The newest season of Doctor Who kicks off with perhaps its most shocking start in its almost 50 year history.
What They Say:
Episode 6.1 – The Impossible Astronaut
Four envelopes, numbered 2, 3 and 4, each containing a date, time and map reference, unsigned, but TARDIS blue. Who sent them? And who received the missing envelope numbered 1? This strange summons reunites the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song in the middle of the Utah desert and unveils a terrible secret the Doctor’s friends must never reveal to him. Placing his life entirely in their hands, the Doctor agrees to search for the recipient of the fourth envelope and figure out just who is Canton Everett Delaware the Third? Also what is the relevance of their only other clue: ‘Space 1969’? Their quest lands them—quite literally—in the Oval Office, where they are enlisted by President Nixon to assist enigmatic former-FBI agent Canton in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The season kicks off with Rory Williams and Amy Pond settling into their married lives after having parted with the Doctor two months previous. As they look through history books they search for signs of the Doctor’s presence in odd historical events. The mail arrives while they talk and in the stack is a blue envelope with the number 3 on the back that has a card with a date and coordinates but no signature-though the envelope is not just blue, it is TARDIS blue. Cutting to an unknown time period in the future the imprisoned Dr. River Song gets a similar envelope with the number 2 on it and she creates a panic in the prison as she starts packing having told the guards she is going to America.
The young married couple takes a bus into a deserted area of the Utah desert to discover the Doctor laying on the hood of a station wagon and thrilled to see them, though their joyous celebration is interrupted with a dramatic entrance by Dr. Song. The group travels to a nearby town in whose restaurant the Doctor and River start comparing their diary notes as to where they currently are in their relationship since time travel tends to complicate relationships even further. The Doctor reveals that he has a plan for the day and has gathered them as he plans to go into space in the year 1969. As they chat in the restaurant the married couple discovers that in the two months since they parted nearly 200 years have passed for the Doctor.
The doctor takes them on a picnic near a lake as part of his plan which is interrupted first by a strange figure on the cliff that vanishes, then by man in a pickup driving up who keeps his distance and finally by the appearance of an Apollo spacesuit coming out of the lake. The Doctor tells his companions not to interfere as he approaches the suit and tells the occupant he knows who it is. As the companions watch the Doctor talks with figure for a few moments before a shot rings out and the Doctor is hit. They are stunned as the Doctor starts the process of regeneration as another shot rings out killing the Doctor for good as his assassin goes back into the lake. As the Doctor’s friends mourn their loss the man from the truck approaches with a can of gas which he had been instructed by the Doctor to bring. After giving the Doctor a Viking funeral the man from the truck gives his name as Canton Everette Delaware III and shows them that he has an identical envelop to theirs with the number 4 on it. He cryptically informs them that while he won’t see them again, they will be seeing him.
The Doctor’s friends are devastated and go back to the restaurant and find a blue envelope similar to the ones they received at a table with the number 1 on the back. They are stunned as the door to the restroom opens and the Doctor walks through. While they try to deal with their extreme shock at seeing him alive they ask his age and find out that only a couple of years have passed for this Doctor. Dr. Song takes charge of the conversation as she has practice with not revealing spoilers to the Doctor regarding encountering him at different points in his life but even she can’t hide her shock fully. When the Doctor asks why they have all been gathered Dr. Song tells him the person he trusts most in the universe has sent word they are to go to 1969. His friends manage to convince him to go despite his hesitations and reluctance to do something for reasons he does not know.
Things go awry as they use the TARDIS’ stealth mode to land inside the Oval Office of the most powerful man in the world-and whose current occupant isn’t known as greatly enjoying people spying on him. At the time they arrive President Nixon is talking to former FBI agent Canton Delaware III who has been brought in because the president has a problem with a phone call he has been getting for two weeks no matter where his and he wants someone not in the FBI to investigate as he doesn’t trust they aren’t involved. The Doctor leaves the TARDIS to see what the men are discussing and overhears a call from a young child who says “Jefferson Adams Hamilton” when asked where and who they are. Unfortunately for the Doctor he gets lost in where he is and is spotted by the President who calls for his Secret Service who rush in guns drawn. Thanks to some fast talking from the Doctor and Dr. River dropping the TARDIS’ cloak the Doctor is given a few minutes to talk his way out of trouble-which is convenient as that is the Doctor’s specialty.
As the Doctor is figuring out how the pieces he knows fit together Amy has an close encounter of a different kind in the most secure residence in the world as she sees a strange alien that she forgets the moment she isn’t looking at it. Amy winds up confronting it as she visits the restroom and she watches as someone else goes through the same process of seeing and forgetting before being killed. The alien warns Amy she needs to tell the Doctor what he must know and what he must never know however when she rushes out of the restroom in a panic she immediately forgets she saw it. Meanwhile the Doctor has figured out the clues and the call comes again and the Doctor, companions and Delaware file into the TARDIS to go to the little girl calling. They materialize in an odd place with alien tech that also contains an Apollo space suit. As the group tries to see what is going on will they discover a hundreds of years old secret and an unimaginably dangerous new alien race? And even if they discover the race, will they remember any of what they see? Plus what secret does Amy have to share and what will it mean for the future?
Having run for so many years before going on hiatus after 1989 and most recently with the revival under Davis that was met with quite a bit of aplomb from the fans Stephen Moffat has quite a bit to live up to. With one season at the helm already under his belt with a new Doctor Moffat uses his second season opener to charge full blast at Doctor Who fans and get them unsettled from the start. With mysteries from the previous season as to the identity of The Silence, the TARDIS’ fixation on Amy’s time period and just who Dr. Song is the table was already well set in advance but Moffat drops a new bombshell right from the start. The episode works fairly well as it gives surprise, shock and also a feeling of some relief all within the first 20 minutes or so-and that is before the Doctor meets Richard Nixon. With so much to do it may be difficult to live up to expectations but Season 6 starts off with a whole lot of promise.
In Summary:
Season 6 kicks off by reuniting the cast that was built in the previous season and almost immediately knocking the fans for a loop. It is almost impossible to get one’s feet back under them before a trip to the Oval Office during the Apollo years as a brand new enemy in the Doctor Who pantheon emerges. The episode cuts a fast pace but doesn’t forget to bring the Doctor’s trademark oddities and humor and it is a promising start to a season that looks to have plenty of twists and turns.
Grade: B+
