02 August 2025

Mission Creep (Silencing "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon")

Pull To Open

About

Memory, manipulation, and moon landings collide in one of the most audacious season openers in Doctor Who history. In The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon, Steven Moffat unleashes the Silence — a monster so terrifying, you forget them the moment you look away — and dares viewers to keep up with a non-linear plot packed with space-suited children, timey-wimey double Doctors, and a shockingly competent Nixon. But does all the complexity serve the story, or is it storytelling gymnastics for its own sake? The team digs into Moffat’s high-wire act of serialization, the emotional weight behind Amy's and River's connections with the Doctor, and how forgetting may be the most frightening concept of all.

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Timeline:

Intro 00:00:00Previously… 00:01:52Whomoji Challenge 00:08:00Poll to Open 00:13:51TL;DW 00:21:14Commentary: The Impossible Astronaut | Day of the Moon 00:24:07History Corner 00:43:04Four Questions to Doomsday 01:06:16What If the Evil Plot Had Succeeded? 01:11:05Where Is the Clara Splinter? 01:16:23Final Judgment 01:19:37Randomizer! 01:26:16

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Story Essentials

Series 6, Episodes 1 & 2Story number: 217, per the The Pull To Open CodexWriters: Steven MoffatDirector: Toby HaynesShowrunner: Steven MoffatAired 23–30 April 2011

Pull To Open: The Impossible Astronaut | Day of the Moon

Season 6Episode 22

Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pete Pachal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Taylor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: Martin West/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thinking Fish⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠