Day of the Moon (TV story)

Day of the Moon was the second episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who. It heavily featured location filming across Utah. Some scenes, such as River's plunge from a skyscraper, were filmed back in Cardiff.

Synopsis
The Doctor is locked in the perfect prison. Amy, Rory and River Song are being hunted across America by the FBI. With the help of new friend and FBI-insider, Canton Everett Delaware III, our heroes are reunited to share their discoveries, if not their memories. For the world is occupied by an alien force who control humanity through post-hypnotic suggestion and no one can be trusted. Aided by President Nixon and Neil Armstrong's foot, the Doctor must mount a revolution to drive out the enemy and rescue the missing little girl. No one knows why they took her or why they have kidnapped Amy Pond.

Plot
Three months after Amy shot at the little girl, she is chased down in the Valley of the Gods in Utah. She has strange pen markings all over her skin. Finally, she is cornered between two SUVs and a cliff face. Canton Delaware advises her to surrender, then shoots her. Her body is brought before the Eleventh Doctor, who is a prisoner at Area 51 in chains and a straitjacket.

River Song, also covered in markings sees aliens. She is caught in New York City between the unfinished edge of a skyscraper and Canton's FBI unit. She smiles dreamily and jumps. Finally, Rory -- also covered in markings -- is shot on Hoover dam. He too is taken to the Doctor, now having a wall built around him -- blocks of dwarf star alloy that seal together perfectly to make one solid box. It is soundproof and impregnable -- the perfect prison. As it is finished, Canton steps inside and seals the door from the inside.

Once the door is closed, the Doctor easily frees himself. Amy and Rory get out of the body bags, and Canton takes on a much friendlier tone with them. The Doctor leans on the TARDIS, in the prison hidden by a cloaking device. After saving River from the fall by landing the TARDIS on the side of the building and opening the doors into the swimming pool, the three clean themselves of markings, which are tally marks of how many aliens they had seen in the three months. The aliens are everywhere, all across the world. It is not an invasion. They've been here all along. In private, Amy tells the Doctor she is not actually pregnant; she made a mistake.

The Doctor implants each occupant of the TARDIS with a nanorecorder. It flashes red when a message has been left, and after Canton casually adjusts the Doctor's bow tie, the Doctor points out to him that his is flashing. The message begins "How the hell did it get in here?!", and when Canton turns around, sure enough, there is an alien standing in the TARDIS behind him. It is not real; the Doctor has extrapolated the image from Amy's phone and turned it into a hologram, now being projected behind Canton. Even though it is only an image, it is still impossible to remember it once they no longer look directly at it. The message also contains the Doctor's voice, telling Canton to turn around and straighten the Doctor's bow tie after he stops looking at the hologram. Like a post-hypnotic suggestion, it was the last thing in Canton's head when he looked away, so he did that. Even this information will eventually disappear.

The Doctor sends Canton and Amy to investigate a children's home the girl in the astronaut suit may have been taken from. The only person in the building believes that it is 1967 or earlier, not 1969, and he is jumpy. Amy is exploring when a room door locks itself. She sees her hand is flashing - the message she left herself advises her to leave, as do scrawled messages on the wall. She has begun to tally on her arms again, and she is covered in marks. She looks up. The ceiling is covered by sleeping aliens. She runs from the room and forgets her encounter. However, one of the aliens is woken by the sound of her departure.

Down the hallway, she sees a mysterious woman with an eye patch looking out from a slot in a metal door. She goes to investigate, but finds the room empty and the slot gone. Inside is a child's bed with photos of the little girl. She stop at one that is coloured and sees she is in it, holding the girl as a baby. Trying to make sense of this, Amy is surprised to see the girl in the astronaut suit walk into the room and lift the visor (which has a hole in it from the bullet she fired) to show her face. Amy apologises to the little girl for shooting at her tries to explains about the astronaut in the Doctor's future that will kill him. The little girl begs Amy to help her. Before Amy can ask her why she needs help, two aliens from the previous room enter. Amy can only scream in horror.

In the delirious man's office, Canton tries to get information from him, but hears Amy's screams. The man opens the door a bit and speaks with someone. When he turns to Canton, he forgets what he was doing. Canton starts to leave to search for Amy, only to come face to face with one of the aliens. Canton activates his nanorecorder. Canton asks is why the alien doesn't have a weapon. After it haughtily states that as the rulers of the planet, its people do not need to carry weapons, Canton pulls out his gun, shoots the alien, and welcomes it to America.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has been busy. He is caught breaking into the command module, Columbia, atop the Saturn V rocket, and rearranging some of the electronics to add one of his own devices. After President Richard Nixon arrives with Rory and River Song disguised as office workers to order his release, the Doctor receives a call from Canton, asking for help.

Amy is missing, and her nanorecorder left on the floor of the girl's room. It has been switched from recording to live broadcast -- her current words can be heard. They also find the girl's astronaut suit, now empty on the floor, with a hole ripped in it. Unbeknownst to the Doctor, the little girl is hiding around the corner in the hall, listening to him and his companions, shuddering. On receiving word that Canton had captured one of the aliens, the Doctor puts aside the problem of Amy going missing and confronts the wounded alien. He asks who it is and is told "Silence, Doctor. We are Silence. And silence will fall!". This reminds the Doctor of Prisoner Zero's warning of silence falling, Rosanna's mention of silence destroying Saturnyne, and the silent/empty Venice.

While Rory, River and the Doctor set about finding Amy, Canton returns to the cell at Area 51 with the Silent in tow, and talks with it. The alien gloats that the Silence have ruled the world since the Stone Age. It tells him that it was a mistake to treat its wounds and, when asked what the Silence would do in the humans' place, responds "you should kill us on sight". Canton has recorded this on Amy's video phone - despite not understanding what a "video phone" is - and leaves. As Canton has been gone several days, the soldiers are naturally curious. They calm down when President Nixon walks out of the prison, having travelled there in the TARDIS, and assures the soldiers that Canton is still a trustworthy American.

In the Florida warehouse they found the girl in, River and the Doctor dissect the astronaut suit. It is, in fact, a perfect life support machine -- this is how the girl could survive Amy shooting her. It is made of at least twenty different types of alien tech, and the occupant would not even have to eat while wearing it. River wonders if the suit could move without an occupant, remembering that the girl said an astronaut was coming to eat her. They conclude that is exactly what happened; the suit "swallowed" her.

Amy wakes to find herself tied to a framework and surrounded by Silence in their console room. The Silence inform her that she has been with them for several days and that she will help "bring the silence."

In the meantime, the launch of Apollo 11 goes off without a hitch, and the Doctor tracks the signal from Amy's nanorecorder to the room where she is being held. He brings an old television with him, and River brings her gun - she claims she could take down at least seven Silents should they attack. The Doctor doesn't mind River's death threats because they are a greater threat than his other foes. He asks the Silence why the little girl is so important to them. They don't answer him.

The Doctor sets up the television in time for the live broadcast of the famous "One small step" speech, but hacks into the signal just as Neil Armstrong's foot touches the lunar surface. As it does, the image turns to Canton's video of the Silence saying "You should kill us all on sight" -- sealing the fate of all the Silence on the planet, since every human will see it at some point in their lives, the most famous TV broadcast in history. The post-hypnotic suggestion of the Silence's appearance will command every human who ever sees the footage to kill them on sight. They are doomed. Already people who watched the footage are acting on the order as Secret Service men in the Oval Office turn their guns on the nearby Silence without thinking. Enraged by the Doctor's victory, the Silence start to attack the Doctor, allowing River to shoot every alien while the Doctor and Rory free Amy.

They withdraw to the TARDIS. Canton is delivered to the Oval Office. Nixon, who know knows the Doctor is from the future, asks him if he will be remembered. The Doctor tells him "They'll never forget you,". As the TARDIS disappears, Canton asks the President if he can rejoin the FBI. Nixon realises that, since he is asking the President for help, Canton's girlfriend must be "black", and he states he is quite liberal, and that he's sure he can help. Canton corrects the President -- "she" is actually a "he". Nixon tells him that the moon is "far enough for now".

River is returned to prison, where the Doctor offers her the chance to stay out of prison and travel with him. She declines; she made a promise to stay locked up, and that he'll soon understand. The Doctor turns to leave, but River pulls him into a lingering kiss, which the Doctor seems to both enjoy and be shocked by. After the kiss, the Doctor bolts to the TARDIS. River realises that from her perspective, she may never kiss him again.

While the Doctor and Amy talk, Rory spies on their conversation using Amy's nanorecorder. Amy had not told Rory she thought she was pregnant. She is worried that the TARDIS may have had an effect on the child, giving it abnormalities such as multiple heads or something worse. Amy knows Rory is spying on them and tells him to come over to the console, chiding him for eavesdropping and reassuring him that he is safe. The Doctor prepares to set the TARDIS on a course for a new adventure as he has the TARDIS scan Amy for pregnancy -- it flickers between a positive and a negative reading. The Doctor sets a course to take his mind off it.

Six months later, in 1970 New York, the little girl, coughing, comes across a homeless man in an alley. He asks if she is okay. She tells him that she is dying. She continues with "but I can fix that. It's easy really... See". In his astonishment and terror, he flees from the girl as she starts to regenerate.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Little Girl - Sydney Wade
 * Canton Delaware - Mark Sheppard
 * President Richard Nixon - Stuart Milligan
 * Carl - Chukwudi Iwuji
 * Phil - Mark Griffin
 * The Silent - Marnix Van Den Broeke
 * Doctor Renfrew - Kerry Shale
 * Gardner - Glenn Wrage
 * Doctor Shepherd - Peter Banks
 * Tramp - Ricky Fearon
 * Eye Patch Lady - Frances Barber
 * Grant - Jeff Mash
 * Sergeant - Tommy Campbell

Individuals

 * The Doctor asks Nixon to say "Hi" to David Frost for him, referencing the famous series of interviews between Frost and Nixon and the film Frost/Nixon. Michael Sheen, who played Frost in the film, appeared as the voice of House two episodes later in The Doctor's Wife.

Objects

 * When the Doctor, Amy, and Rory enter the TARDIS, the Doctor asks Rory to grab some thermocouplings. (DW: Space)

Films

 * This story shares numerous similarities with the 1988 John Carpenter film They Live, in which the primary protagonist discovers a hidden alien race living amongst humans and using subliminal messages to influence their development.

Story notes

 * This episode had the working title: Look Behind You.
 * This is the first two-part opening episode of the revived series, and the first since Attack of the Cybermen.
 * Rory's cover as an aide to Nixon is blown not only by his obvious English accent but also by his use of the British Army salute, which is distinctly different from the American version.
 * At a little over three months, this is one of the longest single adventures in terms of total time elapsed from the Doctor's perspective.
 * Canton is able to receive a call from the Doctor on Amy's mobile phone. Since there were no mobile phone networks in 1969, Amy's phone must have been upgraded to a superphone by the Doctor, allowing it to be used anywhere in time and space.
 * The Doctor calls for help after he is captured breaking into Apollo 11. Rory, River and President Nixon arrive in the TARDIS to help him. This is one of the very rare moments in the series where someone other than the Doctor (in this case River) pilots the TARDIS without the Doctor on board.
 * This episode marks the first time a female has regenerated onscreen.
 * The Doctor tells Nixon that he has to tape everything that he says in his office, or else he won't know if the Silent has affected him. This is a reference to the Nixon tapes, with the famous eighteen and a half minute gap occuring in one of the tapes.

Ratings

 * 7.30 million (36.7% market share)

Myths

 * We will see River Song as a child. This has been proven true in Let's Kill Hitler .
 * This episode will air the day after The Impossible Astronaut  This has been proven false

Filming locations

 * The Prequel to The Impossible Astronaut was shot on 11 November, 2010. Other scenes shot that day included the scene in the 'perfect prison'. These sequences were shot metres from each other as the Oval Office stood about half a dozen paces from the Doctor's cell.

Production errors

 * When River backs toward the edge of the building, she's still a few inches from the edge before she falls back.
 * When President Nixon arrives to bail out the Doctor, he and River follow the Doctor back into the TARDIS. When the camera focuses on Rory, you hear the TARDIS doors close, but when it shows Rory again, they're still partially open.
 * Close examination of the television sets shows they only have one tuning dial, clearly marked "UHF". American television receivers of that era would have had two mechanical tuning dials, one for VHF and one for UHF. Sets from the UK would presumably only have the UHF dial if it was a 625-line PAL set, as VHF had only been used for the 405-line System A transmission that was the original BBC signal standard.
 * Dwarf star alloy would be far too heavy for two men to lift.
 * The audio of the moon landing playing in the final confrontation between the Doctor and the Silents is incorrect. You can clearly hear Armstrong say "engines stopped", identifying the audio clip as from the landing of the Eagle Lunar Module, which occurred several hours before Armstrong stepped on the moon. When the Doctor finally points to the screen, the audio and video are of Armstrong's historic first step.
 * In the orphanage, Doctor Renfrew is holding a cloth in his right hand, then there is a shot of Amy and Canton, and then when the camera cuts back to Doctor Renfrew, the cloth is then in his left hand. After another shot of Amy and Canton, the cloth is back in his right hand again. This is either a production error or he passed it to each hand between shots.

Continuity

 * River Song mocks the Doctor for brandishing his sonic screwdriver in a gunfight and tells him to go "build a cabinet", similar to a conversation Captain Jack had with the Ninth Doctor. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
 * The Doctor tastes the "TARDIS blue"-coloured envelope in an attempt to gather information. (DW: The Hungry Earth, The Idiot's Lantern, The Eleventh Hour, Tooth and Claw)
 * River's scanner is branded Magpie Electricals. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern)
 * The Doctor recalls Prisoner Zero, a silent Venice, and the voice claiming "silence will fall". (DW: The Eleventh Hour, The Vampires of Venice, The Pandorica Opens)
 * Rory reveals that he remembers the two thousand years he spent as an Auton guarding the Pandorica with Amy inside, but that he doesn't always have those memories. (DW: The Big Bang)
 * The Doctor has previously been held prisoner in Area 51.(DW: Dreamland).
 * The Doctor opens the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers (DW: Forest of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour).
 * The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones watched the Apollo 11 moon landing four times. Given the dangers of crossing time streams, it's possible they watched the television transmission from Earth on at least one of those occasions.
 * Dwarf star alloy previously featured in DW: Warriors' Gate and briefly in DW: The Family of Blood.
 * When the Doctor discovers the Silence' underground lair, which is nearly identical to the interior of the 79B Aickman Road timeship, he makes the comparison, describing it as being "very Aickman Road." (DW: The Lodger)
 * When Canton tells the Doctor that River jumped off a skyscraper, he replies "It's okay, she does that.", referencing her leap out of an airlock in The Time of Angels. The Doctor once again positions the TARDIS to catch her after she makes the seemingly fatal leap.
 * The Doctor has apparently found (or recreated) the TARDIS's swimming pool again, and orders everyone to open the doors to the room that contains it, referencing DW:The Eleventh Hour.
 * While this is the first time we see the Doctor kiss River Song, this may be the last time River kisses the Doctor from her perspective.
 * The music cue that plays when the Doctor drops River off at Stormcage is the same cue used later in DW: A Good Man Goes to War when River reveals her identity to Amy and Rory. It also plays when the future Doctor's body is burned and when the little girl regenerates.
 * The Doctor says that the dwarf star alloy is being used to build the "perfect prison", this was used to describe the Pandorica in The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang.

Timeline
For the Doctor, Amy and Rory For adult River Song For young Melody
 * This story occurs after: DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story occurs before: DWAN: Extinction Event
 * This story occurs after: DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story occurs before: DW: The Pandorica Opens
 * This story occurs after: DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story occurs before: DW: Let's Kill Hitler

Home video releases
Released as Series 6 Part 1 with The Impossible Astronaut, The Curse of the Black Spot, The Doctor's Wife, The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People and A Good Man Goes to War on 11th July 2011.