Doctor Who (2005)

The Impossible Astronaut (1)

Season 6, Episode 1, Aired 4/23/11

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Episode Summary

The Doctor and his companions find themselves on a secret summons that takes them the desert in Utah, right to the Oval Office in 1969. With the help of Canton Everett Delaware III, they must help President Nixon who's taking calls from a little girl afraid of a monster.moreless

9.2

EPISODE RATING: Superb

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Cast & Crew

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Matt Smith

The Eleventh Doctor

8.9
Karen Gillan

Amy Pond

9.4
Arthur Darvill

Rory Williams

9.3

Fan Episode Reviews (12)

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The best series opener ever!

10

"Perfect"

By mario3456, Sep 17, 2011 Report Abuse

I really enjoyed this episode which was full of surprises. First we've got the doctor's death. I was really wondering what the rest of the episode would be like after seeing the doctor die. But it turns out that it was a future version and the present version soon appears. Just who is the astronaut?
Canton 3 was a good character and he was a good addition to the crew.The silence were new enemies where you couldn't remember them if you looked away. My favourite scene was when Joy was killed by the silent.
Overall, this episode was funny, surprising, entertaining and just fantastic. One of my favourite episodes of this show ever!moreless
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Dr Who or X-Files?

6.5

"Fair"

By RedErik, Sep 07, 2011 Report Abuse

It sure starts off with a bang (no pun intended... or was that 3 bangs?), but I felt something was amiss when I heard Amy's narrative over the opening credits. Wha'? No one narrates over that epic cool opening sound that's like fingers on an electronic chalkboard, no one! Not even Rose! Not even Sarah Jane! And they were the best companions ever!

I love an episode of Dr Who where, like the doctor, you're tapping your chin contemplatively with your sonic screwdriver and musing: there's something I'm missing... but there were so many loose ends to this episode, and so many WTFs. Then there was the flirting and sexual tension between the Doctor and River Song. Then there was Amy's incredulous admission (no spoilers) - which, by the way, felt like a shark-jumping moment to me. Pretty soon it dawned on me: I'm watching the Doctor and companions in an X-files episode. Somehow, they've broken the parallel universe barrier, but instead of finding Rose, they found Mulder and Scully (or their parents, anyway). Roll end credits and lo! and behold, produced in part by BBC America. Figures. No wonder it didn't feel like a proper episode of Doctor Who. No wonder it felt like another Americanized sci-fi show with too many embedded plot twists. I'm going to keep an open mind about the conclusion, but I hope BBC America steps off and we see more of what made this series so stellar thus far. Steven Moffat is a great writer, but other than elements of the story, it didn't really feel like ~his~ episode.moreless
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OH MY GOD!!!

8.5

"Great"

By 10thdoctorfan, Jun 16, 2011 Report Abuse

A bit unexpected, but the Doctor had been traveling for two years with Mr and Mrs Pond and left them for two months. Hard to believe they ajusted back into normal life. River's back, too. And she still kills the Doctor's hats with a gun. The Doctor is fatally wounded by an unknown astronaunt and killed during regeneration, wow. He even knew who it was!? His past self is put on a mission to rewrite this fate with River, Amy and Rory. Despite the Doctor's best attempts to do something right with the TARDIS, River corrects his mistakes and manages to help gain the trust of Nixon in solving he mysteriois phone calls he receives from a little girl. The Silence appear in their true forms, but what? They look like those generic grey aleins from old movies.moreless
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I really liked this episode and thought it was an epic opening episode to an epic series. "I like stetsons now, stetsons are cool."

10

"Perfect"

By merlinrules09, Jun 01, 2011 Report Abuse

This was a really good episode and I thought it was cool that they filmed a few episodes in the US. We're also getting closer to finding out River Song's secret identity as each episode travels further back into her personal timeline. Although we had to wait a year, it was definitely worth it to resolve the main plot of Series 5, The Silence. I think The Silence make an excellent addition to Doctor Who's long list of mysterious and amazing villains. I was really shocked at the start when the Doctor was suddenly and unexpectedly shot by the nameless astronaut but it made the Doctor's return even more exciting. I'm glad that they decided to begin the series with a two-parter as the episode's plot was so amazing and complex to fit into one episode. I have no doubt the entire series will have the same high quality and look forward to the mid-series finale.moreless
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Best Moffat Who so far. Nice...

9.5

"Superb"

By noelveiga, May 07, 2011 Report Abuse

Oh, I called it. I called it so much. I said "if Moffat is clever he'll retcon the whole time loop plot device out of existance" and here we go, all of a sudden nobody is allowed to interfere with their own history again and things get tense again. No more cheating.

Of course there will be cheating, won't it? At some point history will have to change, but the acknowledgement is already a good thing.

Now, the episode itself, regardless of the narrative tweaking, was actually very impressive. The team makes the best of their "we're going to America" fund and get some gorgeous images that really help broaden the scope of the action. The comedy continues to ring true (perhaps the one area in which this Doctor has never faltered), the monsters are creepy and the plot is mysterious and confusing without seeming random. There's clearly something big at work and there is clearly an internal logic running it. We just can't figure it out yet. The drama, though, is what sells this. Smith has played his stuff a bit too flippant before. He's been funny, but despite his glimpses of seriousness he's rarely dealt with serious situations in a weighty manner. Here he kind of sells it because the script allows him to do so.

And everything builds up to a pretty great cliffhanger, too. Which is the only part that worries me a little. Last year's cliffhangers were all very cool, but the payoffs were rarely as interesting. We'll see how this one works. And, hopefully, we get to fix that mess at the beginning of the episode while still enforcing the "no timey-wimey deus ex machinas" rule. Fingers crossed.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The streets of Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton are located in Palmetto, FL in the county of Manatee. However, it is neither an industrial area nor a three-way junction as shown in the episode, but rather a residential neighborhood and a three-way intersection shared by Jefferson and Hamilton, with Adams being the street one block to the east of Jefferson.
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- The TARDIS becomes invisible for the first time since the original series and the story The Invasion, although on that occasion it was an accident caused by damage to the visual stabiliser. Here it is intentionally made invisible.
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- River tells Rory that she knows the day is coming when the Doctor will not recognise her, and that she thinks it will be the death of her, unknowingly foreshadowing the events of Silence In The Library/Forest of the Dead.
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Notes
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- This is the first time that the first episode of a new series hasn't opened with a shot of Earth from space since the series re-started in 2005. Even most of the Christmas specials have also started with a shot of a planet from space.
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- William Morgan Sheppard, who portrays the older Canton, is the father of Mark Sheppard, who portrays the younger Canton.
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- International Air Dates: United States: 23 April 2011
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Quotes
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- Canton: Doctor Who, exactly? Amy: Ah. That's classified. Canton: Classified by whom? Amy: God knows.
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- (River slaps the Doctor) The Doctor: Okay, I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet. River: Yes it is. The Doctor: Good, looking forward to it.
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- Richard Nixon: Who are you? The Doctor: Nah, boring question. Who's phoning you? That's interesting. Because Canton III is right. That was definitely a girl's voice, which means there's only one place in America she can be phoning from. Canton: Where? Carl: Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware! The Doctor: You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain. On the other hand, lay a finger on me or my friends and you'll never, ever know. Canton: (Pointing to the TARDIS) How'd you get it in here? I mean, you didn't carry it. The Doctor: Clever, eh? Canton: Love it. Carl: Do not compliment the intruder! Canton: Five minutes? The Doctor: Five. Carl: Mr President, that man is a clear and present danger. Canton: Mr President, that man WALKED in here with a big blue box and three of his friends, (indicates Carl) and that's the man he walked past. One of them is worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes. See if he delivers. The Doctor: Thanks, Canton. Canton: If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself. The Doctor: Not so thanks. Carl: Sir, I cannot recommend... Richard Nixon: Shut up, Peterson! (To Canton) All right. Canton: Five minutes.
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Allusions
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- The Doctor gives River the cover identity of "Mrs. Robinson". In the 1967 film The Graduate, Mrs. Robinson was a middle-aged woman who had an affair with a younger man.
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