Doctor Who: Forest of the Dead...

[fajrdrako]

I continue to love Steven Moffat's writing, and Euros Lyn's direction, and I thought the visuals were particularly superb.

I enjoyed it and was moved by it - but did I understand it? Not entirely. Especially what happened at the end: why did the Doctor keep River Song alive inside the computer? Did he think that was better than death for her?

1. I wish I had liked River Song (or, more to the point, Alex Kingston) more than I did. Her role was terrific; loved the way it was written. Loved it that she died in the Doctor's place to save the people who were in the library.
   
   
2. It was creepy. It scared me. In a good way.
   
   
3. I didn't understand the Doctor's deal with the Vashta Nerada. He gave them their forests - how? What did I miss there? Maybe I'll understand when I watch it again tomorrow.
   
   
4. I like the Doctor Moon pun and associated visuals.
   
   
5. Loved the moment when the little girl - Charlotte - 'turned off' her father.
   
   
6. I thought David Tennant's acting was particularly good.
   
   
7. Lee is Donna's ideal man? He wasn't much like Lance. If she had connected with the real Lee, whom she managed to just miss, would he have known her? Did he share her dream of marriage and kids?
   
   
8. Actually, it didn't ring true to me that Donna's dream life was so mundane: a husband, two children, a nice house, taking the kids to the park and putting them to bed ... The Donna we know wants to travel with the Doctor forever. Why wasn't that her dream? Was it because the dream was placed in her mind and shaped by Charlotte?
   
   
9. Loved the bit with the Doctor snapping his fingers to open the TARDIS doors. Liked the way he liked it, too.
   
   
10. Loved the time paradox involved: River Song is in the Doctor's future, he in her past.
    
    
11. Why were the people in the library dressed alike?
    
    
12. So the squareness gun was Jack's - cool!
    
    
13. I liked the way the Doctor left River Song's diary just... lying there. For anyone in the library int he 51st century to find and read. I suppose they'd think it was fiction?
    

Comments

[catslash.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Moffat's episodes are like that. Delicious and engaging storytelling - just don't think too hard about the details or they start to fall apart.

On point number eight, I kind of assumed it was a generic scenario that Donna only had a limited amount of power over. The implication at the beginning that she'd been in some kind of psych ward for delusions indicated to me that the computer needed her to join in its creation. Computers have limited resources, even ginormous ones. I got the impression that it just didn't have the space or what-have-you to create tailor-made lives for four thousand people, so it made a world and sort of gently pushed people in until they fit. But just because it wasn't Donna's dream life doesn't mean that she wouldn't be happy with a devoted husband and adorable kids, especially since she was able to skip over all the annoying parts of marriage and parenting. *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

just don't think too hard about the details or they start to fall apart

I didn't think there was anything in The Empty Child or The Doctor Dances that fell apart on close examination. Or Blink. The Girl in the Fireplace suffered from intriguing gaps and emotional discontinuity - which actually I rather like: it's food for thought, and fodder for fanfic.

especially since she was able to skip over all the annoying parts of marriage and parenting. *g*

Ah, if only we could all do that. Think "bed" and the kids are in bed, no muss, no fuss, no argument.

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

I agree about the computer dictating it - it gave River the same children's bedroom (except I think there was an extra bed?) I saw it as a sort of basic Sims.

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

It was directed by Euros Lyn.

I didn't think Donna's dream life was mundane - more very much idealized.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It was mundane, but I'll grant you that it was both mundane and idealized. All the worse! - I know the unreality was the point, but it does make me wonder about the ending, with the Doctor putting River Song into that same unreality.

[meret.livejournal.com]

I didn't understand the Doctor's deal with the Vashta Nerada. He gave them their forests - how?

The forests were the books because the pages are made from wood pulp. All the people are going to teleport off the planet, and leave it to the shadows.

If she had connected with the real Lee, whom she managed to just miss, would he have known her?

Yes! :) He saw her and tried to call out to her, but his stutter prevented him from doing so before he was teleported.

The Donna we know wants to travel with the Doctor forever.

I saw it as the computer making her forget about the doctor.

I liked the way the Doctor left River Song's diary just... lying there.

In the ep I watched after he saves River he totally goes back and gets the diary before meeting up with Donna at the Tardis. That way the Doctor can save Donna so her husband in the computer can find her, and they can live happily ever after in the future. *fingers in ears* La, la, la! Can't hear you!

Why were the people in the library dressed alike?

LOL! Good question. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

All the people are going to teleport off the planet, and leave it to the shadows.

So only the Vashta Nerada get to read the books? That seems rather sad. I suppose the books can be replicated elsewhere. What do the Vashta Nerada then eat? I guess they aren't entirely carnivorous.

He saw her and tried to call out to her, but his stutter prevented him from doing so before he was teleported.

Yes, but that doesn't mean that the reality he knew was the same one she knew. I suppose we can only conclude that it was - as that fits the story we see.

I saw it as the computer making her forget about the doctor.

Yes, the computer made its own reality. But that means Donna had no free will at all there.

That way the Doctor can save Donna so her husband in the computer can find her, and they can live happily ever after in the future.

LOL! Since I didn't like that reality at all, I wouldn't wish such a thing on poor innocent Donna. I'd let her travel with the Doctor as long as she wants to!

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Some one on another list I belong to pointed out that in the Classic Series, a Time Lord's consciousness/memories were downloaded to the Matrix (a huge computer system that predated "that" series of movies by decades) as a way of saving and storing their knowledge and experience. For the Doctor to similarly download River's "self" into a computerized after life would thus be a very natural response for him.

Hey, as an explanation, I think it really works! :D

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That does give a nice history and background to what he did. Interesting!

[lilithlotr.livejournal.com]

Haven't watched this one yet, but I must say I wasn't as impressed with Library as with Doctor Dances or Blink, but mind you - that's an incredible standard to live up to. I've liked Alex Kingston so far - but then I DO like her, generally.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I must say I wasn't as impressed with Library as with Doctor Dances or Blink

Well... those are probably my favourite episodes ever. I liked them better than the library story, too. Which isn't to say I didn't love the library story.

What else have you seen Alex Kingston in? I didn't dislike her, I just didn't like her as much as I wanted to.

[katkim.livejournal.com]

I think as Donna's dream world reflects her 'could have been life', if she hadn't met the Doctor. She's in her 30s, and that's the period in life when its conventional for people to meet husbands/wives, buy their first home, have a family etc. And, in a way, I see it has the life pre-Runaway Bride Donna would have had and wanted.

When we first met her, she she worked in admin in pretty standard office. She likes reading about celebrity gossip. She was about to get married. She missed the Sycorax Ship and the Battle of Canary Wharf because she was hungover and on scuba-diving holiday, respectively. From that, the Doctor takes her to task that she's blind to 'the bigger picture', but I think Donna didn't want to know or understanding 'the bigger picture'. Throughout Runaway Bride she only the bigger picture as obstacles to her life (getting to the church on time). When really faced with it, she's frightened of the Doctor and the out of the ordinary. It as only after Runaway Bride and a significant time to reflect that she became dissatisfied with regular life and more interested in travelling with the Doctor and seeing different worlds. So yeah, I think I see it as a life Donna would have had and wanted if she hadn't met the Doctor.

I don't have an argument as to why CAL chose that path rather then conjure up a dream world with the Doctor, but in a way I think it's a way of touching upon what Donna may have given up (for want of a better term) that maybe Rose or Martha, being in their 20s, hadn't to be with the Doctor. I don't think this is a new theme.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

it has the life pre-Runaway Bride Donna would have had and wanted.

True, though I find it difficult to reconcile the Runaway Bride Donna with the Series Four Donna. They're quite different, in the way they think, the things they like, the things they want, and their behaviour.

She missed the Sycorax Ship and the Battle of Canary Wharf because she was hungover and on scuba-diving holiday, respectively.

True, but by "Partners in Crime" she regrets her past decisions and wants somethign else. Her curiosity about the universe has been awakened. That's something I like about her: I don't want to see her regress to the Donna she might have been. I quite disliked her in "The Runaway Bride".

So: you're right, it's a good view of what Donna might once have wanted, but I don't need to like it!

And it makes sense that the little girl would relate more to that side of Donna rather than the newer, more adventurous side.

[gillo]

I loved it - wonderful direction and some superb lines - "It works in the dark. It's a screwdriver." sticks out particularly for me.

It was creepy. It scared me. In a good way.

Yes, though I was sorry the little girl didn't hide behind the sofa. That would have been as metatextual as the use of "Spoilers".

Lee is Donna's ideal man? He wasn't much like Lance. If she had connected with the real Lee, whom she managed to just miss, would he have known her? Did he share her dream of marriage and kids?

I think it's restricted memory space - the computer has a paradigm of what "ordinary life" is, pairs up library-users and makes them forget everything that would counteract the idea that this is an ideal life. Just as the children are all identical, so I imagine the houses, parks etc. are - which is why at the end River says goodnight to the children in the same bedroom Donna did. (Is the third child Charlotte? I couldn't see clearly enough. But that could work, as it's very much a child's ideal of security and happiness.)

The Donna we know wants to travel with the Doctor forever. Why wasn't that her dream? Was it because the dream was placed in her mind and shaped by Charlotte?

Dr Moon was working hard to get her to forget any wishes which were inconvenient - it was important for the smooth running of the computer-generated world that she accept a life broadly similar to that of the others in the memory. Sims don't start trying to leave their town, do they?

Loved the bit with the Doctor snapping his fingers to open the TARDIS doors. Liked the way he liked it, too.

Yes - nice time-loop there. He discovered he could do it because River had seen him doing it...

Why were the people in the library dressed alike?

Lack of computer memory to store what they were actually wearing at the point when they were saved. Inside the computer they were like Sims, dressed in pixels - the real clothes, with all their details would have required way more storage space.

And not at all keeping the BBC Wales costume budget down.

13. I liked the way the Doctor left River Song's diary just... lying there. For anyone in the library in the 51st century to find and read. I suppose they'd think it was fiction?

Or it could be found and used against him in eras to come.

I didn't understand the Doctor's deal with the Vashta Nerada. He gave them their forests - how? What did I miss there? Maybe I'll understand when I watch it again tomorrow.

Books are made of trees - even expensive ones are made of plant fibre (linen/cotton rags) so he was removing the people and giving back the books to the wild. I didn't quite get what they were supposed to eat, though. In the end "Look me up" was the most powerful argument he had - I think they were blustering and didn't really have a choice.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"It works in the dark. It's a screwdriver."

That was fun. Yes, lots of good lines, which I'll try to note next time through.

I didn't quite get what they were supposed to eat, though.

Since they are tiny, tiny creatures, presumably they can exist on other micro-organisms. Though I wondered about that too. They don't seem to be consuming the books.

In the end "Look me up" was the most powerful argument he had - I think they were blustering and didn't really have a choice.

They didn't call his bluff; it worked.

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

3. That confused me as well. He offered them a deal - putting them inside the computer, at least that was my reading of it - but I don't remember them accepting it.
And what people have commented about him giving them the Library, surely he can't make that sort of deal. All that knowledge and he's cutting it off from the population and giving it to the Vashta? THink I need a rewatch.

7. Lee must have shared at least some of the same memories as Donna, otherwise he wouldn't have recognized her later. I wonder if they'll cross paths again.

8. It did ring true for me. For one thing, that's not Donna's dream life, it was Cal's - mother, father, happy family. And Donna 'remembered' it as being her dream life. She had no memories left of the Doctor. So yes, I could see it happening.

11. The same reason all the children looked alike, it saved memory space by only keeping a copy of one type of clothing - although then Donna was in her own outfit, but either she had a spare outfit in the TARDIS, or maybe it was just her outfit had been the last one 'saved'.

13. I'm actually surprized he was just going to leave both it and the screwdriver there, especially the screwdriver. Did he think that his future self was going to show up and retrieve it a little time later?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He offered them a deal - putting them inside the computer, at least that was my reading of it

I like that - it makes more sense than just giving them the library. If they were inside the computer, they could feed all they wished, on an infinite number of dream people.

I wonder if they'll cross paths again.

It seems likely to me that they will. He is her Tom Milligan.

For one thing, that's not Donna's dream life, it was Cal's - mother, father, happy family

Yes. In that way, it makes sense. And makes it all a little creepier.

Did he think that his future self was going to show up and retrieve it a little time later?

Possibly. It might be the starting point of another story.

[halfspokenwords.livejournal.com]

I liked River. I liked River quite a bit. But then again, I've always had a bit of a crush on Alex Kingston. Left over from the over-a-decade spent watching ER, I suppose.

I didn't understand the Doctor's deal with the Vashta Nerada. He gave them their forests - how?

He gives them the library. So "they can swarm to their heart's content," he says. That's why they evacuated everyone out. The Vashta Nerada gave him one day.

If she had connected with the real Lee, whom she managed to just miss, would he have known her? Did he share her dream of marriage and kids?

I found that bit rather creepy. Lee did seem very sweet, and while I could see him and Donna working out, I remained incredibly conscious of the fact that their relationship was fabricated. We never see them fall in love. We see seven years happen in a few seconds-- and are reminded that it's a few seconds for Donna as well. She hasn't lived out those seven years; she's just told that she had. So even her happy memories with Lee aren't real.

I suspect that while she and Lee would have recognized eachother, they would have become increasingly aware of the fact that they were not the same people who were 'in love' in the simulation. Whether that would have negated any chance of a RL relationship, who knows.

The Donna we know wants to travel with the Doctor forever. Why wasn't that her dream? Was it because the dream was placed in her mind and shaped by Charlotte?

Yeah, I don't think that was Donna's dream life, per se. She was 'integrated,' not into her own fantasy but into someone else's. Since everyone else (Charlotte, Lee, River, etc) were placed in that reality as well, I imagine that it's Charlotte's. Perhaps 21st century life has rather pastoral associations by the 51st century, making this a storybook that Charlotte is living out forever.

"Whose dream is this?" asks Donna, and Evangelista says, "There is a word. Just one word. CAL."

Is everyone else in the library living out the same fake world? Possibly.

Actually, it didn't ring true to me that Donna's dream life was so mundane:

It was very simplistic, wasn't it? I didn't really have a problem with Donna wanting children and a real life; she says she wants to travel with him forever, and she does, but she isn't Rose and isn't blinded by that enthusiasm-- she'll know when it's time. However, as far as a 'real life' goes, it wasn't very Donna-esque.

One thing I wondered: where was Donna's career? She's a supertemp! I think that even if she decided to leave the Doctor and settle down, the Donna of "Partners in Crime" is ambitious enough to be doing something. She also didn't seem to have any friends, or any life outside of her husband and kids--child's construct of a perfect life. Kids don't think of Mommy having a life.

It makes it all the more disturbing that River was 'integrated' into this life as well. We don't see Doctor Moon there saying "and then you remembered!" but I wouldn't be surprised. Charlotte is her third child, too, which only supports this idea that it's her search for a perfect life that's being served. So River's just been slotted in there-- that's bleak!

Any idea how Evangelista got her face back? I thought maybe the group of 'friends' at the end weren't real, just constructs-- but Evangelista was 'saved' as a data ghost uploaded on the wifi, so they could be too. But then again, so could River, so was the sonic screwdriver thing really necessary? I am a bit confused. Does it imply that she is more 'real' than the others are?

Actually, the 'data ghost' concept intrigues me. Couldn't you say that River and her team are all existing as data ghosts? And we've already been told that ghosting does not equal being alive.

But River has a virtual copy of the TARDIS diary-- presumably as reassurance that she does indeed remember the outside world?

I thought River saying "Sweet dreams, everyone" to her virtual children was one of the creepiest parts of the entire two-parter.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've never seen ER. Perhaps if I had... I wanted to love River Song, I really could. But I just didn't. You can't force it.

He gives them the library. So "they can swarm to their heart's content," he says. That's why they evacuated everyone out.

Seems to me a casual sacrifice of all the books ever. Not a great solution.

Lee did seem very sweet, and while I could see him and Donna working out, I remained incredibly conscious of the fact that their relationship was fabricated. We never see them fall in love.

Technically, they didn't. The courtship happened in the bits Charlotte's dream didn't show. She was too young to be interested in romance, so she jumped from fishing scene to the marriage. The in between bits didn't happen, Donna just thought they had.

She hasn't lived out those seven years; she's just told that she had. So even her happy memories with Lee aren't real.

Exactly. It's the illusion of happiness that never occurred.

Whether that would have negated any chance of a RL relationship, who knows.

I think it depends on his personality. Of which we saw little, and what we did see was very passive - not so much Donna's viewpoint as Charlotte's viewpoint of what Donna's viewpoint might be.

Perhaps 21st century life has rather pastoral associations by the 51st century, making this a storybook that Charlotte is living out forever.

That's a good point. I did like it that Charlotte could watch either the library or the dream world on her television.

Is everyone else in the library living out the same fake world? Possibly.

Or soemthing similar. Interesting that Charlotte gave Donna that period in the hospital with amnesia and disorientation and care from Doctor Moon. Her way of preventing "transcription errors", perhaps? If she was later able to fix Evangelista's face - did she make her stupid again as well?

where was Donna's career? She's a supertemp!

She's proud of that, too. Perhaps that's where the 'transcription error' came into it. She goes from being supertemp to being supermum.

So River's just been slotted in there-- that's bleak!

Yes. Scary!

I am a bit confused. Does it imply that she is more 'real' than the others are?

Could be. I'm still thinking about that. Perhaps the Doctor thinks that River's brains and courage will expand Charlotte's consciousness?

Actually, the 'data ghost' concept intrigues me.

It consistently makes me think of the death of Astrid.

Couldn't you say that River and her team are all existing as data ghosts? And we've already been told that ghosting does not equal being alive.

I would say that's true, given what information we have - but then why would the Doctor think he was doing something good in 'saving' her at the end? I can rationalize that it isn't for River's sake but for Charlotte's, to reassert her sanity and happiness and expand her maturity, but that isn't what we're told: we're told it's for River Song's sake.

River has a virtual copy of the TARDIS diary-- presumably as reassurance that she does indeed remember the outside world?

Or maybe the Doctor thinks he can late retrieve her.

I thought River saying "Sweet dreams, everyone" to her virtual children was one of the creepiest parts of the entire two-parter.

I'm not sure what I thought. I gasped when we saw Evangelista's distorted face. I think maybe the eeriest thing for me was Donna looking for Lee, after she was back in the library, and wanting him still.

[gypsylady.livejournal.com]

As an aside, can I say just how much I despised that part? Why couldn't Evangelista have just had untapped potential to be clever?

That actually didn't bother me much. She'd said several times that her IQ was particularly low and that all she had was her face. She was obviously clever, though. High IQ is different from clever, and that's something a lot of people miss. I really liked that Donna understood the distinction and treated Evangelista with respect.

There are people in the world who have lower IQs than others. That doesn't make them bad or stupid. It does make it a little harder for them to absorb connections between thing and that is what Evangelista had to contend with. She wasn't stupid, and she was clever and could remember important things. She simply had to work harder at making connections. I found the concept of having her face distorted but her intellect increased sensible from a computer's perspective. And I think she's probably still clever and possibly higher in the IQ department inside the computer because the computer has more memory freed up now after sending everyone else back to the Library.

I admit, I didn't care for River. I want to know what she will be in the future. Because as she was when we last saw her, I can't imagine the Doctor being quite so over-the-moon about her.

I totally love that it was DONNA who decided not to look up what is going to happen to her.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

She was obviously clever, though.

Why did you think that? My impression was 'sweet but not clever'.

I really liked that Donna understood the distinction and treated Evangelista with respect.

I thought Donna treated her with kindness - which is similar to respect but not the same.

she was clever and could remember important things.

For instance - ? I hope you understand I'm not arguing, I just didn't see the hints that you saw. I thought the point was that she was pretty but dim, and in that high-intellect crowd she felt diminished, while they failed to respect her and treated her as a liability.

she's probably still clever and possibly higher in the IQ department inside the computer because the computer has more memory freed up now after sending everyone else back to the Library.

Good reasoning. Yes.

I admit, I didn't care for River.

I wanted to care for River and tried very hard. But... I'm not sure what my problem was, but I couldn't entirely get a handle on her personality, or really feel deep sympathy. I love Donna far more, for example.
I like that idea!

as she was when we last saw her, I can't imagine the Doctor being quite so over-the-moon about her.

No. Must admit, I had that problem with Reinette, too, though if Moffat wants to go on writing about 'people the Doctor has loved', I approve heartily. I think my problem was more with the acting and the casting than the script and characterization, though I'm not sure who I'd like to have seen cast as River.

I totally love that it was DONNA who decided not to look up what is going to happen to her.

I loved that too. And I loved the impish look on the Doctor's face when he talked about it.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I didn't understand the Doctor's deal with the Vashta Nerada. He gave them their forests - how? What did I miss there? Maybe I'll understand when I watch it again tomorrow.

He gave them the forest by leaving them alone in them after the negotiated 24 hour window to remove everyone. "You get the forest, but you give me them." The implication is that the library will be sealed off for good after that, the only patrons being the ones inside the computer. Basically, Ten, told the VN to look him up in the vast library. They did, were properly freaked, and felt that slow starvation without meat sources was preferable to whatever they read about him -- scary.

Lee is Donna's ideal man? He wasn't much like Lance. If she had connected with the real Lee, whom she managed to just miss, would he have known her?

When you watch the scene again, you'll see that he did know her. He was trying to stutter through her name when he spots before they beam him out.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

They did, were properly freaked, and felt that slow starvation without meat sources was preferable to whatever they read about him -- scary.

I rather like that.

But given that he had that kind of power over them - why not say, "Leave this place and never come back?"

Perhaps he knew that the library could be rebuilt elsewhere, but the Vashta Nerada did not deserve to be dispossessed just because they were carnivores.

When you watch the scene again, you'll see that he did know her. He was trying to stutter through her name when he spots before they beam him out.

Yes - I wonder what they would have made of each other in real life.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Something else, I liked the ending and felt it was in character. You're forgetting something. River wasn't alive, wasn't fully transported like Donna and the others. She was a data ghost saved in the screw driver with a degrading pattern. When you watch the ep again, watch the blinking and dying neural "data ghost" lights on the screw driver again. Ten is doing what he and all the other incarnations have always done -- making the best of a bad situation.

Also, we should think thematically. This has been the season for exploring death and characters' responses to it. It's blatantly obvious that a companion, probably Donna, is going to die at the end. The saving of River is meant to provide another way of looking at death, prior to a companion death that will have no loopholes. The presence of a loophole now will strengthen the impact of no loopholes later.

Also, Lee was thematically the road not travelled, because of her decision to be with the Doctor, and missing him was the can't have your cake and eat it too moment. Donna's path will lead to adventure and likely death, not to Suburbia. The fact that we see an attempt at Suburbia will mean more of an impact when we see her end.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

When you watch the ep again, watch the blinking and dying neural "data ghost" lights on the screw driver again.

Well, yes. Do you think the fading pattern created a change in her personality - a change that made a life in the country with her children and friends look like the future she wanted?

It's blatantly obvious that a companion, probably Donna, is going to die at the end.

I'm not convinced of that, though it's certainly possible.

The saving of River is meant to provide another way of looking at death, prior to a companion death that will have no loopholes.

I don't like the loopholes. I much prefer death. Especially when it's sacrificial death.

Lee was thematically the road not travelled, because of her decision to be with the Doctor, and missing him was the can't have your cake and eat it too moment.

I like that. Particularly if it put her on the path (as I think it does) of the 'right' future.

"The path not taken", applied to River, makes a lot of sense to me, too. In one world, she had the Doctor, and her career as archeologist, and friends - but not children and not a peaceful life. Perhaps what was left of her in the screwdriver and the computer was just the side that wished she'd had children, and wished she had time to sit and read and talk and take life easy. Not her biggest ambition, certainly not her primary ambition, but something that looked good in contrast to the stress she'd known.

DW Confidential -- Library/Forest

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Check it out:
http://www.syfyportal.com/community/index.php?topic=10570.msg46685#msg46685

Re: DW Confidential -- Library/Forest

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting!

[magika83.livejournal.com]

So the squareness gun was Jack's - cool!

It was? What did I miss? (Sorry, I'm just catching up on episodes and discussions.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think it was in the Confidential (or the commentaries?) that Steve Moffat said Jack had left his squareness gun on the TARDIS (in series 1), where River Song eventually picked it up.