Skip to main content

Doctor Who premiere clips offer giant robots, killer jellyfish, and… Hitler?!

doctor whoWe’re swiftly approaching the August 27 mideason premiere of Doctor Who, so that means BBC and BBC America are shifting the marketing machine into a higher gear these days. Earlier this week, we got a short prequel for the upcoming “Let’s Kill Hitler” episode, and now we have two new clips from the episode to whet our appetites for The Doctor’s imminent return.

The two clips offer significantly different takes on the upcoming encounter between The Doctor, his companions, and Adolf Hitler. In the first clip, we see the time- and space-traveling TARDIS dump The Doctor, Amy, and Rory (as well as another unidentified passenger) in someone’s office. After clearing the smoke and surveying their surroundings, they come face to face with the office’s owner, Hitler.

Recommended Videos

Oh, and there’s also something going on with an officer lying prone on the floor of the office who may or may not be a robot piloted by miniature people.

The second clip appears to take us inside one of the aforementioned robots, as Amy and Rory try to figure out what they’re doing in the automaton and why there are a bunch of mechanical jellyfish attempting to incinerate them. Also, Amy has a sonic screwdriver, which is a point that will probably require some explaining.

The second half of the Doctor Who season premieres August 27 on BBC and BBC America.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
The best David Tennant Doctor Who episodes
David Tennant in Doctor Who.

There's nothing quite like Doctor Who. The sci-fi show about a face-changing alien that hops about the galaxy in a little blue box has enthralled viewers for six decades now. One of the most recognizable names to take up the Sonic Screwdriver during that period is David Tennant as the time-traveling Time Lord.

Having finished his four-year run as the Tenth Doctor in 2010, Tennant is set to return as the Fourteenth Doctor in November 2023, alongside Catherine Tate's beloved Donna Noble and Russell T Davies in the writer's chair once more. Set to face off against Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker –  a character who hasn't appeared in the show since 1966 – it's set to be an explosive and emotional reunion.

Read more
Why Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who is the best version of the character ever
The Doctor is about to be attacked in Doctor Who.

Growing up in the '90s, Doctor Who wasn't really a thing. Following the sci-fi show's cancellation in 1989, there was a 16-year period – aside from a one-off television movie in 1996 that failed to resurge the series as a whole – where traveling through time and space in a little blue box was non-existent. And yet during this time, at the young age of six, I was first introduced to a mysterious man with a bouffant hairstyle, velvet jacket, and a thrill for adventure.

This was Jon Pertwee. The once-circus performer and Royal Navy member (who reported directly to Winston Churchill during the Second World War), before later turning to the world of acting, made his debut as the Time Lord in January 1970's Spearhead from Space. Taking on the Autons, life-sized plastic dummies animated by an alien Nestene Consciousness, it didn't take long for the 50-year-old to make his mark.
Pertwee's Doctor Who was the perfect hero to root for
Death to the Daleks, a four-part adventure with Sarah Jane (played by the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen), is one of the earliest memories from my childhood. In many ways, it's a story indicative of the show's lasting charm. We have the Doctor's greatest foe in the Daleks, one of the most loved companions in Sarah Jane, and the terrifying Exxilons that contributed to the "hiding behind the sofa" phenomenon that scared children for decades. We even have the Root, a snake-like creature whose schlocky effects answer the question of what would happen if your Dyson hoover went rogue.

Read more
Check out Doctor Who’s wacky Whomobile from 1973
Doctor Who's Whomobile.

Newcomers to Doctor Who may not know about the famous time traveler’s Whomobile.

The futuristic (well, futuristic for the 1970s) automobile appeared in at least one episode of the legendary British sci-fi show. But it also made a guest appearance on a popular children’s TV show in 1973.

Read more