Mysteries of the Library
"Oh, I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff - I need a bigger head!"
--The Doctor, Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library was the episode of Doctor Who broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel last night. It was about an enormous library in the 51st century taking up an entire planet. Nothing else was on the planet except the library - it wasn't clear to me whether it was a man-made planet created for the purpose of being a library or a pre-existing planet upon which the library was built. Anyway, as the Doctor is always drawn to trouble, it turns out that everyone in the library has disappeared, hence the silence, and there is a mysterious warning about keeping track of the shadows. I really liked it! :)
The shadow air pirhanas (Vashta Nerada) were creepy, as was the animated skeleton in a space suit, but the things that really intrigued me were the 2 real mysteries of the show: 1) Who is the little girl and why has she created an imaginary "real" world, while the nightmare library in her mind is real; 2) Who is Professor River Song and what is written in her journal?
I'll tackle the second question first, since that's easier. She's very familiar with the Doctor and there is the suggestion from her (since the Doctor hasn't yet met her) that they're quite intimate with one another. She also seems to relate to him very much as an equal, rather than being in awe of him. I liked that about her. At first I thought she might be another Time Lord, but he'd have known if that was the case and it would be a bigger part of the story. So, I gather that she's human and possibly a time traveler herself. She might have traveled with him as his companion, but her diary suggests otherwise. She says: "Ok. Shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er...going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So...erm...crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet? [The Doctor stares at her.] Obviously ringing no bells. Right...erm...ah, picnic at Azgard. Have we done Azgard yet? [The Doctor stares at her.] Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life in time travel, I never knew it could be such hard work...erm..." So, I would guess that they both travel through time, their paths crossing to share adventures (or trysts?), and they both keep a diary of their time together to keep track of where they each happen to be in their lives. I imagine that it would be quite difficult if they ever got into a fight, though. The next time the Doctor met her, it might not have happened to her yet. *lol* I find this all very interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about this character in future episodes. :)
As for the first question, the little girl must somehow be trapped in the library or is, perhaps, the library's central computer...or a little girl trapped in the library's central computer? :-D For the resolution to this, I just eagerly await next week's episode, "Forest of the Dead".
ETA (June 21, 2008, 20:58): The "previews" shown for the Doctor Who episodes seem to be different between the BBC and Sci-Fi Channel. The preview for "Forest of the Dead" aired on the BBC is on this video beginning at 3:24 (possible spoilers):
--The Doctor, Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library was the episode of Doctor Who broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel last night. It was about an enormous library in the 51st century taking up an entire planet. Nothing else was on the planet except the library - it wasn't clear to me whether it was a man-made planet created for the purpose of being a library or a pre-existing planet upon which the library was built. Anyway, as the Doctor is always drawn to trouble, it turns out that everyone in the library has disappeared, hence the silence, and there is a mysterious warning about keeping track of the shadows. I really liked it! :)
The shadow air pirhanas (Vashta Nerada) were creepy, as was the animated skeleton in a space suit, but the things that really intrigued me were the 2 real mysteries of the show: 1) Who is the little girl and why has she created an imaginary "real" world, while the nightmare library in her mind is real; 2) Who is Professor River Song and what is written in her journal?
I'll tackle the second question first, since that's easier. She's very familiar with the Doctor and there is the suggestion from her (since the Doctor hasn't yet met her) that they're quite intimate with one another. She also seems to relate to him very much as an equal, rather than being in awe of him. I liked that about her. At first I thought she might be another Time Lord, but he'd have known if that was the case and it would be a bigger part of the story. So, I gather that she's human and possibly a time traveler herself. She might have traveled with him as his companion, but her diary suggests otherwise. She says: "Ok. Shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er...going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So...erm...crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet? [The Doctor stares at her.] Obviously ringing no bells. Right...erm...ah, picnic at Azgard. Have we done Azgard yet? [The Doctor stares at her.] Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life in time travel, I never knew it could be such hard work...erm..." So, I would guess that they both travel through time, their paths crossing to share adventures (or trysts?), and they both keep a diary of their time together to keep track of where they each happen to be in their lives. I imagine that it would be quite difficult if they ever got into a fight, though. The next time the Doctor met her, it might not have happened to her yet. *lol* I find this all very interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about this character in future episodes. :)
As for the first question, the little girl must somehow be trapped in the library or is, perhaps, the library's central computer...or a little girl trapped in the library's central computer? :-D For the resolution to this, I just eagerly await next week's episode, "Forest of the Dead".
ETA (June 21, 2008, 20:58): The "previews" shown for the Doctor Who episodes seem to be different between the BBC and Sci-Fi Channel. The preview for "Forest of the Dead" aired on the BBC is on this video beginning at 3:24 (possible spoilers):
Click to view