Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy), Arthur Darvill (Rory)
Guest Cast
Alex Kingston (River Song), Albert Welling (Adolf Hitler), Caitlin Blackwood (young Amelia), Nina Toussaint-White (Mels), Damian Kell (Dominicus), Maya Glace-Green (Young Mels), Ezekiel Wigglesworth (Young Rory), Philip Rham (Zimmerman), Richard Dillane (Carter), Amy Cudden (Anita), Davood Ghadami (Jim), Ella Kenion (Harriet), Albert Welling (Adolf Hitler), Mark Killeen (German officer), Paul Bentley (Professor Candy), Eva Alexander (Nurse), Tor Clark (Female Teacher)
CREW
Written by
Steven Moffat
Directed by
Richard Senior
Produced by
Marcus Wilson
SYPNOSIS
In the desperate search for Melody Pond, the TARDIS crash lands in 1930s Berlin, bringing The Doctor face to face with the greatest war criminal in the Universe, and Hitler. The Doctor must teach his adversaries that time travel has responsibilities , and in so doing, learns a harsh lesson in the cruellest warfare of all.
The episode takes place in Nazi Germany and features a motorbike scene with an Amy duplicate, and the TARDIS crashing into Hitler’ office. There’ a new monster called the Teselecta, a robot that goes back in time to try and right wrongs of the past.
NOTES
A week and a day before this episode was broadcast in the US and two days before it was broadcast in the UK, the Torchwood episode Immortal Sins was broadcast. In it, a brain parasite attempted to rewrite history by enabling the Third Reich to win the Second World War.
This is the first episode of the autumn half of the series. The spring half concluded on 4 June with A Good Man Goes To War.
This is the second time that companions of the previous two Doctors have been mentioned or seen in a proper episode since The End of Time, Rose Tyler was previously seen (briefly) in The Lodger.
The images of all the former companions are taken from publicity shots. The projections of Rose and Donna are publicity images from Series 4. That of Martha is from a publicity image for Series 3.
The Doctor makes the “Doctor Who?” running joke.
The car Mels steals is a Chevrolet Corvette, third generation (68-82). It is the same model of car featured in the film Apollo 13 and the mini-series From the Earth to the Moon.
The layout of the Teselecta’s bridge is reminiscent of that of the Enterprise and other Federation starships from the television series Star Trek.
The TARDIS’ voice interface tells The Doctor he will be dead in thirty-two minutes. Coincidentally in-universe, the invitation the future Doctor sent out to everyone in The Impossible Astronaut, to meet at Lake Silencio for The Doctor’s death, was for 4:30pm and according to the biographical information The Doctor is shot during regeneration and killed at 5:02pm.
The “thirty-two minutes” line may also be a more complicated reference to the series as a whole. Series 6 is actually the thirty-second season of Doctor Who, if the classic series is included.
Additionally, one meaning of the word “minutes” is”an official record of the proceedings of a meeting”. Therefore, the statement “You will be dead in thirty-two minutes” can also be interpreted to mean that at the conclusion of Season 32, the official record will show that The Doctor is dead.
The hand gun that Mels pulls out is an IMI Jericho 941.
Harriet mentions the Teselecta having transformed into Rasputin. Tom Baker played Rasputin in the movie Nicholas and Alexandra.
In Mels’ first scene in the episode, her face cannot be seen due to the sun’s glare behind her. She moves her body to block the sun and her face is shown, much like the first scene of River in The Impossible Astronaut.
Melody Pond says, “Hello Benjamin”, to The Doctor. The Doctor previously claimed Scotland Yard’s code name for her was Mrs Robinson. (The Impossible Astronaut) Both reference the movie The Graduate, in which a younger man, Benjamin, is seduced by an older woman, Mrs Robinson.
In the Leadworth Chronicle, a story with the headline “BACK OF THE NECK” can be seen. This is a reference to the weakness of the Sontarans. (The Poison Sky)
This episode introduces a new article of clothing for the Eleventh Doctor that he continues to wear for most of the remainderof Series 6 – a green, double-breasted moleskin coat with six pockets and six gold buttons.
