Let's Kill Hitler
Encyclopedia
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series
of the British science fiction
television series Doctor Who
, and was first broadcast on BBC One
, Space and BBC America
on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War
". It features alien time traveller the Doctor
(Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) and her husband Rory Williams
(Arthur Darvill
). Set in Nazi Germany
, the episode explores the backstory of River Song
(Alex Kingston
), the Doctor's sometimes-companion, who is also Amy and Rory's daughter.
. This procedure had previously been done earlier in the series to give a short introduction to "The Impossible Astronaut
", "The Curse of the Black Spot
" and "A Good Man Goes to War
", and later in ""The Wedding of River Song
". In the prequel, Amy calls the Doctor and leaves a message for the Doctor on the TARDIS's answer phone
, begging him to find her child, Melody. Though Amy knows Melody will grow up to be River Song
, she does not want to miss seeing her grow up. As she ends her message, it is revealed that a very upset Doctor was listening but did not pick up the phone, even though Amy had pleaded for him to.
and Rory
create a crop circle
to gain the Doctor
's attention. He arrives with his TARDIS
, but they are soon joined by Mels, Amy and Rory's childhood friend who knows of Amy's "raggedy Doctor" and was responsible for Amy and Rory's relationship; Amy had subsequently named her daughter Melody after Mels. On the run from the police, Mels brandishes a gun and coerces them to escape in the TARDIS and "kill Hitler". Inside, she fires the gun, hitting the central console which fills the time machine with a poisonous gas and sends it out of control.
Back in 1938 Berlin, "Justice Vehicle 6018", a Teselecta, a shapechanging, human-looking robot manned by a human crew from the future miniaturised inside it, is seeking to deliver justice on war criminals. They do this by using the Teselecta's weapons to torture the criminal, near the end of their timeline. Having taken on the appearance of a Wehrmacht
officer to meet with Hitler, they are surprised when the TARDIS crashes into Hitler's office. Hitler, already panicked, fires on the Teselecta, but his aim is poor and strikes Mels. As Rory locks Hitler in a cupboard, the TARDIS crew finds Mels regenerating
, becoming the woman they know as River Song
—Melody as a grown woman. River, having been trained by her captors to kill the Doctor, makes several attempts but the Doctor has taken precautions to nullify these. Instead, River kisses him and before disappearing into the streets of Berlin, reveals that her lipstick is poison (from "the Judas Tree") and will kill the Doctor within the hour and prevent his regeneration. The Doctor orders Amy and Rory to follow River, passing Amy his sonic screwdriver, while he returns to the TARDIS to try to discover a cure. The Teselecta, aware that the Doctor's death on 22 April 2011 is a "fixed point in time" ("The Impossible Astronaut
"), instead follows Amy and Rory in chasing down River, having identified her as their most wanted war criminal, responsible for the Doctor's death.
Amy and Rory chase River to a café at the Hotel Adlon
, but the Teselecta arrives, bringing them aboard as allies, and takes on Amy's appearance, allowing the robot to get close to River to attack her. Before they can complete the attack, the TARDIS materialises; the Doctor, spurred on by the TARDIS' "voice interface" hologram of Amy's younger self, Amelia, has found time to dress for the period and stops the attack, now aware of the Teselecta's nature. The captain speaks to the Doctor, informing him that River has been trained to kill him by the Silence
, a religious order that believes that when "the oldest question in the universe" is asked, silence will fall across the universe. When the crew refuse to back down from attacking River, Amy uses the sonic screwdriver to turn the robot's "antibodies"—its security robots—against the crew. The crew abandon the robot by being teleported away by their mothership, leaving Amy and Rory to face the antibodies.
The Doctor finds himself too weak from the poison's effects to pilot the TARDIS to rescue his companions; River is inspired by the Doctor's sympathy, and finds herself guided by the TARDIS itself to pilot the ship, and rescues Amy and Rory in time. On returning to the café, the trio finds the Doctor near death; he asks River to find "River Song" and give her a message, then whispers something in her ear before he passes away. River, who at this point still only knows herself as Melody Pond, asks Amy who River Song is; Amy uses the Teselecta to show River her form stored in the robot's database of who she is to become. With this, River sacrifices her remaining regenerations to bring the Doctor back to life, and passes out. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory take her to a hospital in the far future, leaving the TARDIS-shaped diary as a gift by her bedside, and depart. Later, River is shown becoming an archaeologist so she can find the Doctor herself. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor has discovered the date of his death from the records aboard the Teselecta, but does not reveal this knowledge to Amy or Rory.
character. River reveals herself as the young girl seen regenerating at the end of "Day of the Moon
" before she became Mels, short for Melody; Mels' name would be used in turn by Amy to name her daughter, which is an ontological paradox
. River's ability to regenerate is a result of being a "child of the TARDIS", from the infusion of Time Lord DNA into Melody during her conception aboard the TARDIS on Amy and Rory's wedding night as described in "A Good Man Goes to War
". River's TARDIS-coloured diary, which the Doctor and his companions have seen in River's relative future, is given to her anew by the Doctor. The Doctor further introduces River to the concept of "spoilers" of her future timeline, a phrase River has used in previous adventures. River's aptitude with flying the TARDIS, taught to her by the machine itself, is alluded to from "The Time of Angels
" where River explains she "had lessons from the very best" (which the Doctor has assumed referred to himself) and that the Doctor was "busy that day."
During the moments after her regeneration, River reenacts the iconic scene between Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft
) and Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman
) from the movie The Graduate
, calling out to the Doctor "Hello, Benjamin". The Doctor likens River to Mrs Robinson in "The Impossible Astronaut
". The Teselecta crew consider River a wanted dangerous criminal; River has been shown to be imprisoned in her personal future in "The Time of Angels" for killing "the best man [she] ever knew". In the episode's epilogue, River is shown asking Professor Candy of Luna University to become an archaeologist as to find the Doctor; previous episodes that take place later in River's personal timeline show that she has acquired these degrees. Both the professor and the university appeared previously in Steven Moffat's 1997 Doctor Who short story Continuity Errors, which showed Candy as having himself conducted research concerning the Doctor.
The concept of "fixed points in time" has been explored before, including the episodes "The Fires of Pompeii
" and "The Waters of Mars
". The supposed "state of temporal grace" within the TARDIS was previously alluded to by the Fourth Doctor
during The Hand of Fear
and demonstrated in The Invasion of Time
. Like River giving up her remaining regenerations for the Doctor, the Doctor has been shown prepared to do this to save his companions during the Fifth Doctor
serial, Mawdryn Undead
.
While bringing up the voice interface aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor is shown holograms of his former companions Rose Tyler
(Billie Piper
), Martha Jones
(Freema Agyeman
) and Donna Noble
(Catherine Tate
). He rejects these, as they all cause him guilt, eventually settling on the young Amelia. She also appears in flashback scenes from Amy's past interacting with a younger Mels and Rory, revisiting the various toys and props Amelia created of her "raggedy Doctor" shown throughout series 5. When the Doctor pleads for something to ease the pain of the poison, the Amelia hologram mentions "fish fingers and custard", a reference to Amelia and the Doctor's first meeting in "The Eleventh Hour
".
The Doctor previously encountered Adolf Hitler during his Sixth
and Seventh
incarnations in the novels Players
, The Shadow in the Glass
and Timewyrm: Exodus
. Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, their relationship to the ongoing story of the television series is open to interpretation.
The Silence
are revealed not to be a species as shown in "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon", but rather a religious order who believe silence will fall when "the first question ... the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight" is asked.
The Eleventh Doctor wears his secondary jacket, a long dark-green military overcoat, for the first time in this episode.
When Melody/River wakes up in hospital, the Doctor says "Rule One - The Doctor lies". This is one of a number of rules he told River during this episode. This rule was also stated by River Song herself in "The Big Bang
" when the Doctor pretends to be dead, a future event in her own personal timeline.
for "Let's Kill Hitler" took place on 21 March 2011. The opening scene in the cornfield were the last shots filmed of the series on 11 July 2011. The Temple of Peace
in Cardiff
used in the episode for the German dinner party, was also used for Karen Gillan
's first Doctor Who appearance, when she played
a Soothsayer in "The Fires of Pompeii
". Exterior shots of the Hotel Adlon
were filmed outside Southampton Guildhall
.
One scene involving the Teselecta (disguised as a German soldier) chasing Amy and Rory on motorcycles through Berlin was cut from filming due to budget issues. AT&T
, who wanted to advertise in the United States broadcast of the episode on BBC America
as a tie-in to their "Rethink possible" slogan, brought the idea of using a motion comic
to create a bridging scene within the advertising break where this scene would have been placed. AT&T and BBC America worked with Moffat and Senior to create the 60 second scene, which was animated by Double Barrel Motion Labs. The scene will be included in all international home video releases of the episode, though lacking the AT&T branding used on the initial broadcast.
Ella Kenion
, who playes Harriet in this episode, later appeared in the Fourth Doctor
audio drama The Wrath of the Iceni
where she played Boudica
.
in the United Kingdom. Internationally, it was broadcast in America on sister station
BBC America
on 27 August as well as on Space in Canada. Overnight ratings showed that the episode was watched by 6.2 million viewers on BBC One, the second most viewed show of the day behind The X-Factor and the second most-viewed Doctor Who episode in Series 6 behind "The Impossible Astronaut
". The episode also came in a number one on the BBC iPlayer
service the day after it aired as well as topping the requests on the service for the month of August with 0.99 million views. The episode also received an Appreciation Index
of 85. Official viewing figures from BARB came in at 8.10 million, and it was the 11th most watched programme of the week.
, was more pleased with "Let's Kill Hitler" as an opener than "A Good Man Goes to War" as a finale, and said it was "an energetic, timey-wimey tour de force with gags and flourishes like the car and the crop circles that still maintained a strong sense of what it was about". He also commended Alex Kingston's performance, saying that "she got to steal her every scene even more completely than usual, masterfully swerving the episode into a properly emotional final act". Martin later rated it the sixth best episode of the series, though the finale
was not included in the list. He commented that it may be "devisive" amongst fans as it was criticised for not making sense to casual viewers of the programme, but Martin said he "loved it". Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph
gave the episode four out of five stars, praising it for being "jam-packed full of ideas, twists, turns and wibbly-wobbly time-bending stuff" and "giddily thrilling entertainment, albeit rather exhausting". He also praised the way it allowed Rory to "finally find his niche".
Writing for The Independent
, Neela Debnath praised the lighter mood and "great slapstick moments". Though she thought the identity of Mels was "obvious to everyone but the characters", she said that Toussaint-White was "excellent" and that "it was shame that she regenerated so early on because she brought a different energy to the character". Radio Times
reviewer Patrick Mulkern, unlike Debnath, admitted that Mels' true identity "took [him] completely by surprise". He thought that a plot hole was generated in terms of what Melody did in between regenerating in 1969 and joining Amy and Rory, still as a child, 20 years later, but said that "the episode moves too fast for such quibbles to stick, and it is hilarious". Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
called it "a marvelously energetic, funny, clever, noble mid-season start" and praised the acting of Smith, Gillan, Darvill, and particularly Kingston, as well as the emotion that developed in the episode.
IGN
's Matt Risley gave the episode a score of 9 out of 10, saying that it was "arguably Moffat's most unashamedly fun Time Lord romp yet". While he praised the humour, plot, and character development, he was critical of the Teselecta; though they "score[ed] high on the sci-fi kitsch factor" they were "anything but memorable". SFX magazine critic Richard Edwards gave "Let's Kill Hitler" five out of five stars, thinking it "has to rank among the cleverest Who episodes Moffat has ever written". While he praised Kingston's performance, he wrote that "it's Matt Smith who steals the show, in one of his finest performances as the Doctor...he's utterly magnificent, whether acting the joker, or living out 32 minutes (ish) of death scene. The mix of optimism...and sadness is a tricky thing to pull off, yet Smith does it in a quintessentially Doctor way". Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
graded the episode as a B+, saying that he was "a bit divided". He praised Moffat's River Song arc, which made "the mind [reel]...in a good way", as well as the dialogue and "big concepts". On the other hand, he did not think the Teselecta's mission was developed and "as characters they seem kind of bland". What "really [troubled]" him was that it did not have the "impact" of some previous episodes and he thought it unlikely that Amy and Rory were willing to quickly accept that they were meant to raise their daughter as a school friend.
Assignment X gave a negative review of the episode: "Matt Smith is wonderful as always and I love his new coat. And there ends the positive part of this review." Jim Shelley of The Daily Mirror
was also negative about the episode, especially towards Alex Kingston, who appeared to be acting while "the rest of the cast play their parts perfectly naturally".
Gavin Fuller of The Daily Telegraph said that Moffat "delivered a pacy romp" and praised the concept of the Teselecta, but was disappointed with the "wasted opportunity" of the setting. He thought that the setting offered "great dramatic potential" but was "little more than window dressing for the story". He thought that using Hitler as a comic relief "struck a wrong note given the nature of the man and the regime he led" and that it was "an odd way to treat such an historically significant character". He was also critical of Moffat's "seeming keenness to kill the regular cast in some way, shape or form". Entertainment Weekly Tucker thought that it "didn't need Hitler to be an excellent [Doctor Who] episode".
Doctor Who (series 6)
The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011 and the final six episodes from August to October. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill continued their roles as The Doctor, Amy...
of the British science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, and was first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, Space and BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
". It features alien time traveller the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) and her husband Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
). Set in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the episode explores the backstory of River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
(Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston
Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
), the Doctor's sometimes-companion, who is also Amy and Rory's daughter.
Prequel
On 15 August 2011, the BBC released a short "prequel" to "Let's Kill Hitler", written by Steven MoffatSteven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
. This procedure had previously been done earlier in the series to give a short introduction to "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"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...
", "The Curse of the Black Spot
The Curse of the Black Spot
"The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Stephen Thompson, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
" and "A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
", and later in ""The Wedding of River Song
The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
". In the prequel, Amy calls the Doctor and leaves a message for the Doctor on the TARDIS's answer phone
Answering machine
The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...
, begging him to find her child, Melody. Though Amy knows Melody will grow up to be River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
, she does not want to miss seeing her grow up. As she ends her message, it is revealed that a very upset Doctor was listening but did not pick up the phone, even though Amy had pleaded for him to.
Synopsis
In modern-day Leadworth, AmyAmy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Rory
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
create a crop circle
Crop circle
A crop circle is a sizable pattern created by the flattening of a crop such as wheat, barley, rye, maize, or rapeseed. Crop circles are also referred to as crop formations, because they are not always circular in shape. While the exact date crop circles began to appear is unknown, the documented...
to gain the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
's attention. He arrives with his TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, but they are soon joined by Mels, Amy and Rory's childhood friend who knows of Amy's "raggedy Doctor" and was responsible for Amy and Rory's relationship; Amy had subsequently named her daughter Melody after Mels. On the run from the police, Mels brandishes a gun and coerces them to escape in the TARDIS and "kill Hitler". Inside, she fires the gun, hitting the central console which fills the time machine with a poisonous gas and sends it out of control.
Back in 1938 Berlin, "Justice Vehicle 6018", a Teselecta, a shapechanging, human-looking robot manned by a human crew from the future miniaturised inside it, is seeking to deliver justice on war criminals. They do this by using the Teselecta's weapons to torture the criminal, near the end of their timeline. Having taken on the appearance of a Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officer to meet with Hitler, they are surprised when the TARDIS crashes into Hitler's office. Hitler, already panicked, fires on the Teselecta, but his aim is poor and strikes Mels. As Rory locks Hitler in a cupboard, the TARDIS crew finds Mels regenerating
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
, becoming the woman they know as River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
—Melody as a grown woman. River, having been trained by her captors to kill the Doctor, makes several attempts but the Doctor has taken precautions to nullify these. Instead, River kisses him and before disappearing into the streets of Berlin, reveals that her lipstick is poison (from "the Judas Tree") and will kill the Doctor within the hour and prevent his regeneration. The Doctor orders Amy and Rory to follow River, passing Amy his sonic screwdriver, while he returns to the TARDIS to try to discover a cure. The Teselecta, aware that the Doctor's death on 22 April 2011 is a "fixed point in time" ("The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"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...
"), instead follows Amy and Rory in chasing down River, having identified her as their most wanted war criminal, responsible for the Doctor's death.
Amy and Rory chase River to a café at the Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon is a hotel on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the Berlin city centre, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.-First Hotel Adlon 1907-1945:...
, but the Teselecta arrives, bringing them aboard as allies, and takes on Amy's appearance, allowing the robot to get close to River to attack her. Before they can complete the attack, the TARDIS materialises; the Doctor, spurred on by the TARDIS' "voice interface" hologram of Amy's younger self, Amelia, has found time to dress for the period and stops the attack, now aware of the Teselecta's nature. The captain speaks to the Doctor, informing him that River has been trained to kill him by the Silence
Silence (Doctor Who)
The Silence is a fictional religious order or movement in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.Executive producer Steven Moffat created the Silence, intending them to be "scarier" than past villains in Doctor Who...
, a religious order that believes that when "the oldest question in the universe" is asked, silence will fall across the universe. When the crew refuse to back down from attacking River, Amy uses the sonic screwdriver to turn the robot's "antibodies"—its security robots—against the crew. The crew abandon the robot by being teleported away by their mothership, leaving Amy and Rory to face the antibodies.
The Doctor finds himself too weak from the poison's effects to pilot the TARDIS to rescue his companions; River is inspired by the Doctor's sympathy, and finds herself guided by the TARDIS itself to pilot the ship, and rescues Amy and Rory in time. On returning to the café, the trio finds the Doctor near death; he asks River to find "River Song" and give her a message, then whispers something in her ear before he passes away. River, who at this point still only knows herself as Melody Pond, asks Amy who River Song is; Amy uses the Teselecta to show River her form stored in the robot's database of who she is to become. With this, River sacrifices her remaining regenerations to bring the Doctor back to life, and passes out. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory take her to a hospital in the far future, leaving the TARDIS-shaped diary as a gift by her bedside, and depart. Later, River is shown becoming an archaeologist so she can find the Doctor herself. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor has discovered the date of his death from the records aboard the Teselecta, but does not reveal this knowledge to Amy or Rory.
Continuity
This episodes alludes to previous elements of the River SongRiver Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
character. River reveals herself as the young girl seen regenerating at the end of "Day of the Moon
Day of the Moon
"Day of the Moon" is the second 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 30 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
" before she became Mels, short for Melody; Mels' name would be used in turn by Amy to name her daughter, which is an ontological paradox
Bootstrap paradox
The bootstrap paradox is a paradox of time travel in which information or objects can exist without having been created. After information or an object is sent back in time, it is recovered in the present and becomes the very object/information that was initially brought back in time in the first...
. River's ability to regenerate is a result of being a "child of the TARDIS", from the infusion of Time Lord DNA into Melody during her conception aboard the TARDIS on Amy and Rory's wedding night as described in "A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
". River's TARDIS-coloured diary, which the Doctor and his companions have seen in River's relative future, is given to her anew by the Doctor. The Doctor further introduces River to the concept of "spoilers" of her future timeline, a phrase River has used in previous adventures. River's aptitude with flying the TARDIS, taught to her by the machine itself, is alluded to from "The Time of Angels
The Time of Angels
"The Time of Angels" is the fourth episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith; the second episode was...
" where River explains she "had lessons from the very best" (which the Doctor has assumed referred to himself) and that the Doctor was "busy that day."
During the moments after her regeneration, River reenacts the iconic scene between Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
) and Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
) from the movie The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...
, calling out to the Doctor "Hello, Benjamin". The Doctor likens River to Mrs Robinson in "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"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...
". The Teselecta crew consider River a wanted dangerous criminal; River has been shown to be imprisoned in her personal future in "The Time of Angels" for killing "the best man [she] ever knew". In the episode's epilogue, River is shown asking Professor Candy of Luna University to become an archaeologist as to find the Doctor; previous episodes that take place later in River's personal timeline show that she has acquired these degrees. Both the professor and the university appeared previously in Steven Moffat's 1997 Doctor Who short story Continuity Errors, which showed Candy as having himself conducted research concerning the Doctor.
The concept of "fixed points in time" has been explored before, including the episodes "The Fires of Pompeii
The Fires of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
" and "The Waters of Mars
The Waters of Mars
"The Waters of Mars" is the second 2009 special of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010...
". The supposed "state of temporal grace" within the TARDIS was previously alluded to by the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
during The Hand of Fear
The Hand of Fear
The Hand of Fear is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 October to 23 October 1976...
and demonstrated in The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
. Like River giving up her remaining regenerations for the Doctor, the Doctor has been shown prepared to do this to save his companions during the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
serial, Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
.
While bringing up the voice interface aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor is shown holograms of his former companions Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
), Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
(Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
) and Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
). He rejects these, as they all cause him guilt, eventually settling on the young Amelia. She also appears in flashback scenes from Amy's past interacting with a younger Mels and Rory, revisiting the various toys and props Amelia created of her "raggedy Doctor" shown throughout series 5. When the Doctor pleads for something to ease the pain of the poison, the Amelia hologram mentions "fish fingers and custard", a reference to Amelia and the Doctor's first meeting in "The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (Doctor Who)
"The Eleventh Hour" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010....
".
The Doctor previously encountered Adolf Hitler during his Sixth
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
and Seventh
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
incarnations in the novels Players
Players (Doctor Who)
Players is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and Peri meeting Winston Churchill during the Boer War and prior to the abdication of the would-be king Edward VIII...
, The Shadow in the Glass
The Shadow in the Glass
The Shadow in the Glass is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and Justin Richards and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Timewyrm: Exodus
Timewyrm: Exodus
Timewyrm: Exodus is an original Doctor Who novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who novels...
. Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, their relationship to the ongoing story of the television series is open to interpretation.
The Silence
Silence (Doctor Who)
The Silence is a fictional religious order or movement in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.Executive producer Steven Moffat created the Silence, intending them to be "scarier" than past villains in Doctor Who...
are revealed not to be a species as shown in "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon", but rather a religious order who believe silence will fall when "the first question ... the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight" is asked.
The Eleventh Doctor wears his secondary jacket, a long dark-green military overcoat, for the first time in this episode.
When Melody/River wakes up in hospital, the Doctor says "Rule One - The Doctor lies". This is one of a number of rules he told River during this episode. This rule was also stated by River Song herself in "The Big Bang
The Big Bang (Doctor Who)
"The Big Bang" is the 13th and final episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the second part of a two-part season finale started with "The Pandorica Opens", at the end of which The Doctor is trapped, the TARDIS destroyed, and Amy Pond has been shot...
" when the Doctor pretends to be dead, a future event in her own personal timeline.
Production
The read-throughRead-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
for "Let's Kill Hitler" took place on 21 March 2011. The opening scene in the cornfield were the last shots filmed of the series on 11 July 2011. The Temple of Peace
Temple of Peace, Cardiff
The Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health, as known as the Temple of Peace, is a non-religious civic building in the civic centre of Cardiff, Wales. It was designed by the architect Sir Percy Thomas.-Location:...
in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
used in the episode for the German dinner party, was also used for Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
's first Doctor Who appearance, when she played
a Soothsayer in "The Fires of Pompeii
The Fires of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
". Exterior shots of the Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon is a hotel on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the Berlin city centre, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.-First Hotel Adlon 1907-1945:...
were filmed outside Southampton Guildhall
Southampton Guildhall
Southampton Guildhall is the former town hall of Southampton, Hampshire. It is now in use as a multi-purpose venue for cultural events. It is part of the Civic Centre complex, which also includes includes a police station, council offices, the well-endowed city art gallery, and the city...
.
One scene involving the Teselecta (disguised as a German soldier) chasing Amy and Rory on motorcycles through Berlin was cut from filming due to budget issues. AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, who wanted to advertise in the United States broadcast of the episode on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
as a tie-in to their "Rethink possible" slogan, brought the idea of using a motion comic
Motion comic
A motion comic is a form of comics combining elements of print comic books and animation.-History:The earliest examples of motion comics are found in independent creations such as Broken Saints....
to create a bridging scene within the advertising break where this scene would have been placed. AT&T and BBC America worked with Moffat and Senior to create the 60 second scene, which was animated by Double Barrel Motion Labs. The scene will be included in all international home video releases of the episode, though lacking the AT&T branding used on the initial broadcast.
Ella Kenion
Ella Kenion
Ella Kenion is an English comedy actress, known for her versatility in shows such as The Catherine Tate Show, Five's sketch show, Swinging and most recently in BBC4's Fear of Fanny. She's probably best known for her portrayal of Mrs Cakeworthy in The Green Green Grass. She played the role of Julie...
, who playes Harriet in this episode, later appeared in the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
audio drama The Wrath of the Iceni
The Wrath of the Iceni
The Wrath of the Iceni is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions.-Plot:Circa 60 AD, The Roman Occupation of Britain...
where she played Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
.
Broadcast and reception
"Let's Kill Hitler" was first broadcast on 27 August 2011 on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in the United Kingdom. Internationally, it was broadcast in America on sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
on 27 August as well as on Space in Canada. Overnight ratings showed that the episode was watched by 6.2 million viewers on BBC One, the second most viewed show of the day behind The X-Factor and the second most-viewed Doctor Who episode in Series 6 behind "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"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...
". The episode also came in a number one on the BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
service the day after it aired as well as topping the requests on the service for the month of August with 0.99 million views. The episode also received an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 85. Official viewing figures from BARB came in at 8.10 million, and it was the 11th most watched programme of the week.
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Dan Martin, writing for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, was more pleased with "Let's Kill Hitler" as an opener than "A Good Man Goes to War" as a finale, and said it was "an energetic, timey-wimey tour de force with gags and flourishes like the car and the crop circles that still maintained a strong sense of what it was about". He also commended Alex Kingston's performance, saying that "she got to steal her every scene even more completely than usual, masterfully swerving the episode into a properly emotional final act". Martin later rated it the sixth best episode of the series, though the finale
The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
was not included in the list. He commented that it may be "devisive" amongst fans as it was criticised for not making sense to casual viewers of the programme, but Martin said he "loved it". Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
gave the episode four out of five stars, praising it for being "jam-packed full of ideas, twists, turns and wibbly-wobbly time-bending stuff" and "giddily thrilling entertainment, albeit rather exhausting". He also praised the way it allowed Rory to "finally find his niche".
Writing for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Neela Debnath praised the lighter mood and "great slapstick moments". Though she thought the identity of Mels was "obvious to everyone but the characters", she said that Toussaint-White was "excellent" and that "it was shame that she regenerated so early on because she brought a different energy to the character". Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
reviewer Patrick Mulkern, unlike Debnath, admitted that Mels' true identity "took [him] completely by surprise". He thought that a plot hole was generated in terms of what Melody did in between regenerating in 1969 and joining Amy and Rory, still as a child, 20 years later, but said that "the episode moves too fast for such quibbles to stick, and it is hilarious". Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called it "a marvelously energetic, funny, clever, noble mid-season start" and praised the acting of Smith, Gillan, Darvill, and particularly Kingston, as well as the emotion that developed in the episode.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Matt Risley gave the episode a score of 9 out of 10, saying that it was "arguably Moffat's most unashamedly fun Time Lord romp yet". While he praised the humour, plot, and character development, he was critical of the Teselecta; though they "score[ed] high on the sci-fi kitsch factor" they were "anything but memorable". SFX magazine critic Richard Edwards gave "Let's Kill Hitler" five out of five stars, thinking it "has to rank among the cleverest Who episodes Moffat has ever written". While he praised Kingston's performance, he wrote that "it's Matt Smith who steals the show, in one of his finest performances as the Doctor...he's utterly magnificent, whether acting the joker, or living out 32 minutes (ish) of death scene. The mix of optimism...and sadness is a tricky thing to pull off, yet Smith does it in a quintessentially Doctor way". Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
graded the episode as a B+, saying that he was "a bit divided". He praised Moffat's River Song arc, which made "the mind [reel]...in a good way", as well as the dialogue and "big concepts". On the other hand, he did not think the Teselecta's mission was developed and "as characters they seem kind of bland". What "really [troubled]" him was that it did not have the "impact" of some previous episodes and he thought it unlikely that Amy and Rory were willing to quickly accept that they were meant to raise their daughter as a school friend.
Assignment X gave a negative review of the episode: "Matt Smith is wonderful as always and I love his new coat. And there ends the positive part of this review." Jim Shelley of The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
was also negative about the episode, especially towards Alex Kingston, who appeared to be acting while "the rest of the cast play their parts perfectly naturally".
Gavin Fuller of The Daily Telegraph said that Moffat "delivered a pacy romp" and praised the concept of the Teselecta, but was disappointed with the "wasted opportunity" of the setting. He thought that the setting offered "great dramatic potential" but was "little more than window dressing for the story". He thought that using Hitler as a comic relief "struck a wrong note given the nature of the man and the regime he led" and that it was "an odd way to treat such an historically significant character". He was also critical of Moffat's "seeming keenness to kill the regular cast in some way, shape or form". Entertainment Weekly Tucker thought that it "didn't need Hitler to be an excellent [Doctor Who] episode".