After a brief break from this series for all things Halloween and Christmas, I am back to share my love of Dr. Who…a sci-fi show that crosses into the wonderful world of horror.
I’ve returned with one of my favorite monsters.
The Silence.
The Silence from the TV show Dr. Who
Don’t you just love him?
Created by Steven Moffat, these terrifying creatures appeared in the 2011 season opener Part 1 “The Impossible Astronaut” and Part 2 “Day of the Moon” where they met the 11th Doctor played by Matt Smith.
Over six and a half feet tall, they can absorb electricity and use it as a weapon.
The Silence from the TV show Dr. Who, using his powers to control electricity
But that’s not all. They have the ability to erase people’s memories. When you’re looking at them, you see them, but as soon as you turn away, you forget.
Once discovered, we know they’re there. They whisper what they want you to do. So our main characters took to carrying a marker and drawing hashmarks on their skin every time they see one. You might not remember seeing it, but you know how many times you have.
Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan) covered with hashmarks when trying to fight The Silence in TV show Dr. Who
Long after you forget, their words linger in your mind, a post-hypnotic suggestion. Controlling your actions without threats, without violence, unless killing becomes necessary.
The Silence is part of a religious movement whose purpose is to destroy the Doctor.
The build up to the reveal of this monster was terrific. Long before they appeared we hear “The silence will fall. The silence will fall when the question is asked.”
What’s the question? The oldest question in the universe…
Doctor Who?
The Silence are genetically modified priests from the Church of the Papal Mainframe, who become the Church of the Silence when they vow to keep the Doctor’s silent, to keep him from answering the question, by saying his name and possibly renewing the Time War. Which would be bad.
Even though The Doctor bests them, the story continues into the season as we learn of their plot to kill The Doctor with their assassin River Song in the episodes “A Good Man Goes to War” and “The Wedding of River Song”. We learn their origin story in the episode “The Time of the Doctor”.
The idea of seeing these horrific creatures one moment then forgetting that it is standing right behind you when you turn away makes me shudder. Silently they plot their murder, stopping anyone who gets in their way. They get in your head, leaving suggestions, orders. Sometimes scary isn’t loud.
Information gathered from:
Wikipedia
The Doctor Who Character Encyclopedia by Jason Loborik, Annabel Gibson, and Moray Laing, published by DK Publishing in 2013, page 163
All pictures taken from Google Images, from Dr. Who episodes
*Just a note. Join me TONIGHT for the live-tweet of THE BABADOOK! Get your DVDs ready, pop them in the player, and press play at 9 EST. Add your tweets to the feed #Babadook. Let’s watch a horror movie together!
Jenna Lehne
Those monsters are legit terrifying. Thank you for giving me a reason to keep the lights on tonight!