Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut Review

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Last night, every sane person across the country sat down at 6 o’clock and turned on BBC One to view the premiere episode of the 6th series of the revived Doctor Who. As a self-professed fanatic of the Doctor Who franchise, I was one of these people. The series kicked off with a bang, quite literally, as within the first ten minutes the Doctor is shot and killed (proper killed, not dead-but-regenerating killed) by a mysterious assailant clad in an iconic Apollo 11 space-suit. “Interesting opening,” I thought, “killing off the title character and making it clear that he is indeed irrevocably dead. Let’s see how it pans out!”

The next five minutes revealed that the dead Doctor was in fact a future version of the Doctor. 200 years in the future to be precise, but how he had managed to still be incarnated as Matt Smith after 200 years is a mystery - especially as his longest time without regenerating was 7 years! Anyway, with the foreknowledge of the Doctor’s death, Amy, Rory and River have to keep this pre-destined future hidden from the Doctor for fear of invoking a paradox, but still prompt the Doctor onto the path his future self had suggested they should embark on. That is, to make their way to Washington in 1969.

The ensuing narrative focussed on Richard Nixon (which, thankfully, was not a comedy impersonation!) receiving obscure phone calls from a child being terrorised by an astronaut. However, by far the more intriguing aspect of the episode was the appearance of a foe we’ve been informed of since the beginning of last series - The Silence.

The Silence (Silent, singular) are a race of beings that are reminiscent of the figure in Edvard Munch’s The Scream wearing snazzy slim-line suits. It is implied that the Silence have been on Earth for a very long time, silently manipulating things behind the scenes using possibly one of the most clever techniques since the Weeping Angels… You forget you have seen them the very second you look away from them. At least with the Angels, you knew they were able to hunt you if you couldn’t see them, but with the Silence you even forget they may be a threat, and you’re only left with a vague sense of uneasiness as a sign of their presence.

The episode concludes on (as one would expect from a two-parter) a cliffhanger, with Amy blurting out that she’s pregnant at possibly the most inappropriate moment possible, Rory and River facing an indeterminable fate at the hands of the sharply dressed Silence, and the now-ominous Apollo 11 astronaut reveals itself to be the very child it’s terrorising. Cue end credits. Way to keep us waiting, Moffat!

The TARDIS-esque interior of a spaceship last seen in series 5 episode ‘The Lodger’ also appears towards the end of the episode, adding intrigue to what the Silence actually are (seeing as they appear to be in possession, if not the originators, of it) and showing just how deep Steven Moffat’s going with these storylines. He’s clearly had these ideas stored in that brilliant head of his for quite some time, and is slowly seeping information into each episode, either answering or raising questions and pacing it appropriately. Although some may find this a rather slow opening episode, I have a feeling that it’s episodes like these that carefully weave important aspects of the series ahead.

Whilst all may not be abundantly clear at the moment, Moffat is a cunning man, and each unusual moment or split-second scene is completely intentional, whether we know it yet or not. I’m reminded of the moment in Flesh and Stone, in which the Doctor (not wearing tweed jacket) walks out of shot, and soon enough returns for a close up shot with Amy pleading her to ‘remember’ (this time, the cuff of his jacket is visible). At the time, my friend thought this was one of those accidental TV gaffs, the result of several different shots being taken and accidentally blending jacket and non-jacket shots. I maintained it was probably a clever timey-wimey plot device, and sure enough in the concluding episode of the season it was revealed the Doctor skipped back over time to encourage Amy to remember him.

Admittedly, I only knew this because I had seen the episode ahead of time by quantum leaping a month into the future, but that’s just one of the many perks of being a time traveller!

In conclusion, whilst it was not the most action packed episode, it was a ponderous opening to the series, certainly paced itself well and sewed the seeds for the following twelve episodes. Patience is a virtue, and in the case of Moffat’s writing I think it pays off in the end, as all will become clear eventually and can fully be appreciated in it’s entirety with hindsight.
I’m certainly looking forward to seeing where the rest of the series takes us.