The Doctor invites Amy, Rory and River Song on a trip to America in the first half of this two-part adventure, the first of a new series. What starts off as a simple picnic soon takes an exceptionally dark turn, and soon it's off to the Sixties to visit President Nixon and meet a man named Canton Everett Delaware III.
It's an exciting, enjoyable episode, big on both laughs and scares. It's also a very character-focused episode, with some very tense moments where the greatest present threat is the characters' failure to trust one another. That's not the only threat, though - this episode introduces some creepy new monsters which, while perhaps not as original as the Weeping Angels, certainly rival them in terms of ability to induce paranoia.
River Song remains potentially somewhat problematic, but is shown to have more depth than had previously been indicated. She's still hypercompetant and still knows it, which will doubtless annoy those who dislike the character. On the other hand, this is the first episode to give a real insight into her character and her point-of-view, and may perhaps win some viewers over who weren't convinced before. There's also more chemistry between her and the Doctor than there was previously, which appears to be deliberate, and which makes them more amusing and entertaining to watch.
River Song aside, there's little to complain about here. The special effects are convincing, the editing is tight, the writing is superb and the humour is plentiful. All things considered, an excellent start to the series, and one which leaves the viewer looking forward to the second half.
The Impossible Astronaut
The Doctor invites Amy, Rory and River Song on a trip to America in the first half of this two-part adventure, the first of a new series. What starts off as a simple picnic soon takes an exceptionally dark turn, and soon it's off to the Sixties to visit President Nixon and meet a man named Canton Everett Delaware III.
It's an exciting, enjoyable episode, big on both laughs and scares. It's also a very character-focused episode, with some very tense moments where the greatest present threat is the characters' failure to trust one another. That's not the only threat, though - this episode introduces some creepy new monsters which, while perhaps not as original as the Weeping Angels, certainly rival them in terms of ability to induce paranoia.
River Song remains potentially somewhat problematic, but is shown to have more depth than had previously been indicated. She's still hypercompetant and still knows it, which will doubtless annoy those who dislike the character. On the other hand, this is the first episode to give a real insight into her character and her point-of-view, and may perhaps win some viewers over who weren't convinced before. There's also more chemistry between her and the Doctor than there was previously, which appears to be deliberate, and which makes them more amusing and entertaining to watch.
River Song aside, there's little to complain about here. The special effects are convincing, the editing is tight, the writing is superb and the humour is plentiful. All things considered, an excellent start to the series, and one which leaves the viewer looking forward to the second half.