(747) Forest of the Dead

I can’t believe that I didn’t mention that Silence in the Library was broadcast seven years ago yesterday.

It’s fair to say that things go a bit mad in this episode. It goes mad from the very beginning. Donna starts the episode in some sort of psychiatric hospital. The jumping from one location to another which is a simple narrative tool is used in quite a creative way because Donna notices that things are moving quite quickly. Within the space of a few minutes, she has gone from being a patient, to falling in love, marrying and then having kids. It’s a great performance from Catherine Tate. For anyone who doubted whether she would be any good during this series should watch this episode.

The girl who seems to be at the centre of the story is also rather good. She is CAL and is the computer. It’s very rare that a young person is anything other than annoying but I thought that even though she doesn’t really interact with anyone apart from Dr Moon and her dad she still manages to give a good performance. There is a woman in black vibe with Donna as a woman dressed in black with a veil over her face is hanging around Donna and it turns out to be what is left of Miss Evangelista. This is a different Miss Evangelista from the previous episode and I thought that she was rather good.

There is an argument that could be made about whether the skeleton heads in the costumes are a bit phoney. I am of the opinion that they are quite good because there are a few moments where the skeleton heads seem really creepy and I think that Euros Lyn has done a good job in these two episodes making these things work rather well.

This is the first story to feature River Song and yet in her timeline it’s her final story because she ends up giving her life instead of the Doctors. She ends up in the same world that Donna found herself in at the beginning of the episode. I suspect that once I have finished this marathon I will have to watch all the River stories in chronological form to see if it makes sense. I don’t think it will.

This has been an enjoyable two parter and I have liked this a lot more than I was expecting to and a lot more than I did in 2008. I have been impressed with the performances of David Tennant and Catherine Tate and this is a good story for Alex Kingston. The next two episodes are two very strong episodes so at this stage of the series I have to say that it has improved greatly in my opinion.