Silence in the Library ( TV story ) Silence in the Library was the eighth episode of the fourth series of " Doctor Who " . It marked the first appearance of River Song , a mysterious person with an important role in the Doctor ' s personal future . Donna ' s departure at the end of the series is hinted at in this episode . River reacts upon learning who Donna is , but refuses to answer why she doesn ' t know her in the future despite knowing the Doctor . It slightly touched upon River and the Doctor ' s future interactions , as River speaks of " the future you " suggesting she and the Doctor would know of each other well into his future adventures . Synopsis . The Tenth Doctor takes Donna Noble to a planet - sized library in the 51st century . They find it empty of human life , with countless other living beings . An information kiosk warns them to " count the shadows " . An archaeological expedition arrives , lead by the mysterious Professor River Song , who brings the cryptic last message sent from the library : " 4022 saved , No survivors " . Plot . A little girl is in a session with her psychologist , Doctor Moon . She says she has a library , a whole world , which she sees whenever she closes her eyes . It is a peaceful place , entirely empty of human life . Suddenly , the world she sees is interrupted by loud pounding on a locked door . As the door bursts open , two mysterious strangers rush in – the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble . . . In the TARDIS , the Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century on a planet - sized book repository called simply " the Library " . It is an entire world , holding every book ever written , and powered by the most powerful computer ever . Shortly after arriving , they realise however that the Library is completely empty . The Library ' s computers confirms that they are the only humanoid life on present , but it then claims there are over " a million million lifeform s " in the Library . Donna asks why they really came here , and the Doctor admits that he earlier received a message for help on his psychic paper . He doesn ' t know who it ' s from , but Donna observes that it was signed with a kiss . Nearby , a statue with a strangely realistic human face , called a Node , warns them to count the shadows . . . Donna is shocked to find that the faces are selected by the Nodes from those which have been " donated " by the deceased . Just then , the lights begin to go out around them . Wary of the warning regarding shadows , they race through the Library aisles until they reach a well lit room . The doors are locked , but Donna kicks them open . There they see a spherical security camera hovering in the air . In her living room , the little girl opens her eyes at the same moment the camera shuts itself down . The Doctor scans the camera with his sonic screwdriver . The girl screams , terrified by the sound of the sonic screwdriver inside her head . The camera sends the Doctor a message that begs him to stop the noise , which he does . The camera and the girl both warn that " others " are coming ; the Library has " been breached " . The door opens , and a team of explorers in spacesuits enter . The leader walks up to the Doctor and greets him , " Hello , sweetie . " She tells the others they can take off their helmets , and the Doctor begs them all to leave immediately . Another member of the group complains that there shouldn ' t be anyone else there , he had paid for exclusive rights to the expedition . On hearing the word " expedition " , the Doctor questions whether they ' re archaeologist s and says that , as a time traveller , he points and laughs at archaeologists . The leader then introduces herself as Professor River Song , archaeologist . She acts very familiar with the Doctor , but he does not know her . Professor Song explains that her team are there with Mr Strackman Lux , whose family built the Library , to learn why it has been sealed for the last hundred years . The Doctor quickly organises the team to make sure the area is well lit . He says the shadows are occupied by the Vashta Nerada , microscopic , carnivorous creatures which use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey . The team work to find a way out of the Library . River Song calls the Doctor over in private , where she merrily opens a diary with a cover that looks like the Doctor ' s TARDIS . It seems to be about his life . She tries to find out in which part of the Doctor ' s life she ' s in , but realises he is so young he does not know her . From his perspective , this is the first time they have met . She , on the other hand , seems to know him well . One of the team activates one of the computer systems , and causes a steadily repeated sound exactly like a ringing phone . At the same moment , the girl hears the phone in her house ringing , although her father doesn ' t . She hesitates to answer and the phone stops ringing . The Doctor hacks into the computer . The young girl then sees the Doctor and the team on her television , replacing the cartoon she was watching . A disturbance occurs and the Doctor loses the image of the girl . As he hacks into the computer , he sees River Song ' s diary and moves to pick it up . River Song stops him , saying it ' s against the rules - his rules . The girl fiddles with the television ' s remote . Books fly into the air from the shelves in the Library . Donna calms Mr Lux ' s assistant , Miss Evangelista . The word " CAL " appears at times on the Library screens . The Doctor asks Mr Lux about it . Mr Lux refuses to help , claiming that he is protecting his family ' s pride . The Doctor berates him and tells him that the team is in grave danger . Miss Evangelista sees a secret door when the girl pushed a random button from the remote . She tries to tell the others , but they don ' t listen . She wanders off and is quickly killed by the Vashta Nerada . The team find Miss Evangelista ' s skeleton . The communication device worn by the exploration team allows for a glitch called " Data Ghosting " ; a copy of a person ' s consciousness can be temporarily held in it for a short time after death , allowing them to communicate briefly with the living . Miss Evangelista speaks briefly to the " nice woman " , Donna , just before her consciousness is lost . As the team listens on sadly , her last words , " ice cream " , are repeated . Dr Moon , the child ' s psychologist , asks to speak to her alone before he leaves . He asks if she knows the difference between dreams and reality . She says that of course she does . He tells her that her reality is an illusion ; her nightmares are the true reality , and only she can save all the people trapped in the Library . The Doctor proves the Vashta Nerada ' s existence by throwing a chicken leg from River Song ' s lunchbox into the " shadow " . The chicken leg is eaten to the bone instantly . The Doctor explains that the Vashta Nerada exist on many planets , including Earth . Donna objects , pointing out that if they existed on Earth people would know , only for the Doctor to reveal that while they usually live on roadkill some people will go missing without a trace . . . not everyone comes back out of the dark . When he mentions Donna ' s name , River Song recognises it . Her reaction seems to be a mixture of shock and sadness . Donna asks where she is in this future when River knows the Doctor . River goes silent . The team ' s investigation is interrupted when the pilot , " Proper Dave " — in contrast with the other " Dave " — acquires an extra shadow . The Vashta Nerada have attached themselves to him . The Doctor orders everyone ' s helmet on , as it might slow down the Vashta Nerada a bit . He also finds that River Song possesses a more advanced version of his sonic screwdriver , which she claims was a gift from him . As Donna does not have a spacesuit for protection , the Doctor teleports her back to the TARDIS . He cannot send the others , because the TARDIS wouldn ' t recognise them . Over Donna ' s objection , he stays behind to lead the rest of the team to safety . However something goes wrong during the transport , likely due to the library ' s run down systems , and Donna ' s signal is lost . Meanwhile , the Doctor attempts to save proper Dave , but Dave is quickly eaten away . As proper Dave ' s data ghost echoes his last thoughts ( " Hey , who turned out the lights ? " ) , the organisms take control of his suit and approach the rest of the group . River uses a sonic blaster to make a hole in the wall , and they race away from the possessed suit . They run down a dead - end hallway as the suit approaches . The Doctor tells River that he has five hours to get back to the TARDIS before Emergency Program One activates to take Donna home , but then realises that Donna never made it and the console hasn ' t signalled him about the security breach . As a nearby Node turns around , he is horrified to find it with Donna ' s face on it . It states that Donna has left the Library and has been " saved " . . . Story notes . Filming locations . Studio