Let's Kill Hitler
"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 manned 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