I am watching “Doctor Who” (the new one) on Netflix, and have gotten to the second season. In this episode, entitled “The Christmas Invasion”, evil aliens have found a way to hypnotize one third of the human race, turning them into mindless automatons. In a wonderfully eerie scene, ordinary people begin streaming out of their homes and offices, and proceed to march en masse under alien control.
Here you can see an early establishing shot of zombified British citizens shuffling past the good doctor’s Tardis:
Soon after, we see a similar establishing shot in a typical sleepy English suburb, as mind-controlled folk walk obliviously down the street, whilst their horrified loved ones try in vain to awaken them:
A frantic mother tries to get her daughter’s attention, but the possessed young girl continues to march inexorably onward, a strange blue alien light playing about her head:
The mother reaches for her daughter, desperate, knowing she may never see her beautiful little girl again:
And then it happens: The young extra can’t keep it up any longer. In the fraction of a second before the camera cuts away, she gets a case of the giggles.
So there you have it. In one moment we realize that the evil monsters from outer space can never defeat us. We know humanity is safe, not because of some some advanced technology breaking through the fourth dimension, but because of one giggling little girl breaking through the fourth wall.
And that’s why I love television.