Moffat sure loves his space suits(Silence in the Library and The Impossible Astronaut)
6x01 The Impossible Astronaut (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!!)
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My daughter wondered the very same thing. That's part of why I love Doctor Who so much. It's provided so very many opportunities for our family to hang together and enjoy something!
John F Kennedy had an African-American secret service man, named Abraham Bolden, assigned to his presidential detail. Bolden was the first African-American to be a secret service agent and may have been on Johnson's and Nixon's detail as well.
No, he wasn't because he was arrested in 1964 and later charged with and convicted of accepting bribes from a counterfeit ring. I googled a little but I couldn't find anything about Nixon's security detail containing any African Americans. But at least, it doesn't appear as out of place now as it did when I first saw the episode. I hadn't known about Abraham Bolden.
Nixon also had some "not-so-nice" things to say about Jews too... but it didn't stop him from asking Kissinger to pray with him every so often.
Ah, ok then.
I don't think the Secret Service has changed much in appearance. Maybe tie skinniness? It's hard to find old pictures of the service, so I'm not capable of finding out how they dressed in the 70s. Did they call them the FBI? If they did, that would be a continuity error. However, it does make sense that Nixon would privately recruit someone like Delaware from the FBI because that was kind of his MO.
Nixon was kind of racist, but I think he was one of those abstract racists and wouldn't have dismissed someone who was good at their job because of racism. Quite a lot of his vitriol was directed at Jews, but many in his administration were Jewish (including Kissinger). It's the racist that says "some of them are the good ones." Nixon probably been fine with a black service agent, he just would have thought that person was an exception.
EDIT: Here is a shit ton of pictures of the Secret Service during the Kennedy administration, including Bolden. Did they look all that different from the people in the episode?
I guess my colour-blindness* got in the way of the scenes in the oval office as I didn't register anything wrong with a Black man in the security detail.
*I'm not actually colour-blind.
Ah, yea, good point, forgot about Secretary Kissinger
That's too bad he was a bit crooked, the poetic irony of a black secret service agent named Abraham protecting the President was rather awesome!
Well, looks like TV can be quite educational. I stumbled on this interview with Donald Tucker who was one of the first black secret service agents and apparently also protected Nixon (though I couldn't find any details on that). Quite interesting.
Just changed my avatar. 
Naughty Doctor!
Naughty Doctor!
Just changed my avatar.
I approve. Yum!
Who was the woman doing that painting anyway - someone famous that I have no clue about?
^^ I could swear I've seen that actress before.
I've been thinking a bit. And I wonder if the reason the ep felt a bit wierd was the American setting? All those funny US accents...
I've been thinking a bit. And I wonder if the reason the ep felt a bit wierd was the American setting? All those funny US accents...
I thought you might.
Hope it doesn't get banned, there's a bit of side-butt there. 
I think she was referring to the fact that the bullets didn't affect the astronaut.
Here's my take on the episode, including screencaps:
http://kiramowett.livejournal.com/533256.html
Here's my take on the episode, including screencaps:
http://kiramowett.livejournal.com/533256.html
Checkmate
Commodore
That's exactly it. I'm all but certain. "Of course not." Because if it did work, she wouldn't be there reliving it all over again, though she clearly wasn't of sound mind at the time.
There's a reason they didn't reveal her face during that scene. If it was someone we didn't know, there wouldn't be a need to do so. This is the whole "I killed a good man" part of her life, and she's aware that something even worse is coming soon for her, even pointing out that she first meets the Doctor as a young girl where he knows everything about her (and tada, the person in the suit in 1969 is her). She all but told us this in the episode.
Chances are the suit is being used as some kind of containtment suit or artificial womb. Heck, I'm even down with her being Amy's baby, which the Doctor has to put into the suit because of the things going down in the story.
Hey guys, if you have Comcast and don't get BBC America HD, you might want to check On Demand. The episode is in HD and commercial-free!
Man, you come to the US and you strap a six-shooter on your side and open fire in emotional response. The bit about the Doctor's usual bluff not working on Americans was funny (if perhaps a bit insulting).
I was a bit surprised by the Sarah Jane-style narration during the opening. Not necessarily a bad idea though.
The episode had some funny moments but I wasn't really feeling the usual Who magical quality.
Man, you come to the US and you strap a six-shooter on your side and open fire in emotional response. The bit about the Doctor's usual bluff not working on Americans was funny (if perhaps a bit insulting).
I was a bit surprised by the Sarah Jane-style narration during the opening. Not necessarily a bad idea though.
The episode had some funny moments but I wasn't really feeling the usual Who magical quality.
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