Agonaga 04:18, May 31, 2011 (UTC)

Maybe the fall of the Silence is somehow connected to what ultimately led to the army of Clerics. Or maybe the Silence are a lot less local than we thought, and Silence Will Fall (in the opposite sense) over the rest of the galaxy, even though the Silence have fallen on Earth. Or...

Anyway, I think it's intentional that "Silence Will Fall" can have two opposite meanings (much as "Miranda Cleaves" can, "cleaves" being the English word most famous for having two opposite meanings...), but I don't think the Moff worked out to do with those two opposite meanings until this season, so it'll be hard to work out too much of the plot by watching season 5. --99.8.228.227 04:00, June 5, 2011 (UTC)

I think it makes sense that the Silence were in the TARDIS during Series 5 at least because they were most likely the ones who cause the TARDIS to blow up. Putting that together with Amy fiddling with the TARDIS controls suddenly makes sens: I haven't watched "Pandorica" in a while, but does it seem possible that the Silence told River to land outside Amy's house on June 26, 2010? River, unlike Amy, has experience flying the TARDIS, and knows what controls are what even better than the Doctor. Also, I've heard a lot about instances in "The Lodger" where Amy may see a Silent while in the TARDIS and then acts confused as if she's forgotten something. I also think that the ship using the perception filter in "The Lodger" was owned by the Silence; it returns in "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon". Craig is coming back this fall, so maybe that's when this will be solved. Glimmer721 23:58, July 5, 2011 (UTC)

P.S. For scenes in "The Lodger", see this video Glimmer721 00:25, July 6, 2011 (UTC)