{"id":14386,"date":"2013-05-09T08:53:52","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T12:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=14386"},"modified":"2013-05-09T08:53:52","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T12:53:52","slug":"doctor-who-rewatching-silence-in-the-library-and-forest-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/05\/doctor-who-rewatching-silence-in-the-library-and-forest-of-the-dead.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: Rewatching Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I recently rewatched the double Doctor Who episode \u201cSilence in the Library\u201d and \u201cForest of the Dead.\u201d Having now seen so much of the later interaction between the Doctor and River Song, and having so many questions answered and details filled in, rewatching the episode where they first introduced River reinforces just how impressively the show has dealt with these two time travelers whose lives intersect out of sequence and sometimes in reverse order.<\/p>\n

\"\"The episode hinted that River Song was the Doctor\u2019s wife<\/a>, and that was why she knew his name<\/a>. \u00a0But there were other, even clearer hints, which I missed the first time I watched it. For instance, did anyone else notice the first time they saw \u201cSilence in the Library\u201d that one of the characters described the quarreling between the Doctor and River in terms of them squabbling \u201clike an old married couple\u201d? It was all very nicely done. The viewer is like the Doctor, struggling to make sense of this person who knows the Doctor but is not yet known by him.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of other details in the episode that seem like they will tie in with what lies in store for the Doctor, and for viewers, as the current season reaches its end. A library is the setting of these episodes, and the TARDIS library is where Clara learns the Doctor\u2019s name in the\u00a0History of the Time War<\/em>. Although that detail seemed odd and somewhat unpersuasive to me \u2013 why have a major secret displayed prominently in a volume in the TARDIS in that way \u2013 presumably it will turn out to have been an important plot detail in the overarching story.<\/p>\n

The Doctor\u2019s name is of course itself a major theme, and the show<\/a> has been trying<\/a> to get viewers to ask why<\/a> the Doctor goes by that designation and what his story is. Not only by making that the \u201coldest question in the universe\u201d and one that the Silence are seeking to keep from being answered, but also in \u201cThe Girl in the Fireplace\u201d when the Doctor\u2019s name is said to be \u201cmore than just a secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

And of course, \u201csilence\u201d in the title of \u201cSilence in the Library\u201d ties in with the \u201cSilence\u201d introduced later on.<\/p>\n

\"\"If they actually reveal the name, in some sort of public way, that would mean a rewriting of history, since the Doctor has been to the distant past and distant future and his identity has never and nowhere been common knowledge. But of course, Oswin managed to erase all record of the Doctor, and so perhaps having his identity become less or more secret is something we are being led to expect.<\/p>\n

One other connection with \u201cForest of the Dead.\u201d Some have suggested that there might be a connection between CAL and Clara. Whether that is correct, \u201cForest of the Dead\u201d ends<\/a> with the suggestion that River is not really dead, as she lived on in the library\u2019s computer \u2013 or is \u201cwithin CAL\u2019s mind\u201d a better way to put that? And if so, could she ever manage to leave there and return?<\/p>\n

Have you rewatched earlier Doctor Who episodes from the recent seasons? Do you feel like they have done a good job of creating story arcs and reflecting intersecting storylines for characters like the Doctor and River?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently rewatched the double Doctor Who episode \u201cSilence in the Library\u201d and \u201cForest of the Dead.\u201d Having now seen so much of the later interaction between the Doctor and River Song, and having so many questions answered and details filled in, rewatching the episode where they first introduced River reinforces just how impressively the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":14388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[2765,6549,7884,10438,11285,13719],"class_list":["post-14386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","tag-doctor-who","tag-library","tag-name","tag-river-song","tag-silence","tag-wife"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Who: Rewatching Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recently rewatched the double Doctor Who episode "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead." 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