Sorry, I’ve done it again. Inspired by yet another excellent Doctor Who yarn, may I present to you the Proper Dave “Hey! Who turned out the lights?” t-shirt? Available to purchase from http://www.cafepress.com/docdelete4 along with some other designs here , here and here . If the fancy takes you, you can even purchase one of these with the design on, but perhaps not.
Blatant product push aside, the last couple of episodes of Doctor Who were excellent. Titled ‘Silence in the library’ and ‘Forest of the dead’, the two-parter was penned by Steven Moffat , who not only seems to craft the best stories but has a penchant for using stand-out catch-phrases: anyone remember “are you my mummy?” and “the angels have the phonebox”? Thank you Steven ;)
In ‘Silence in the library’ we have what I think is one of the most harrowing death scenes I’ve ever witnessed on the goggle box. We don’t see the actual death, where a live body is stripped to the bone in the blink of an eye, instead we hear a blood-curdling scream, and then our troupe of heroes race to see the remains of a young woman inside her space suit. So far, so ordinary. However, the suit’s communication device is neurally linked to the user’s brain, and carries an after-image of the person’s conscious mind. This proceeds to ‘talk from the other side’ - a cyberghost devoid of sensory input - until the pattern degrades and fades. The girl is dead, her electronic ghost lingers and the humans present treat the moment as if it’s a funeral, with all the respect and solemnity it deserves, with Donna Noble * even attempting to soothe the bizarre phantom into the coming, yawning darkness.
Woooooh. Leaving aside the episode’s play upon the fear of darkness, this moment elevates the story to quite unparalled heights.
Are PJ Hammond and Steven Moffat ever seen in the same room? ;)
* Quips regarding the hope that Donna Noble meets the same end are entirely natural, and certainly common.
