Silence in the Library – Review

Some people would describe Silence in the Library as Steven Moffat’s greatest hits, or Steven Moffat on autopilot, or something that Steven Moffat might have pissed in his sleep.  (And speaking of Lawrence, go read his online meltdown here, which is probably one of the best examples of an internet car crash ever).

The fact is, this story is more than just a retread of previous Moffat classics.  Yes, it has a ordinary object or thing turned scary, yes it has a near identical cliff hanger to Empty Child (though I doubt the resolution will be the same), and yes it has timey wimey stuff (and I’m probably missing a hundred more examples, such as the use of catchphrase like ‘Who turned the lights out’) but for me is still felt fresh and new and exceedingly brilliant as well.  For one, not everything is a retread.  The data ghosts are wonderfully creepy idea.  And the statues with the flesh faces are just brilliant. 

But even the so called greatest hits stuff is interesting and given an original spin.  This is the first time in the series that a ‘companion’ has met the Doctor out of order (and no, I don’t count Sally Sparrow until she signs on as the Doctor’s companion for Season 5, which I doubt very much… though it would be fantastic).   And the shadow creatures are creepy.  I admit not as scary as the gas mask people, or possibly the weeping statues, but there’s something utterly scary about that scene when the Doctor suddenly tells Proper Dave to stand still.  And though we know Dave is probably a goner, the bit where he gets ‘eaten’, sound effects included, rivals that bit in Empty Child when Doctor Constantine’s face turns into a gas mask.  It really got to me.

If there is a problem with Silence of the Library, it’s the pacing.  You can tell that the episode has been deliberately knocked down a few notches.  Rather than have lots of frenetic running around and explosions and quick cuts to extras in the crowd screaming and tearing out their hair and being swallowed by molten lava/ turned into Adipose/ or being shot at by Hath, Moffat and Euros Lyn decide to take their time and ratchet up the tension.  And for the most part, it works a treat, especially for the last 20 minutes of the episode.  But the bit with Miss Evangelista, the bit where she goes to search off on her own, seems a bit too drawn out, and for that matter, so does her death scene.  Actually, her death scene, with the introduction of the data ghosts, is quite brilliant and chilling.  But I just think it goes on for 30 seconds too long.  Long enough for my brain to go, yep, I’ve seen enough now… it’s a cool idea, but let’s move on. 

Other than that, the episode is really wonderful.  Colin Salmon steals the show as Doctor Moon.  The bit where he tells the girl that the real world is fake and her nightmares are real is more of Moffat being inventive and clever.  (OK… technically, it’s a bit like the scene in Girl in the Fireplace where the Doctor tells the young Mdme De Pompadour to stay on her bed because there’s a monster underneath it… but only technically).  Anywho, it’s a wonderful reversal.  The young girl is actually great as well.

And Alex Kingston isn’t too bad as River Song.  While it does take both her and the Doctor a long time to realise what’s going on. I noticed on re-watch that both actors are playing the scene as if in denial.  She doesn’t want to believe that he doesn’t recognise her and he doesn’t want to accept thats she might represent his future.  It’s all very interesting, and I do love that bit where the Doctor can’t help but reach out for the TARDIS diary.

There’s so much to like about this story.  It’s clever.  It’s funny.  It’s creepy.  And it might also be the last time we get to see Steven do one of these sorts of stories.  If he does follow the RTD model in 2010, he’ll most likely have to outsource the late season scary two parter to another writer.  And, to be honest, that’s why I’m so excited by the news that Steven is taking over.  Not because I think the scripts will improve or that show will be more like the Hinchclife era (which I doubt very much anyway), but because we’ll get to Steven’s take on the season opener, the season climax and those little filler episodes that bridge the first two parter from the second.  And that’s what I think we’ll be interesting, seeing how Steven deals with episodes that aren’t too scary or creepy or involve ordinary objects and things leaping out from the darkness.

In the meantime, Let’s enjoy Silence of the Library and next week’s Forest of Fear.  Because it’s bloody brilliant Doctor Who.