Let's Kill Hitler (2)

Season 6, Episode 8, Aired

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8.7
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The TARDIS crashlands in Berlin in the 1930s and the Doctor suffers the ultimate betrayal while facing the greatest war criminal of all time.

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Fan Episode Reviews (12)

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  • Too much stuff, too little time.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By noelveiga, Feb 24, 2012
    So here's the thing: I like almost everything that happens in this episode. Conceptually, it's all pretty good. There are great lines here, there are clever sci-fi and time travelling touches, there are a couple of great character moments, too.
    But, really, almost none of it works because there is just no time to develop. I mean, come on, be honest, didn't you think there was something off with Mels' character? How she came out of nowhere despite being a major element of Rory and Amy's life? Even the Doctor points out the plot hole. Likewise for The Doctor's plight. It's too conveniently contrived because nobody has set up a type of poison that will block his regeneration. Or the whole regeneration transfer, for that matter.
    This episode feels like it contains a season's worth of plotting and none of the emtional payoff to go with any of it. Which is a shame, because last season was about the opposite, all emotional payoff with no plot buildup. Spread across both seasons in a better way, the events of the last couple of years would have been a classic rollercoaster ride. As it is, these things will be remembered by nerds when discussing canon, but don't make for great storytelling.
    There's an upside, though. Besides one or two little things, like why River Song is in jail and whether or not The Doctor will really be killed by her (he won't but, you know) there's very little overarching plot left to go through, so maybe we can go back to "monster of the week" episodes for a bit. Frankly, Doctor Who is at its best when travelling around different places having adventures. This whole two seasons-wide story thing has me a bit tired.
    So not a bad episode and a lot of good ideas but not great execution. I've seen worse in Moffat's run.moreless

  • Overall okay episode

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Mew_Mokuba, Oct 10, 2011
    The only thing I really intruly loved about the episode was when the Doctor asked for his interface program to activate and showed a picture of him, He's all "No, no, no show me someone I like." Naturally I'm immediately thinking Amy as everything in the past seems as if it never existed. But was shocked to see Rose Tyler and he's "Great give me guilt", then Martha, "Great more guilt, then lastly Donna and he's "MORE Guilt! Show me someone who I haven't screwed up yet." I liked that he said yet and instead of Amy it was little Amelia.
    The thing I found confusing was he was poisoned and...? What he had no way to counteract it? The 10th Doctor was poisoned with cyanide and yet he knew exactly how to counter it. So your saying as big as the TARDIS is and as much technology he has that neither he nor the computer could find a way for him to counteract it? Agatha Christie told the 10th Doctor that cyanide had no cure but he told her he could expel it. But if no way was to be had the why didn't the regeneration cycle begin then? Then again I've always felt this Doctor lost a lot of brain cells and common sense the 9th and 10th Doctor had. Sorry the truth hurts.
    So back to this ep, it makes no sense as to why the 11th wouldn't have regenerated. You can't say well he's out of regenerations cause that doesn't work. In moon/astronaut its established that he's at least 100 or so years older than he is now when he was shot by the astronaut the regeneration process took over. So why then and not now when he's poisoned?
    I also don't understand why if in moon/astronaut if River was the child in the space suit then why didn't she do something? Did she conveniently forget "Oh, wow looky there, that's me the day...the day I killed the Doctor."
    But this episode had major flaws, one being after River poisoned the Doctor why did she eventually change her mind and save him. It never made sense. What did the TARDIS shock her into being good or what?moreless

  • Why is Saturday so far away? If only I had a Tardis...

    10
    "Perfect"
    By erhabori, Sep 15, 2011
    Great episode. I can see where people would get miffed with it though. Its true that the character of Mel felt a bit forced and the Reveal of River Song felt a bit rushed. I would have liked to see another character capable of regeneration stick around. However, we already know that River dies so clearly this had to be her last form.
    Despite all this it was an awesome episode. I went into it a little relunctantly. Except for the Van Gough episode, I don't really enjoy episodes that centre around a historical figure. Considering Moffat wrote the episode I should have known better. His bait and switch with the episode's plot was completely unexpected.
    ***Spoiler*** From the moment River said she killed a man, I think it was pretty obvious that man was the Doctor right?
    Favorite bits: Rory gay :) The scene with the interface and the scene where the Doctor crawls towards the Tardis.
    I didn't think Matt Smith could get better but Jeez he's turned out to be an awesome Doctor. The one complaint I used to have about him was that he didn't put enough heart in his scenes. Tennant used to make me cry just with a look. That has changed big time this season and Smith is killing it. David who?
    Oh and Mew_Mokuba, the reason he didn't regenerate is because the poison blocked his ability to do so, not because he's lost brain cells.moreless

  • So many perfectly good plot elements wasted.

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Nucleomancer, Sep 03, 2011
    I really don't get this, River Song's character is built up so slowly during the last seasons. It took ages to begin hinting at River Songs relation to the doctor and that was great.
    Now, in a single episode, Rivers whole youth, the identity of the young girl regenerating in the alley and the entire backstory of how River Song was brainwashed by "The Silence" as well as the fact that she CAN regenerate is wasted away "just" to save the Doctor because it isn't his time. Think about it, there have already been myriad instances where the Doctor survived without having to resort to regeneration. (Even "fish fingers and custard" could have provided a useful antidote for just about 200 years, right in time for the doctor to be "killed".)
    Think of the potential of having a second regenerating character added to the series with the econo/technical advantage of switching actors for free is gone in a single episode.
    It feels to me that someone higher up in the tree has pulled the plug on River because she cannot be allowed to become official Doctor Who canon. :( The store could have kept going for years with the Doctor getting older and her getting younger and eventually either one regenerating if absolutely necessary.moreless

  • Who could have seen this coming? Well.. anybody dedicated to finding out the truths of this season! Ha ha!

    8.5
    "Great"
    By 10thdoctorfan, Sep 03, 2011
    Oh, wow! Here we are again! The Doctor has been out of Amy and Rory's lives for a month looking for thier daughter Melody Pond/River Song.
    We meet the best freind of the couple? Bzzzzz Wrong! It's River Song in her second incarnation.
    Okay, something River said about her previous life doesn;t make sense. If she started out a toddleras Mels, wouldn;t she be older than she appeared in 2011?
    Then again, River said that she could reverse or excel her aging in an incarnation.
    So, the Silence is a religion instead of a species (or it could be both) and they want Silence to Fall. Anybody rememebring the Day of the Moon?They told Amy that she would bring the silence and theres a question that she wanted to ask the Doctor in "Space". Anybody else picking up on this or ist just me?
    So, the Doctor left River the diary to write their adventures in, huh? So, rightfuly, the Doctor coudl have taken the book at the end ofForest of the Dead and learned about the encounters he was going to have with her.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (3)

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    • In this episode Mels comments "You said guns didn't work in this place! You said we're in a state of temporal grace!". This is a reference to a plot device from the original series in which weapons could not be discharged within the TARDIS. This was first mentioned in "The Hand of Fear (3)." In later episodes this plot device was abandoned such as "Earthshock."

    • Hitler shoots Mels, but at no point do we see blood (which Rory refers to) or even a hole in her dress.

    • Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, and Donna Noble all make an appearance as holographic images as the Doctor was selecting a voice interface.

  • QUOTES (16)

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    • Mels: (about the Doctor) You said he was funny. You never said he was hot.

    • The Doctor: Sorry. Hello. Doctor not following this, Doctor very lost. You never said I was hot.

    • Young Mels: But how can he travel in time? Young Amelia: Because he's got a time machine, stupid! Young Rory: (comes through door) I thought we were playing hide and seek! I've been hiding for hours! Young Amelia: Well, we just haven't found you yet.

    • The Doctor: You shot it! You shot my TARDIS! You shot the console! Mels: It's your fault! The Doctor: How is it my fault? Mels: You said guns didn't work in this place! You said we're in a state of temporal grace! The Doctor: Oh, that was a clever lie, you idiot! Anyone could've told it was a clever lie!

    • Female Teacher: Mels, did you not understand the question? I'm asking you why the Titanic sank. Mels: Because the Doctor didn't save it. Except you don't know about the Doctor because you're stupid.

    • Mels: Yeah, I've heard a lot about you. I'm their best mate. Doctor: Then why don't I know you? I've danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant, the men were a bit shy. Mels: I don't do weddings.

    • Mels: I need out of here now.
      The Doctor: Anywhere in particular?
      Mels: Let's see. You got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell, let's kill Hitler.

    • Amy: Where are we?
      The Doctor: A room.
      Rory: What room?
      The Doctor: I don't know what room. I haven't memorized every room in the universe, I had yesterday off.

    • Amy: Okay, Doctor, explain what is happening, please. The Doctor: Mels. Short for... Mels: Melody. Amy: Yeah, I named my daughter after her. The Doctor: You named your daughter after your daughter.

    • Robot Antibody: Welcome. You will experience a tingling sensation and then death.

    • Rory: Is anybody else finding this day just a bit difficult? I'm getting this sort of banging in my head.
      Amy: Yeah, I think that's Hitler in the cupboard.
      Rory: That's not helping.

    • Rory: What's wrong with you, what's she done to you?
      The Doctor: Poisoned me. But I'm fine. Well, no, I'm dying. But I've got a plan.
      Amy: What plan?
      The Doctor: Not dying.

    • German Officer: What are you doing here?
      River: Well, I was on my way to this gay Gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, "Gosh, the Third Reich's a bit rubbish. I think I'll kill the Fuhrer." Who's with me?

    • Rory: Okay. Okay, I'm trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I'm really not trying to see this as a metaphor.
      Amy: How can we be in here?
      Rory: Umm...
      Amy: How do we fit?
      Rory: Miniaturization ray.
      Amy: How would you know that?
      Rory: Well, there was a ray and we were miniaturized.
      Amy: All right.

    • River: Are you serious?
      The Doctor: Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious. Rule 27, you might want to write these down.

    • The Doctor: I'm not dead.
      Amy Robot: You're dying.
      The Doctor: Well, at least I'm not a time-traveling, shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people. Which I've got to admit, I didn't see coming.

  • NOTES (2)

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    • This episode was written back in February 2011 but the opening scene posed an logistical challenge for the crew as they had to wait until July 2011 to film it, in order to have a field full of corn. This left the filming quite close to the transmission date.

    • Injoke: In this episode the Doctor is poisoned by what the TARDIS voice interface refers to as the poison of the Judas Tree. Which alludes to an episode of Jonathan Creek, entitled "The Judas Tree." This episode had a significant Doctor Who element, since it guest-starred Paul McGann, the Eighth Doctor, and Sheridan Smith who plays the Eighth Doctor's assistant Lucy Miller in the Big Finish Audio episodes of Doctor Who.

  • ALLUSIONS (0)

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