It’s been a long wait, but the Doctor is back at last. In the first episode of the second half of Series 6, the search for Melody continues, but what the Doctor finds is not what anyone expected. But, was the Doctor’s return worth waiting for? Find out in my review. NOTE: THIS REVIEW WAS DELAYED DUE TO A POWER OUTAGE CAUSED BU HURRICANE IRENE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, INCLUDING A FULL PLOT SUMMARY FOR THE EPISODE. DO NOT READ IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

As with previous reviews, the plot summary will be in normal type and my comments will be in bold.

REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 6, Episode 8: Let’s Kill Hitler

In modern-day Leadworth, Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory(Arthur Darville) create a crop circle to gain the Doctor’s (Matt Smith) attention. This is a fantastically hilarious scene, with Amy directing Rory around the cornfield in a Mini-Cooper to spell out the word “DOCTOR.” He arrives with his TARDIS, but they are soon joined by Mels (Nina Toussaint-White), Amy and Rory’s childhood friend who knows of Amy’s “raggedy Doctor” and was responsible for Amy and Rory’s relationship; Amy had subsequently named her daughter Melody after Mels. The flashback scenes that show this feature Caitlin Blackwood returing as Young Amy, in addition to Ezekiel Wigglesworth as Young Rory and Maya Glace-Green as Young Mels. On the run from the police, She has, we are shown, always been a bit of a troublemaker, Mels brandishes a gun and coerces them to escape in the TARDIS and “kill Hitler”. Inside, she fires the gun, hitting the central console which fills the time machine with a poisonous gas and sends it out of control. The Doctor: “That was a clever line you idiot. Everyone can see that was a clever line.”

Back in 1938 Berlin, “Justice Vehicle 6019”, a Teselecta robot manned by a human crew from the future miniaturized inside it and able to take on the appearance of other humans, is seeking to deliver justice on war criminals like Adolf Hitler. The “tessellation” effect may be one of the coolest in the history of Doctor Who. They do this by using the Teselecta’s weapons to torture the criminal, near the end of their timeline. Having taken on the appearance of a Wehrmacht officer to meet with Hitler, they are surprised when the TARDIS crashes into Hitler’s office. So, for that matter, is Hitler. Hitler, already panicked, fires on the Teselecta, but his aim is poor and strikes Mels. So, Hitler,we now know, is a really lousy shot. As Rory locks Hitler in a cupboard, after DECKING him with an amazing right cross, the TARDIS crew finds Mels regenerating, I assume that you have figured out by now who Mels really is, becoming the woman they know as River Song—Melody as a grown woman. River, (Alex Kingston) having been trained by her captors to kill the Doctor, makes several attempts but the Doctor has taken precautions to nullify these. This scene is played out in a very cool “Matrix-style” scene reminiscent of the one in the Eleventh Hour. Instead, River kisses him and before disappearing into the streets of Berlin, reveals that her lipstick is a poison that will kill the Doctor within the hour and prevent his regeneration.  This, according to River, is “the cruelest warfare.” The Doctor orders Amy and Rory to follow River, passing her his sonic screwdriver, while he returns to the TARDIS to try to discover a cure. The Teselecta, aware that the Doctor’s death on 22 April 2011 is a “fixed point in time” (“The Impossible Astronaut”), instead follow Amy and Rory in chasing down River, having identified her as their most wanted war criminal, responsible for the Doctor’s death.

Amy and Rory chase River to a café at the Hotel Adlon, but the Teselecta arrives, bringing them aboard as allies, and takes on Amy’s appearance, allowing the robot to get close to River to attack her. Before they can complete the attack, the TARDIS materialises; the Doctor, now inexplicable dressed in a tuxedo and top hat, spurred on by the TARDIS’ “voice interface” hologram of Amy’s younger self, Amelia, This is another great scene, where the Doctor tries to choose the holographic avatar, scrolling through a series of avatars, including Rose, Martha and Donna. He finally asks for someone ” who I haven’t screwed up, finally getting little Amelia Pond. The Doctor “Little Amelia Pond, before I got it all wrong.” has found time to dress for the period and stops the attack, now aware of the Teselecta’s nature. The Doctor discovers all this using a sonic cane, quite possibly one of the coolest devices ever created. The captain speaks to the Doctor, informing him that River has been trained to kill him by the Silence, a religious order that believes that “when the oldest question hidden in plain sight” is asked, silence will fall across the universe. FINALLY, some answers about the Silence. When the crew refuse to back down from attacking River, Amy uses the sonic screwdriver to turn the robot’s “antibodies”—its security robots—against the crew. I love these little robots. I hope they make talking toys of them. “Welcome. You are unauthorized. Your death will now be implemented.”  “Please remain calm while your life is extinguished.” “You will experience a tingling sensation, then death.” The crew power down the robot and are teleported away by a mothership, leaving Amy and Rory to face the antibodies.

The Doctor finds himself too weak from the poison’s effects to pilot the TARDIS to rescue his companions; River is inspired by the Doctor’s sympathy, and finds herself guided by the TARDIS itself to pilot the ship, and rescues Amy and Rory in time. On returning to the café, the Doctor whispers something in River’s ear before he passes away. River asks Amy who River Song is; Amy uses the Teselecta to show River her form stored in the robot’s database of who she is to become. With this, River sacrifices her remaining regenerations to bring the Doctor back to life, and passes out. “Hello Sweetie.” The Doctor, Amy, and Rory take her to a hospital in the far future, leaving the TARDIS-shaped diary as a gift by her bedside, and depart. More pieces of the puzzle filled in. Later, River is shown becoming an archaeologist so she can find the Doctor herself. Oh My God, MORE Answers!? Are we sure Steven Moffat wrote this episode? Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor has discovered the date of his death from the records aboard the Teselecta, but does not reveal this knowledge to Amy or Rory. Now, the Doctor’s keeping a secret.

The Verdict: This episode is a welcome return for the TARDIS team, and is masterfully written by Steven Moffat. It has the prefect balance of humor and drama, and does a good job of showing up where we left off, before going on with the story. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darville again do a superb job of bringing our favorite time travelers to life. Matt Smith in particular shows us an extremely helpless and vulnerable Doctor, something we’re not used to seeing very often. But, the real star of this Episode is Alex Kingston, who is given the opportunity to play River Song in a different manner than ever before.  And, she RUNS with it, turning in one of the most amazing performances in the history of the show. In addition, this is the episode where the big picture finally starts to come together, with not only the revelations concerning River, but, at last, answers about the Silence. Of course, in the Steven Moffat tradition, however, these answers lead to more questions. But, we can at least take solace in the fact that, in five weeks, we will have at least most, if not all, of the answers. Hang on, this is going to be a wild six week ride.