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The Most Dangerous Man is the One Able to Think Things Out: New "Doctor Who" Teaser

By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trailers | Comments (19)

doctor-who-sad.jpg

What has always made the goofiness of “Doctor Who,” the manic running around in circles and wild half-cocked energy, work so well for me has been the way that it’s always been a cracked veneer. The Doctor, at least these last three iterations who are the only ones I’ve known, has always had a core of darkness. There is sadness and desperation under the laughter. That’s always a bit of a problem with previews and trailers, which seem to highlight the humor, the surreal intersections of history and science fiction, even the romantic bravado. But they rarely hone in on that sadness, the quiet scenes between the exciting scenes. Those scenes don’t usually make for trailers, but they’re the ones that break your heart in the episodes.

So the BBC has released what they are calling a “prequel” to the upcoming episode “Let’s Kill Hitler.” I guess it’s a prequel if it happens before the episode, but come on. It’s a minute long. It’s a teaser. It’s the dictionary definition of a teaser, if by dictionary you mean “the list of what words on the Internet mean according to me.” But terminology griping aside, it’s fantastic. It is that quiet sadness, the Lonely God reduced to listening to messages in the dark, trembling at the weight on his shoulders.

Oh and it should go without saying that this includes massive spoilers for the first half of the current season. If you think it shouldn’t go without saying, you should direct your complaints to Pajiba’s new Editor in Charge of Spoiler Policies: Headless Ned.










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Comments

Well put. Especially 10. The episode with theFamily of Blood was really chilling and not the only one where you got to see just what the Doctor is capable and how desperately he needs friends to keep him going the right way.

Posted by: Minto at August 16, 2011 10:25 AM

Wow. On a sidenote, that's a truly bonkers episode title, especially when it follows a scene with that kind of emotional impact. "Let's Kill Hitler" sounds like the name of a really awesome gameshow.

Posted by: StoatCat at August 16, 2011 10:26 AM

Wait did something weird happen or was my last post rejected because I used the word companion?

I just checked the spam logs, and the typo "teh" for "the" nudged it into the admin approve category, which I would have done but you reworded it into a new comment through the filter faster than I could. The bright side is that according to movie logic you are now an elite hacker. -SLW

Posted by: Minto at August 16, 2011 10:26 AM

I thought "Let's Kill Hitler" sounded like the original working title for Inglourious Basterds.

Posted by: bleujayone at August 16, 2011 10:30 AM

Reports are that it's a nutty, funny episode that's also jammed with plot, answers and questions. And basically really good.

Posted by: Jay at August 16, 2011 10:31 AM

Here's a link to the coverage from The Guardian. Note: contains spoilers for sentient beings

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/aug/16/doctor-who-lets-kill-hitler

Posted by: PaddyDog at August 16, 2011 10:44 AM

Well, that broke me a little. Not Pond talking (she's for looking) but Matt Smith in all of his anguish. This is why I love this show.

Posted by: TK the Other (delurking) at August 16, 2011 10:45 AM

Agreed, the darkness that hides just under the surface makes the series great.
This prequel/teaser is brilliant, mostly in that the Doctor was so excited as he bolted out at the end of the last episode, and now we see that his promise isn't as easy as he expected and it's broken him.

Posted by: Tidmore at August 16, 2011 10:49 AM

Damn Matt, haven't you surprised us all...

Posted by: Cindy at August 16, 2011 11:52 AM

Damn! The 27th can't come soon enough for me.

Posted by: Carolina Girl at August 16, 2011 2:54 PM

My daughter is 13, but I've resorted to little kid tricks to highlight our excitement about "Let's Kill Hitler". I've been stealing her River Song sonic screwdriver (red setting! neural relay indicator light!) and hiding it in unexpected places for her to find. The fridge - under her covers - next to her breakfast plate - between her gardening gloves - the sock drawer - you get it. So corny, but sincere. Just like Who. We love this show, we adore this Doctor and we can't wait to see how this story arc runs out!

(My daughter thinks it would have been a welcome dose of funny if the guys in Primer had painted their boxes blue. I told her they probably didn't have the budget for blue paint. Or any interest in being funny.)

Posted by: Young_Grandma_Ben at August 16, 2011 4:35 PM

Well that was kind of sad. Then again, he does have all of space and time to find the baby and then just bring her back to the current Ponds. I've never understood why certain story arcs always have to go in a straight time line when he's got a time machine.

Yeah, I can't wait until the 27th, either.

Posted by: BWeaves at August 16, 2011 4:42 PM

"I've never understood why certain story arcs always have to go in a straight time line when he's got a time machine."

Usually when I bring this up, someone mumbles importantly about paradoxes then does not deign to address me further on the subject. But still I wonder...

Posted by: Young_Grandma_Ben at August 16, 2011 5:11 PM

Enjoyed the teaser, and well said, SLW!

Posted by: DarthCorleone at August 16, 2011 7:44 PM

Then again, he does have all of space and time to find the baby and then just bring her back to the current Ponds.

But however long it takes him is however long it takes him.

And he knows the day he's going to die.

Posted by: Jay at August 16, 2011 11:11 PM

Posted by: TK the Other (delurking) at August 16, 2011 10:45 AM
--------------------------------------------------
TWO TK'S?? Don't let the posts cross!

You are so right, Steven. Whenever we see the doctor fail it just breaks my heart.

Posted by: Lauren at August 17, 2011 2:13 AM

With 11 they've done a pretty good job, it seems, of physically separating him from the TARDIS so he doesn't have that option so they don't have to techno-babble their way out of him using it.

The explanation the show uses is that once they land, they become part of the events. If he went back in time to prevent those events from ever happening, how would he know he had to go back in time in the first place? In this instance, were he to simply find the baby and return her to the Ponds, preventing the whole "Impossible Astronaut" storyline from happening. If he doesn't get shot at the beginning of the season, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River wouldn't know that they had to prevent it from happening. To avoid the paradox, those events have to happen. They'll just need to end up having a different consequence than what the travelers originally assumed.

They established in the first Nu-Who series that if the Doctor interferes in his own timeline, badly CGI'd monsters show up and start eating all of the evidence. It's up to him and his companions to make sure this happens in a different manner than the way they thought. And they can only effect the events that aren't in any of their pasts.

I'm not sure if that's a clear explanation, but time travel stories are always necessarily confusing and paradoxical in this way.

(Would that this police box were a Time Police Box!)

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at August 17, 2011 9:57 AM

"In this instance, were he to simply find the baby and return her to the Ponds, preventing the whole "Impossible Astronaut" storyline from happening."

Should say "...he would prevent..." Complete sentences, why must you elude me?

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at August 17, 2011 10:00 AM

I enjoy the efforts you have put in this, thankyou for all the great content .

Posted by: TVB Drama at August 25, 2011 4:19 PM