Silence in the Library (TV Story)

Verity Lambert (consultant)

***Silence in the Library*** was the fourth serial of Season 35 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Graeme Harper, and starred Stephen Fry as the Ninth Doctor and Emma Fielding as Lena Haigh.

Lena's departure at the end of the series is hinted at in this episode.

## Synopsis

The Ninth Doctor takes Lena Haigh to a planet-sized library in the 52nd 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 Mayne Wilson, who brings the cryptic last message sent from the library: "4022 saved, No survivors".

## Cast

* The Doctor - Stephen Fry
* Lena Haigh - Emma Fielding
* Professor Mayne Wilson - Alex Kingston
* Dr Moon - Colin Salmon
* The Girl - Kacey Clarke
* Dad - *TBA*
* Node 1 - *TBA*
* Node 2 - *TBA*
* Anita - *TBA*
* Strackman Lux - Steve Pemberton
* Miss Evangelista - *TBA*
* Other Dave - *TBA*
* Proper Dave - Daniel Peacock
* Lee - Jason Pitt
* Ella - *TBA*
* Joshua - *TBA*
* Man - *TBA*

## Worldbuilding

### Cultural references from the real world

* When he and Lena arrive at the Library, the Doctor makes reference to author Jeffrey Archer, the Bridget Jones franchise, and *Monty Python's Big Red Book*.
* A model of Robby the Robot is visible in the young girl's home.

### Species

* Vashta Nerada are said to exist on a billion worlds, including Earth, but in small numbers and mainly feeding on road-kill.

### Technology

* Mayne Wilson has a squareness gun.
* Mayne receives a sonic torch from the Doctor, which can hold a data ghost briefly inside it.
* The Doctor receives a message from Mayne on the TARDIS databank.
* The Doctor uses a teleport to attempt to send Lena to the TARDIS, but mentions that he could only do this for Lena as the TARDIS wouldn't recognise the others.
* The Doctor recommends that a quarantine beacon be placed around the Library.
* The Doctor suggests using a Code-Wall.

### The Doctor

* The Doctor says, "Who are you?", to Mayne, a line which is often asked of him.

## Notes

* Russell T Davies felt this episode was more frightening than Steven Moffat's season 34 episode *Blink*, which rated a 5.5 out of 5 on the official Doctor Who website 'Fear Factor' feature.
* While the Doctor is hacking into the girl's TV, she is watching the CBBC show *Arthur*. *The Clangers*, another real-life children's show, appeared previously in T*he Sea Devils*.
* When the girl collapses due to the Doctor's tampering with the security camera, the pattern of the rug she collapses on is the same as the red pattern on the computer screens reading "Access Denied". It can also be briefly seen on the lens cap of the security camera and is repeated in the metalwork in the background of the circular room where much of the library scenes take place in.
* Additionally, when Doctor Moon and her father rush to her side when she collapses, a plastic tag reading "CAL" can be briefly seen on Doctor Moon's briefcase.
* The security camera appears to have angel wings carved on its sides.
* Steven Moffat continues his theme of highlighting childhood fears: in *Blink*, it was statues coming to life.
* There is, perhaps, unintentional irony to the Doctor's line, "No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring." Given that *Doctor Who* episodes aired on a Saturday at that point, this could be a reference to the fact that the day after a new episode of Doctor Who is broadcast is comparatively boring. Former companion Ace also once mentioned that she found Sundays boring in *Survival*.
* As shown on the BBC *Doctor Who* website, 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*, (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*), *The King in Yellow*, (TV: *The Death of Art*) *The French Revolution*, (TV: *An Unearthly Child*) *The Triumphs of Rassilon*, (TV: *Lungbarrow*) *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (written by Douglas Adams, former *Doctor Who* writer and script editor), *The Everywoman Guide to Hassle Free Space Travel*, (TV: *The Highest Science*), *Everest in Easy Stages*, (TV: *The Creature from the Pit*) and *Black Orchid.* (TV: *Black Orchid*)
* The story also has considerable commonality with a Fifth Doctor illustrated text story, *Catalogue of Events*, from the 1983 *Doctor Who Magazine Special*.
* The episode ran short, so Steven Moffat quickly provided extra material, with the discovery of Miss Evangelista's body being the chief beneficiary.
* Michael Gambon and Ian McKellen were offered the part of Doctor Moon.
* The little girl was originally a boy. It was felt that a young female character would be seen as more vulnerable.
* Filming in Swansea was hit with some rather noisy weather, wind and rain, which despite the sound department's best efforts to create silence in the library in post production, can sometimes still be heard in the background whenever anyone speaks undubbed during a quiet scene.
* If one pays attention to Lux's explanation, the little girl is actually his aunt; if she was his grandfather's daughter, that would mean her sibling would have been Lux's parent.
* Other potential titles included *The Doctor Runs*, *Forest of the Night* and *Return of the Dead*.
* CAL was also the name of the computer graphics company that created the title sequences used between 1987 and 1995 for the Seventh and Eighth Doctors' TV adventures. A result of this work was the creation of the first photo-realistic CGI TARDIS, featured in 1987's *Time and the Rani*.
* The concept of downloading human consciousness as data — even after physical death — and the philosophical issues surrounding this is an issue being addressed by futurists in real-life, with scientists such as Ray Kurzweil speculating that technology will allow the uploading of consciousness to computers within a generation in his book, *The Age of Spiritual Machines*.
* The frantic music from *Death's Oracle* is heard during a scene where Lena Haigh freaks out, having seen her "children", whom she had tucked in bed, disappear without a trace, while she was in the data core.
* The Doctor states to Mayne, "Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers." However, Mayne tells him (and he finds out) that he can, and also closes the door by snapping his fingers. The Doctor opening the TARDIS doors in this manner would become common practice in the rest of the season.
* Lena's daughter Ella was named after Steven Moffat's son Joshua and his best friend Ella. In the DVD behind-the-scenes footage, Moffat briefly visits the set with Ella to watch part of the episode being filmed.
* The question of the Doctor's real name dates back to the earliest days of the series, though more recent episodes have implied that his name is a terrible secret. (TV: *An Unearthly Child*, *Silver Nemesis*)
* A twist revelation in which Lena's artificial-reality husband, Lee, turned out to be an overweight woman in the real world was excised for fear of being too confusing.
* Heavy rains forced the postponement of much of the recording of the outdoor scenes in Victoria Park, Cardiff.
* Donna's illusory children were initially called Alan and Tracy.

## Continuity

* The Doctor says that the auto destruct in the Library could "crack the planet open like an egg". The Seventh Doctor said the same about what the Imperial Dalek mothership's weapons could do to the Earth. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* The Doctor says to Mayne, "time can be rewritten", to which Mayne replies, "not one line", mirroring a statement by the Doctor himself in his first incarnation. (TV: *The Aztecs*)
* The Doctor says that having 4,022 minds talking inside one's mind (referring to CAL) is like being him. Time Lord minds were shown to be all interconnected through the Matrix. (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

## Home Video & DVD Releases

### VHS

* This story was released alongside TV: *Iceberg* on VHS in 1998.

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 35 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Thirty-Fifth Season* in 2013.

### Blu-ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 35 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 35* in the UK.