Rate "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon" Combined

For the first time, this year as well as the rate and discuss threads for each episode in the case of 2 parters we'll also be running dedicated threads for the entire story.

So do please pop in here and say what you thought about the opening story as an entire entity. Open for business at 6.45pm BST Saturday.

No-one commenting on the whole? Overall for me 4/5, a slow strat that built up nicely and left me wanting more!

The Co=Ordinator wrote:No-one commenting on the whole? Overall for me 4/5, a slow strat that built up nicely and left me wanting more!

I had the advantage of BBC-America playing a reprise episode of Impossible Astronaut right before the 7:00 PM premiere of Day of the Moon. Maybe it's just me, but this two part presented me with a similar theme of reality battling it out with illusion that we saw in The Eleventh Hour.

I absolutely loved this two parter- completely bonkers ride that forced you to pay attention for fear of missing a clue. And what a bunch of unresolved questions to get sorted out in this series:
-Is Amy pregnant, or not? And why was there a picture of her holding a baby in the child's room?
-Who was the face that appeared in the sliding window of the child's room, and what did "I think she's dreaming" mean?
-If the Silence has, indeed, been defeated, what's become of the one being held in the dwarf star cell in Area 51?
-The NASA space suit was left without an occupant in 1969. So was in the suit in 2011 to shoot the Doctor on the beach at Lake Powell?

And I'm still not convinced all that random nonsense of the Doctor "waiving" to Amy and Rory from history in the pre-credit sequence to Impossible Astronaut was irrelevant. Remember just following the scene where the Doctor is caught hiding under the skirts of a lady who was painting his picture? Just after that, Amy is recounting the scene from a history book, and goes on to state that after being taken to the Tower of London, the following night a golden orb appeared and "spirited" the Doctor away. Well, last night, after Day of the Moon was over, BBC-America showed a special on the making of this 2-parter in America, and toward the end, there was a clip I had not seen in any trailer: an image of the TARDIS bouncing along in the vortex being pursued by a gold-colored sphere. Certainly caused my eyebrows to raise.

I'm giving this two-parter a 4/5- and I'm guessing that when all the questions get answered, my rating may go up.

I'll give it a 4/5, same score I gave the two parts.

A good solid 4 from me. A fun ride with many mysteries still yet to be solved. The solution was a bit of a letdown but then again I can't be expecting overly-epic from a series opener. More enjoyable that the last series finale though.

The Co=Ordinator wrote:No-one commenting on the whole?

I'm not absolutely sure it is a whole.

A dizzying and intriguing sequence of events, with some of my favourite scenes for many a year, though, by itself, unsatisfying. I'm sure it'll be satisfying come November, though.

A superb story on the whole and I pretty much agree with much of what Patrick said. One thing does surprise me though is that thus far, nobody has commented on the fact that the woman Amy's see's looking out from the child's room was non other than noted thesp Francis Barber herself.

So clearly, this and the scenes immediately following are going to pay off heavily down the line.

Johnstone McGuckian wrote:A good solid 4 from me. A fun ride with many mysteries still yet to be solved. The solution was a bit of a letdown but then again I can't be expecting overly-epic from a series opener. More enjoyable that the last series finale though.

i enjoyed it but was confused by it. i'll have to watch it again.

definitely a lot better than the last finale though.

I was a bit miffed that the cliffhanger from part one was resolved via a 'with one bound the Chums were free' flashback, because the buildup was properly nailbitey.

I was confused by Part Two, although I now have lots of complicated wild speculation to amuse myself with. I saw it again the following day and it did make more sense. There were two 'did not do the research' issues, a bit of flubbing and some jiggery pokery, but I take it as a sign of growing maturity that I didn't once let them stop me actually enjoying the show.

I was going to say 3.5 out of 5, but I really like leads and the supporting cast, and the superbly creepy children's home, so let's call it a solid 4.

Sid Seadevil wrote:A superb story on the whole and I pretty much agree with much of what Patrick said. One thing does surprise me though is that thus far, nobody has commented on the fact that the woman Amy's see's looking out from the child's room was non other than noted thesp Francis Barber herself.

So clearly, this and the scenes immediately following are going to pay off heavily down the line.

It's an intriguing scene, I just rewatched it. It's as if the children's home isn't what it seemed to be at all and Barber's character was the reality of the place peeking in for a moment through the illusion.

Zoltar wrote:It's an intriguing scene, I just rewatched it. It's as if the children's home isn't what it seemed to be at all and Barber's character was the reality of the place peeking in for a moment through the illusion.

Yep, that's pretty much exactly how I read that scene too. A rather nice seemingly throw-away moment that's actually a major piece of foreshadowing.

Sid Seadevil wrote:Yep, that's pretty much exactly how I read that scene too. A rather nice seemingly throw-away moment that's actually a major piece of foreshadowing.

I had a thought about that which I posted in a GB thread, some speculation. I'll spoiler tag it.

Spoiler:

As a standalone, part 1 was a convoluted mess but together. Brilliant!
It builds up and up and up and the very end, OH YEAH!

Zoltar wrote:

Sid Seadevil wrote:Yep, that's pretty much exactly how I read that scene too. A rather nice seemingly throw-away moment that's actually a major piece of foreshadowing.

I had a thought about that which I posted in a GB thread, some speculation. I'll spoiler tag it.

Spoiler:

This makes a lot of sense. Nice thinking, old chum.