I love how arc-heavy Series 6 is. It's a big change in rhythm
from previous series that came at just the right moment, when
things were starting to become formulaic. Steven Moffat had
already done a full series as showrunner, but despite how new it
felt it was also shaped like an RTD series. It had an opening
trilogy of a present-day Britain episode, a weird futuristic
episode, and an Earth historical episode made to introduce a new
TARDIS team. It had a two-part finale with huge cosmic stakes.
It reintroduced a Classic Who monster with a modern new design
(Daleks in Series 1, Cybermen in Series 2, the Master in Series
3, Sontarans in Series 4, and Silurians in Series 5). Series 5
is wonderful, but it's also using the same (good, reliable)
structure as series prior.
Series 6 completely blows that
up, most obviously with a split in the middle of the run - the
first seven episodes being Part 1 and the last six being Part 2.
Both parts are their own arcs, with their own big scale openers
and finales, and all 13 episodes are part of the same overall
mystery. As these episodes aired it could sometimes be confusing
to keep track of what was going to be explained and what was a
loose thread the writers had forgotten about, but looking back
on it now that it's all been tied up, I absolutely love this
story.
The standard series structure is overturned right
away with the opening episode, The Impossible Astronaut, which
firstly is the start of a two-parter and secondly doesn't
introduce a new TARDIS team. The Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, and
River are an amazing group, and they really do feel like a
tightly-knit family unit. There's a warmth to them that's
extremely casual and easy-going - you can tell the actors are
comfortable in their roles and are good friends in real life.
The scene in the TARDIS where Amy swears on fish custard works
so well because there's real history between these four and
we've seen their relationships bloom. The only pairing who don't
seem to get a lot of time together (in general) is Rory and
River, and this episode even manages to give them a decent
moment in the Silence tunnels towards the end.
While I'm
in this area, that scene in the TARDIS is gorgeously lit, I mean
oh my GOD. This whole episode is stunning - the location filming
was definitely worth it. This is another modern-day Earth
adventure like so many Episode 1s, but unlike other openers Utah
is beautiful and fresh and American rather than something a
British viewer could easily see by looking out their window. I
want a show that can explore all of time and space to show me
amazing places, and The Impossible Astronaut does that. The
White House is also a great iconic place for Doctor Who to go,
and the scene of the Doctor taking notes behind Nixon's back in
the Oval Office is brilliant ("Oh, this is the Oval Office. I
was looking for the Oblong Room").
Canton makes for a fun
fifth member of the TARDIS team, and I like his introduction
with the envelopes. The whole Lake Silencio scene in general is
very well done and makes the whole thing feel more like a finale
than an opener (I know it gets revisited in the finale but
still). It's well acted all around and when I first saw this
episode in 2011 there was definitely a moment, no matter how
brief, where I thought they might actually spring a surprise
regeneration on us. I was so taken in by what was happening with
no idea where it could be heading. Rewatching this episode
knowing how the mystery resolves itself, the solution makes
total sense with what this episode gives us.
There is one
thing that doesn't quite work though, and that's the 200 years
thing. Surely the same story could've been told with the Doctor
on the beach being just one year older than the current Doctor?
Or maybe it had to be at least ten years so Amy could have a
reaction to the Doctor being significantly older. Still, there's
no way 13 episodes can fully convey 200 years of time,
especially because all 200 of those years apparently happen in
the space between The God Complex and Closing Time rather than
spread out across those 13 episodes. I dunno, I just don't buy
it, and it doesn't make the drama any more or less impactful.
There's no big Heaven Sent moment where the passage of time
really hits me.
Although we don't get their name in this
episode, here we finally meet the Silence. The alien
greys/Slenderman design makes the Smith era's biggest monsters
appropriately iconic, and their memory gimmick is genius. The
demonstration of how it works is also genius, with Amy (and the
audience) getting to see how they affect someone else. Amy's
idea to take a picture of them on her phone is great. We have no
idea how she's going to use that picture and chances are neither
does she, but she's been travelling in the TARDIS long enough to
have some initiative of her own when facing down alien threats.
It's a small thing but it clearly shows this is her second
series.
It's been said before, but the cliffhanger with
Amy being pregnant is extremely soap opera. It's also kinda
obvious in hindsight that the mysterious child who Amy
potentially shoots at the very end is the result of the mystery
pregnancy she just mentioned, but that could just be hindsight
talking. Maybe I had no idea that was a Pond in that suit back
in 2011. Either way, I think it basically works...if it weren't
for the terrible slow motion. Slow motion dialogue will always
be funny, no matter how serious I'm supposed to take it. "What
are you doing?!" "Saving your life!" In slow-mo is way more
comedic than the epic music wants me to think it is. Oh by the
way, Murray Gold does good work here, but then again he does
good work everywhere. The American arrangement of I am the
Doctor is fun.
The Impossible Astronaut is a very strong
opener for Series 6, and it's aged very well given all the
retcons and big River/Silence/Trenzalore continuity stuff that's
now attached to it. It really works and sets up this two-parter,
this half of the series, and this series overall very neatly.
Next: Day of the Moon