The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)

The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)

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The Impossible Astronaut
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eleventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Amy Pond Rory Williams River Song (guest)
Main enemy:	The Silence
Main setting:	Utah, USA, 2011 White House, Washington, D.C., USA, 1969 Florida, 1969
Key crew
Writer:	Steven Moffat
Director:	Toby Haynes
Release details
Story number:	214a
Release number:	Series 6
Premiere broadcast:	23rd April 2011
Format:	1x 45 minute episode
Production code:	2.1

The Impossible Astronaut was the first episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who. It introduced the Silence as a species, building on the references of the previous series.

Synopsis

Four envelopes, numbered 2, 3 and 4, each containing a date, time and map reference, unsigned, but TARDIS blue. Who sent them? And who received the missing envelope numbered 1? This strange summons reunites the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song in the middle of the Utah desert and unveils a terrible secret the Doctor's friends must never reveal to him. Placing his life entirely in their hands, the Doctor agrees to search for the recipient of the fourth envelope and figure out just who is Canton Everett Delaware the Third? Also what is the relevance of their only other clue: 'Space 1969'? Their quest lands them—quite literally—in the Oval Office, where they are enlisted by President Nixon to assist enigmatic former-FBI agent Canton in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
• Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
• River Song - Alex Kingston
• Canton Delaware - Mark Sheppard
• Old Canton Delaware - William Morgan Sheppard
• President Richard Nixon - Stuart Milligan
• Carl - Chukwudi Iwuji
• Phil - Mark Griffin
• The Silent - Marnix Van Den Broeke
• Little Girl - Sydney Wade
• Joy - Nancy Baldwin
• Prison Guard - Kieran O'Connor
• Captain Simmons - Adam Napier
• Matilda - Henrietta Clemett
• Charles - Paul Critoph
• Busboy - Emilio Aquino

Crew

• Writer - Steven Moffat
• Director - Toby Haynes

References

The Doctor

• An older Eleventh Doctor who is 1,103 years old, begins to regenerate, but is killed before the process completes.
• The Doctor states his current age as being 909 years old.
• The Doctor says that he is late for a biplane lesson in 1911 but gets confused and wonders if it is actually knitting.

Films

• Amy Pond and Rory Williams watch a Laurel & Hardy film on television.

Fashion and clothing

• The Doctor is also shown whilst wearing a fez in a Laurel & Hardy film.

Years

• The Doctor states that the year 1482 is full of glitches, but also says 1969 is 'easy'. This may suggest that some years are harder to travel to than others.

Story notes

• This episode had the working title Year of the Moon
• This is the first two partner opening episode of the revived series.
• A prequel for this story was released on the offcial BBC website.
• The monsters in this episode were said to be "the scariest monsters yet".
• The episode was dedicated to Elisabeth Sladen, who had passed away four days before the episode's initial broadcast.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

• We will see River Song as a child.
• The second episode will air the day after the first.This has been confirmed as false by a number of sources

Filming locations

• Valley of the Gods, Utah, United States of America.

Production errors

to be added

Continuity

• Amy mentions fish fingers and custard (DW: The Eleventh Hour)
• The Doctor requests Jammie Dodgers and a Fez. (DW: Victory of the Daleks, The Big Bang)
• The Doctor once again asks River who she murdered. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
• The Doctor again expresses his dislike of wine, despite drinking it again. (DW: The Lodger)
• River Song suspects that she will one day meet a Doctor who hasn't met her yet, and it will be the death of her. (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
• The attempted TARDIS is seen again. (DW: The Lodger)
• The Doctor looks at the front and then back of his hands before he is about to regenerate. (DW: The Parting of the Ways, The End of Time)

Home video releases

The DVD will be released in two halves. Part One, which will contain episodes one to seven will be released in Summer, shortly after the airing of episode seven.

External links

• The Impossible Astronaut at bbc.co.uk