Rate & Discuss: The Impossible Astronaut
The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song are reunited in the middle of the Utah desert, where a strange summons unveils a terrible secret that the Doctor’s friends must never reveal to him.
The last time we saw the Doctor, Amy and Rory (not including the Comic Relief special), they were decking the halls with boughs of holly on a festive quest to show lonely old miser Kazran the true meaning of Christmas. Now they’re back, and this time they’ve swapped the snow and ice of Sardicktown for the baking hot plains of the Utah desert!
The weather wasn’t the only thing heating up, as it didn’t take long for the drama to reach boiling point too! As our heroes were becoming reacquainted, they were thrown head first into yet another mystery, one which took them to the most powerful city on the planet, specifically to the desk of a Richard M. Nixon. You may have heard of him!
The President of the United States enlisted our time travelling heroes on a mission to save a terrified little girl from an impossible astronaut, and to help them along the way they were joined by the enigmatic Canton Everett Delaware the Third, a former FBI agent. Tensions soon began to rise in the TARDIS, as Amy, Rory and River discovered a terrible secret. With the Doctor left in the dark, he was forced to put his own life solely into the hands of his companions. But Amy Pond was harbouring another secret too, and as his friends all held heir tongues, the Doctor was about to encounter another Silence…
So, at long last the TARDIS has reopened its doors, but what did you make of its first Series 6 outing? Was it an American dream, or do you feel disappointed? Did the new monster send you shivering behind the sofa? Were you impressed by the story’s scale?
We now declare our first new series discussion officially open, so let us know what you thought of tonight’s opener in the comments! Tell us what you loved/hated about part one of the US adventure, and don’t forget to share anything you picked up on that might hold relevance to future episodes. The most important question: Are Stetsons cool!?
As with last year’s discussions, you can also give the episode a star rating out of five.
As soon as I had seen the doctor regenerate, i was realy confused because i seen him in other things in the trailer. The episode was sooooooo confusing. i had a feeling that Amy was preggers the first time she mentioned she was sick. But does Rory know? I also have a theory that River is the one in the astronaut suit who kills the doctor. I about cried at the end of the episode. It’s gonna be torture waiting for next week
I thought “The Impossible Astronaut” was great – and possibly (without wanting to sound too hyperbolic) one of the greatest series openers since 2005. Yes, the series feels darker and I like the way you can feel the series’ arc(s) getting underway here. I wonder what the ratings were like for this episode? There were thunderstorms in London as this was going out… perhaps that would have sent people indoors!
Just to follow on from my previous post, have I missed something? Why is the Doctor in prison in the next episode?
I thought the episode was ok. I still think Amy is to wooden and Rory is an absolute drip. Matt Smith was amazing. I doubt the Silence is any where near as scary as the Daleks and certainly not as impressive. Some clever ideas had been put forward, let see if next episode offers some answers.
The tribute to Liz Sladen was nice. She set the benchmark and no one has yet reached that!
I will say that I felt something from this Episode, which I didn’t get from Season 5. What I mean by that is that it was reasonably deep and there was atmosphere and to my knowledge, nothing offended me like it sometimes can.
For me personally, the Daleks have never scared me or unnerved me but I did love the RTD Daleks. The Daleks do have legendary status though so it’s always gonna be difficult for new monsters coming in to compete, but I think the Silence have made a reasonable start personally.
The way they attack, the expressions on their face, their ability to disappear from your memory as soon as you turn away, the sound of their voices……….as I say, I think it’s a reasonable to good start and I look forward to finding out more.
I thought it was great! Amy telling the Doctor that’s she’s pregnant what a twist! I can’t wait untill the second part of the episode!
Well that was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, come on… an entire episode of Doctor Who without ANY monsters? What’s with that?! And what was with the scene of Amy going to the White House bathroom and then just standing there before turning around and leaving WITHOUT using the facilities?! That made no sense! It was interesting that the strange manhole cover in the Florida warehouse led to the TARDIS(?) from “The Lodger”. Can’t wait to see what happens there! A bit surprising that there wasn’t anyone guarding the entrance to it though. (Was the little girl who was calling for help the same little girl/hologram who called for help atop the stairs in “The Lodger”?) Overall, “Impossible Astronaut” was a pretty good episode, but again, it suffered from a lack of monsters. Hopefully next week we’ll finally find out what the Silence/Silents are and perhaps even see one!
Best season opener yet, period. Plenty of comedy and drama and creepiness in equal measure. I always like when they can come up with great new aliens, rather than falling back on old, over-used standards. I really hope this opening story sets the trend for the rest of the season and gives us an overall darker trip than we’ve had in recent times.
Great episode – best season opener since the series came back.
The Doctor being killed – pretty logical. River is going to die in The Library, Amy is the audience’s point of identification and Rory has already died. The fact that we all think of The Doctor as this superhuman character makes his death, either real or cop out, more of jolt.
Amy’s pregnancy – may be the thing she wanted to tell at the start of the Comic Relief episodes.
The Silence – a clever concept – aliens who you forget about as soon as you stop seeing them, but are they The Big Bad for this series? The Beeb are pushing them too much and leads me to think that they aren’t the major threat for the main plot arc.
Whatever happens next week, I think this series is going to have quite a few plot twists left within it.
@Telly Addict
The Silence are in the finale, which makes sense given that the Cybermen are in Episode Twelve. Also, given that Series Six is the series in which “silence will fall”…
I enjoyed (The Impossible Astronaut) and like Many have said, I also think this is the best series opener since the show started way back in 2005.
The Silence are the most darkest monsters that I think Doctor Who have ever had since the New Paradigm Daleks in 2010’s Episode (Victory of the Daleks), and they were brilliantly thought up.
The Doctor’s Death at the beginning of the Episode really shook me up, I really thought it was the End for The Doctor, but then again, it wouldn’t have been.
Amy’s secret is the thing that confused me, who is she pregnant from? And why did she have to keep it such a big Secret when she could of just shouted it out, although, the brilliant acting of Karen Gillian has really delighted me.
Now I have completly fallen into Matt Smith’s fan mail, I thought after (The End of Time) in his first scene, that he would be the most pointless actor to play the Doctor ever, but after all these episodes, I believe (The Impossible Astronaut) is his best one. My 2nd favourite would be The Big Bang.
Day of the Moon looks to being an absoulute brilliant climax to the two-parter, What I’m guessing makes other people wonder, why has the Doctor got a beard? And why is he in prison?
What also shocked me, why was that machine from (The Lodger) in the tunnels at the middile of this Episode?
I really enjoyed the episode, in my opinion it was the best series opener, no messing around, straight into the action! One thing that did confuse me is what exactly is the story arc? I also think there has been too much hype about ‘the silence’, I didn’t find them scary at all, but they do seem to look more convincing next week! One more thing! I don’t think the little girl has anything to do with River or Amy, because she was American. Steven Moffat never fails to surprise me, hope it carries on and the girl in the spacesuit is someone completely different!
@TE
What I was trying to say is that although The Silence feature prominently are they the Big Bad of the series? After all, they only arrived on the scene due to the cracks in time – Signora Calvierri hinted at this in The Vampires Of Venice by saying that The Silence came through the cracks in time.
Is somebody, or something, else behind The Silence?
The silence were in it, so there were some monsters. @Professor Zed
@Telly Addict,
I think the same thing, I reckon somebody is controlling them… Have any of you seen the Torchwood episode ‘Adam’? They really do remind me of Adam because they sort of change peoples’ memories.
Ha! Yes, very good. @Professor Zed
I thought it was brilliant. That scene with River and Rory in the tunnels was exceptional. Especially when he sees The Silence, turns to tell River… then forgets. Really like this TARDIS team.
Mind you, Amy-shooting-the-Astronaut wasn’t a great cliffhanger; River shot at it earlier to no effect. And that ‘Next Time’ trailer shouldn’t have showed Amy apologising to the girl.
That niggle aside, this is definately the best season opener so far.
@Telly Addict
Now I get you
@Professor Zed
You mean you’ve watched the entire episode and not seen the Silence?
wooww i love it, i don’t know what’ll happen exactly but i know allot will! i knew the other tardis would crop up sooner or later but didn’t realise it would be so soon, also rory and river have never seen that tardis before so wont think anything of it but if the doctor had seen it he would have! ahhhhh cannot wait for next weeks ep, tbh the monsters with the dolls head in the trailer look like the scariest monsters! anyway i better go i am going to watch it again in a minute! x
Was there a Sonic Screwdriver in the episode? I don’t think there was and I’m glad there wasn’t, not without a proper explanation.
@Rose Weasley
The Doc was holding his screwdriver in the very last scene, he’s not needed it up until then.