Silence in the Library 

The Doctor and Donna join a group of archaeologists at a 51st century library. What caused the library to become abandoned? What are the Nodes? And what links the library to one little girl... See full summary »

Director:

Euros Lyn

Writer:

Steven Moffat

Stars:

David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Alex Kingston

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Catherine Tate	...	Donna Noble
Alex Kingston	...	River Song
Colin Salmon	...	Dr Moon
Eve Newton	...	The Girl
Mark Dexter	...	Dad
Sarah Niles	...	Node 1
Josh Dallas	...	Node 2 (as Joshua Dallas)
Jessika Williams	...	Anita
Steve Pemberton	...	Strackman Lux
Talulah Riley	...	Miss Evangelista
O-T Fagbenle	...	Other Dave
Harry Peacock	...	Proper Dave

Storyline

The Doctor and Donna join a group of archaeologists at a 51st century library. What caused the library to become abandoned? What are the Nodes? And what links the library to one little girl? All they have is one warning - count the shadows.

---

Plot Keywords:

library planet | abandoned library | shadow | skeleton in a spacesuit | vashta nerada | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Mystery | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK]

Release Date:

20 June 2008 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Wales

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min 45 min (50 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1)

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe, (Destiny of the Daleks) The French Revolution, (An Unearthly Child) A Journal of Impossible Things, (Human Nature/The Family of Blood) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who (1963) writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages, (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (Black Orchid).

---

Goofs

River's later appearances in the series lead to a continuity error because she questions the Tenth Doctor about the crash of the Byzantium, an adventure she shared with the Eleventh Doctor. This makes sense if she is mistaking the Tenth Doctor for a Twelfth or later incarnation, but in "The Husbands of River Song", which takes place immediately prior to this story from River's point of view, she is shown to have a complete collection of the Doctor's faces in proper chronological order.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Moon: Close your eyes and tell me what you see.
The Girl: [fade in to POV of drifting outside and above] The Library.
[the Girl looks down, sees herself suspended in the air, drifting above The Library]
Dr. Moon: Open your eyes again. Where are you now.
The Girl: [as if this is obvious] My living room, Dr. Moon.
Dr. Moon: When you close your eyes...?
The Girl: [finishing] I go to The Library.
Dr. Moon: [we see Dad seated behind Dr. Moon's right, concerned] Go to The Library now.
[...]

---

Connections

Featured in Being a Girl (2013)

---

Soundtracks

Doctor Who Theme
(uncredited)
Written by Ron Grainer
Arranged by Murray Gold
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

User Reviews

Moffat steers the series back on track with a corking first parter

Just as my interest in this latest series was starting to wain, writer-extraordinaire and future saviour of "Who" Steve Moffat delivers the goods with the two-part "Silence in the Library".

Moffat does creepy very well and although I'd encountered the most terrifying element of this first parter in similar form in an early copy of "Hellblazer", the shocks are original and chilling.

The cast includes the delightful Alex Kingston as the mysterious future-friend of The Doctor and Colin Salmon as the Earth-bound psychologist.

A complex, intriguing episode, I'm waiting with baited breath to see how things conclude next week.

9 out of 10.