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Series 4 Boxset:
Series 4 Part 1:
Series 3 Boxset:

Director:

Euros Lyn (TV: The End of The World, The Unquiet Dead, Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern, Fear Her, The Runaway Bride, Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead)

Screenplay:

Steven Moffat (TV: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink)

Cast:

The Doctor: David Tennant
Donna Noble: Catherine Tate
Dr. Moon: Colin Salmon
Professor River Song: Alex Kingston
The Girl: Eve Newton
Strackman Lux: Steve Pemberton
The Dad: Mark Dexter
Anita: Jessika Williams
Miss Evangelista: Talulah Riley
Proper Dave: Harry Peacock
Other Dave: O-T Fagbenle
Lee: Jason Pitt
Ella: Eloise Rakic-Platt
Joshua: Alex Midwood

Synopsis: The Doctor continues to fight the shadows in The Library, as Donna finds herself transported to a strange new reality...

Well. It's already a clich้ to praise Steven Moffat's work on Doctor Who, but is there anyone else who has the imagination and skill to rival him?

"Forest Of The Dead" is a superlative conclusion of last week's "Silence In The Library", with The Doctor (David Tennant) trying to stave off the Vashta Nerada's shadow attacks with the help of Professor River Song (Alex Kingston), while Donna (Catherine Tate) finds herself waking up in a strange reality – where the mysterious Dr. Moon (Colin Salmon) guides her through a dream-like life of marriage and kids...

The best thing about this conclusion was how well it explained relatively minor plot-points from part 1, while developing the concept into more interesting territory. Donna was essentially stuck in a Matrix-like utopia of marital bliss, and the true nature of Dr. Moon and The Girl (Eve Newton) had real punch to it. Even the return of Miss Evangelista (Talulah Riley), as the Morpheus to Donna's Neo, worked very well – and the sight of her warped facial features the kind of jolting horror to make kids turn their heads away. Indeed, Moffat was canny enough to have The Girl's reaction (watching Donna and The Doctor's escapades on her television) echo the real reactions of Who's young audience – as she buried her head in a pillow.

Once again, Catherine Tate did fine work as Donna – making the most of a subplot that remained powerful and emotional despite chronological jumps. Despite not being the focus of the episode, Donna's realization that her children aren't real was still poignantly handled, and the loss of her "husband" Lee (Jason Pitt) also struck a chord. Great call-back to Lee's stammer in the heartbreaking climax, which seemed like a pointless flourish when introduced, but was shown to have some significance.

David Tennant did sterling work, as usual, helped enormously by Alex Kingston as River Song. One of the best aspects of this episode was how it revealed the depth of their relationship – as she knows secret knowledge about him he'd only share with someone very special. So, is she a future companion with even more resonance than Rose? Or, as strongly inferred, a time-traveller's wife? It's all kept a little vague, wisely – but I certainly hope this is something Moffat will return to once he takes over Doctor Who in 2010. It's certainly something that can't be ignored, so I hope Alex Kingston has agreed to make a return (probably for a long time) in some future season of the show. She certainly proved herself in this adventure, so fingers crossed for more River Song some day...

There was an echo of The Doctor's situation in season 3's "Human Nature"/"Family Of Blood", in how Donna's memory loss prevented her from realizing she was living a "fantasy", but everything else was pushing into relatively fresh territory. The central "virtual reality" idea may be in vogue because of The Matrix, but it worked very well and wasn't a straight copy of that idea. The added complexity surrounding River Song and the mystery of what "CAL" was also helped keep things unpredictable, even after you'd quickly worked out what Donna's situation was.

Overall, Steven Moffat really knows how to end a story. The closing 10 minutes were stunning as the emphasis shifted onto The Doctor, as he realized who River Song must be, and the foreshadowing of The Doctor's far-future "spoilers" no doubt made many fans giddy with joy. It really did seem like Steven Moffat used these episodes to give is a taste of the complexity, emotional highs, and resonance he'll hopefully be enforcing in season 5. I still doubt episodes like "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead" will become the norm in season 5 (as they fly over the heads of very young audiences), but if the spirit of them can be maintained it's going to be an extraordinary time.

A fantastic episode on every level, and minor complaints (more sonic screwdriver overuse, the Suit Monsters becoming too sympathetic) pale into insignificance when weighed against everything this episode got right. Kudos to the FX team, too -- whose Library cityscapes were twice as impressive here, and reminded me of those inspiring vistas you see on the front cover of pulp sci-fi novels. The shot of The Doctor in a tubular walkthrough, with skscrapers beyond the glass, was superb -- if far too brief.

It was just great to watch a Doctor Who story and be genuinely swept along with the story, as the situation and revelations became increasingly more significant and achingly emotional. And I defy anyone not to feel jazzed about Moffat becoming showrunner when The Doctor snaps his fingers to open his TARDIS door... now that's cool!

Join in the discussion about this episode at Dan's Media Digest

OVERALL

Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2008.

The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date :

2008			Series 30, Episode 13 - "Journey's End", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 12 - "The Stolen Earth", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 11 - "Turn Left", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 10 - "Midnight", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 8 - "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 7 - "The Unicorn and The Wasp", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 6 - "The Doctor's Daughter", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 5 - "The Poison Sky" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 4 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 3 - "Planet of the Ood", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 2 - "The Fires of Pompeii", by Dan Owen
2008			Series 30, Episode 1 - "Partners In Crime", by Dan Owen

2006			Series 28, Episode 1 - "New Earth", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 2 - "Tooth & Claw", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 3 - "School Reunion", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 4 - "The Girl in the Fireplace", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 5 - "Rise of the Cyberman", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 6 - "The Age of Steel", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 7 - "The Idiot's Lantern", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 8 - "The Impossible Planet", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 9 - "The Satan Pit", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 10 - "Love and Monsters", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 11 - "Fear Her", by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 12 - "Army of Ghosts" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2006			Series 28, Episode 13 - "Doomsday" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen

2005			Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 2 - "The End of the World", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 3 - "The Unquiet Dead", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 4 - "Aliens of London", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 5 - "World War Three", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 6 - "Dalek", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 7 - "The Long Game", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 8 - "Father's Day", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 9 - "The Empty Child", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 10 - "The Doctor Dances", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 11 - "Boom Town", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 12 - "Bad Wolf", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 13 - "The Parting of The Ways", by Dan Owen
2005			Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dom Robinson
2005			Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Paul Manners

And the Audio CDs :

2000			04: The Land of the Dead
2000			06: The Marian Conspiracy
2000			10: Winter for the Adept
2000			12: The Fires of Vulcan
2000			14: The Holy Terror
2000			15: The Mutant Phase
2001			16: Storm Warning
2001			18: The Stones of Venice
2002			28: The Chimes of Midnight
2002			30: Seasons of Fear
2002			31: Embrace the Darkness
2002			35: ...Ish
2002			39: ...Bang-Bang-A-Boom!

2003			Doctor Who Audio CDs: An introduction

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: