Robot Claw

This post is about the season opener of the new series of Who. Spoilers here for Australian fans, or those in America that haven’t watched it yet.

The Impossible Astronaut was a strange episode, very unlike almost every previous Who episode ever. I left it strangely unfulfilled, but as I have thought about it these past few days I think my admiration has grown. From the start I loved it as a mad Doctor Who fan, but I think I thought it lacked the bang a season opener should have. I think I still feel that way, but as the episode has grown on me I can only hope it may have grown on others and when we all tune in for the conclusion this Saturday all our questions will be answered and (slight) doubts put to rest.

On to the specifics:
– Nixon was a bit crap
– Matt Smith was superb, especially as his older self
– The long shot of the Doctor being shot on the lake shore was one of the most cinematic shots ever in Who, with some very nice (and subtle) effects going on
– River knowing how to operate the TARDIS is always funny
– The Doctor calling River ‘Mrs Robinson” was even funnier 🙂
– On that point, there were a great many funny lines in this episode 🙂
– I don’t think the aliens are the best designed ever. They have that amateur ‘Buffy’ look to them 🙁
– The alien gimmick is fun though, and I expect quite scary for kids!
– They didn’t use America enough. Five minutes of external shots isn’t half as impressive as (say) the use of Spain in The Two Doctors or Lanzarote in Planet Of Fire
– Seeing Amy and Rory’s apartment was strangely satisfying. I wonder where they live?

And then the mind-bending stuff that made the episode grand for Who maniacs but just confusing for everyone else (major spoilers here):
– Doctor #11 lives for ~200 years? Of course he can’t (since he won’t die) but… but… what if?
– Think carefully about what River Song tells Rory. That she’ll die when the Doctor no longer recognizes her? Since we follow the Doctors time line, we’ve already seen that happen. Go and re-watch Silence In The Library: The Doctor doesn’t know her, and she dies at the end.
– Speaking of River dying, why’d she shoot at the astronaut? Why was she not surprised she missed? Who is that little girl? Who could she be, that the Doctor knew everything about her as soon as they met? What was it River said to Rory again?
– The ‘other’ TARDIS control room from The Lodger reappears. The aliens have a similar power to whatever was upstairs in that episode. Does this mean the aliens were upstairs, or something else is involved? Is it really another TARDIS? (hint: the BBC had a contest in 2009 in which children were invited to design a new TARDIS console room that was eventually used in the series…)
– Time lords can be killed mid regeneration? Unprecedented with regards to the Doctor, but I believe this may have been established (in a related sense) in Mawdryn Undead.
– With what he’s doing with the show, and time in general, I think it’s long past time Moffat dispelled the (legendary) Blinovitch Limitation Effect. Certainly the entire premise of this two-parter seems to violate it!

Ok, ok, time to take the anorak off and return to the real world.

Overall: I think it was a great episode albeit perhaps a bit off-putting to new viewers. I can only hope the charm of the characters and writing make them want to return to see how it resolves!