Forest Of The Dead

The Forest of the Dead

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, Ella, Lee, Joshua, Miss Evangelista
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.



As the shadows rise and march, the Doctor forges an alliance with the mysterious River Song. But can anyone stop the Vashta Nerada? While the Doctor discovers long-buried secrets and revelations about his own future, the sinister Nodes declare that Donna is doomed.

Right, we know theres a central intelligence that runs the Library, the "data core of a triple grid security processor" or something. And this is clearly something to do with the little girl.

The Library was sealed off 100 years ago, but all the people who were on it were saved (except there were no survivors) and the same thing has happened to Donna.

I propose this: the central computer thingy, in an attempt to save all the people, somehow created a world within the Library and put all the people there (maybe saved them as data files or something) which is where Donna and Miss Evangelista are now.

Set Reports
1st Report of Filming
Filming has taken place both in a children's playground and in a suburban street where a child called Ella is bundled into a car...










2nd Report of Filming
Donna and a mysterious woman wearing a veil were seen walking together in the park. Also with them, and playing in the playground were 3 boys and 3 girls

The kiddies were all dressed identically, almost like clones. And its now been speculated that they might not be real.











Two pieces of dialog was also overheard, both said by Donna:

• "Why are you wearing that stupid veil for?"
  
• "Stop talking about my children like that."

Just stop it! Why are you doing this?

And (thanks again to Scooty) we now know the face beneath the veil.











Gasp! Is that Evangelista? Why yes it is!

So perhaps the computer not only put the people in this world, but created a new life for them. Perhaps they're even in a story, one of the books? Who knows... but Donna certainly seems to have a new life:

Apparently, she gets married to a character called Lee (who stutters) and both live at 42 Palace Road with 2 children - there is a scene of him carrying Donna over the threshold

As well as this, filming took place at Dyffryn House - a scene with Donna being taken out of an ambulance on a stretcher... (?!)

So, if Donna is leading a "normal" life, then perhaps Miss Evangelitia is almost like a ghosts, or an echo of a memory long forgotten. Something poetic like that anyway.

Meanwhile, back in the Library, we still have the suit creatue/Vashta Nerada/Proper Dave wandering about as well... and maybe these shadow creatures are getting a little smarter, they seem to be trying to communicate.

The Doctor's having none of it though...

Don't play games with me.
I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest Library in the universe.
You just killed someone I liked, that is not a safe place to stand!

But somehow or other the Doctor, River Song and Lux (I don't know about the others, some of them might have survived, but then again, they could have been eaten) manage to escape.

It seems that the Vashta Nerada are ganging together or something, at least it gives our team a bit of time.

Doctor: It wont attack until there's enough of them.

And now they're trying to fix everything.

This planets going to crack like an egg.

We need to stop this, we've gotta save Cal!

What is it? What is Cal?

Um... the name of the central computer/the girl maybe? I dunno, its all just guesswork here.
BUT, we must remember the important thing here:

Spoilers

Yup, the Library is full of books and spoilers. RTD said himself that they play a key part and so far they haven't done much. The spoilers are very important...

Could thus mean that one of the suggestions by DigitalSpy is true?
"The Shadows take hold of River Song's diary and coerce The Doctor into using a gun because of what they discover."
Its sounds very interesting if it does happen. But it could just be a red herring.

Spoilers!

Of course, these scenes will probably be spread out between the ones with Donna and the little girl, but putting them all together makes them look neat.

And then of course theres the big big question that we all really really want to know:

Who are you?!

Yes! Please tell us who you are!
You know the Doctor, it sounds like you were very close, he gave you his screwdriver, AND his book to look after (can we assume its his?) and all you're telling us is:

"I trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually... we've been."

Helpful.
But since the synopsis says "the Doctor discovers long-buried secrets and revelations about his own future" then I'm gonna assume that we do find out. And their relationship seems to pick up well...

I hate you sometimes!

I know!

And, while Donna is liver her new crazy life, and the Doctor and River Song are running about and arguing all over the place, we also have the girl who's desperately trying to understand what the flip is going on.

I don't think Doctor Moon is helping...

...And then, you forgot

What did she forget? Is Doctor Moon trying to explain the incident where he told her the Library was real? Is he even a good guy?

I don't know, but apparently both the Doctor and Donna meet Doctor moon as well... so I hope he'll help them, or at least explain some things.

Meanwhile, the girl is not having a very good time as the Library in her head is breaking up (or "cracking like an egg") and people keep trying to talk to her via TVs

No, no don't tell! You mustn't tell!

Daddy! No, Daddy!

She really doesn't look like she's having a good time. But, as Doctor Mood said, she's the only one who can save everyone, and fix everything.

No pressure...

And then theres probably a huge dramatic finale where this happens:

At least I hope its part of the dramatic finale... its certainly looks interesting. And maybe it has something to do with this:

Is that a hole to the centre of the Library... to the big computer thingy perhaps? And we can see River Song and 2 figures wearing helmets. But one of them is standing is a quite awkward way.. perhaps its the Vashta Nerada/suit creature?

Who knows... and wheres the Doctor? Hes he already gone down the hole? Well, he's a Time Lord after all.. I'm sure he's got some fiendishly clever plan. Or he's just making it up as usual.

We shall have to wait and see!

Speculation:
These hints are from Digitalspy, but there are also two red herrings lurking in the spoiler shadows this week.

• River Song sometimes shows The Doctor a little respect and asks him about erasure.
  
  
• The Shadows have a proper vocalist that's not Cliff Richard.
  
  
• Doctor Moon challenges someone to a game of chess on which millions of lives depend.
  
  
• The Shadows take hold of River Song's diary and coerce The Doctor into using a gun because of what they discover.
  
  
• A Gareth Gates-style affliction prevents Cupid from firing his arrow.
  True according to another digitalspy report, Donna soon gets "a stuttering spouse"
  
  
• River Song tells The Doctor that he is not The Doctor.
  
  
• The little girl destroys every idiot's lantern to prevent the shadows seeping into present day Earth.
  
  
• A familiar female face from the past returns to give Donna some advice.
  
  
• Donna ties a very important knot.
  
  
• The Doctor is stunned by something River Song whispers in his ear.
  True according to another digitalspy report "To say that, by the end of the episode, we find out what she said would only be a half-truth."

And here be some quotes. You can see the full article here
"I trust that man to the end of the universe - and we've been."
"There are no ***** (books? Souls?) in a library."
"The world is wrong."
"Nobody can open a TARDIS by ******** (clicking?) their ******* (fingers?)"
"If he **** (dies?), I'll kill him."
"I've been treating you since you came here two years ago."
Thanks Planet Gallifrey.

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