Silence In The Library

Silence in the Library

Episode Location: The Library, 51st Century
Aliens/Enemies: Vashta Nerada, the suit creature
New Characters: The girl, Doctor Moon, Miss Evangelista, River Song, Lux, Anita, Other Dave, Proper Dave
Gadgets Used: Psychic paper, Sonic screwdrvier x2, Squareness gun
Episode Objective: To find out why no one is in the Library, and then to help the explorers and escape the shadows.

One hundred years ago, the universe's greatest library was sealed off, leaving only one warning: "If you want to live, count the shadows". But now, the shadows are moving again... the Doctor and Donna must uncover the terrible truth behind the Nodes and the horrifying Data Ghost, to find the library's secret.

And apparently the episodes contain two outrageous deaths



NOTE: I still have no idea what goes into which episode, so I am seriously making most of it up. It seems to make some kind of sense though.

So, according to someone on DWF, this story apparently takes place somewhere in the 51st Century, in a twisted alternate future/time line/parallel universe.

But the main setting is the Library. A giant Library, “a whole planet of books”, that’s been abandoned for 100 years.


And apparently these books give away spoilers about people’s life stories... and RTD says that the concept of spoilers is a vital part of the script - "so let's just say you should watch [River Song], and listen to her every word, very carefully indeed..."

But first, I think we'll meet the girl and Doctor Moon.




But Doctor Moon also exists in the Library, and appears to be almost a guardian/Librarian figure. Since he seems to be talking about the Shadows we can assume he's in the know.

"The shadows are moving again"
"The real world is a lie and your nightmares are real"

So the Library has to be real.. otherwise how could the Doctor and Donna arrive there? So is the "normal" world the one thats fake? And who is this girl?!

"This is the biggest library in the Universe. So where is everyone?"

Something to do with moving shadows perhaps? Whatever reason, it wont stop the Doctor and Donna from having a nosey around! Off they go to peek at books!


But I think there's something terribly, terribly wrong with the Library (well, we know that but I'm building dramatic suspense) Especially since the darkness itself seems to be chasing the Doctor and Donna here:











So mabe they run back to the TARDIS but, as always, I'm sure something goes hideously wrong and they can't escape for whatever reason.

"Donna..."
"Yeah?"
"Stay out of the shadows."

At least Donna seems to know what she's doing in their attempt to escape. Kick a door in, it always works.

And what lies on the other side, we ask?

Strange-freaky-child-who-apparently-owns-the-Library!

But she seems to disappear...
Or maybe the Doctor and Donna just go into a different room.

There's probably a nice scene here, but obviously I have no idea what it is, so we'll just move swiftly along.

Right, before the Doctor and Donna can do anything in this new and different room, a door slams open and they're interrupted by lots of walking spacesuits!



Eep! That was Riversong (we'll learn about her later) But if she knows the Doctor... and she clearly does, then shy does this happen?



I dunno... but it turns out okay, everything is explained and we find out that they're not strange spacesuit monsters, just people. And here they are:

Anita

Proper Dave

Other Dave

Lux

"I’m an astronaut called Lux, whose great grandfather built a planet (as you do), and the whole planet is one big library. But something’s gone wrong and everyone has disappeared. So I get a team of people together to go there and find out what’s happening, and who should I meet? Only The Doctor!"

And of course:

"Professor River Song, archealogist."

The Doctor doesn't seem that impressed.

But Riversong is definitely important. Especially since the second episode was going to be called "River's Run" before it was changed. Oh! And she had her own sonic screwdriver to.

So, there's probably a nice conversation about why River Song and her team are there - to find out what happened to the Library and the people or something.

They seem to fix the lights at any rate

And then, of course, they find this wee treasure:

A TARDIS book!

So is that the manual on how to fly a TARDIS? Or is it a book on the Doctor's life? Either way, its very important since its on the BBC Doctor homepage thingy (and, it flashes a picture of Rose if you change the date of your computer)


Anyway, throughout this scene of meeting people and discovery, the Doctor does some serious detective work.

"Something came to this library and killed everything in it?"

"What's Cal ?"

So, now we're allowed to ask: Whats Cal? Or cal?
Cal can be a name, I know that much.


But then the lights turn off... and we already know that the darkness is not our friend in this episode. What if the shadows are closing in?

Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. Because it's not irrational...

"Not everyone comes back out of the dark"

Well, the Doctor always has a good solution to these things. RUN.


At some point (possibly during all the running) the Doctor looses Donna. Or Donna looses the Doctor, which ever way you prefer to look at it.

Either way, its not a good thing... mostly due to the unpleasentness thats stalking the Library

The Suit Creature!
(and I'm sure it has a better name that that, but I don't know what it is)

Eeep!

"RUN!"

Apparently, after the Doctor and Donna have been separated, Donna ends up in a mysterious hospital where she meets Doctor Moon.

So is he just part of the girls mind? Or is the "real world" just a lie?


I don't know what happens over there, but all the while she's apparently trying to work out whats going on, whats happened to her Doctor, and what these threatening shadows have to do with anything.


And what we're all really asking, or possibly wondering, or are just a little curious about, is the same thing that was asked in the trailer:

"How could a shadow be infected?"

"It's Vashta Nerada."

DOCTOR
Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong - cos it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada.
DONNA
What's Vashta Nerada?
DOCTOR
It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark.

So there you go, the shadows aren't actually shadows at all. They're Vashta Nerada, “piranhas of the air – shadows that melt the flesh” and most likely turn you into this:

Nice...

And at some point, I have no idea when, we meet this strange concoction:
A woman who looks like she's dressed up as a pillar - or maybe she is a pillar? Or an information center type thing? Or maybe she's a "node"?

"Run, for God's sake, run." THANK YOU PLANET GALLIFREY