Radio Free Skaro #269 – Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler?
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17 Comments on “Radio Free Skaro #269 – Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler?”
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Doctor Who: Radio Free Skaro 
The “guilt” thing in the TARDIS with the “voice interface” was confusing I agree. But after having watched a second time, I think what’s going on there is that the Doctor is that the Doctor is saying “guilt” because the image of Rose is what’s making him feel guilty. Then as we go through the images of Martha and then Donna the Doctor only feels “more guilt” and then finally asks the TARDIS to show him someone whose life he hasn’t “ruined” yet. So it shows him Amelia. Seems like one of those “I need some inspiration to fight the pain and go on living” scenes, though I wonder if the significance of “Fish fingers and custard” might pay off later somehow? Seemed out of place.
I took it to mean the opposite, that the Doctor was seeking more guilt as incentive to fix things, as odd as it seemed. Yay for artistic interpretation!
There were two things that felt out of place or just off about this otherwise fascinating episode. Firt, as many other mentioned, the charachter of Mels. The introduction of her character didn’t even have to be a proper intro, maybe just show a shot of Amy and/or Rory back before the Doctor and place her in the background or show her in a photo on Amy’s wall. Second, the over-abundance of information in this episode. I’ve only watched it once, but having so much going on with the character twists really made it feel like Señor Moffat had so many twists to make and break but only so much time, and he still needed things to happen on screen to make it a proper Who story, not just a wordy unweaving of his intricate story-line. Don’t get me wrong, I love where The Moff has brought DW and I look forward to every clue he drops/reveals, but I don’t have a DVR and my brain hurts from not being able to hit pause every once in a while. But overall, top notch episode, I love watching this tangled web unweave and getting closer to “the answer”. I also totally agree with the abundance of quotable lines from this episode.
Oh, and I also see things a little bit differently on the “Rory and Amy raising River/Melody” front; it almost seems as if it’s the other way around. Mels gives them the nudge to get the relationship rolling, River helps Amy remember the Doctor to get the Universe back in order at the end of Series 5, and River also helped Amy out with the Angels. It almost seems as those River feels guilty about nearly killing the Doctor (their close friend) and realizing that without both Amy and Rory and the Doctor, River/Melody would not exist, period. It’s kind of cool to see how time can flip a parent/child relationship.
For the first time in a few years I only watched the latest Who one time and thought it was pretty weak and obvious …tonight I got my weekly fix of Radio Free Skaro. It seems that Chris ( my guru !!!?) enjoyed it …so I will watch it again right now, to me it was superficial and a bit cheesey, but I am sure I am wrong !!!
Yep….I was totally wrong ! Watched LKH again tonight with my daughter and we really enjoyed it. To be fair, she enjoyed it on first viewing. I am 44 and she is 6…we are both big fans and our earliest memories of the show come from when we were around 4 years old. These days I need to watch an episode at least twice before I “get it”….my daughter and I think every other 6 year old gets it straight away.
Here is a thought…. if Melody/River used up all her regenerations by saving the Doctor, does that mean that the Doc now has an extra 10 plus regeneratations available to him ? Or does the Grand Moff merely need to bring back the rest of the Timelords and they can offer the Doc a new set of regeneratations a la The Master ?
Here is a further thought…if the Doctor gets a new set of regeneratations from the child of the TARDIS perhaps this has an effect on his previous incarnations and the 2013 series involves him interacting with distorted versions of his previous selves.
This would then allow 13 episodes of which the first 12 involved ( 1 to 3 ) other actors playing the doctor and then ( 4 to 10 ) still living actors playing a more mature version of their Doctor.
Er Mr. Moffat if you pinch this idea…. I am happy for you to pay me a couple of million pounds in compensation…..alternatively a 3 bean wrap and a nice cup of Earl Grey Tea and half hour chat would be brill…..what the hell we are both about the same age so we could just talk about Blake’s 7 instead !!!
I hate postulating when possible but wasn’t Handy Doctor said to be human despite getting regeneration energy? Also, we don’t know how many regenerations Melody had left; we don’t know if she had 12 (or 507) to begin with let alone how many were used (it’s possible some were used before we see the child at the start of the series).
Besides, when/if it comes time to extend the regeneration limit there’s no shortage of ways it could be done. Bring back Timothy Dalton to give The Doctor a whole new regeneration cycle or something.
(Seriously, no, don’t do that, anything to do with The End Of Time needs to be forgotten, buried and built over.)
Regeneration limits ended when the Time Lords died out. End of.*
*to quote Chris
I don’t think there were any plot holes concerning Melody seeming to age so little between New York 1970 and growing up with Amy and Rory; it is entirely possible that she regenerated again (even more than once) between these two occasions!
It also seemed obvious to me (though it apparently wasn’t, so I could be completely wrong) that by exclaiming “Guilt!” and “More Guilt!” the Doctor was lamenting his TARDIS’ poor decisions on whom to interface him with. He was looking for inspiration, he didn’t want to be reminded of what he considered past mistakes; that is why he asked for someone who’s life he hadn’t already ruined! This request hardly makes sense if you look at it as though he is actually asking for more guilt.
As for River giving up her remaining regenerations to save the Doctor, I think the energy from this was completely used up to cure the poison (which must be the strongest poison in the universe, since there is no antidote and it seems to stop a Time Lord from regenerating!) and would not provide extra regenerations for the Doctor.
Besides, the Time Lords seemed to have total regulation over how many lives each member of the race had (for example, they can give the Master extra lives; and I am sure there is some Time Lord code of ethics which states they should limit themselves to thirteen lives instead of living forever) and since they are now gone, presumably so are their regulatory methods and the Doctor could go on indefinitely.
This would not prevent River from giving up her regenerations (even if she had an infinite number of them) to save the Doctor from this incurable death. (I actually question how similar River is to Time Lady physiology anyway, as River is not fully either species… she is a bit of a hybrid species like those seen on New Earth.)
Just my few cents.
There’s a huge difference between a plot hole and a (reasonable) explanation. Indeed we don’t know what transpired but it’s not made evident, though we can all offer fair guesses – thus it’s a plot hole.
As for extra regenerations for The Doctor, the effects of Melody’s action are ultimately largely – if not completely – irrelevant. When it comes time for him to need more regenerations writers far more capable than any of us will have methods at the ready to employ. That being said, I too wouldn’t foresee him getting any extra regenerations from that action.
Just a quick thought, sort of unrelated to this discussion but slightly related / relevant to the episode. Both Rory and Amy recognized Hitler immediately (as did, of course, the Doctor) but I wonder how many U.S. children, even up to high school age, if presented with a photo or video of Hitler and with no words or other clues, would not be able to recognize him.
We teach our children only to “the test” and, us being the U.S., for the most part give the rest of the world relatively short shrift.
Is the oldest question not the obvious one – Doctor Who?
First asked by someone (the Doctor himself no less) in An Unearthly Child and repeatedly asked throughout both old and new series.
It would also link nicely between where The Silence are seeking the answer to the question and the fact that at the end of her life River Song knows who The Doctor is (and from the 10th Doctor’s reaction it seems to have been a monumental event).
“The first question, the oldest question, the question hidden in plain sight” — Might it actually be the title of the series, first spoken by William Hartnell in “An Unearthly Child,” and spoken even this week by Matt Smith: “The doctor? Doctor who?”
It would tie into the importance of River knowing the Doctor’s name in “Silence in the Library” / “Forest of the Dead.”
Just a thought.
Also: as you said but sort of backed off of as the conversation went on, just because some things have been established for Melody/River’s regenerations doesn’t mean they have been established for Time Lords. She is “human plus Time Lord” — namely, a special case.
We don’t know how many regenerations, if any, Melody experienced between that alleyway in 1969 and Leadworth days with Amy and Rory. You don’t suppose there’s any chance Melody will at some point be revealed to have been Susan Foreman, masquerading as the Doctor’s granddaughter for some as yet unknown reason? (Or was I the only one reminded of Susan’s school troubles by Mels’ being sent to the Head Teacher’s office?) How circular would *that* be in time for the big 50th anniversary?!?
My apologies, Chris, at my attempted explanations for the aging-Melody plothole.
Having just rewatched Let’s Kill Hitler, she does herself say right before regenerating that “last time I did this, I ended up a toddler- in the middle of New York” which would seem to confirm that she didn’t regenerate between 1970 and growing up with Amy/Rory.