 "Let’s Kill Hitler" is the first story of the second half of Season Thirty Two (New Series 6) – which had a break during the summer months. The first half of this season concluded on the 4th June with "A Good Man Goes to War".
The prequel to this story was also written by Steven Moffat and premiered on the 15th August 2011. This prequel is the fourth that has been released. Previous prequels were released for "The Impossible Astronaut", "The Curse of the Black Spot" and "A Good Man Goes to War". We also get to see The Doctor's first appearance in a prequel.
This prequel has Amy calling The Doctor and leaving a message for him on the TARDIS' answer phone. She is heard begging him to find her daughter, 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 do so.
Although this is the first full story of Doctor Who directed by Richard Senior, he previously directed the mini-story "Time/Space" (also written by Steven Moffat) and for the Doctor Who intro that opened the January 2011 NTA awards.
This story and "The Wedding of River Song", the final story of this season, were the final stories recorded for this season.
Recording for Season Thirty Two (New Series 6) was completed on Monday 11th July 2011 when the opening moments of this story were recorded involving Amy, Rory and The Doctor in the cornfield.
The cornfield sequences were shot about twenty miles outside Cardiff. While central Cardiff doubles for 1938 Berlin. 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 2010 story "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 motorbikes through Berlin was cut from the filming schedule due to budget issues.
It has been revealed that whilst filming the sequence in the cornfield it was discovered that some 'point of view' shots taken, as the Mini careers through the cornfield, worked better when the car engine was off. Several members of the production team therefore volunteered to push the vehicle around the meadow as the camera (attached to the side of the car) rolled.
Mels is played at one point by Nina Toussaint-White – who is better known from EastEnders where she played Syd Chambers in 2009. She's also faced monsters in a 2009 episode of Primeval (playing Melanie) and starred as Tanya in Daughters.
The car Mels steals is a vintage Chevrolet Corvette. While the car driven by Amy and Rory is a Mini.
During the flashback scene, when Amy, Rory and Mels were younger, mention is made of Mels stealing a bus. This is not the first time a bus has been stolen in Doctor Who as Lady Christina de Souza, when faced with the prospect of arrest at the close of "Planet of the Dead", made off with a London double-decker!
During the moments after her initial regeneration into the River Song she re-enacts the iconic scene between Mrs Robinson (played by Anne Bancroft) and Benjamin (played by Dustin Hoffman) from the movie The Graduate, calling out to The Doctor ‘Hello, Benjamin!’. The Doctor refers to River Song as Mrs Robinson in "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon".
One amusing scene is during the sequence where Melody Pond/River Song is trying to kill The Doctor and he covertly switches a gun for a banana, leading River Song to pull the banana thinking it was a gun. The Ninth Doctor previously did this to Captain Jack Harkness in the 2009 story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances".
River Song has previously used a type of lipstick to her advantage (see the 2010 stories "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" and "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang"). This time however, she uses a poisonous version to try and kill The Doctor. This poison was taken from a Judas Tree. The Judas Tree is a deciduous tree prized for its bright display of flowers, usually pink or purple in colour. It's also the title of a novel by A.J. Cronin about a doctor, tragic mothers and lost love. It is also the title of an episode of Jonathan Creek that featured Paul McGann (who is better known as the Eighth Doctor) and Ian McNeice (who played Winston Churchill in the 2010 story "Victory of the Daleks").
When The Doctor verges on death in the TARDIS he uses a voice interface. After The Doctor rejects a projection of himself he asks for someone he likes. He is then shown holograms of former companions Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). He rejects all three projections on the basis of increasingly strong feelings of guilt. The Doctor feels guilty for what he did to Rose, feels even guiltier for what he did to Martha and ‘even more guilt’ for what he did to Donna. The fifth projection is that of Amelia Pond.
This is the first time in the Eleventh Doctor’s era that companions of the previous two Doctors have been mentioned or seen. It is also the first time they have been seen since the 2009/2010 Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time". The projections of Rose and Donna are from publicity images taken during Season Thirty (New Series 4), whereas the projection of Martha is from a publicity image for Season Twenty Nine (New Series 3).
Young Amelia Pond 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 Season Thirty One (New Series 5).
The TARDIS's projection of Amelia mentions fish fingers and custard – This comes from when the Eleventh Doctor was seen eating this combination of food when they first met in the 2010 story "The Eleventh Hour".
It is revealed that the temporal grace in the TARDIS, which supposedly prevents weapons to be fired, is said, by The Doctor, to be a ‘clever lie’. This part of the TARDIS was previously alluded to by the Fourth Doctor in the 1976 story "The Hand of Fear".
The Teselecta data console states The Doctor's TARDIS is a ‘Type 40 Mk 3 TT Capsule’.
At one point The Doctor is heard making the ‘Doctor Who?’ running joke.
The Eleventh Doctor is seen wearing a long dark-green military overcoat for the first time in this story. He is also seen with a sonic cane.
The Doctor mentions ‘fish vampires’- a reference to the 2010 story "The Vampires of Venice".
Rory is seen punching two people in the face to knock them to the ground. Rory previously did this to The Doctor in the 2010 story "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang".
The Doctor is heard telling Melody Pond/River Song ‘Rule one: The Doctor lies’. One of the first things The Doctor hears River Song say is ‘I always lie’ (see the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead").
The Doctor speaks about Melody Pond/River Song at Demon’s Run (see "A Good Man Goes to War").
This story alludes to several previous elements of River Song, several which include ontological paradoxes. Melody Pond/River Song reveals herself as the young girl seen regenerating in New York at the end of "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon" before she became Mels (short for Melody). Ironically Mels' name would then be used in turn by Amy to name her daughter.
When the German soldiers shoot Melody Pond/River Song her state of regeneration enables her to survive this attack. This was due to her still being within the first 15 hours of her regeneration. The 2009 Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion" established the fact that a newly regenerated body possesses incredible powers. This was demonstrated when the Tenth Doctor was able to recover from having his hand severed while fighting a Sycorax.
River Song’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". Later, when regenerating into the form of River Song, she learns of this name from The Doctor and Amy.
The Doctor also introduces River Song to the concept of ‘spoilers’ of her future timeline, a phrase River Song has used in previous stories.
River reveals she learned how to pilot the TARDIS from the TARDIS itself. This ability is alluded to in "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" where River Song explains she ‘had lessons from the very best’ (which The Doctor assumed she was referring to himself).
River Song’s TARDIS-coloured diary (that was first seen in "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead") makes its first chronological appearance in this story and is a gift from The Doctor himself.
It is revealed that The Silence (who were first seen in "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon") are not a species, but a religious order who believe silence will fall when ‘the oldest question in the universe’ is asked. They are also revealed to be responsible for training Melody Pond to assassinate The Doctor.
The layout of the Teselacta's bridge is very similar to that seen on the Enterprise and other Federation Starships from the television series Star Trek.
When The Doctor reveals that the crew of the Teselecta use a compression field to miniaturise themselves into the ship, he tells them to watch what they eat, referring to The Slitheen's gas exchange. (see the 2009 Ninth Doctor story "Aliens of London/World War Three").
When first detecting that there are life forms inside the Teselecta, The Doctor is heard to wonder if it is bigger on the inside.
The TARDIS was previously able to materialise inside a smaller object, containing miniaturised life forms in a compression field, in the 1973 Third Doctor story "Carnival of Monsters".
At one point, the Teselecta's operators reference Rasputin.
The Teselecta crew are heard to mention something in Kennedy's timeline is not a fixed point in time. It is highly likely that this is a reference to the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy (an event witnessed by the Ninth Doctor). The concept of ‘fixed points in time’ has been explored before, including the Tenth Doctor stories "The Fires of Pompeii" (2008) and "The Waters of Mars" (2009).
The Teselecta crew consider River Song to be a wanted dangerous criminal. In previous stories River Song has been shown to be imprisoned in her personal future for killing ‘the best man she ever knew’.
At the end of this story we see River Song asking Professor Candy, of The Luna University, to become an archaeologist so as to find The Doctor. The previous stories, featuring River Song that take place later in her personal timeline show that she has acquired these degrees. Both Professor Candy and The Luna University appeared previously in Steven Moffat’s short story "Continuity Errors" (that was published in Decalog 3 – Consequences in 1996), which showed Professor Candy as having himself conducted research concerning The Doctor.
It is mentioned twice that River Song uses her remaining regenerations to revive The Doctor, implying that she has a fixed amount. It is though unclear whether The Doctor then gained all her remaining regenerations or if he still has only two remaining.
Like River Song giving up her remaining regenerations for The Doctor, he has been shown prepared to do this to save his companions in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Mawdryn Undead".
This story contains the following errors: When Adolf Hitler shoots Mels in the stomach there is no blood or bullet hole on her dress when she stands up just before she regenerates; The Doctor is seen switching off the TARDIS Monitor showing his data, that he took from the robot. However, the next camera view shows the monitor is still on, showing the data and then the next camera change shows the monitor displaying the default screensaver.
Following on after this story, on BBC3, was the eighth chapter of the sixth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "River Runs Wild" it was presented by Russell Tovey and looked into the making of this story.
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The Firsts:
The first story of the Autumn half of Season Thirty Two (New Series 6).
The first story in the Eleventh Doctor’s era that companions of the previous two Doctors have been mentioned or seen.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Richard Senior.
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(Position = 7 out of 13)
(Position = 151 out of 241)
