TL;DR – Do you want to make The Doctor mad? Well, I wouldn’t recommend it, because it is generally not good for your long-term prospects.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Doctor Who Review –

Today, we have reached what will probably be considered the penultimate episode for the season. Well, so far, I have to say that I have been highly impressed with the season so far. It might have stumbled a bit at the start, but we have seen it go from stride to stride in the past couple of weeks. The question is: can it keep up that momentum going forward, and will they make an Australia reference in a show all about Eurovision?  

So, to set the scene, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) have but one final place to test out the vindicator and it turns out they have picked The Harmony Station where the 803^rd Interstellar Song Contest is happening and both immediately agree to stay and watch [look relatable]. But behind the pomp and circumstance, there is a terrorist on the prowl with death on the cards for all. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

This is kind of an odd episode in that it is, on the one hand, an obvious tribute to Eurovision, but it is also doing some hefty lifting when it comes to the lord and narrative for the season. But on that first front, as a tribute to Eurovision, or it may look like Eurovision, but due to international copyright laws, it is not, it clearly nails the vibe in every way. The performances, the design of the stage, the way fans interact, and even how it works behind the scenes, capture almost every part of the contest, bar the fact that they can defrost their host (Ryland Clark). I don’t think I have seen someone commit to the bit as well as this since Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga [A film I think I have come around on better since it first came out].  

But of course, we can just sit back and watch an alien version of Eurovision, I mean, we could have, actually, that would have been a fun idea, because the robots are acting odd, and all of a sudden that oxygen bubble is not looking as secure. One thing I profoundly respect in this episode is Belinda’s very real and understandable freak out after seeing hundreds of thousands of people murdered in front of her, the Doctor missing, presumed dead, the TARDIS gone, and she doesn’t even know where/when in the galaxy/universe she is in. Her entire world blinked out in a moment, and it would have been disingenuous to think someone would just power on. Conversely, this is one of those episodes that exists to slyly show why The Doctor needs his companions, because the line between him and The Master is not that large.   

The prominent subtext of the episode is how the othering of people can be used by powerful people/governments/corporations to exploit populations. In this case, it is how ‘The Corporation’ took a poppy honey from the planet Hellion, burned all the fields so they could not make this themselves, and then demonised them across the galaxy so they became a pariah. Look, it is not the most in-depth exploration of this topic, and frankly, it gets messy in places. But much like how Barbie could be used as a gateway to explore concepts of Feminism, we can use this to introduce people to the fact that the actions of some corporations around the world might be doing more harm than good. The same can also be said in presenting how the othering of others can be used to usher in violence in many directions.    

One of the other functions this week’s episode does is how it grounds the show’s lore, which it wants to explore in the season finale two-parter. Now, I have said there are spoilers, but unlike social media that just rips the spoilers and dumps them onto the internet without warning, I do want to make it clear that we will be talking about the end of the episode and the mid-credit scene here. Within this episode, we got two references, the first is to The Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan (Carole Ann Ford), who was the first ever companion and theoretically has been dead since all the Timelords/ladies were killed in the Time War, back before we rebooted in 2005. Or not, my understanding of where the planet is now after all the slight retconning is a bit fuzzy. Also, finally, the answer to who Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) is with the reveal that she is The Rani (Archie Panjabi), another Timelady that is meant to be dead. First shout out to my friend who picked The Rani. But also, after spending twenty years toying with the fact that all of Gallifrey is dead, or gone, or missing, or whatever it is, will we finally be seeing them become a real presence in the series again?

In the end, do we recommend Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest? Yes, this is another solid episode in what has been a solid season so far. Sure, the opening of hundreds of thousands of people dying was too many people for you not to suspect they will all be fine, much like Infinity War. But also, it was a nice touch to see a Doctor who is going full-wrath-mode, which is not something we have seen for a while. Have you watched Doctor Who yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Doctor Who
Directed by – Ben A. Williams
Written by – Juno Dawson
Production/Distribution Companies – BBC Studios, Badwolf & Disney+
Starring – Ncuti Gatwa & Varada Sethu  with Ryland Clark, Kiruna Stamell, Iona Anderson, Anita Dobson, Charlie Condou, Kadiff Kirwan, Freddie Fox, Miriam-Teak Lee, Graham Norton, Archie Panjabi & Carole Ann Ford and Julie Dray, Imogen Kingsley-Smith, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Christina Rotondo & Abdul Sessay