S6E1: The Impossible Astronaut (SPOILERS)

Well, I loved it. It was not the greatest episode ever as some claimed. But, much better than most of last year. And Canton is great, really like him. Remind me of Dugan from City of Death, but less clumsy. 1969 was one of my favorite years for the Apollo 11 mission. So I really like this episode for that. And now we know why Nixon recorded his phone calls. The Silence are creepy, an still a mystery. I am hoping part 2 works as well.

Also, love that Arthur has a credit now.

And watched the My Sarah Jane tribute. Good to see the tributes from Russel, David, Matt, and John. But especially from the cast of SJA. Great tribute, and I smiled remembering Lis for the first time this week.

My lil' bro and I decided to air our opinions through an Ice Warrior. Video coming.

IDK. . .

Spoiler:

wow that was an intense season opener.

what happened to the poll?

Watched it online. First BBCA is only available on SD and the picture looks rubbish on HD sets. Secondly, growing up on classic DW via PBS, can't watch it with commercials.

The show itself:
1. Good to see the nod to Lis Sladen in the beginning. Wish they included Nicholas Courtney as well.

2. Nice to see Arthur in the credits. Unfortunately he didn't get much airtime. Even the publicity most of the time is focused on the Doctor/Amy. Bring on more Rory.

3. River. Now she has become the best thing on the show. From her first appearance on, she just keeps getting better and better.

4. The show itself.
-Wish they fixed the theme to exclude the crappy lightning. The newest theme still hasn't grown on me.
-What was with the multiple 'who' incorporations. They've rarely done this but this episode was sprinkled with them. Did not like.
-Amy was tolerable (still not a fave though).
-Another of timey-wimey things with the death early on in the show. Whatever. Another gimmick to put to rest.
-Enjoyed Canton (both young and old) but missed Mark Sheppard's accent (couldn't they have incorporated it in somehow)
-The story itself wasn't much in of itself (gotta wait for the second part). Enjoyed the interactions between River and Rory especially their talk toward the end.

Overall, it was better than most of the last series which was next to unmemorable except for an episode of two.

Lastly, the Elisabeth Sladen tribute was nicely done by the CBBC. Even though I started out with the Doctor/Leela for my first taste of the show (Robots of Death), Sarah Jane became my hands down favorite in the classic show.

"but missed Mark Sheppard's accent (couldn't they have incorporated it in somehow)"

on Battlestar Galactica they managed to keep Mark Sheppard's accent intact. He was awesome as Romo Lampkin.

I actually liked the "WHO" incorporations. I'd like it if they worked this in at least once per series. But two times in one episode was too much.

I watched it again this morning. I could have done without everything up until they get into the TARDIS to go to "Space 1969" After that point everything else really clicked with me.

The whole, I'm doing something really clever up here and there's noone here to see it, so what's the point of having you all, was my favorite line.

I'm still thinking the ultimate Baddie is the Could-Have-Been King.

These "Silence" Aliens sure seem like Neverweres to me - look away, and you forget they even exist.

Have watched it and enjoyed parts of it, but still thinking there was something lacking. Hopefully part 2 will fix this. Or at least put a plot together to be explored throughout the season. Maybe they're trying to put more of the serial back into the series?

The use of the "Doctor who?" joke is too much if used more than once per episode.

Where's the poll? I want to vote in the poll!

Sexy Mrs. Robinson and the slightly rounder Amy Pond aside, I just wasn't into this episode. Did enjoy the flirty Doctor/River bits, though.

Fantastic episode! I picked up SO much watching it a second time, very dense and well written. I watched both the BBC broadcast and the BBA America broadcast. The BBC America broadcast had limited commercial interuptions but during the commercials they had nice Doctor Who Insider segments along with various contests you could enter. The Next Time segments were totally different in content and tone, check them out on You Tube if you get the chance! Finally the tribute to Liz was at the end of the BBCA broadcast and showed a clip of her waving goodbye while the BBC version has a brief text mention at the beginning of the episode.

This season is looking great, different from last season but in a good way. I cannot wait until next week, what a great time to be a Doctor Who fan in America! Day-and-date episodes, exclusive Doctor Who Insider segments, a US Magazine, iTunes games...

BLAH! the first x-files movie was scarier than the silents (i don't dig aliens in suits). cheap regeneration gag (dang you rtd, you've started a trend). river, blah, song, blah. i'm pregnant (better be rory's, or i lose all respect for her). lot's of questions, no answers. next week, john locke reveals all (wait, wrong show).

With two parters- I always wait to reserve what I think when I see both- so far I like the darker aspect. My only concern- is that for a new viewer- this episode would really be confusing. I know we all get a bit of the recap before the titles- but I felt the first 10 minutes was a bit rushed and awkward- then it found its stride and felt very bold to me. I think the mystery of the doctor at its core will be redefined by year's end....

Wes Crayon wrote:

Where's the poll? I want to vote in the poll!

Oh my, I forgot my trade mark poll! I'll see if I can alter the first post right away!


Great episode for me! A fantastic opener indeed! Loads of questions to be answered, scary looking monsters, a REALLY cool Spaceman, closer to finding out whom River is and a pregnant Amy.... How much better do you get?!

I has voted!

Scarywood wrote:

scary looking monsters, a REALLY cool Spaceman, closer to finding out whom River is and a pregnant Amy.... How much better do you get?!

All those things with a non-pregnant Amy?

Well, I think it's somewhere between Fantastic and Average right now. So I'll reserve my judgement until after part two poll-wise. But I really enjoyed it overall!

I didn't like the "Amy's story recap" with the opening credits. That better not return. It's not all about her - it's about the Doctor. I'm sick and tired of her being the focus of seemingly everything. The name of the show is Doctor Who not Amy and Pals.

SeaDevil wrote:

I didn't like the "Amy's story recap" with the opening credits. That better not return. It's not all about her - it's about the Doctor. I'm sick and tired of her being the focus of seemingly everything. The name of the show is Doctor Who not Amy and Pals.

I agree. I do like her, and at first I was thrilled that the companion was being focused on a little more, but this is rather over the top.

Here's something I found nice:

The Doctor did not once pull out his Sonic Screwdriver. That has to be a first for the new series.

Rust wrote:

Here's something I found nice:

The Doctor did not once pull out his Sonic Screwdriver. That has to be a first for the new series.

Oh yeah. very shocking.

SeaDevil wrote:

I didn't like the "Amy's story recap" with the opening credits. That better not return. It's not all about her - it's about the Doctor. I'm sick and tired of her being the focus of seemingly everything. The name of the show is Doctor Who not Amy and Pals.

Im not too worried about that yet... I think it was just done because they were thinking they were going to get at least a decent amount of curious viewers new to the series (because of the US filming and all that) and wanted to provide a 'story so far' bit as a jumping on point.

It did bother me that it seemed that they had the Doc become paranoid about trusting his companions and not wanting to get involved for the same reasons. Why doesnt he trust River... ok, he needs to bring up the fact that she killed someone and doesn't know her past (which we all know about already) and then it all boils down to Amy giving him her word? What the heck is that about... he leaps before he looks all the time, irregardless of his bond with his companions. If darling Rose said that her, Mickey and Jackie needed him to help them with something important, but they couldn't explain everything right away, he wouldn't hesitate to help them out.

Those things just didn't play well to me, and came across as forced just for the sake of a jumping on point and in Amy's case just to add more unneeded dramatic tension and guilt. As if she needed any more reason to try and save the Doc by shooting the culprit.

As long as it settles down after part 2, then I think it will be off and running again.

Cruel Angel wrote:

It did bother me that it seemed that they had the Doc become paranoid about trusting his companions and not wanting to get involved for the same reasons. Why doesnt he trust River... ok, he needs to bring up the fact that she killed someone and doesn't know her past (which we all know about already) and then it all boils down to Amy giving him her word?

To be perfectly fair, the Doctor's justified in being suspicious here. Amy, River, and Rory all turn up suddenly and appear shocked, and then River slaps him just before saying "they've been recruited". Followed by everyone abandoning the Doctor to go discuss things in private.

The Doctor's not a dullard. He knows something's going on, and he's not amused at having his chain pulled . This is not a new experience with Matt's Doctor. Remember his rage at Amy's video in The Beast Below and how the one thing you don't keep from the Doctor are secrets?

As for trusting Amy...she did wish him back into existence. That kinda gives her some wiggle room.

err...stabbing guess....
moon...

dr. moon
silence in the library

this is all part of cal?

Amy and River are somehow connected