History Recap / DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut

** As revealed in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon Day of the Moon]]", Amy and Canton's exchange about marriage is about same-sex marriage ''and'' interracial marriage.

** The Silents are a lot like the Gentlemen from ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'', who could make people ''silent''. They also resemble Franchise/{{the Slender Man|Mythos}}, quite a bit.
** The tapes of Nixon's telephone calls are a nod to his real-life taping of practically every conversation he held in the White House, which later came to bite him in the ass during the Watergate scandal. The next episode shows that [[TimeyWimeyBall the Doctor actually gave him the idea first]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Amy after she shoots at the Astronaut, who is also the little girl.

** This line is also {{Foreshadowing}}, considering this is a Future!Doctor because he uses the word "remembers", possibly referring to the the Silence's forget-me effect.

* NobodyOverFiftyIsGay: Averted [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon retroactively]] in the next episode.

** After the Doctor has died, Amy says that it couldn't have been the real Doctor, it must be a replica or something. Even though the events that follow make both Amy and the viewer think she was wrong about that, later on it turns out [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong she was right after all]].

** Amy screams it after the Doctor is shot the first time, and River does the same when the Doctor is shot.

In 1969, a young Canton Everett Delaware III is recruited by President Nixon to investigate a mysterious daily phone call that the President receives from a terrified young girl. Canton isn't thrilled: he was kicked out of the FBI previously because he wanted to get married. Nixon manages to coax him into working as a freelance agent for now. They're interrupted, though, when the TARDIS materialises in the White House and the Doctor fails miserably to be sneaky about it.

The Doctor is able to convince the President -- after some difficulties with the Secret Service -- that he is capable of solving the mystery. He realises that the child's "name", Jefferson Adams Hamilton, was actually answering the President's question "Where are you?". It's a little girl, and she's is at an intersection of streets each named after these of the founding fathers. (Two of whom, the Doctor remarks, [[HoYay fancied him]], but considering the fact that "[[TruthTwister The Doctor always lies...]]")

The one made in America, with [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Tricky Dick]], a queer guy in the FBI, an eyepatch lady in the wall, and an assassination... meant for the Doctor.

* CreepyChild: The little girl calling the President for help has an eerie voice and talks about cannibal astronauts.
* CryIntoChest: Amy cries onto the chest of the Doctor after he was shot.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "Rory, the Roman."

* IThoughtItMeant: In-universe example.
--->'''River:''' [[TheImmodestOrgasm I'm quite the screamer.]] Now there's a spoiler for you!\\
'''Canton:''' What's going on here?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Uh... nothing! [[JustFriends She's just a friend.]]\\
'''Rory:''' I think he's referring to the possible alien incursion.

* WhamLine: The [[MonsterOfTheWeek alien invaders of the week]] reveal their name, and an implicit connection to the previous story arc:
-->''Silence, Doctor. We are the Silence...and [[ArcWords silence will fall]].''

And the Doctor adopted a Stetson. Which was ''[[RunningGag also]]'' shot. But unlike the fez, it lived. [[Main/Metaphorgotten Give that hat a Purple Heart... to patch the bullet hole.]]

And the Doctor adopted a Stetson. Which was ''[[RunningGag also]]'' shot. But unlike the fez, it lived. [[Metaphorgotten Give that hat a Purple Heart... to patch the bullet hole.]]

And the Doctor adopted a Stetson. Which was ''[[RunningGag also]]'' shot. But unlike the fez, it lived. Give that hat a Purple Heart... to patch the bullet hole.

They discover a weird, TARDIS-like vessel which [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger Amy and the Doctor might have recognised,]] but before they can discover anything about it, something unseen happens to Rory.

Oh, well.\\

And the Doctor adopted a Stetson. Which was ''also'' shot. But unlike the fez, it lived. Give that hat a Purple Heart... to patch the bullet hole.

[---''([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyW3unCT sound of rattling breathing]])''---]\\

[---''(sound of rattling breathing)''---]\\

Seems like we're forgetting something...

The one made in America, with [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Tricky Dicky]], a queer guy in the FBI, an eyepatch lady in the wall, and an assassination... meant for the Doctor.

[===''(sound of rattling breathing)''===]\\

->''You're going to have to trust us this time.''\\
''You have to do this, and you can't ask why.''

Next time: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]].

* AllThereInTheManual: Nowhere in the episode is the Silent named. Instead you have to look at the credits to find it, and even then, as clarified in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]], "the Silent" is a member ''of'' "the Silence".

* 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.

* 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"]]:

** In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekzglkLEJFI "prequel"]], there is a tape rolling while a child is talking creepily just like in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "The Empty Child"]].

** 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"]].
** The Doctor's meeting on the lake with the Astronaut resembles the meeting with the Watcher on Tower Bridge in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis "Logopolis"]].
** Creepy astronaut that may not be an astronaut? Can we say [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E3TheAmbassadorsOfDeath "The Ambassadors of Death"]]?
** "Human beings. I thought I'd never be done saving you." A line straight out (tense-shifted) of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]].

** Rory pokes the Doctor in disbelief and asks "How can you be here?" the same way the Doctor did to Rory in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]].
** The TARDIS has been invisible before, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]].
** The TARDIS "decloaking" effect recalls the TARDIS being pulled into the Capitol in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]].
** The Silents' control room in the tunnels is the same as the proto-TARDIS on top of Craig's apartment in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]]. The Doctor mentions it in the next episode, implying they're the same ship.

** When talking to the Secret Service, the Doctor refers to Mr. Delaware as "Canton 3". This is the same shorthand that was used in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]] to refer to the Kings and Queens of England ([[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Liz 2]], Henry 12, Liz 10).

** The Doctor is having trouble remembering exactly where he parked the cloaked TARDIS again... like in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]].

*** It also sheds light on the Doctor's decision to give the Master a funeral pyre in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]].

** Not to mention, this isn't the only Moffat episode set in 1969. Ten and Martha got stuck in that year in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]], and Martha mentions that they went to see the Moon landing four times.

** [[Series/{{Space1999}} "Space. 1969."]]

** As revealed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]], Amy and Canton's exchange about marriage is about same-sex marriage ''and'' interracial marriage.
-->'''Amy:''' And [getting married]'s a crime?\\

-->'''The Doctor:''' ''[nonchalantly]'' I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug and you think you can just shoot me?\\

The one where the Doctor dies.

'''River:''' (''scoffs'') I hate you.\\

-->'''The Doctor:''' These are my top operatives, [[ShesGotLegs The Legs]] (''[[MsFanservice Amy]]'') , The Nose (''[[ButtMonkey Rory]]'') and MrsRobinson (''[[ChristmasCake River]]'').

** When the companions tell the Doctor he's going to have to trust them and not ask who gave them the summons, he asks Amy to prove it by swearing on something that matters. Her choice? [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "Fish-fingers and custard."]]

* 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/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]]:

** In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekzglkLEJFI "prequel"]] there is a tape rolling while a child is talking creepily just like in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "The Empty Child"]].

** When talking to the Secret Service, the Doctor refers to Mr. Delaware as "Canton 3". This is the same shorthand that was used in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]] to refer to the Kings and Queens of England (Liz 2, Henry 12, Liz 10.)
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The last time]] a future version of 11 died, it was Rory who made sure the body was respected by draping his coat over him like a shroud. This time he makes sure to give him a VikingFuneral.
** The Eleventh Doctor doesn't like wine, but mocklingly replies to Amy that he must have drank it at some point on his life. The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath Third]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath Fourth]] Doctors were very fond of it.

-->'''The Doctor:''' (''wearing the spacesuit helmet'') Look how ''[[RunningGag cool]]'' this stuff is!
* CoolOldGuy: [[OneSceneWonder The Canton Everett Delaware III from 2011]] is one of the Doctor's trusted guys and takes all this in stride.
* CoolShades: Wore a rather nice (and intimidating) pair during his [[SinisterShades faked executions of the Doctor's companions.]]

** The Doctor's comment about "More happening in 1969 than anyone remembers." This is because the Silents (the aliens) make you forget their existence the moment you look away.
** You can only remember things about the Silents when you see them, including past encounters. When River finds them underground right after they get to the warehouse, she looks terrified.

* 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.]]

** In a bit of LeaningOnTheFourthWall, while explaining the entertainment value of days of the week, he ends by saying that most times the world hangs in the balance on a Saturday; the day that Doctor Who airs new episodes. In his own words: "Time isn't a straight-line. It's all... bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them. Like a moth to a flame." Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...

** This line is also {{Foreshadowing}} considering this is a Future!Doctor because he uses the word "remembers", possibly referring to the the Silence's forget-me effect.

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

--->'''The Doctor:''' (''lying on the floor of the Oval Office'') River, have you got my scanner working yet!?\\
'''River:''' (''in the TARDIS'') Oh, I hate him.\\

* 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 old younger version of himself.

* TheStoic: Canton Everett Delaware III practically has NervesOfSteel. He gets a brief moment of wonder when he sees how the T.A.R.D.I.S is bigger on the inside but quickly accepts it and compliments the Doctor's "wheels". The Silence never bothered them.

-->'''The Doctor:''' (''nonchalantly'') I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug and you think you can just shoot me?\\

* WhamEpisode: BigBad of the series making a first appearance? Check. Main character (sort of) KilledOffForReal? Check. On top of this, the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger fake TARDIS]] returns, probably connected with the Silence; and Amy is ''pregnant''.

* TheSpaceRace: The episode is set in 1969, just before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The Astronaut wears the old [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7L A7L]] suit used by the Apollo astronauts.