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Doctor Who retro review: Silence in the Library (Tenth Doctor/River Song story)

By James Aggas

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The Tenth Doctor meets River Song for the first time…

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

As we celebrate ten years of River Song, we go back to her very first appearance, in our retro review for the episode Silence in the Library.

Out of all the stories from Series Four, Silence in the Library is definitely the trickiest to look at in its original context on re-watch. Naturally, this is entirely due to the fact that it introduces River Song.

When Silence in the Library was originally broadcast, we were as much in the dark as the Tenth Doctor was. We had no idea who she really was, other than the fact that she was from the Doctor’s future. We get a strong idea that she’ll be important to him, but not why she’s important.

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In fact, in this first part of the story, we don’t even get any hints that she’ll be his wife. All of those are saved for the next episode. At this point, the character is almost a blank canvass.

What we learn about River

That’s not to say there’s nothing to her character whatsoever. We know that she’s a professor, with a focus in archaeology. (I wonder which popular companion of the expanded universe inspired Moffat with that occupation?)

She’s clever, and she’s good at keeping secrets. (Well, reasonably good. It became pretty obvious pretty quickly that she knew more than she was saying, after all.) And she’s the kind of person who doesn’t ask for help unless she seriously needs it.

For example, while she’s more than confidant in her knowledge about the Library to lead an expedition, she knows she needs the Doctor’s wider knowledge and experience to identify what caused the planet to go silent.

But just as important as the writing of the character is the performance. And from the very beginning, Alex Kingston is brilliant as River. You really get the strong sense that she’s known the Doctor for a very long time, even when he has no idea who she is. That, perhaps even more than the writing, convinces us that this is someone the Doctor will know.

The Vashta Nerada!

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

The Vashta Nerada

But it’s not just River Song that we’re introduced to in this episode. We’re also introduced to a terrifying monster: the Vashta Nerada.

I absolutely love the Vashta Nerada. They’re such a brilliant idea for a monster. In some ways, they’re possibly better than the Weeping Angels. After all, both monsters build on very basic fears. The Weeping Angels are inspired by the fear of something as inanimate as statues being alive.

In the Vashta Nerada’s case, it’s the fear of the dark. That’s a very basic fear, and Moffat has been very clever about making darkness itself, or at least a form of it, a terrifying monster.

One thing the Vashta Nerada have going for them in terms of horror is how violent their victims’s deaths are. While the Weeping Angels will “kill you nicely” (well, if you’re lucky), the Vashta Nerada literally eat people alive. Very quickly, at least, but still. And considering it’s actual darkness, that’s a completely terrifying new reason to be afraid of the dark.

It’s a bit of a shame the New Series hasn’t used them since. Thankfully, expanded media have also used the swarm. They’ve featured in comics and games, for example.

However, their most interesting appearances have been in Night of the Vashta Nerada and Day of the Vashta Nerada. In these two separate but linked stories, they met the Fourth and Eighth Doctors, respectively.  Both of these stories are definitely worth a listen if you want to discover the Doctor’s earlier encounters with them.

Alex Kingston as River Song.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

A new context

What makes Silence in the Library so fascinating to watch now is how much more we know about River. Her origins, her relationship with the Doctor, even her parents.  We also know that she’s recently encountered the Twelfth Doctor, and knows how close she is to the end of her journey.

It’s really fascinating to watch this story now in such a radically different context compared to ten years ago. As mentioned above, we really did know so little about her with her introduction. We were as much in the dark as the Doctor was.

Now, on re-watch, we relate much more to River. We know what adventures the two have had/will have. And we know how painful it must be for her when she meets a Doctor who should know her, but doesn’t recognize her.

What came next

It’s great that, ten years on, we do know so much more about the character. Like I said in my earlier article for River Song, she could have very easily been like Jenny. She could have been from far into the Doctor’s future, like the Curator. Or, she could have been casually mentioned as having adventures with the Doctor off-screen.

Instead, Moffat has added a great deal to the story of River Song since this episode. (Not to mention the writers at Big Finish. Trust me, they’ve really enriched the character a lot more.)

It’s brilliant that, along with being both the start and the end of her story (more or less, anyway), Silence in the Library also gets to be a very different story on re-watch. Certainly, a very strong episode by Moffat.

Next: Twitch Watch: recommendations of the day 06/01

What are your thoughts on Silence in the Library? Do you think it did a great job introducing the character? Do you think knowing more about River has added to the story? Let us know in the comments below.

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