Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2639 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-08-04
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
This third DVD release from Doctor Who’s fourth series since its revival is an absolute cracker. For it just happens to bring together three of the very best episodes from the season, on a disc that’s best not to miss.

Things kick off with the excellent Steven Moffat-penned two-parter, Silence In The Library and Forest Of The Dead. Moffat, who takes over the running of Doctor Who for its fifth series, has been widely regarded as writing some of the best episodes of the show since it came back (including the stunning Blink), and he doesn’t disappoint here. His story sees the Doctor and Donna landing in the middle of the biggest library in the Universe, a superb special effects creation that covers an entire planet. Yet it also houses a sinister set of foes that quickly send shivers up the spine, and that prove it’s wise to, as advised, "count the shadows". To tell too much more would be to spoil some of the surprises, yet with the mysterious character of River Song, the equally intriguing Dr Moon and a small girl’s nightmares to consider, there’s plenty to unravel.

That two-parter out of the way, the mantle then passes back to Russell T Davies, who pens one of his very best episodes of Doctor Who with the terrific Midnight. It’s a deceptive episode, starting off with a low-budget, unimpressive feel, but soon developing into a tightly-constructed, unnerving story, without the comfort of a happily resolved ending.

The back half of Doctor Who’s fourth season was, on the whole, of exceptionally high standard, and this trio of episodes is one of the main reasons why. A terrific DVD, that demonstrates a treasure of a TV show doing what it does best. --Simon Brew

Synopsis
Hot on the heels of the acclaimed third series, Doctor Who returns for a fourth instalment with a familiar face alongside the Doctor. Award-winning comedienne Catherine Tate returns as the Doctor's new companion, revisiting her role as Donna Noble from the 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride. These three episodes see Donna continuing her adventures with the Doctor.

"Silence in the Library" sees the Doctor and Donna enter a world of terror inside an abandoned library. They're given only one warning: 'Count the shadows'. In the second episode, "Forest of the Dead", the Doctor forges an alliance with the mysterious River Song. But can anyone stop the shadowy Vashta Nerada? The whole shebang is wrapped up with "Midnight", where the Doctor is trapped, powerless and terrified on the planet Midnight, as the knocking on the wall begins...

Customer Reviews

Three Super Episodes!
People who gave this a 1 star obviously don't know class even if it's thrown in their face! These episodes are very good, clever and scary at the same time!
Silence in the Library: The Doctor and Donna arrive in the biggest Library in the world (called 'The Library'!) and they are given one message 'run and count the shadows'. There are no human life-forms on a scanner but there are 100,000,000 life-forms. A group of Archaeologists turn up with a strange Proffesor River Song who seems to know alot about the doctor's future and later lfe. The Doctor explains that in any shadows are the deadly Vashta Nerada, pirahnas in the air which can eat through human flesh in a second! Two people fall victim to them and one of the Archaeologists (Proper Dave) can walk and draw near the group! This is a very mysterious, clever episode which causes great tension. It loses one mark just because I personally felt that it took a bit to long for the Vashta Nerada to make a move. so... 9/10!
Forest of the Dead: Donna who appeared to be dead turns up at a hospital/hotel with the mysterious Dr Moon. Here time skips in what Donna thinks which takes a while to understand. Back at the library the Doctor and the rest are in the mist of Vashta Nerada and are being chased Proper Dave still. Another falls victim to the Vashta Nerada. It turns out that the little girl is the heart of the library and saved all of the people in previous occasions. This is a great epiode, and perfect second part to the first. I loved this episode! 10/10!
Midnight: The Doctor and Donna go to an alien spar and the doctor (on his own) goes on a trip to the planet made out of diamonds called Midnight. Strange thumping occures during the ride and whatever it is, it attacks an innocent woman named Sky. She starts copying what everybody says, then starts saying everything in sync with what everybody says, and finnaly she speaks ahead of the doctor! This is a great phsycological episode which really touches on human behaviour when scared. A great episode, possibly the best. 10/10
A great three episodes so ignore what others say, i would strongly reccommend this! Overall: 10/10

Take a tour across the Planet Midnight...
This is the third instalment of the fourth season of Doctor Who, featuring 3 episodes starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as his companion Donna Noble.

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead combine to form an excellent two-parter by Steven Moffat, the much heralded writer behind the much-loved `Blink' in Series 3. Moffat gives us more of the same, delivering a typically dark, clever and intriguing plot that fits together like a jigsaw. What I like about these episodes are that they take the viewer on a completely different experience to what we're normally used to from Doctor Who - using the primal fear of shadows and the dark to create a fairly nightmarish and genuinely scary piece of drama. The majority of the tale takes place in the largest library in the Universe, except it is deserted. Along the way, the Doctor encounters the mysterious and enigmatic River Song (played by ER's Alex Kingston), who claims to have a mysterious connection to the Time Lord. The threat comes in the form of the Vashda Nerada - "Piranhas of the air!", who prove effective and original. The story moves along nicely, and although it sometimes tries to be a little bit too clever for it's own good, it's an impressive story. As ever, the performances are good, and it's very atmospheric. 9/10.

Next comes `Midnight', a self-contained little episode that takes place almost entirely on a bus. Yes, you heard me. A entire episode of Doctor Who... on a bus! And as it turns out, despite it's rather simple premise, `Midnight' is far and away the best episode of Series 4 and a contender for one of the greatest episodes ever. As ever, Russell T Davies delivers a superb script, one in which plays to two of his biggest strengths, character and dialogue. `Midnight' is a tightly-written, claustrophobic ensemble piece, featuring a brilliantly sinister performance from Lesley Sharp as the possessed Sky Silvestry. David Tennant is on top form, supported by possibly the best ensemble cast the show has ever had - featuring David Troughton, the son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton. The threat feels real and genuinely creepy, due to the fact that it works on a psychological level. It's hard to describe the episode without giving too much detail away, but put simply, `Midnight' is a masterpiece of television. I think it's brilliant that an episode such as this went out at 7pm on a mainstream channel on a Saturday evening and was seen by 8 million people. Superb. 10/10

So, a terrifying, intriguing two-parter and one of the best, most experimental episodes of Doctor Who ever made. Highly recommended, especially if you can't hold out for the complete series boxset in November.

"Most species have an irrational fear of the dark, but it's not irrational."
Doctor Who has really reached it's stride now with the excellent two parter `Silence In The Library' and `Forest Of The Dead'. Steven Moffat once again delivers one of the best Who scripts and a premise guaranteed to send chills down your spine.
The Doctor and Donna arrive at the Library Planet only to find no-one there, despite the fact that the computer says there are billions of life signs and he'd received a message on his psychic paper to come. They discover shadows where there shouldn't be any and the Doctor deduces that there is an infestation of Vashta Narada, creatures that live in shadow and devour flesh.
When a team of archaeologists, led by River Song, arrive to find out what happened here a century ago they all find themselves in danger. However, Song knows the Doctor, and knows him well. It appears as though she is a companion, or will be a companion of his, some time in the future. When members of the teams start dying, they are in a race against time to escape before they are killed in the shadows.
As well as all this, a young girl is seeing the library in her dreams and on her television set. She interacts with our team at various points, both helping and hindering them. Is the library all in her head, is it telepathic communication, is it a dream or collective consciousness? The plot is so well crafted and leads to a great cliff-hanger that you can forgive the shaky start to the whole series for getting us to this point. The resolution is satisfying but in the second part there really is no doubt as to who Dr. Song is. Hopefully we'll see more of her in future episodes.
The segments with Donna go on to long. I know they're trying to show Tate's range as an `actress' but the story was not as engaging as the Doctor's plight in the Library.
The disc ends with `Midnight', a clever and nicely written self contained episode which is reminiscent of the classic `Lifeboat'. The Doctor and Donna arrive on the dead planet Midnight to enjoy a break at a resort. The Doctor goes off on a `bus' tour across the surface to see the sapphire waterfalls. When the vehicle breaks down and a strange hammering is heard outside where there can be no life, one of the passengers seems to be possessed by an unknown life-force.
This is a great examination of the human race through he Doctor's eyes and the paranoia and weirdness factor of the plot are very high. The enclosed set enhances this and it's a good piece for Tennant to showcase his acting abilities. The story is helped by the distinct lack of Ms. Tate as if she were aboard it would've devolved into the `angry Donna' bit almost immediately. See if you can spot Rose in this one and I don't mean in the trailer for `Turn Left' at the end.
Of the discs for season four that have been released so far, this is definitely the best and gets us ready for that oh-so-dramatic three part season finale coming next. Enjoy!