Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they’re wrong, because its not irrational… its Vashta Nerada. The Vashta Nerada are carnivorous creatures that live in the shadows. It is important to count the shadows because if you have more than one then you may be infected by the Vashta Nerada. The Doctor encountered the Vashta Nerada when he visited the Library in the 51st Century with Donna Noble and his future companion/wife Professor River Song. River Song would go on to have one of the most complex storylines in the history of Doctor Who and her relationship with the Doctor was even more complicated.

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

★★★★★

TX: 31/05/2008 – 07/06/2008

Written by Steven Moffat    Directed by Euros Lyn

The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble visit the biggest Library in the universe in the 51st Century after the Doctor receives a message on his psychic paper. The message is from Professor River Song, who has gained entry to the deserted Library along with an expedition of other archaeologists. The Library is full of shadows which are really carnivorous life forms called the Vashta Nerada. The Vashta Nerada strip their victims’ flesh from the bone in seconds. The Vashta Nerada claim several victims of the expedition, including Strackman Lux’s secretary Miss Evangelista. The Vashta Nerada arrived in the books as microspores, as they originated in forests. A hundred years ago, the Library sealed itself and saved all of the visitors to the hard drive of the Library’s computer system. They live in a digital world that seems real to them but is actually Cyber Space. Donna is accidentally saved to the Library hard drive too and she lives an idyllic life until she is forced (by the data ghost of Miss Evangelista) to realise that the real world is a lie and that a little girl called CAL’s nightmares are real. CAL (Charlotte Abigail Lux) is the name of the computer and she is serviced by the Doctor Moon that orbits the Library planet. Professor River Song is a mysterious figure who says that she is from the Doctor’s personal future, but refuses to add much further detail. The Vashta Nerada now claim the Library as their own. In the core of the Library, the Vashta Nerada allow the Doctor one day to free the people trapped in the computer core, including Donna, after which the Library will belong to them. The Doctor prepares to hook himself to the computer terminal to provide the extra memory required to download everyone, aware this will likely kill him. River knocks him out and takes his place, insisting that the Doctor’s death now would prevent her meeting him in her own past. River recalls that the last time she saw the Twelfth Doctor, he turned up with a new haircut and suit and then took her to Darillium to see the Singing Towers (The Husbands of River Song). I shave every morning and I have a haircut every month. River sacrifices herself to save everyone in the Library. The patrons stored inside the computer rematerialise on the Library surface, where they teleport away to safety. Donna’s fake husband Lee is unable to call out to Donna as he leaves due to his stammer. As the Doctor and Donna leave behind River’s diary and sonic screwdriver (which the Twelfth Doctor gave to her in the future in The Husbands of River Song), the Doctor wonders why his future self would give River his screwdriver. He finds a data recorder inside the mechanism which has preserved River’s thought pattern. The Doctor saves her pattern to the Library core. River wakes up in the Earth simulation and is greeted by Charlotte and River’s team members who had fallen victim to the Vashta Nerada. Charlotte assures her that the simulation is now a “good place” where she will be safe as the Doctor fixed the data core. I own so many books, my flat is like a library!