History Recap / DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut

'''Original air date:''' April 23, 2011

'''Production code:''' 2.1

Written by Creator/StevenMoffat.

--->'''Amy:''' And [getting married]'s a crime?\\

* MenInBlack: The Silence are this, from the neck down. Above the neck, they're TheGreys, combining the most terrifying aspects of both tropes.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When River is shooting at the Astronaut, she "fans" the revolver to make shooting faster, but only gets off five shots. She used the first one to shoot the Doctor's hat off earlier. Once out his bullets, there's nothing more she can do to stop the Astronaut.

* PersonalizedPledge: When Amy Pond asks the Doctor to blindly trust her, he asks her to first swear her honesty. She swears in on the meal she gave him at their [[CallBack fateful first meeting]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* HurtingHero: The Doctor cannot convince himself that he is the "King of OK".

The one made in America, with [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Tricky Dick]], a queer guy in the FBI ([[Creator/MarkSheppard who now brings]] [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Super]][[Series/DoctorWho who]][[Series/{{Sherlock}} lock]] one step closer to reality), an eyepatch lady in the wall, and an assassination... meant for the Doctor.

* HeHadAName: Inverted [[ParanoiaFuel horrifyingly]] with the Silents.

*** A major song from ''Film/TheGraduate''? "[[FridgeLogic The Sound of Silence]]".

* TimeshiftedActor: [[RealLifeRelative The Sheppards]] as Canton Everett Delaware III.

* SundayIsBoring: In "The Impossible Astronaut", the Doctor calls Sundays boring in comparison to Saturdays, which tend to be temporal tipping points where exciting things happen. (Also counts as LeaningOnTheFourthWall, since the show was known for airing on Saturdays at this time).

* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: It is mentioned that they were created in honour of the Doctor, whom they worshipped.
-->'''River:''' Have we done Easter Island yet? They ''worshipped'' you there. Have you seen the statues?

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When River is shooting at the Astronaut, she "fans" the revolver to make shooting faster, but only gets off five shots. She used the first one to shoot the Doctor's hat off earlier. Once out his bullets, there's nothing more sshe can do to stop the Astronaut.

* StageWhisper: Amy, Rory and River discuss an AwfulTruth that they absolutely cannot tell the Doctor... under the glass floor of the TARDIS console room, with him directly above them. Fortunately for them, he's too court up in his musings to overhear them; he doesn't even seem to notice they've gone until he wants to see them loking at his showing off.

* AmnesiaDanger: If only they remembered long enough to call for help.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Averted. The Doctor says he looks forward to the reason why River Song slapped him, but does so sarcastically.
* BehindTheBlack: You'd think that Amy and Rory would've seen the Doctor and the CoolCar ''before'' they got off that school bus in Monument Valley, but [[NoPeripheralVision nope!]]

%% NOT ACTUALLY TRUE: * BrickJoke: In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E8TheGunfighters The Gunfighters]]", the First Doctor proclaims, "If I ever say Stetsons are cool again, well, just shoot it off my head." Fifty years later, in what is probably the longest running brick joke ever, the Eleventh Doctor puts a stetson on, says "I wear a stetson now. Stetsons are cool!" and promptly has the aforementioned hat shot off his head by River.

** Back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]", the Doctor told Wilf that if he was killed before his regeneration could be completed, he would be fully dead. Over a year later (in our time), River says more or less the same when the Astronaut shoots the Doctor.

* CardboardPrison: Stormcage is starting to look like one -- this is the second time River breaks out. One wonders if she's only there because she wants to be. It's got to the point that River will openly pack and inform the guards of her travel plans. This incites an ''armed response''.
* CargoEnvy: River Song blows on the muzzle of her revolver.
* CatchPhrase: River and the Doctor have repeatedly said the same little bit of dialogue. The Doctor will say or do something that embarrasses River, River will say "I hate you," and he'll quickly retort, "No you don't." They also did it back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone Flesh and Stone]]" as well. They did it twice in this episode. River and the (Tenth) Doctor had a similar bit of dialogue back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead Forest of the Dead]]":
-->'''River:''' I hate you sometimes!\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[HarsherInHindsight I know!]]
* {{Cliffhanger}}: Possibly even a BolivianArmyCliffhanger. It ''is'' a two-parter, after all.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When UsefulNotes/RichardNixon turns around to see the Doctor standing in the Oval Office taking notes, the Doctor distractedly gestures for him and Canton to continue with their conversation, oblivious to their alarm.

** The Astronaut rises out of the lake like the Dalek rose out of the river in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]". Or the way Ace rises out of the lake in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]".

* DramaticPause: After the Doctor shot on the beach and we see the regeneration process starts, the music swells and becomes dreamlike -- only to stop abruptly when he is shot a second time. A second later, another track, with a much more scary feeling, replaces the first.

* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: In the Whoniverse, they were created in honour of the Doctor, whom they worshipped. Creator/MattSmith does have the nose and chin for it.

** The Doctor's comment about "More happening in 1969 than anyone remembers." This is because the Silence (the aliens) make you forget their existence the moment you look away.

** There's lots of foreshadowing to Amy being pregnant. The Doctor says she's gained weight, Amy explains away one bout of Silence-induced memory loss as being sick (probably chalking it up to morning sickness), and at one point The Doctor tells Amy and Rory to go home and make babies.

* HesDeadJim: Old!Canton says that the Doctor that was shot by the Astronaut is definitely the real Doctor and [[KilledOffForReal definitely, permanently, dead]] Of course, it's the Doctor, so you know there's something else going on, but you won't find out what it is until the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong season finale]].

* HeroicBSOD: When Amy returns to the diner, she staggers in with a thousand-yard stare on her face, and can't concentrate on what River and Rory are planning.
* HurtingHero: The Doctor cannot convince himself that he is the King of OK.

* TheImmodestOrgasm: Alluded to by River Song when she says she's "quite the screamer".
* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: AvertedTrope. The astronaut's visor is usually shown down, and is very reflective. When it ''is'' raised, it's in broad daylight, but the camera cuts away before we can see it. The second time, it's dark.
* KickTheDog: The Doctor twists the knife on River Song's heart when he says he doesn't trust her, but [[{{Irony}} by the time the Future!Doctor gave her the envelope to set off this plot, she's the most trusted companion of the Doctor]].

* LineOfSightName: Jefferson Hamilton Adams is taken from a set of street signs at a three-way intersection. It isn't ''actually'' an example, Nixon asked his mystery caller where and who she was; only the former was answered but Nixon mistook it for an answer to the latter.
* MeaningfulName: The Doctor is shot at Lake Silencio (named in the latter half of the season).

* NightmareFace: The Silence. Especially when one kills Joy in the restroom and it looks like it's growing a MOUTH.

** The Stormcage guard's remarks imply that River has broken out before, after "packing".
** The first minutes of the episode are filled with references to the {{Noodle Incident}}s the future Doctor gets into after seemingly dropping Amy and Rory off for a while.

* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: [[WordOfGod Word of Moff]] has this trope as part of the reason behind killing the Doctor. Regeneration is more like a saving throw than anything else: Time Lords can be killed (almost) as simply as humans, and the Doctor has only survived so long through [[GuileHero guile and wit]]. Or hiding in the TARDIS, as a good 80% of his regenerations have taken place there.

* OminousWalk: The Astronaut has a very creepy SlowWalk, natural because a space suit is ''heavy''. Also, in a later episode it is revealed the suit wasn't entirely under the wearer's control.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The Secret Service are played by fairly transparent non-Americans. Also, Canton says "Scotland Yard have..." instead of the American "Scotland Yard has..." when the Doctor gives his alibi. Also, Canton seems to pick up a bit of Cockney accent in the 40 years since the space program...

* PapaBear: When the Doctor asks if his companions are being threatened, you can feel him ready to kick some ass.
* PhraseCatcher: The always-popular "it's bigger on the inside" line in regards to the TARDIS, and good ol' "Doctor Who?"

* PowerOfTrust: Double subverted; when River tells the Doctor that he has to trust her not to reveal what's going on, he bluntly points out that, as much as he likes her, he knows barely anything about her -- and what he ''does'' know suggests that she's a murderer, and has possibly murdered ''him'' at some point. She might be many things, but "trustworthy" isn't one of them. He is, however, willing to trust Amy.
* ThePublicDomainChannel: Rory is watching it at the beginning; ''The Flying Deuces'' is out of copyright. Presumably, getting permission from a rights-holder to show a ''digitally altered'' clip from their movie would have been just too much of a hassle.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Nixon really did have at least one black Secret Service agent.
* RebelRelaxation: The Doctor [[LeaningOnTheFurniture leans on the hood of the Edsel]] and makes himself comfy in the Oval Office, ''in Nixon's chair''.

* ResignedInDisgrace: Canton Everett Delaware III has been forced to resign from the FBI due to an unknown scandal, eventually leading to him being hired by President Nixon to investigate the inexplicable phone calls haunting him, and from there, becoming a companion to the Doctor. [[spoiler: "Day Of The Moon" eventually reveals that the scandal was due to Canton being gay and in an active relationship with a black man - both frowned upon in the 1960s.]]

* RevolversAreJustBetter: River Song, Canton, and the Secret Service agents wield revolvers. Amy grabs Canton's revolver and fires it at the Astronaut at the end.

** The old "Doctor who?" gag gets used ''twice''.

* SceneryPorn: Have you ''seen'' the shots of Utah? They're amazing!

* StableTimeLoop: The Companions believe that the Doctor is trying to pull off one of these by inviting them to his death and then showing up as a two-hundred-years-younger version of himself.
* StageWhisper: Amy, Rory and River discuss an AwfulTruth that they absolutely cannot tell the Doctor... under the glass floor of the TARDIS console room, with him directly above them.

* TheStoic: Canton Everett Delaware III practically has NervesOfSteel. He gets a brief moment of wonder when he sees how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside but quickly accepts it and compliments the Doctor's "wheels". The Silence never bothered him.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When River is shooting at the astronaut, she "fans" the revolver to make shooting faster, but only gets off five shots. She used the first one to shoot the Doctor's hat off earlier.

* TimeyWimeyBall: In the Moffat tradition. We have the Doctor inviting his companions to attend his death which he already knows will happen; invites someone else who ''they'' haven't met yet, but he's met them; and also invites his past self to meet up with them after everyone's seen him die. Make sense?

** It happens ''again'' later.

* TonightSomeoneDies: It was stated that someone on the main cast would die. Amy? Rory? River? The Doct -- no, wait, Matt Smith still has the rest of the season on his contract. It's the Doctor. Specifically, one 200 years older than the usual one. Team TARDIS has to convince Current Doctor to try and save Future Doctor without Current Doctor knowing who he's saving or why. [[TimeyWimeyBall If you're confused]], blame Moffat.
* TooDumbToFool: A variation. When held at gunpoint by a bunch of the President's men, the Doctor cockily attempts to use the fact that he's just obviously played havoc with the laws of space in time right in front of them to intimidate them into thinking he's bulletproof. Unfortunately for him, as River points out, [[{{Eagleland}} he's dealing with with the most gun-happy people on the face of the earth]], and they'd probably shoot him anyway if he pushed his bluff too far.

* TranquilFury: The Doctor is very, ''very'' annoyed that his companions are hiding who their recruiter is, a future Doctor, and says, quite calmly, "don't play games with me. Don't EVER ever think you are capable of that."

* ArmourPiercingSlap: River slaps the Doctor in the diner. And for added armour-piercing goodness, they weren't able to fake it convincingly, so Kingston was really slapping Smith. Over multiple takes.