Doctor Who - Part 3

4) Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Episodes 8 and 9, Season 4
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and River Song (Alex Kingston)
Plot: Donna and the Doctor arrive at planet in the future that is one giant library due to an anonymous request for help that comes to the Doctor through his psychic paper. There is not one in the library despite the computer noting that there are millions of life-forms in the library. All that is in the library at robots called Nodes that has a donated face of a human being. It warns the Doctor and Donna to count the shadows. Suddenly, the overhead lights go out one by one and the Doctor and Donna are told by a security camera others are coming. It is Dr. River Song with a team of archaeologists to find out what happened in the library. The last communication for the library was "4022 saved, no survivors". Dr. Song has knowledge of the Doctor's future and recognizes Donna's name but doesn't know Donna. The library seems to be tied to the imagination of a little girl. The little girl is under the supervision of a child psychologist, Dr. Moon. Dr. Moon tells her that the library is real and there are people in the library that need to be saved. The Doctor determines that they all are people stalked by the Vashta Nerada with are microscopic creatures that hide the shadows before completely devouring their prey. The Vashta Nerada then take control off the body of one on the team members and begins stalking the remaining group members. The Doctor attempts to send Donna to the TARDIS to be safe however something happens and she doesn't materialize properly. As the Doctor and the rest of group tries to outrun the Vashta Nerada in the space suit, the Doctor discovers a Node with Donna's face on it with the node saying "Donna Noble has been saved." Things get worse for the group when not only the possessed space suit is chasing them, but the shadows of Vashta Nerada is closing in on them.
Why I love this episode: The Vashta Narada is the most awesome name ever. Try saying to yourself, don't you just feel cooler? The fact that they hide in the shadow, to the point where a human has a second shadow, is really effective way to scare the crap out of you. This episode introduces River Song, who is a really great character. She has this whole history/future with the Doctor that is a lot of fun to try to figure out. The endings for both River and Donna are really fantastic, both sad and happy at the same time. The second episode of the story has some really got moments with Donna, that really soften her and show her as a sympathetic person that you didn't really see before this two-part episode. And it was written by Stephen Moffat (are you noticing a trend?)

5) The Lodger
Episode 11, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam)
Plot: The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS is modern day Colchester and the TARDIS immediately takes off with Amy still inside and is unable to land again. Amy and the Doctor suspect that it may have to do with a disturbance on the second floor of the apartment house that that TARDIS landed in front of before taking off. The Doctor then rents the room on the ground floor of the apartment house from a man named Craig (who is in love with his best friend). The Doctor attempts to blend in with modern day England while at the same time try to figure out what sinister happens are taking place upstairs.
Why I love this episode: Firstly, this episode is probably one of the funnier episodes in the history of the reboot. The Doctor and Amy still have really good interactions despite sharing very little screen time (they are separated throughout most of the episode and can only talk to each other). Secondly, this episode does a great job dropping little hint for the two-part season finale without being too heavy-handed as well as do a call back to previous episodes (really that last 4 episodes of season 5 are really good). The resolution of Craig's story line is fulfilling (and I read that Craig is going to be back in Season 6). And I enjoy episodes that feature the Doctor interacting with human beings because I think it really humanizes him (because from time to time, there can be a little too much hero-worship). The writer of this episode, Gareth Roberts, wrote another episode that will appear on tomorrow's entry. And the fact that the writers get such high billing in the credits (the writer usually appears right after any guest star that may be on, before the director) makes it obvious that writing is really prized by the show runner (and the BBC and subsequently the fans).

6) The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
Episodes 9 and 10, Season 1
Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecceleston)
Companion: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
Plot: Rose and the Doctor are following a metal ship through a time vortex and end up in Britain during the Blitz. As the Doctor goes to nightclub to ask for information about the metal ship, Rose spot a little boy with a gas mask up on a roof. She climbs a rope to get closer to the little boy and finds the rope is attached to a barrage balloon. At that moment, the air raid sirens go off. The Doctor go outside to look for Rose and finds that the non-functional telephone on the TARDIS is ringing. A young girl, Nancy, warns the Doctor not to answer the phone. He does anyway and hears a young boy asking "Are you my mummy?" The Doctor then follows Nancy and she and several other homeless children enter a house to eat while the family has gone to the air-raid shelter. As the children (and the Doctor) are sitting down to eat, a young boy in a gas mask starts knocking on the door and trying to get in. Nancy warns the Doctor not to touch the boy, or he will become "empty". All the children leave the house and the Doctor tells Nancy that he thinks there is a connection between the fallen metal ship and the "Empty Child". Nancy mentions a bomb that fell from the sky that wasn't a bomb and tell the Doctor to go see Dr. Constantine. The Doctor and Nancy talk about her taking care of the children due to her guilt over losing her brother Jamie in a air-raid. Meanwhile, Rose is rescued from the barrage balloon by Captain Jack who immediately determines that Rose is a time-traveler like him. He claims that he is free-lance Time Agent who has something that might interest her but she says she must first find and consult her companion. The Doctor has found the hospital and Dr. Constantine. The hospital is filled with corpses of people with gas mask on their face and identical physical marks (like a scratch on the hand). Dr. Constantine says that the first victim was discovered shortly after the bomb fell and then anyone who has been in contact with that victim has developed the same external physical symptoms including a gas mask fused to the skin. The first victim was Jamie, Nancy's brother. However, before Dr. Constantine can explain much more, he turning into a gas-masked zombie before the Doctor's eyes and asks "Are you my mummy?". Rose and Captain Jack find the Doctor and Jack explains that the metal ship was a Chula ambulance and there are only two hours before another bomb will fall and destroy the metal ship. The corpses then get up and walk towards the Doctor asking "Are you my mummy?" while the original empty child asks Nancy the same thing at an abandoned house. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack, then have to figure out what happened to the empty child before the plague spreads or a bomb drops and destroys the ship and the hospital.
Why I love this episode: I am sucker for movie/TV shows set during World War II and this episode really show what London was like during the Blitz. There is a great exchange between Rose and Nancy about how difficult it is to live during the Blitz and how Nancy can't imagine the world ever getting better and Rose assuring her that Britain wins. The Doctor and Captain Jack really play off each other well especially since they have different views about using weapons (and there is a long exchange in which Jack disparages the sonic screwdriver). I would also like to note that Stephen Moffat also wrote this set of episodes so there is a great mix of both funny moments and really emotional scenes. And the resolution of the story is surprisingly uplifting. Plus, adding Captain Jack is a really great addition as he adds a bit of much needed light-heartedness.