Doctor: Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)
Companions
Karen Gillan (Amy Pond)
Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams)
Alex Kingston (River Song)
Others
Mark Sheppard – Canton Everett Delaware III
William Morgan Sheppard – Old Canton Everett Delaware III
Stuart Milligan – President Richard Nixon
Chuk Iwuji – Carl
Mark Griffin – Phil
Marnix van den Broeke – The Silence
Sydney Wade – Little Girl
Nancy Baldwin – Joy
Adam Napier – Captain Simmons
Henrietta Clemett – Matilda
Paul Critoph – Charles
Kieron O'Connor – Prison Guard
Emilio Aquino – Busboy
Production
Directed by Toby Haynes
Written by Steven Moffat
Script editor Caroline Henry
Produced by Marcus Wilson
Executive producer(s)
Steven Moffat
Piers Wenger
Beth Willis
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Production code 2.1
Series Series 6
Length 1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
Originally broadcast 23 April 2011
On 22 March 2011, a short scene serving as a prequel for the first episode was released on the programme's website. In the prequel, Nixon receives a phone call from the little girl who keeps calling him in the episode. She begs for the President to look behind him, but he asks how she got that number, which the 'spaceman' told her. She tells him it is about monsters, to which he replies "Young lady, there are no monsters in the Oval Office." He then hangs up and leans back. Behind him stands an out-of-focus Silent.[2][3]
Synopsis
Buzz Aldrin during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. A replica of this suit was created for the episode.
After a two-month break from their travels with the Doctor, his companions, Amy Pond and her husband, Rory Williams, receive a "TARDIS blue"-coloured envelope providing a time, date and set of coordinates leading them to Utah. They arrive to meet River Song (Alex Kingston), who also received an envelope, and the Doctor, now 1,103 years old, 194 years older than he was when he last saw them. He takes them to a picnic at a nearby lake, telling them he is taking them on a trip to "Space 1969." Amy catches a glimpse of a mysterious figure from a distance, but appears to immediately forget about it after she looks away. Later, a figure in an American astronaut suit emerges from the lake; the Doctor approaches it but warns his companions not to interfere. The astronaut shoots the Doctor, causing him to begin to regenerate, but his companions are horrified to witness the astronaut shoot him again, killing him before he can fully regenerate. The three are met by Canton Everett Delaware III (William Morgan Sheppard) who also received an envelope and was instructed to bring a can of gasoline, which the group then uses to give the Doctor a Viking-style funeral.
Regrouping at a diner, Amy, Rory, and River are speculating about who might have sent the envelopes when they are shocked to see the Doctor walking in, 200 years younger again. He reveals that he too was given an envelope, but does not know who sent it to him. Reluctantly his companions decide not to tell the Doctor either about his death or that the sender was his future self. The four do a search on Delaware and "Space 1969." The TARDIS travels back to 8 April 1969, and ends up cloaked in the Oval Office. President Richard Nixon (Stuart Milligan) converses with a younger Delaware (Mark Sheppard) about a series of phone calls he received from a young girl asking for help. The Doctor quickly gains Delaware's trust, convincing Nixon to give him a few minutes to locate the girl.
While the Doctor works, Amy sees the mysterious figure again, and excuses herself to the restroom. There, the figure, a member of a species known as the Silence, waits for her and kills an innocent woman despite Amy's pleas. Realising the alien is wiping her memory of their encounters, Amy takes a picture of the alien. When she leaves the restroom, however, she yet again forgets the encounter. By then the Doctor has found the girl's location, a building near Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the intersection to streets named Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton. The Doctor and his companions leave in the TARDIS, followed closely by a curious Delaware.
Upon arrival, they find pieces of a space suit and alien technology. River and Rory explore a vast network of tunnels that have apparently spread across the planet for centuries, unnoticed by the human population. The two find a control room with a design similar to one seen in "The Lodger" but are unaware they are surrounded by the Silence. Meanwhile, Delaware hears the little girl screaming and gives chase. As Amy and the Doctor follow, Amy tells him she is pregnant. When they find Delaware unconscious, a figure in an astronaut suit appears. Quickly, Amy picks up Delaware's gun and shoots at the suit. However, she realises too late that the helmet's visor has opened to reveal the little girl.
The Impossible Astronaut