River, at last! I don't think I've watched "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" since they first aired and I've been really looking forward to our rewatch. It's a whole different experience after watching River's story arc play out. If I remember correctly, you weren't a big fan of Professor River Song the first time around.
Harry -
First off, let's have a toast to mark our 10th year here on the Sofa. This unhurried marathon of ours kicked off in 2010. It's been a fantastic experience not only rewatching everything together, but also compiling a record of our discussions of every Doctor Who ever. Granted, we didn't begin until late December 2010, but I'm making a big production of this now in case we forget in December. Cheers old girl!
Sarah -
Time flies when you’re watching Doctor Who! It doesn’t feel more than five years ago.
Harry -
One of the best things about our rewatches has been comparing our "now vs then" contemplations about each story. This one is a brilliant example.
I remember not liking River Song the first time this story aired. Then, we all experienced her through the Doctor's eyes. She was a mysterious character who knew a lot -- a hell of a lot -- about the Doctor's future. She had a fancy sonic screwdriver, she had a diary of their adventures together, she even knew his name. Astounding stuff, and I wanted to know more, know everything! She knew, but she wouldn't tell. It was frustrating that she wouldn't share anything because, "spoilers." You could see it eating away at the Doctor as the story progressed -- he's practically grinding his teeth in one scene where the diary sits within reach. However it's all brought home at the end when the Doctor offers Donna a peek inside the diary so she can learn her own future, and, like most of us probably would, she declines.
Sarah -
Given River’s reaction to meeting Donna, it’s understandable that she doesn’t want to know. Yet another companion who believes she’s going to spend the rest of her life with the Doctor.
Harry -
Donna's fate was being foreshadowed and we barely noticed.
As for River, the viewing experience is completely flipped this time around. We now know her entire history with the Doctor and we get to experience this encounter through her eyes. Of course she wouldn't reveal anything! Of course she'd let him know she was important to him but without spoiling anything. Now, her every action makes total sense. I loved that her "Hello Sweetie" went totally unremarked when she said it to the Doctor, even though there was so much meaning to it from her side.
Sarah -
It’s an entirely different experience this time around. I liked River immediately but it was so frustrating not knowing who she was or what was going on with her story. Honestly, it never occurred to me at the time that we’d see River again. In retrospect that seems naive, but I’m so grateful Moffat brought her back.
Harry -
We may never know just how much of the complete River Song story was already worked out by Moffat, but her instant popularity ensured that she'd become an entrenched character in the Whoniverse, returning again and again.
Sarah -
It makes me happy to know now that shortly before visiting the library, she spent a twenty-four year night on Darillium to see the Singing Towers with the Twelfth Doctor, where he gave River his sonic screwdriver. Imagine going from that experience to a new Doctor who has no idea who you are. It would be heartbreaking.
Running parallel to the Doctor-River story, we have a classic horror invasion story. The library is infested by the Vashta Nerada, microscopic, carnivorous creatures that use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. River is leading an archeological expedition to investigate the final message from the library -- "4022 saved, No survivors." I find the Vashta Nerada as terrifying today as I did the first time around. In classic horror style, they waste no time picking off members of River’s team one by one. Chilling.
Harry -
Moff did it again. He turned something as blasé as dust motes floating in sunlight into absolute horror. He's mad! He's brilliant!
Sarah -
Most of us probably don’t have angel statues in our houses, but there’s always plenty of dust around!
Harry -
The instantaneous destruction that the Vashta Nerada can wreak intensifies the horror. Watching the characters being freaked out by shadows was agonizing. Because Moffat is ruthless, he threw in the ghosting effect that occurred in the communicators of the newly deceased. Miss Evangelista's ghosting was brutal to witness. Other instances like "Hey, who turned out the lights?" were not as devastating as that first one.
Sarah -
I found all of the deaths very disturbing. The whole idea is so horrifying.
Harry -
It's all a fantastic puzzle that the Doctor has to work out over two episodes. Donna was whisked away to virtual reality for most of part two, but River was there to step in. It must have been obvious even on first viewing that Donna's sudden new life was not real. The pieces slowly came together to confirm this, but the agony she experienced over losing her imaginary family was still painful. Catherine Tate, delivering drama as well as comedy.
Sarah -
The virtual reality scenes were as disturbing as the dead people repeating themselves. Doctor Moon showing up to make suggestions, like, “Why don’t you take a walk by the river?” and then Donna suddenly walking along the river gives me the heebie-jeebies. (I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever typed heebie-jeebies.) And the girl changing channels to watch the Doctor and Donna’s stories along with us. So freaking creepy.
Harry -
There was something exquisitely terrible about the fact that the Vashta Nerada rampage was triggered by the destruction of their forests. That destruction had been ordered just so that a library could be filled with specially-printed hardcover books. Augh, don't make books carry any culpability! Moffat really put us through the wringer with this one.
Sarah -
Angels bad? Fine. Dust bad? Fine. Most technology bad? Fine. Just leave the books alone, Moffat!
The Doctor and River are on the run in the library, trying to avoid Vashta Nerada and dead colleagues. The Doctor still doesn’t know what to make of River. She finally convinces him by whispering his name in his ear. It’s a quiet moment that shakes the Doctor’s world and convinces him that she’s going to be important to him in the future.
Donna eventually breaks out of the virtual reality, with a little help from Miss Evangelista, whose consciousness was uploaded when she died, and a meltdown on the part of the little girl. Turns out she’s the hard drive of the computer running the library. She was dying of an incurable disease, so her father made an imaginary world for her to live in with every book ever written and Doctor Moon to watch over her. The stress of having so many minds integrated into her own is causing her to overload, initiating the self-destruct to destroy the planet.
The more I think about this story, the more terrifying it becomes.
Harry -
Layers upon layers of fear and terrible things.
It culminates with River's death. The Doctor found a way to save Donna and the other thousands of people who were uploaded, by transferring them out of the data core. The computer's memory is insufficient to handle the transfer, so the Doctor plans to hook himself to the computer and let it borrow some of his. River objects, knocks the Doctor out, and wires herself into the computer instead. The Doctor goes apeshit, but River tells him that the moment was destined to play out this way. She knew all along that they would meet here. If he were to die, they would never have met, and River cannot give that up. So she sacrifices herself, to save everyone and preserve her timeline with the Doctor. What a way to go.
Sarah -
It's so heartbreaking!
Harry -
But she's not completely gone. The Doctor manages to upload her into the computer, where she can live on in virtual reality.
Sarah -
She looks so happy at the end, but in my head cannon, she's immediately working on way to break out of the VR universe.
Harry -
For sure!
This story is a keystone in the series. It introduces a character who will play a huge role throughout the coming Moffat era. It also foreshadows the coming end of Donna's journey. So many terrible things happen that it's hard to feel anything but drained at the end. I think it might be a while before we put ourselves through this one again, would you agree?
Sarah -
I loved watching it again, but I don't think I'll be putting it on for some light Doctor Who viewing anytime soon.
Harry -
Best Line: Among all the zingers delivered by River and Donna, I keep going back to phrases that have stuck in my mind all these years. Things like "Hey who turned out the lights?" and "Donna Noble has left the library, Donna Noble has been saved."
Favourite Moment: River enters the Doctor's life with a "Hello, Sweetie."
Lasting Image: the skeletons inside the suits.
7/10
Sarah -
Best Line: "Hello, Sweetie." It means so much more this time.
Favorite moment: River telling the Doctor his name.
Lasting Image: definitely the skeletons in the suits.
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #196: Midnight...
