Illustrated thoughts on Doctor Who 4x08

[kaliha]

It's a whole planet of books

Ooh I love libraries. A planet completely made of bookshelves would be my idea of heaven. I just hope the card catalogue system is kept up to date and the library staff file the books properly.

This is completely how I imagine the British Library looking in a few hundred years time (well it is adding to its collection with eight miles of bookshelves every year).

Would you let these people into your head?

It must be a bit disconcerting to find a strange couple in your imaginary library. It's no wonder she's a bit upset.

The Dewey Decimal System is in the air

The Doctor ponders the silence of the library. It like there's a thousand library assistants going "shhhhh!"

But he soon discovers that there's something amiss



Spoilers!

The Doctor is, a Donna points out, a bit rubbish with his spoilers. He's trying to not spoil Donna's future but has already set the sky on fire in her future (which became her present) and changing history is not going to help matters either.

I wonder if the Doctor has a couple of rows of shelves in the Mythology section?

I liked the information points

And it's completely something that the human race would do in the future, donate our faces like we donate brass plaques to adorn park benches. It's the narcissism of us.

it's the return of the slightly psychic paper

I do like the cheeky little kiss on the message though. This is why the Doctor doesn't need a mobile phone. His psychic paper picks up all his text messages.

How can they make the lights turning off so scary?

I'd be behind the sofa but it's just as dark and shadowy down the back there. *hides behind a cushion*

Even the security systems are wonderfully designed

It does remind me of a really big, wooden golden snitch though, I think it's the wings carved into its sides. In fact the whole design of the episode is wonderful. I really love the futuristic look of the outside of the Library (monorail!!) and the Deco-y design inside the Library. (I wish our local library looked as stunning as Swansea library (at least that's where the commentaries said that they filmed)

And it's a camera that can talk to you

The Doctor, thankfully noticed very quickly and stopped buzzing the screwdriver in the poor camera's face.

The sound of the screwdriver in your head must be really painful

At the very least it would make your fillings hurt. (Note, I love that rug!)

The Cult of The Stig arrive to join in the fun.

And with her "Hello Sweetie" it's made very obvious that River knows the Doctor. Well, it saves any misunderstanding later. Subtext? Who needs subtext? I liked the way it immediately wrong-footed the Doctor (because it's nice to have him confused every so often) Moffat seems to set out his stand with River quite early on: another member of the 51st Century; likes men, woman and androids; archaeologist; knows the Doctor, and then the characterisation seemed to stop somewhat, leaving the lovely Alex Kingston with not that much to go on. Pah.

I really liked this shot

Thusly I find a spurious reason to squeeze it into the review.

Get over here pretty boy!

Oh the Time Lord doth protest too much. You can hear Donna's eyeroll from here. She thinks he's just too skinny to be pretty. The little'uns I know very much like the fact that the Doctor is considered pretty. Although serious!little'un did point out that boys aren't supposed to be pretty. But did add later that he thought Donna and River and the little girl were pretty. (I feel for Steve Pemberton who was considered 'not pretty' in my completely unskientific poll of small people. ILU Steve!)

She confused the emergency escape pod for the toilet - twice

To be honest I'd do that too. Stuff in the future never seems to be well signed. Although it must hurt to wear your space helmet with a hairdo like that.

Another merchandising opportunity there

Soon to be seen in stockings across the land: TARDIS diaries. The look surely wasn't coincidental. It reminds me of Martha making MySpace blog posts and xkcd post. Because let's face it, if you were of on brilliant adventures in time and space you'd be trying to document everything (in those few moments where you weren't running).

You look so young

What terrible traumas await the Doctor between now and the first time River meets him?

It reminds me a bit of Fear Her

Only the pictures are a lot less scary and creepy.

Dad! David Tennant's in our telly!!

I love muchly the plethora of confused faces in the background.

A remote control that controls the world?

Now, where I have seen that before? Hmmmm.

Mr Grumpy Pants

I wish Steve Pemberton had had a bigger role. He is quite brilliant (and looks not bad in a dress, fact). I'm a bit sad that he didn't have particularly much to do in the episode other than be the butt of River's mocking and someone for the Doctor to shout at.

There is something in the shadows out to get me. I know what I'll do, I'll go through that magical opening and to certain DOOOOOOM!

Don't do it, Miss Evangelista! Woes.

All the locations this week are completely wonderful this week

You've been told to stay out of the shadows...why are you going into the shadowy room :( This is obviously not going to end well. Why not dress her in a red shirt and be done with it?

Too Late!

The Vashta Nerada are very tidy eaters, I'll give them that. And make the skellingtons they leave behind so shiny...and plastic.

Continuity error ahoy!

Really that comm piece should be the other way round. But no one else has noticed it, so I'm not going to say another word.

Donna comforts another person far from home who is never going to return

The whole scene between Donna and Evangelista's data ghost was heartbreaking. Especially the way that Evangelista was so worried about what the others would think of her and that was her most powerful (and therefore longest lasting) emotion.

The Doctor tells you not to stand in anyone else's shadow

And look what he's doing. Is a Time Lord exempt from devouring? I don't think so.

Meanwhile back in the other reality

The pictures that the little girl has drawn are just a tiny bit creepy (and the picture in the 'kitchen' looks suspiciously like Steven Moffat.) Go back and check.

Donna dons her investigative hat

And catches on to what's going on with River and the Doctor much quicker than the Doctor does. Donna's ever so suspicious though. I wonder why?

That look when River discovers that Donna is Donna is not good

It really isn't boding well for our Donna is it? This is somewhat worrying. However River seems very aware that she can't give away any spoilers because there's nothing worse than just popping out of existence from letting something slip.

Oh Noes! Two shadows!!!

Poor proper Dave. But they were all standing in the shadows, he's just unlucky that he just looks more appetising than the others. (I am also greatly amused that Dave/David is still such a popular name is 3000 years time that you end up with two in the same small group).

A lot of people seem very unhappy that the Doctor sent Donna away

And I'm not going to go into possible reasons as to why Steven Moffat decided to do it, but I can understand from a plot/storyline point of view why the Doctor does what he does. He's not planning on losing another companion, especially when he's not got any way of saving Donna should she end up with two shadows. It's not as if he can reason with them (well, at the time he couldn't). He did what he thought was best at the time.

But it's not an episode of Doctor who without the companion being put in danger

Oh noes! Poor Donna. What's possibly happened to her? On the bright side she wasn't eaten so that's a good thing is it not?

Small children are going to be scared of the Stig now

You just wait. And they'll also think that the Stig is a skellington who's really good at driving.

Run away!!

A spacesuit should be a sealed unit so how did they get in? The only way I could possibly explain it is that they snuck into the helmets when they were left on the floor. That doesn't explain the creeping across the floor towards our hero though.

O Hai! I have a better sonic screwdriver than you.

But it's okay you gave it too me.

Future screwdriver doesn't look as sexy as the original version of it. The Doctor is now forced to pay attention to River (although I bet he has been all along and this is just confirming what he's already worked out).

Donna has been saved

:(

DONNA!!!!

ARGH!!

That's it, I'm not sleeping with the lights off ever again. *wibbles*

In Conclusion
I have to say I really enjoyed this episode. I'm rather taken by River Song. As a future!Companion I think she'd be a good match for the Doctor. She's got the slightly argumentative personality that will call the Doctor on his decisions, which is good for him (as Donna's proved this year). I hope we get the chance to see them meet and get some more adventures with her, because frankly, there is not enough Alex Kingston on our tellies!!! Although my hopes for future!River are tempered by the fact that River doesn't meet Donna again and that doesn't bode well for Donna.

[One comment on the River!hate: loads of people absolutely hated Donna in her self-contained story, look how things have changed. That's all I'm saying]

8/10 (If I ignore some of the glaring plot holes)