"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 was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Richard Senior. In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) crash land in 1938 Berlin when the TARDIS is hijacked by Amy and Rory's childhood friend, Mels (Nina Toussaint-White). They accidentally save Adolf Hitler (Albert Welling) who was scheduled for torture by the Teselecta, a time-travelling justice department. When shot by Hitler, Mels unexpectedly regenerates into River Song, the grown version of Amy and Rory's child who had been taken away from them. As River is a criminal herself due to her future execution of the Doctor, the Teselecta pursue her instead, whilst the Doctor faces death from her poisoned lipstick. Moffat intended for "Let's Kill Hitler" to be more lighthearted than the series opener, and he intended to make fun of Hitler. The episode concludes many elements of River Song's arc. The episode was filmed around March and April 2011, although the opening sequence, set in a cornfield, was filmed much later in the final scenes shot for the series as the production crew had to wait for the corn to grow. Much of Berlin was filmed in Swansea, while the Temple of Peace in Cardiff was also used as a location. In the UK, the episode attracted 8.10 million viewers, the second most-watched episode of the series. Critical reception was mostly positive, though some were critical of the Teselecta and various aspects of the setting and characters.
Plot
Prequel On 15 August 2011, the BBC released a short "prequel" to "Let's Kill Hitler", written by Steven Moffat. In the prequel, Amy calls the Eleventh 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.
Synopsis In modern-day Leadworth, Amy and Rory create a crop circle to gain the Doctor's attention via its newspaper coverage. He arrives with his TARDIS, but Amy and Rory's childhood friend Mels coerces them to travel back in time to "kill Hitler". Inside the TARDIS, Mels fires a gun, damaging the TARDIS and sending it out of control. Back in 1938 Berlin, the Teselecta, a shape-changing, human-looking robot piloted by a human crew from the future miniaturised inside it, is seeking to deliver justice on major criminals from the past by torturing them. The TARDIS crashes into Hitler's office as the Teselecta tortures Hitler and knocks over the Teselecta. Hitler shoots at the Teselecta, but accidentally hits Mels instead. As Rory locks Hitler in a cupboard, Mels regenerates, becoming the woman the Doctor knows as River Song. River, having been trained by her captors to kill the Doctor, kisses him with a poisonous lipstick which will kill the Doctor within the hour. The Doctor orders Amy and Rory to follow River, while he returns to the TARDIS. The Teselecta, aware that the Doctor's death in 2011 is a "fixed point in time", follows River, having identified her as a war criminal who is responsible for the Doctor's death.
The dying Doctor, having become aware of the Teselecta's nature, stops the Teselecta from punishing River at the Hotel Adlon. The captain, Carter, speaks to the Doctor, informing him that River has been trained to kill him by the Silence, a religious order that believes that silence will fall when "the oldest question in the universe" is asked. Amy forces the crew to abandon the Teselecta. Amy, Rory, and River find the Doctor near death; the Doctor asks River to find "River Song" and give her a message, then whispers something in her ear before he dies. River, who at this point still only knows herself as Melody Pond, asks Amy who River Song is. Amy uses the Teselecta records to show her who she will 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 a diary as a gift by her bedside, and depart. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor has discovered the date of his death from the records aboard the Teselecta.
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