History Recap / DoctorWhoNSS4E8SilenceInTheLibrary

No time to dwell on that, though, as the library is infested with flesh-eating shadows. Vashta Nerada. They're not every shadow... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel but they're any shadow]]. They live on any planet that provides meat. Yes, [[ParanoiaFuel including Earth]].

It's the biggest library in the universe, the size of a planet, and it's unsettlingly empty. But bio-scans claim that the library is [[NightmareFuel not actually empty at all,]] so where ''is'' everyone? And where's the little girl? And why is a robot with a human face telling them to count the shadows?

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. True to Moffat form, the episodes were nominated for a Hugo award, but they lost out to [[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog a certain sing-along blog]].

-----

No time to dwell on that, though, as the library is infested with flesh-eating shadows. Vashta Nerada. They're not every shadow... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel but they're any shadow]]. They live on any planet that provides meat. Yes, [[ParanoiaFuel including Earth]]. The shadows kill one archaeologist, Evangelista, stripping her flesh and leaving only a skeleton. The sound system in her protective suit is linked to her neural pathways and echoes her voice long after she's died, which is appropriately terrifying. Another is killed, with the Vashta Nerada animating his suit and chasing everyone else through the blacked-out hallways.

-> "The real world is a ''lie'', and your nightmares are '''real'''."

--> "The real world is a ''lie'', and your nightmares are ''real''."

Dr. Moon tells the little girl that there's a difference between the real world and the dream world... and the library is the real one. There are people trapped. They need her help. She's the only one who can help them.

It's the biggest library in the universe, the size of a planet, and it's unsettlingly empty. But bio-scans claim that the library is [[NightmareFuel not actually empty at all,]] so where ''is'' everyone? And where's the little girl?

No time to dwell on that, though, as the library is infested with flesh-eating shadows. Vashta Nerada. They're not every shadow... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel but they're any shadow]]. The shadows kill one archaeologist, Evangelista. The sound system in her protective suit is linked to her neural pathways and echoes her voice long after she's died, which is appropriately terrifying. Another is killed, with the Vashta Nerada animating his suit and chasing everyone else through the blacked-out hallways.

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. True to Moffat form, the episodes were nominated for a Hugo award, but lost out to [[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog a certain sing-along blog]].

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. True to Moffat form, the episodes was nominated for a Hugo award, but lost out to [[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog a certain sing-along blog]].

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. True to Moffat form, the episodes won a Hugo award.

This two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. True to Moffat form, the episodes won a Hugo award.

The Doctor tries to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS, but she is yanked out of existence -- screaming and mid-teleport -- to take her place among the library's robot servants with real people faces.

A team of archaeologists show up, one of whom, Professor River Song, knows the Doctor ''very'' well. Though what kind of connection they have is not revealed... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone y]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler e]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong t]]. River is mysterious, but definitely not a MysteriousWaif: she's mature, snarky and able to take care of herself. She pulls the Doctor aside to catch up and compare diaries, to see how their personal timelines are at the moment. The Doctor just stares at her blankly. Actually, DavidTennant just stares at her blankly, because StevenMoffat [[EnforcedMethodActing refused to tell him what was going on]]. River is appropriately horrified when she realizes that the Doctor has never met ''her''. To him, this is their very first meeting. To her, he looks too young, too inexperienced, too happy. He's not ''her'' Doctor yet.

This two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards.

This two-part, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards.

A team of archaeologists show up, one of whom, Professor River Song, knows the Doctor ''very'' well. Though what kind of connection they have is not revealed... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone y]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler e]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong t]]. River is mysterious, but definitely not a MysteriousWaif: she's mature, snarky, able to take care of herself, and appropriately horrified when she realizes that the Doctor has never met ''her''. To him, this is their very first meeting. To her, he looks too young, too inexperienced, too happy. He's not ''her'' Doctor yet.

A team of archaeologists show up, one of whom, Professor River Song, knows the Doctor ''very'' well. Though what kind of connection they have is not revealed... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone y]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler e]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong t]]. River is mysterious, but definitely not a MysteriousWaif: she's mature, snarky, able to take care of herself, and appropriately horrofied when she realizes that the Doctor has never met ''her''. To him, this is their very first meeting. To her, he looks too young, too inexperienced, too happy. He's not ''her'' Doctor yet.

-->'''The Doctor''': Daleks -- [[AttackItsWeakPoint aim for the eyestalk]]. Sontarans -- [[WeaksauceWeakness back of the neck]]. Vashta Nerada... ''run''. [[DontAskJustRun Just run]].

It's the biggest library in the universe, the size of e planet, and it's unsettlingly empty. But bio-scans claim that the library is [[NightmareFuel not actually empty at all,]] so where ''is'' everyone? And where's the little girl?

Somewhere, a little girl dreams of a library: huge and beautiful and -- best of all -- just for her. When the Doctor and Donna show up, though, we know it's not a dream.

It's the biggest library in the universe, and it's unsettlingly empty. But bio-scans claim that the library is [[NightmareFuel not actually empty at all,]] so where ''is'' everyone? And where's the little girl?

A team of archaeologists show up, one of whom, River Song, knows the Doctor ''very'' intimately, though what kind of intimacy they have is not revealed… [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone y]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler e]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong t]]. At any rate, the Doctor has never met ''her''. No time to dwell on that, though, as the library is infested with flesh-eating shadows. The shadows kill two archaeologists and invade one's space suit, leaving an animated, flesh-eating space suit with a stripped-clean skull leering out of it chasing after the protagonists, its appearance heralded by the eerie digital echo of the victim's last words.

By now it's clear this is a StevenMoffat episode.

Anyway. The Doctor tries to send Donna back to the TARDIS, but she is yanked out of existence -- screaming and mid-teleport -- to take her place among the library's robot servants with real people faces. (See above, about the scary.)

-->'''The Doctor''': Daleks - [[AttackItsWeakPoint aim for the eyestalk]]. Sontarans - [[WeaksauceWeakness back of the neck]]. Vashta Nerada... ''run''. [[DontAskJustRun Just run]].

-->''The Doctor'': Nice door skills, Donna.
-->''Donna Noble'': Yeah, well, you know. Boyfriends. Sometimes you need the element of surprise.

-->The Doctor: Nice door skills, Donna.
-->Donna Noble: Yeah, well, you know. Boyfriends. Sometimes you need the element of surprise.

* GhostShip: Well, ghost planet-sized libary.

* BookEnds: When we first meet River Song, she's in a futuristic space suit. When we first meet [[spoiler: River as Melody Pond, she's in an Apollo Space Suit]].
** [[AmIADream This Troper]] will point out that the above spoilers are for an episode in the next series, not this episode.