Silence in the Library

I think this series so far has been a bit of a let down. It feels as though nothing big has happened so far and I've been watching, waiting for the real excitement that the last few series have offered.

Tonight's episode though, I thought was absolutely fantastic! Steven Moffat manages to create such brilliant episodes ('Blink', 'The Girl in the Fireplace'...) which rivals some of the original Doctor Who story lines, in terms of depth and imagination.

Finally, we have mystery. Russel T. Davies' opening episode was of great disappointment - as were some of the following episodes. Moffat's script doesn't fail to intrigue. TV worth watching.

Moffat is definitely the best writer - Moffat to take over from Davies...

I suppose comparisons between this episode (and its follow up, Forest of the Dead - it's hard to review them separately, so most of my comments here apply to the two as a combined story) and Blink are inevitable given that they're both written by Steven Moffatt, both excellent, and both scary as hell. Even the beginning fragmentary warning "If you want to live, count the shadows" is a bit reminiscent of Blink's "Don't blink, or you're dead".

However, given that Blink tends to be pretty widely regarded as the best Doctor Who episode ever, there are far less promising ways to start a new one than evoking it. And overall, Silence/Forest doesn't come across as derivative at all. Both of them are very fast-paced and alternately terrifying, tragic, touching and funny, but beyond that the themes are very different. This story is a lot more complex and thought-provoking, packing in enough really interesting ideas and twists that even spread across two episodes, it keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat and never drags at all. It also includes some really top-notch performances from some of the cast, particularly in Forest of the Dead.

All in all, one of the best episodes (or pairs thereof) yet, and good reason to look forward to Moffatt taking over the series in 2010.

I'll save my full blown review when the story is complete but as usual Moffat and Doctor Who never disappoints especially with this chiller of an episode providing us with a slew of iconic imagery to go with the already bursting array of memorable moments which this show is notorious for providing.

The first part provides so much beautiful setup for what could be an incredibly striking second part.

We're just gonna have to get used to this when Moffat takes over in 2010.

Bring on Forest of the Dead

Ooo... I knew that this back run on season four was good and so it proves here with another double episode story, one that introduces a seminal Nu-Who character and is more of the chilling horror that Steven Moffat has become synonymous with during his writing only days.

Responding to a message that appears on his physic paper, the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) head to the largest library in history, a whole planet dedicated to the preservation of books. Though eerily uninhabited, the Doctor discovers a security camera that seems linked to a little girl (Eve Newton) apparently living in 21st century Britain. Then they meet an archaeological team led by the enigmatic River Song (Alex Kingston) who appears to know the Doctor already, though he doesn't know her.

Moffat's penchant for horror comes out again here with the Vashta Nerada, microscopic creatures that will strip the flesh from a person in seconds. But there's also the more esoteric horror of the concept of echoes of dead people being trapped in their mental communicators - already dead, but still trying to make sense of their experience as the signal degrades. The image of the animated space suit, with only a skull inside the helmet repeating "who turned out the lights" as he chases down the others is a memorable one.

The cast of this episode is really strong, even down to tiny cameos from Sarah Niles and Josh Dallas. The archaeological team consists of several recognisable faces, from O-T Fagbenle, Talulah Riley, Harry 'Ray Bloody Purchase' Peacock and, completing the League of Gentlemen collection, Steve Pemberton. It's the first appearance of Alex Kingston's River Song though, that is the key one, as she would feature regularly from here on out during Moffat's time as show runner - which was announced just as this episode was going to air.

Two-part episodes can only really be judged at the conclusion of the second episode, but this is such an inventive start, jam packed with ideas, that it stands as one of Nu-Who's best episodes so far.

Yes, another excellent story from the ever-inventive brain of Steven Moffat - Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead proves that you can have intelligent science fiction that appeals to the whole family AND which makes you think. No dumbing down required, just a great story, great script and some characters who you really care about. What more could you ask for? My only slight disappointment was with the direction - Euros Lyn is a very fine director but I don't feel that his style suited this kind of story - I would have chosen someone like Hettie MacDonald (director of the excellent 'Blink'), Alice Troughton or perhaps Charles Palmer as they all have the ability to direct 'dark and creepy' stories. Okay, so Euros directed the successful 'The Unquiet Dead' series 1 story, but he was helped a lot by it being set in the rather dark and moody Victorian times.

Anyhow, an excellent two parter nonetheless. Here's hoping that we see more like this in series 5 when Steven Moffat takes over as the show runner.