Since arriving on Doctor Who as a writer, Steven Moffatt has shown what the new Who can do with a well written script and a lot of atmosphere. He as written 6 of the most popular episodes, including The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances two-parter from season one, the brilliant The Girl in the Fireplace from season two, and last season’s near perfect scare-fest, Blink.
Now he has written the two part Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and continues his streak as the best writer Who has had since the its halcyon days of the early to mid 1970's.
This may be the reason why Moffatt will become the showrunner when Doctor Who resumes a full season of production in 2009 for broadcast in 2010.
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 with a donated human face attached for communication, warns them to count the shadows. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archeologist 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 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". Donna asks Prof. Song if the professor recognizes her name from the Doctor's future, but Prof. Song stays silent on the subject. 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.
There is plenty of creepiness here, especially when the computer Node tells the Doctor and Donna to run in a matter-of-fact voice. And while libraries are not scary, at least ones I’ve been in, the show goes out of their way to make all of it creepy, with motes of darkness that apparently hide the Vashta Nerada.
For fans of the 1990's New Adventure novels (between 1989 and the shows return in 2005, novels were published called The New Adventures, featuring, mostly, the Seventh Doctor and Ace. When Ace was written out of the books, a new character was introduced, called Bernice Summerfield), the role Alex Kingston’s plays (who played Elizabeth Corday on ER for seven seasons) resembles Bernice in many ways.
The character, River Song, seems to the know the Doctor from some future timeline. Already we’ve been hinted, in the episode The Planet of the Ood, that the Doctor’s song is ending. And while series star David Tennant will be with the Doctor Who through its 3 specials scheduled to air in place of season five in 2009, no one knows if he’ll stay when the actual season five airs in 2010.
While the Ood episode hinted at the death of the Tenth Doctor, Song knowing him in some future timeline hints at the possibility that Tennant will continue on.
Now he has written the two part Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and continues his streak as the best writer Who has had since the its halcyon days of the early to mid 1970's.
This may be the reason why Moffatt will become the showrunner when Doctor Who resumes a full season of production in 2009 for broadcast in 2010.
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 with a donated human face attached for communication, warns them to count the shadows. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archeologist 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 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". Donna asks Prof. Song if the professor recognizes her name from the Doctor's future, but Prof. Song stays silent on the subject. 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.
There is plenty of creepiness here, especially when the computer Node tells the Doctor and Donna to run in a matter-of-fact voice. And while libraries are not scary, at least ones I’ve been in, the show goes out of their way to make all of it creepy, with motes of darkness that apparently hide the Vashta Nerada.
For fans of the 1990's New Adventure novels (between 1989 and the shows return in 2005, novels were published called The New Adventures, featuring, mostly, the Seventh Doctor and Ace. When Ace was written out of the books, a new character was introduced, called Bernice Summerfield), the role Alex Kingston’s plays (who played Elizabeth Corday on ER for seven seasons) resembles Bernice in many ways.
The character, River Song, seems to the know the Doctor from some future timeline. Already we’ve been hinted, in the episode The Planet of the Ood, that the Doctor’s song is ending. And while series star David Tennant will be with the Doctor Who through its 3 specials scheduled to air in place of season five in 2009, no one knows if he’ll stay when the actual season five airs in 2010.
While the Ood episode hinted at the death of the Tenth Doctor, Song knowing him in some future timeline hints at the possibility that Tennant will continue on.
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