"Let's Kill Hitler"

...and as the nights lengthen, Doctor Who returns with the appealing prospect of a darkening sky outside when you watch it. "Let's Kill Hitler" certainly has an attention-grabbing title but, thankfully, Moffat gives Hitler little more than a walk-on part and concentrates on the meat of the story- because, despite the many hugely entertaining accoutrements that the story possesses, this is the story of how Melody Pond became River Song. One question raised in "A Good Man Goes to War" is very swiftly answered- Melody can indeed regenerate, and the question over whether one can regenerate into another ethnicity is answered, as if it needed to be (the fact that there are people who can accept that regeneration can change height, dentition, bone structure, ear-lobe pattern, eye colour etc, but make an issue of race is a bit odd, to say the least). In any case, before Alex Kingston returns, we are given the entertaining character of Mels, the childhood friend of Amy and Rory that we never saw before (did she insert herself into the time-line?) Nina Toussaint-White plays her as a wild child, with a seeming lack of responsibility that may be something more. With a winning smile and a semi-automatic, she hijacks the TARDIS, taking her to Berlin in 1938 where, in a tussle involving Hitler, she regenerates into the familiar form of Alex Kingston.

It is truly wondrous how Moffat’s arsenal of tricks are used to build real character. We have the wonderful montage where we see Mels growing up alongside Amy and Rory. It is a funny and charming sequence in its own right, but it shows us how Melody consciously sought out her parents so that she could be brought up by them- the parental roles that Amy and Rory take fulfill more than comedic purposes. It turns out that Melody was bred as the Doctor’s bespoke assassin but, as in "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead", it takes one whisper to change all that and Melody’s first act as River is to give her remaining regenerations to save the Doctor- just as her last act will be to give up life itself for him. Moffat conveys all of this in scenes that are exhilarating and fun, yet no less deep and affecting.

As for the other accoutrements, we have the wonderful idea of the Teselecta, a craft that can disguise itself as a person that is in the service of an agency that seeks to punish the evil by literally giving them Hell in the last moments of their lives. Richard Senior’s sterling work in the director’s chair brings many nuances into an already nuanced script. The scene where the Teselecta takes on the form of a Wehrmacht officer, there are shades of both Terminator 2 and The Numskulls- something which seems ridiculous and yet works beautifully. The antibodies in the Teselecta are wonderfully low-tech in their execution, yet no less effective- but they do not reflect a poor production by any means, with a great reconstruction of 1938 Berlin and very confident special effects.

Senior, of course has a wonderful cast to work with. Darvill and Gillan continue to astonish, but it is the two time travellers who romp home with the prize. Alex Kingston’s performance is outstanding, lighting up the screen with every scene. However, the star of the show is not to be outshone. He is as funny as he ever was, but the scenes where the dying Doctor is crawling towards the TARDIS in order to save his friends shows what an incredibly powerful actor Matt is.

There is a danger of "Let's Kill Hitler" losing its way amidst its byzantine intricacies. The point is, however, that it doesn’t, with Moffat proving that plot does not have to be at the expense of character and vice versa. We know the characters more and our appetite is whetted for revelations that are to come- and judging by the form so far, we are in no danger of disappointment.

NEXT: "Night Terrors"