History Recap / DoctorWhoNSS4E8SilenceInTheLibrary

--> '''Doctor''': Oh, ''I'm'' pretty boy!
--> '''Donna''': YES! Oh... that came out a bit too quick...

River 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.

* TitleDrop

** Not to mention the line: {{spoiler:You two fight like an old married couple.]]

* GhostShip: Well, ghost planet-sized library.

!Tropes

* LateToTheParty: Both played straight and subverted. The Doctor arrives 100 years too late to the Library, but also arrives too early, since River had expected a later incarnation of the Doctor to show up.

River finds out who Donna is, and gives her a look of utmost pity. Donna's future doesn't look too happy, but River knows that she shouldn't spoil in the ending.

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor Dr. River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''Series/DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. An early version of the library itself was introduced by Moffat in his 1996 short story "Literature/ContinuityErrors", the first ''Doctor Who'' story he ever wrote.

River Song turns out to have a sonic screwdriver -- but not just ''a'' sonic screwdriver, ''the'' sonic screwdriver! This upsets the Doctor quite a bit, and he asks her to give him some proof that she's not an evil lunatic. She whispers one word into his ear. He just stared at her, completely shocked, and trusts her completely from that point on. Donna's a bit jealous.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Steven Moffat didn't tell any of the actors (and only very few of the crew) just who River Song is. DavidTennant had ''no'' idea how to act opposite her, to great effect. On the DVD commentary, he says that he had the Doctor assume she's a future regeneration of him, because even though that made no sense, it made more sense than anything else he could come up with. Moffat loved that idea and ran with it throughout season 6, dropping hints everywhere that she ''could'' be the future Doctor: Gallifreyan text on a cot, NeilGaiman's episode stating that Time Lords can change sex with regeneration, etc. It's all a RedHerring, though, before taking an abrupt turn left into something else ''entirely''.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Steven Moffat didn't tell any of the actors (and only very few of the crew) just who River Song is. DavidTennant had ''no'' idea how to act opposite her, to great effect. On the DVD commentary, he says that he had the Doctor assume she's a future regeneration of him, because even though that made no sense, it made more sense than anything else he could come up with.

* BookEnds: When we first meet River Song, she's in a futuristic space suit. When we first meet (series six spoilers) [[spoiler: River, she's in an Apollo Space Suit]].

River Song turns out to have a sonic screwdriver -- but not just ''a'' sonic screwdriver, ''the'' sonic screwdriver!

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor Dr. River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''Series/DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. An early version of the library itself was introduced by Moffat in his 1996 short story [[http://doctorwhomedia.co.uk/minicaster/Continuity%20Errors%20By%20Steven%20Moffat.pdf "Continuity Errors"]], the first ''Doctor Who'' story he ever wrote.

A team of 51st century 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.

* WholePlotReference: Moffat is a fan of ''TheTimeTravelersWife''.

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.

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor Dr. River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''Series/DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. The library itself was introduced by Moffat in his 1996 short story [[http://doctorwhomedia.co.uk/minicaster/Continuity%20Errors%20By%20Steven%20Moffat.pdf "Continuity Errors"]], the first ''Doctor Who'' story he ever wrote.

This very scary two-part episode, written by StevenMoffat, introduces a ''tremendously'' important character to the series: Professor Dr. River Song. Moffat wrote the story after being promoted to head writer of ''Series/DoctorWho'' from series 5 onwards. The library itself was introduced by Moffat in his short story [[http://doctorwhomedia.co.uk/minicaster/Continuity%20Errors%20By%20Steven%20Moffat.pdf "Continuity Errors"]], the first ''Doctor Who'' story he ever wrote.

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

* BookEnds: When we first meet River Song, she's in a futuristic space suit. When we first meet (series six spoilers) [[spoiler: River as Melody Pond, she's in an Apollo Space Suit]].

* DidISayThatOutLoud: Donna is visibly horrified when she realises she thinks the Doctor is attractive.

--> '''Donna''': YES! Oh… that came out a bit too quick…

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 [[WebVideo/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... [[PrimalFears but they're any shadow]]. They live on any planet that provides meat. Yes, [[ParanoiaFuel including Earth]].