Doctor Who: 10 Things You Never Realised About Series 6 Of NuWho

2. The Silence

Mention the word "Silence" near a Doctor Who fan and you might just see them checking their arms for tally marks. The Silence are a fanatical offshoot from the Church of the Papal Mainframe (later renamed Church of the Silence) who were originally priests developed to be used as a confessional, as they are immediately forgotten once they leave one's vision. As this could be empowered to make a very formidable foe, they were sent out to prevent the answer to a question that must never be answered from being spoken. To that end, in Series 6, the Silence were directly responsible (under the watchful eye of Madame Kovarian) for the kidnapping of Amy Pond, then later her newly born child Melody. Melody was subsequently brainwashed to assassinate the Doctor as the Silence assumed that, with him dead, the answer to the First Question could never be answered. During the course of Series 6, it was discovered that the Silence had actually been controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations, only to be unravelled by one of their own who stated that humans should "kill them on sight" without realising that he was being recorded. It was subsequently played as a subliminal message upon man's first step on the moon which is an event that the entire world would rewatch for years to come. After the Silence were foiled in their plans to destroy the Doctor, they were not seen again until the Siege of Trenzalore, which, as it turns out, is the event in which their creation came into being (this is what the Doctor called a "destiny trap", as "you cannot change the events of the past if you are a part of them"). With the "Fall of the Eleventh" averted and the fields of Trenzalore a distant memory, will Peter Capaldi's Doctor face off against the Silence in the upcoming Series 9? One can only hope... but then again, how would he remember if he hadn't already come across them in his adventures? Perhaps the Doctor should always carry a sharpie with him, just in case.