The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. It was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom on BBC One, the United States on BBC America and in Canada on Space. It also aired in Australia on ABC1 on 30 April 2011. The episode features alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), and is the first of a two-part story, which concluded with "Day of the Moon" on 30 April.
214a – "The Impossible Astronaut"
Caroline Henry
Marcus Wilson[1]
- Steven Moffat
- Piers Wenger
- Beth Willis
2.1
1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
23 April 2011
In the episode, the Doctor, Amy, Rory and the archaeologist River Song (Alex Kingston) are summoned together by a version of the Doctor from 200 years in his future. Trying to understand the enigmatic hints about "Space 1969" the older Doctor mentioned and a man they meet in 2011 called Canton Everett Delaware III (Mark Sheppard in 1969 and William Morgan Sheppard in 2011), they travel to the United States in 1969 and discover a scared girl (Sydney Wade) who is trapped inside a spacesuit. The team deals with the Silence, a religious order of aliens which has members who can make people forget their encounter with them when they look away.
The Silence was created to compete with other past aliens in terms of "scariness," including the Weeping Angels. The episode was partially filmed on location at Lone Rock, Utah, the first time in Doctor Who that principal photography took place in the United States. The episode was seen by 8.86 million viewers in the United Kingdom, and received generally positive reviews from critics. "The Impossible Astronaut" gained an Appreciation Index of 88 – considered excellent. The episode was dedicated to Elisabeth Sladen, known for playing former companion Sarah Jane Smith, who died from cancer on 19 April 2011.
Plot[edit]
Prequel[edit]
On 22 March 2011, a short scene serving as a prequel for the first episode was released on the programme's website. In the prequel, Richard Nixon receives a phone call from the little girl who keeps calling him in the episode. She begs for the President to look behind him, but he asks how she got that number, which the "spaceman" told her. She tells him it is about monsters, to which he replies "Young lady, there are no monsters in the Oval Office." He then hangs up and leans back. Behind him stands an out-of-focus member of the Silence.[2][3]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
Pre-broadcast leak[edit]
At some point before the broadcast of the episode, it and "Day of the Moon" were released in a press screening, where a number of fans were invited to attend. The production team present asked them not to give away any spoilers. However, following the screening, a fan gave away the entire plot of the two episodes on an internet forum. News of this angered Moffat.[16] In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, Moffat stated;