The Culture

[ Mood: Happy ]
Given the news that Steven Moffat is to take over as lead writer of Doctor Who from series 5, the episode broadcast on Saturday takes on extra significance.

Silence in the Library is the first part of a two part story written by Steven Moffat. Of course he is not new to the revamped Doctor Who. He wrote the excellent Girl in the Fireplace and managed to create the most terrifying monsters in the excellent episode Blink – no mean feat as we never see them move. So the signs are good even without taking his other writing into account.

So how did he fare? It is only halfway through the story but the signs are good. The story is building tension nicely and looks like it will be one of the highlights of this series. Moffat seems to me to be a writer of the old school when children used to watch Doctor Who with their hands over their eyes or from behind the sofa because of the delicious fear they got from the show. Not only has he made statues of angels appear terrifying he has now turned his attention to the primal fear of invisible things lurking in the shadows/dark – how will parents ever get young children to sleep again.

Also there is a lot of mention of spoilers in this episode – a subject sure to freeze the blood of any TV fan. Donna is told not to look in the books as they are from the future and so contain spoilers as to the future of mankind. But the Doctor is also prevented from reading the diary of River Song for the same reason because she has chronicled all of their encounters but this is their first meeting for him.

The fear factor is high and there are a number of intriguing mysteries to solve or to linger over in future episodes. So once again I am excited about Doctor Who and can’t wait until Saturday. Well done Mr. Moffat!