Silence in the Library

199a – "Silence in the Library"
Doctor Who episode
File:Silence in the Library.jpg Having heard a scream in an adjacent room The Doctor, Donna and the explorers run to the source of the noise to find the skeleton of one of their companions.
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)
Others Alex Kingston – Professor River Song Colin Salmon – Doctor Moon Eve Newton – The Girl Mark Dexter – Dad Sarah Niles – Node 1 Joshua Dallas – Node 2 Steve Pemberton - Strackman Lux Talulah Riley – Miss Evangelista Jessika Williams – Anita O-T Fagbenle – Other Dave Harry Peacock – Proper Dave
Production
Directed by	Euros Lyn
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	Helen Raynor
Produced by	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	4.8
Series	Series 4
Running time	45 mins
First broadcast	31 May 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Unicorn and the Wasp" Followed by → "Forest of the Dead"

"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The broadcast was delayed by a week due to the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest being shown on BBC One on the evening of 24 May 2008. A similar delay occurred with the episode entitled "42" in the previous series. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead". Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library in Wales.

Plot

Synopsis

The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, though the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states that 4,022 people were saved yet none survived. River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She will only admit that she will know him in his relative future, refusing to admit more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song recognises Donna's name, as well, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor.

The Doctor organizes 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. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness.

Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl in the 21st century; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote. The girl is under the observation of Dr. Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr. Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines is the real world, not her so-called home, even revealing knowledge of the Doctor and Donna.

The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. 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 show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other.

Continuity

As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("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 (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name).

The "squareness gun" used by River Song works in the same way as Captain Jack Harkness' "sonic blaster", seen in the first series episode "The Doctor Dances" (also written by Moffat). However, in this episode the Doctor does not appear to disagree with its use as he did before.

The Doctor mentions that, should Donna be left in the TARDIS alone for five hours, "emergency program one" would activate and send her home. In "Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home.

The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones".

The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed.

Broadcast and reception

"Silence in the Library" was first broadcast at the same time as the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent. The overnight viewing figures for the episode suggested that "Silence in the Library" was watched by 5.4 million viewers, compared to Britain's Got Talent's 11 million. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot.

However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways" and "Doomsday". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.14 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp".

External links

• Silence in the Library on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "Silence in the Library" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Silence in the Library"MP3 Episode commentary from producer Phil Collinson and director Euros Lyn