Quote Originally Posted by J.R. Southall View Post
But all of the historical characters who've appeared in the new series have been central to the plots, and have essentially had those plots written around them and what we know of them. Was Nixon really any more central to the plot than Moffat thinking "wouldn't it be cool if we had a sequence set in the White House with Richard Nixon listening to one of his famous tapes, and the voice on that tape was one of my patented scary crackly children's voices"...?

On the subject of "appropriateness", how appropriate is it leaving viewers (whose ages probably sink to as low as three or four years old) for an entire week (an absolute age to children as young as that) with the image of a mother-to-be shooting a child?
He's essential to the story cos:

1. In the next episode, the plot about The Silence and their obsession with picking the Apollo Mission will be revealed cos the 1969 landing is imperative for what they want to accomplish.

2. Nixon was President at the time, and what better way to get access to things about the country than through the highest officials?

3. Also, Canton is important to the plot, and Canton was being asked back to work for The CIA.


So, yeah, Nixon needed to show up in the story. He also does more in the next episode... SPOILERS


Oh, and if you noticed at the end, the very end, the production was a joint effort by BBC and BBC America- and what better way to include the American audience then to start the season off with a story set in America during one of the most iconic events in American history?