The BEST Series Opener? [Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon REVIEW]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- Is the ambitious two-parter 'The Impossible Astronaut'/'Day of the Moon' a good opener for Doctor Who Series 6?
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Hey harbo I know this a is a massive ask but could you try review the old itv series primeval I think it would be a good series to pick apart and review! :)
Nixon, counter to how the media portrays him was a liberal Republican, not a hard core conservtative.
In 1973, President Nixon ended the draft, moving the United States Military to an all-volunteer force. Nixon dedicated a $100-million to begin the war on cancer, a campaign that led to the creation of national cancer centers and antidotes that helped fight the deadly disease.Nixon opened the doors for women in collegiate sports when he signed Title IX in 1972, a civil rights law preventing gender bias at colleges and universities receiving Federal aid. Nixon initiated and oversaw the peaceful desegregation of southern schools.A great proponent of the 26th Amendment, Nixon lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen, extending the right to vote to America’s youth. Nixon became the first President to give Native Americans the right to tribal self-determination by ending the policy of forced assimilation and returning their sacred lands. In 1972, President Nixon participated in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with Soviet Secretary General Brezhnev as part of an effort to temper the Cold War through diplomatic dètente.President Nixon was the first President to visit the People’s Republic of China, where he issued the Shanghai Communiquè, announcing a desire for open, normalized relations. The diplomatic tour de force brought more than a billion people out of isolation.Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. In reaction to the oil embargo of 1973, Nixon initiated Project Independence, which set a timetable to end reliance on foreign oil by 1980. Unfortunately President Carter reversed that policy and made the US oil dependant on the Middle East which led to the US being involved in Middle East politics for decades.
P.S. The mainstream media has been spinning lies for a very long time.
I'd like to think that hearing "They're Americans" triggered the Doctor's memory of stepping out of the TARDIS in an alleyway in San Francisco and immediately being gunned down in December, 1999.
That would be hilarious...
HOLY SHIT LMAO
Hehe
10:06
“You think you can just shoot me?”
“THEY’RE AMERICANS!!!”
“Don’t shoot! Definitely don’t shoot!”
As an American I find this exchange absolutely hilarious
The 7th Doctor was actually shot to death by Americans.
That whole scene is top.
"He said the scanner wouldn't work"
"I know. Bless."
"River, have you got my scanner working yet?"
"I hate him"
"No you don't"
Oh, and, not the same scene, but the same episode:
"Shout if you get into trouble"
"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you"
These two episodes are probably peak Doctor and River flirting
My wife and I (also Americans) had to back the show up a whole minute the first time we saw this, we were laughing so hard. :)
@@andrewphillips-hird3761 It basically is just an episode of Doctor and River flirting
I thought it was absolutely hilarious.
I hadn't seen this story for a long time before I rewatched the whole show a few months ago and I honestly thought it was a finale, it feels so cinematic
Same, I always get these 2 mixed up with the actual finale.
In isolation this two parter is easily the best opening story for Smith’s run, you can really tell they got a major budgetary increase for this one.
I know it's your opinion. But honestly do you think it's better than Eleventh Hour?
@@the-scamp yes
Sad that this is his only S rated episode
@@the-scamp Definetly
@@the-scamp I like The Eleventh Hour but I do think it's kind of overrated. The whole bit with young Amelia is weird even if it's important to the storyline and for the audience to understand Amy's character. Thankfully in the rest of the show when Amelia appears it's considerably less weird because the Doctor actually treats her like a child instead of demanding that she fry stuff for him (at least as far as I remember)
I feel like The Eleventh Hour is more important than it is good, in the sense that it was a real make-it-or-break-it time for Doctor Who that fortunately ended up making it, what with the actors playing the Doctor and companion and the storyrunner all changing at the same time, and it being after a hiatus from the usual weekly episode paradigm.
My opinion is similar about, for example, composers like Mozart and Haydn, whose music was undoubtedly massively influential, but for my taste is rather boring. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan of the classical era, but without the classical era everything would be baroque. And I love me some baroque music, but can't live without romantic or modern music
This, Dark Water/Death in Heaven, and Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead are some of my absolute favorite 2 part stories from the modern era (the last one being my absolute favorite). Its crazy to think that this was also the Series 6 opener, especially with how big it makes everything out to be.
I actually really like the fish fingers and custard line, I thought it was a good way of showing how this doctor’s childlike fun personality isn’t just a gimmick or an act he puts on to be quirky. When Amy appeals for him to trust her, she chooses something that sounds like utter nonsense and means nothing to anyone else except them. She took him seriously when he was still discovering himself and at his most ridiculous, and he genuinely sees the appeal in something so strange and silly and it’s not a joke to him. I love it!
I love how much the Smith era carried the momentum of the Tennant era by just being bigger. This entire two parter shows how insanely high quality the show has become.
Tbh the entire Smith era was one big crescendo on budget and epicness towards the biggest event in Who history.
Also, the minisodes!! Just having extra mini episodes just shows how big the show has become during this time.
Edit: Hey! Smiths first S Tier episode!
Epicness is definitely the core characteristic of the Smith era. I would kind of like it if there were a series of films (for marathonning purposes) that were based on only the plot arc-relevant episodes, i.e.:
the Library episodes
The Eleventh Hour so we actually know who Amy is
the Angels episodes
the Pandorica episodes
these two
the Flesh episodes (but done better)
AGMGTW, and a completely reworked and extended version of Let's Kill Hitler (I'm fine with the overall plot unlike a lot of people, but maybe let's have Mels as an already established character, and maybe not named after herself so directly, instead being given the middle name Melody so it's less obvious, and also let's not completely abandon River at the end?)
The Wedding of River Song (similarly I like this episode more than a lot of people do, but I would like to know why Rory dying repeatedly is so significant to the Silence, and thing the episode wouldn't suffer from being significantly extended as the pacing is pretty fast)
Asylum of the Daleks (to meet Clara)
The Angels Take Manhattan
The Snowmen (to establish Clara as being impossible)
The Name/Day/Time of the Doctor, but actually being able to film an ending to Name that makes some sort of sense and filling in the gap between it and Day, and providing more on the role of the Time Lords in Time, as well as maybe at least some backstory on Tasha and how she gets away with treating the Doctor the way she does
Although when I think about it, given how many of these episodes (in general moreso than the other episodes of these series) could benefit from at least an extra 10 or 20 minutes (and Let's Kill Hitler could probably do with being doubled in length) it would basically be every episode turned into a film...and marathonning 20 films sounds hard
@@andrewphillips-hird3761 Damn that's a long reply XD but yeah
If Doctor who episodes were even at least 5 minutes longer, it could've served well to episodes that needed some more substance.
My husband had me watch Dr.Who,,we're on s6....i loved all doctors so far equally, ecchelson is my favorite but spending so much time with David, i was worried for who came next and I LOVE matt, i hope i like the others!
@@protect_provide8031 12 is just as good as 10 imo
Hot take: Season 6 was absolutely amazing, and Moffat's tendency to overblow and overcomplicate everything is charming and not annoying.
series 6 started well but was a let down towards the end
I liked most of season 6, but the ending was so anticlimactic.
I agree I loved all of Moffat's run idcc
I mean compared with what we get now, Moffat was a god of writing and continuity...
The whole oval office scene is pure gold, from the humour to Canton trusting the Doctor. It's fantastic. Also, the Silence are one of my absolute favourite Who monsters, from the design to the gimmick, I just think they're brilliant.
Will always remember this one for the incredibly designed and presented Silence creatures & the fantastic acting from Karen Gillan & Alex Kingston in particular when the Doctor was shot down. 👏👍
I will say the overuse of the Silence (Silents?) in the finale and subsequent stories kind of diminishes this two-parter as a whole but when I watched Series 6 for the first time last year I was HOOKED dude
Nah honestly, can never have enough silence
@@BoilerRoom69 Huh? What silence? What's that?
@@MyBelovedGhostAndMe I don't know what your talking about but I get the feeling *we should kill them all on sight*
@@MyBelovedGhostAndMe 😭😭😭
Technically, didn’t the crew of Apollo 13 travel further than the moon when they had to slingshot themselves around it and back to Earth? I believe that makes them the only humans to have seen the dark side of the moon directly too.
Didn't Apollo 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 also orbit the Moon? Everybody forgets that Michael Collins was also on Apollo 11.
@@Devlinator61116 Possibly, I’m not sure. I only know Apollo 13 did because of the problems they had!
@@Devlinator61116 Apollo 13 went into a free return trajectory instead of low moon orbit, which makes apollo 13 higher as I recall
Good episode, shame they didn't add a monster. It felt a bit empty without another antagonist asside from Americans.
it must’ve stared john cena and whoever the hell spiderman is?!
I think that Amy using "Fish fingers and custard" as something to swear on means her imagination, her exploration, and her connection for the doctor. It's not the literal mix of these two foods, it's what they caused.
I love how that American diner was literally just in Cardiff. Could they not find one where they were filming in America??
Because if they did film in an actual diner they would have to close the entire diner, or sanction some of it off. Which you can't do for business
@@ink_blot25 it is actually a real diner, it’s just in Cardiff, it’s not a set or anything. Place closed down a few years ago I believe
@@loopyloo122 well that's handy to know. Didn't know it was. I wax just answering the other person's question
It's always much much cheaper to film in the UK where possible. Even if they were already technically in the US and could have filmed there, they likely only scheduled in for the things they absolutely had to film over there. Their budget would shrivel like a prune if they filmed all the indoor scenes in the US too 😂 UK crew are also much cheaper, we don't have the same unions here as they do in the US, so we don't need to be paid as much. In fact, there's so many big budget American productions that are or were filming in the UK at the moment for these exact reasons! Like Jurassic World, Snow White, most of the recent Star Wars...
My source for all of this is myself 😂 I'm a trainee in the industry, so I'm currently being prepped for a life of being underpaid and over worked!
I feel like this series opener's often overshadowed by the Eleventh Hour or just lumped in with the other arc stories in S6. But it's really good if you look at in in isolation.
Blob let's go, weird finding you on yt. Yeah I love this story, a bit weird that it doesn't even have a villain!
it deserved far more than The Eleventh Hour
The foreshadowing and mysteries of this Era was so great, also the Ponds ❤️
I just watched episode with the jedi starwars like feel.... and oh my god... this shows awesome, i cant wait to catch up,,on s6
i have a special kind of love for this opener, mostly due to the quality of it but also because of the American setting. i don't know about others but watching as a kid I always felt like I was a lesser fan because I wasn't a brit, also because I thought I could never be the doctor becaus I'm american (as if I would ever be the doctor even as a brit lol) so to have this story be set in America (and not have it completely lambasted at every turn) really made me felt seen, and that did a lot for me as a kid.
I don't know how but you've again managed to give me a new perspective on a Who story. Wasn't too keen watching this last time but that was probably because I kept reminding myself how it doesn't pay off well. On it's own it really is a unique story.
If anyone was wondering where Doctor Who was at the time of the moon landing, well The War Games had aired just a month before, ending season 6, and the show wouldn’t be back until January
The monster are littaraly the "I Forgor" meme
Lol yeah. 😂
Honestly this two parter is definitely one of my favourite Smith era stories too. So much great stuff, all of it coming together well and a satisfying conclusion and good amounts of humour, horror and mystery. I do wish this series was a little more serialised, even if it was just more in the vein of series 1 where imo there isn't really a single "skip" worthy story in terms of the overarching narrative as opposed to full serialisation like Flux. I feel like the first half of series 6's arc is among my favourites, but the second half kinda just forgot it apart from the very start and end. Still some great episodes, but clearly mixed signals of wanting to be a lil more serial and also anthological
somehow all (most) of moffats child-scare episodes are really good.
Moffat is at his best when he is scaring children methinks.
Can we please talk about the weird blasts that are produced from the sonic screwdriver when The Doctor and River are fighting the silence at the end? You see her shooting and her blasts connecting to the silence, but you also see The Doctor waving his sonic around and if you really pay attention to the scene, you will see various small blasts or beams or something coming out from the sonic at the silence. I noticed it the first time I saw this episode as a kid but I've never heard anyone talking about it
Season 6 is messy. It is. But there’s also a *lot* to enjoy about it.
I love the Smith era as a whole and this two parter was bold and wild and I loved it a lot. Series 6 is a mixed bag for me but this opener is brilliant.
I really love this 2 parter. Something really different and creative to start a really underrated series. Though I wouldn't say it's my favourite, as Bells Of Saint John holds a very special place in my heart.
I never knew why some people don't talk about this season, it's a great season
I love it, just started s7 holiday episode and im loving moffat era,
Matt Smith was a brilliant doctor.
Great video. I also thought it was a fantastic opening to series 6. I agree with just about everything you say on this one (with the exception of "Fish Custard" - it's a great line)
My main complaint with this story is that The Silence only get partial focus because the opening is based on the fact Moffat merc'd the Doctor in the opening 10 minutes.
This series opener actually bugged me a bit the first time I watched it. A big problem for me was that during the final confrontation with the silence the doctor spent a long time monologuing about how great he is, and the silence just stood there and listened. then a conflict occurred where river shot them with a sci fi weapon and the docor just waved his sonic around, which in this scenario didn't do anything??? This made me realize they realistically could have killed the doctor at any point during the two parter, because river was the only one who could really defend herself, and the doctor mainly just talked a big game about how great he is without much he could do to back it up. Like if the silence just killed him before the moon landing they just would have won. y'know???
But why would they? They already killed him at the lake at a fixed point in the beginning of the episode. To their point of view, he's practically a walking corpse destined to die. It doesn't help that the Doctor is a dangerous enough enemy that you never risk a direct confrontation with him unless you absolutely have to.
The silence are pretty much the only memorable new alien from the Matt Smith era, ironically
Also, I feel like the solution to the silence is weird in a way that other moments of violence from the doctor aren't. In other cases, the doctor almost always takes responsibility for violence or uses the enemy against itself, which I guess is what happens here, but the idea that he brainwashes millions of humans into becoming killers just feels super off when you think about it
@@ElodieCunningham Seventh Doctor: Hold my umbrella.
Agreed
@@mayotango1317 The Seventh is before the Time War though. This is the biggest atrocity that the Doctor has committed since he genocided his own species, and he does it with abject glee while triumphant music plays, followed by a literal shootout that he personally takes part in.
From everything we've learned about the Doctor since New Who began, it just feels so jarring to see this climax.
@@FishfaceTheDestroyer What about the second Doctor send a Ice Warrior ship to the sun? Or the Seventh Doctor destroy Skaro?
Series 6 may not be the best but I still have loads of nostalgia for this era of the show.
I think Rory questioning whether Amy loves him or the doctor is more his own insecurities than a genuine relationship challenge
Series 6 is probably my favourite together with S10 xD
I am surprised you didnt like fish fingers and custard. I always took ot as a way to say she was the real Amy.
Indeed, and it was the first moment that the Doctor and Amelia connected.
Sometimes, I just like being early so I can catch how many times Harbo changes the review title. 😆🖊
Nobody watches my videos anymore lol so I have to try everything I can
@@HarboWholmes Aw, I'm sorry you feel that way, however I completely understand where you're coming from. Click-bait just works best sometimes. 😉
One of my favourite stories ever, I love it to bits even though the rest of series 6 I don’t like a whole lot
7:17 Hang on, Crowley from Supernatural is this episode? Whoa, I never realized! 😇
The DW/Futurama crossover we didnt know we needed
“Record everything” is such a fantastic tiny line between the doctor and Nixon that no one seems to remember
"When doctor who died" brilliant title
Yes, in Series 11.
I see the girl regenerating at the end of *Day of the Moon* like Blackarachnia (Beast Wars) having green binary code flashing across her eye in *Coming of the Fuzor (Part 2)*
That ending is mean to be a set up for the (mid)finale, not a continuation to the next episode.
I honestly think that the Silence is more terrifying than the Weeping Angels
I enjoy these episodes but I wish there were aliens in it
Of course there's an alien, the Doctor, smhmh my head
I remember as a child I would stare at the corner of my room trying to spot a silent lol.
so glad to see season 6 reviews now, i was about to call your parents and give them a very stern talking to, so glad i didn't have to resort to such things.
I think the Silence are an analogy for forgetting traumas especially those caused by people still in your life. Decided!
People said Steven Moffat killed Doctor Who, so he did exactly that…
No, Chibnall kill the show.
@@mayotango1317 no
@@thedoctor1263 yes
I do agree with you! This two-parter was super great and I love the Silence a lot! ^^
a sort of missed oportunity with rory is they could have given him a sort of ptsd from his days guarding amy
he would have had to defend through many wars and many scumbags trying to get to the pandorica
*"Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."*
Love it.
When we get to Wedding of River Song, I’d love to hear what you would suggest as ah alternative for the fake Doctor resolution
10:30 Silence aren't invading alone, seems like the butterflies are in on it too.
so glad someone else noticed Murn's actor being here
kinda funny it's in a story about aliens secretly influencing humanity from the shadows
I’m glad you brought it up because I’ve been wanting to talk Abigail it for a good minute now
My personal favorite series opener, narrowly edging out The Magician’s Apprentice
This story has always felt to me like there's an episode missing in the middle. The plot seems to skip ahead between episodes.
I liked your last point, as I feel like this is a problem with many modern TV shows. They'll have an interesting cliffhanger or plot point and then take too long to resolve it or not resolve it at all.
2:40 Now, I know you are implying it is a caricature of the United States. The thing is... I'm America, always have been. I've probably seen this episode 10 times, if not more. I have never seen this as over the top. Like... Yeah that's it. Now, I've never been the Arizona or Washington DC so maybe they aren't that dramatic, but personally none of the Americanisms seemed too ridiculous to me, not compared to how they are portrayed in American television. So, take my **professional** American opinion as you will.
2 of my favourite episodes. The pay off to the build up was amazing
As an American. “They’re Americans!” Is one of my favorite jokes in the show. That and the silence being shot with a “welcome to America.”
2:30 Hold on, do you not have yellow school busses across the pond? I didn’t realize that was a trademark American thing..?!
School buses in general are an American thing.
This episode in isolation is good but since it's tied to that trash season finally I can't give it a score higher than 5. Not to mention the fake out deaths moffat was so fond of really wore out their welcome by this point.
Eh, I'll cut him some slack for this particular fake-out death due to Karen & Alex's reactions to it in particular, as well as keeping it center stage in the minds of the characters even after the Doctor came back. But yeah, after this point they got monotonous. (Unless the death of older Amy in The Girl Who Waited counts, since it was a only *version* of Amy who died and not the Amy we know).
@@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose see if moffat wanted to do this right he could have used the out of character moment of the doctor's borderline genocide solution to hint that this wasn't the doctor we knew but an alternate time line of sorts and that the person in the space suit was the good doctor. Have the alternate doctor slowly become more dark and sinister as the season went on.
@@SethAurelius94 *holds up hands* Great point, great point. And such a reveal probably would've served as an overall better season finale.
I like the finale
@@thedoctor1263 I can see why.
I still wish that the doctor that was killed was the goo doctor, but if you ignore how the series ends this is a good ep
I love seeing current big actors appear in Doctor Who episodes years before they were well known. So it's nice to recognise Chukwudi Iwuji from Peacemaker and Guardians of the Galaxy here
I didn't see pacemaker (nor do I intend to, after James Gunn's shitty treatment of Henry Cavill), so I'll just ask, which of the Guardians of the Galaxy have you spotted in this episode, apart from nebula, who had been the show's co-star for a full season at that point? Definitely neither Groot nor Rocket is there 😁
@ Chukwudi Iwuji is the main villain of Vol 3.
Oh, apparently I misunderstood, because I wasn't able to see GotG vol.3 in theater. I'll download and watch some time, although that useless James gunn is involved, it's part of the mcu and all movies tie up to the overall narrative...
I don't like the conclusion of series 6 either, but this two parter has an important place in my heart, since it was the first Doctor who episodes I watched and it captured my child self's imagination
A Roman Rory spinoff series please
The question that always bugged me is this: if the humans all kill the Silents on sight, why are they not constantly tripping over rotting bodies?
I do dearly loved the Silents meme, though.
Single Wounded Silent: "You should kill us all on sight."
Every Other Silent: "Goddamit Steve!"
When people talk about how _"Overcomplicated"_ Series 6 is, I think they forget that the theme is Conspiracy. That's what it's deconstructing, not fairy tale. A complicated narrative is just part of the aesthetic.
Don't excuse Wedding of River Song tho, not at all.
Did not expect Harbo to love this
I'm watching all of these videos and I'm SO HYPED BC IM FINALLY ON MY FAVE SEASON
Silence are cool.
Damn, that meal/dumpster comment made me crack up! Great review!
The funeral scene has the absolute best music on the show
My personal favorite Matt Smith episode tbh
A very good series opener, only difference is that still unlike 2005-2010 era, and unlike you, I don't need to rewatch it and probably can survive without watching it for the next 10 years
Hey guys is this story set in America?
6:37 "Amy comes across the scariest thing in the Universe: a transphobe!"
Aw man, not another one! 😑
Can someone explain that to me
@@frde2190 I looked it up. Apparently, the actress who plays Madame Kovarian, Frances Barber, supported J.K. Rowling in saying she was against the abuse Rowling had received in her comments on gender identity.
@@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose okay, well nobody deserves abuse for an opinion but I’ll do some research on the matter
@@frde2190 Very true but yeah, doing research is the best advice I can honestly give about it. 🤷♀
People bash at series 6 but I think its unfair. The overall story if the series didn't work but it had some really good episodes.
funny, that I watch the two parter on the cinema. Having a q/a with moffat, karen and matt. I have a very weird feeling for it.
ps. on NY
Best series opener without even a shadow of a doubt! Great video
What @Harbo Wholmes won't admit is that the reason he loves this two-parter so much is because 'MERICUH!
This story sets up the rest of the season really well, better than series 5, probably better than the rest of the series openers do.
I do think that the eleventh hours extra task of introducing the doctor elevates it slightly above this story in terms of overall quality though, and of course RTD had slightly different objectives with his series openers, so a direct comparison isn't easy.
dude i have to say, you have come a long way from the series 1 reviews. Everything from your thumbnails to your editing has vastly improved, so even if your views have lowered drasticaly since the series 5 reviews i will still always watch your videos and many others too
6:38 uhh.. could someone explain what they mean by that..
imagine if the opener was an adaptation of the big finish story Minuet in Hell
awesome video
Personally, I'm not a fan of S6 overall, but I think in terms of setting up plot threads, this story really succeeded. It's just a shame that the second part was so rushed at the end and the series turned out to be incredibly messy.
Now try to watch Thw Flux.
Dude, you gotta fix and reupload this. I'm sorry, but the middle just has so much that's like... i dunno, basically vhs fuzz? I think? It gave me a bit of a migraine... anyway, otherwise, solid video!
Best Matt Smith series, and best series opener or all time. I love Series 6.
11:32 Ah yes i'm sure thats their sole inspiration
Or... did the silence inspire the slenderman mythos?
This entire season was fucking amazing, even the ending made me scream
Thumbnail: "That time the Doctor died"
Me: you gonna have to be a little bit more specific
Hi harbo, I really think you should watch Lucifer and review it. Its a great TV show with lots of hidden messages. :)
When I first watched this story back in 2011, I'm was shocked they killed off The Doctor during the regeneration.
"... a pot of coffee 12 Jammie Dodgers and a fez."
Wait, do other countries not have yellow school buses?
We just started s6, we started show in june, and wait for your reviews to watch