Dr Who Series 6 review: "The Impossible Astronaut"

The new series of Doctor Who started off with a bang this week in Australia. It aired one week after the UK, USA, & Canada last week.  Matt Smith returns as the Eleventh Doctor as show runner Steven Moffat returns to his darker stories. Fair warning this review contains as Dr River Song says, “Spoilers sweetie.”

“The Impossible Astronaut” is the first of a two part episode. It reunites Amy Pond, her husband Rory, and the mysterious archaeologist River Song as the Eleventh Doctors companions on a mystery set in 1969 America. The first episode ever to be shot in the US, even though many stories have taken place there, the HD presentation is beautiful.

Previous series have primarily been episodic, with a running thread to them not realized by the viewer until the last two or three episodes of the series. Moffat has turned this formula around and presented the story arc in the beginning episode and building them up throughout.

In Series 5, the story arc was the “Crack in the Wall” which was entirely wrapped up in Amelia Pond’s backstory with the Doctor. The phrase “Silence will Fall” was introduced in the Series 5 pilot. It was repeated several times in the series, but left unanswered at the end. Series 6 introduces a new alien race, called the “Silence” which tie in directly to the series story arc.

The formulae of showing a dramatic scene in the beginning and cutting to “24 hours earlier” is given a brilliant Doctor Who twist. The Companions are brought together at a certain place and time, each with a “Tardis blue” envelope, and witness the startling event of the Doctors death at the hands of an Apollo spacesuit wearing Astronaut. After cremating his body, they stop at a diner to see another blue envelope on a table. While they discuss who it might be, the Doctor himself appears, only this one is 200 years younger than the Doctor they saw die. Now they need to enlist the Doctor’s help without telling him why in order to avoid a time paradox.

The ending is an exciting cliffhanger, where Amy reveals she is pregnant to the Doctor, just before shooting the Astronaut who kills the older Doctor at the beginning of the episode.

The episode is written beautifully, by Moffat, with his customary wit and fast paced dialogue. The exchanges between River and the Doctor are especially nice. He’s also created another race in the Silence as spooky as any in the Doctor’s cannon. Keep in mind, Moffat has crated some of the most terrifying monsters the Doctor has ever faced, The Weeping Angels, the Clockwork Men, and now the Silence.

This was a great start to the series, and keep coming back for more Doctor Who updates and reviews.