The Impossible Astronaut

214a – "The Impossible Astronaut"
Doctor Who episode
The Doctor begins to regenerate
Cast
Doctor Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)
Companions Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) Alex Kingston (River Song)
Others Mark Sheppard – Canton Everett Delaware III William Morgan Sheppard – Old Canton Everett Delaware III Stuart Milligan – President Richard Nixon Chuk Iwuji – Carl Mark Griffin – Phil Marnix Van Den Broeke – The Silence Sydney Wade – Little Girl Nancy Baldwin – Joy Adam Napier – Captain Simmons Henrietta Clemett – Matilda Paul Critoph – Charles Kieron O'Connor – Prison Guard Emilio Aquino – Busboy
Production
Directed by	Toby Haynes
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	Caroline Henry
Produced by	Marcus Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Piers Wenger Beth Willis
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Production code	2.1
Series	Series 6
Length	1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
Originally broadcast	23 April 2011
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Space" / "Time" (mini episodes) "A Christmas Carol" (episode) "Day of the Moon"

"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States and Canada. It also aired in Australia on 30 April 2011. The episode features alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), and is the first of a two-part story, which concluded with "Day of the Moon".

In the episode, Amy Pond, Rory and River Song are summoned to Utah, United States, by the Eleventh Doctor, who is killed by a mysterious figure in a space suit. The dead Doctor is revealed to be an older self, after his younger version returns. They try to understand what the future Doctor said and are sent to Washington D.C. The team deals with the Silence, a race of aliens with the ability to make people forget their encounter with them when they look away.

The Silence was created to compete with other past aliens in terms of "scariness," including the Weeping Angels. The episode was partially filmed on location at Lone Rock, Utah; the first time in Doctor Who that principal photography took place in the United States. Before the broadcast, a fan leaked the plot of the episode following a press screening. The episode was seen by 8.86 million viewers in the United Kingdom, and received generally positive reviews from critics. "The Impossible Astronaut" gained an Appreciation Index of 88 – considered excellent. The episode was dedicated to Elisabeth Sladen, known for playing former companion Sarah Jane Smith, who died from cancer on 19 April 2011.