Forest of the Dead
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| 199b – "Forest of the Dead" | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who episode | |
 After River Song sacrifices herself in place of the Doctor, the 4022 saved people are returned to life in the Library. |
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| Cast | |
| Doctor | David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) |
| Companion | Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) |
| Guest stars | |
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| Production | |
| Writer | Steven Moffat |
| Director | Euros Lyn, Graeme Harper[1] |
| Script editor | Helen Raynor |
| Producer | Phil Collinson |
| Executive producer(s) | Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner |
| Production code | 4.9 |
| Series | Series 4 |
| Length | 45 mins |
| Originally broadcast | 7 June 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| ← Preceded by | Followed by → |
| "Silence in the Library" | "Midnight" |
| IMDb profile | |
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008.[2] It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library".
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Plot
Following from "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon. The little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television.
In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" didn't mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their forest; the paper of countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Anita and Other Dave after resuming the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a click of his fingers.
In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, though was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her remote to injure one of Donna's children. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they don't exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws her remote to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off.
To stop the countdown, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was uploaded into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, the strain of maintaining 4022 unique personalities has driven her mad, and the only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he is confronted by one of the Vashta Nerada suits. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they promptly change their tune and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his.
As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by clicking his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River.
[edit] Continuity
According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode.[3]
The Doctor states several times, while questioning River Song about the origins of her sonic screwdriver, that he never gives them away. While technically true, he did give Sarah Jane Smith a sonic lipstick, a lipstick-shaped item with a similar range of functions, as a parting gift along with K-9 at the start of The Sarah Jane Adventures television series.
Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was first explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), and later referred to in "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii".
[edit] Production
"Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run",[4] before its name was changed relatively late in production.[5]
Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea.[6]
Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[7]
[edit] Reception
Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[8] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library".[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Doctor Who - Episodes - Series Four - Forest of the Dead - Credits. BBC.
- ^ Steven Moffat Takes Charge. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ River Runs Deep. Doctor Who Confidential. BBC. BBC3, London. 2008-06-07-2008-06-07.
- ^ "The Stars are Coming Out" (April 2008). Radio Times (5-11 April 2008): pp 14-24. BBC.
- ^ Dr Who takes on Forest Of The Dead. CBBC Newsround. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ Podcast commentary for Forest of the Dead. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ River Runs Deep. Doctor Who Confidential. BBC. BBC3, London. 2008-06-07-2008-06-07.
- ^ Forest of the Dead - Overnight Ratings. Outpost Gallifrey (2008-06-08).
- ^ Forest of the Dead - AI and Digital Ratings. Outpost Gallifrey (2008-06-09). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
[edit] External links
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