The Interstellar Song Contest

318 – "The Interstellar Song Contest"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional title-card
Cast
Doctor Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Companion Varada Sethu – Belinda Chandra
Others Julie Dray – Sabine Rylan Clark – Himself Imogen Kingsley Smith – Runner Kiruna Stamell – Nina Maxwell Iona Anderson – Wynn Aura-Kin Anita Dobson – Mrs Flood Charlie Condou – Gary Gabbastone Kadiff Kirwan – Mike Gabbastone Freddie Fox – Kid Miriam-Teak Lee – Cora Saint Bavier Akemnji Ndifornyen – Len Kazah Christina Rotondo – Liz Lizardine Graham Norton – Himself Abdul Seesay – Jeddy Kine Carole Ann Ford – Susan Foreman Archie Panjabi – The Rani
Production
Directed by	Ben A. Williams
Written by	Juno Dawson
Produced by	Vicki Delow
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Joel Collins Phil Collinson
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 15
Running time	47 minutes
First broadcast	17 May 2025 (2025-05-17)
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Story & the Engine" Followed by → "Wish World"

"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the sixth episode of the fifteenth series of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode, themed around an Interstellar version of the Eurovision Song Contest, was broadcast on 17 May 2025 ahead of the Grand Final of the 69th edition of the contest on BBC One. It was written by Juno Dawson and directed by Ben A. Williams. It stars Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Varada Sethu as his companion Belinda Chandra.

Plot

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Belinda to 2925 aboard the Harmony Arena, an orbital concert arena that hosts the annual Interstellar Song Contest. Thrilled to find it is hosted by a cryogenically preserved Rylan Clark, the pair decide to watch this year's contest within a VIP booth, unaware Mrs. Flood is in the audience observing them. As live transmission begins, the arena is suddenly hijacked by a pair of Hellions, Kid and Wynn Aura-Kin, who switch the transmission to a pre-recorded dress rehearsal and deactivate the contest stage's oxygen dome. While Belinda and several contestants in the VIP booths are trapped in the Harmony, the Doctor and everyone inside the arena are sucked into space along with the TARDIS.

As Rylan and the other victims begin to freeze in space, the Doctor recovers after having visions of his granddaughter Susan Foreman, and uses a confetti cannon to re-enter Harmony. Collapsing once inside, he is revived by nurse Mike Gabbastone and his husband Gary, a station technician. Seeking answers, the Doctor asks the Gabbastones to help him hack into Harmony's systems via the arena's contest museum. At the same time, Belinda manages to get out from her booth and joins with contestant Cora Saint Bavier and her assistant in hacking into the arena's systems from a corridor terminal. They quickly heard Kid discovering the Doctor's intrusion, and link into their conversation.

Kid reveals to the Doctor that he is seeking revenge against the Corporation, the contest's organizer, for invading his planet of Hellia for ingredients, by killing all of the contest's viewers with a Delta Wave, a high-powered sonic weapon that targets the brain. Assuming Belinda is dead, the Doctor has Gary use a hologram to trick Kid, allowing him to reach the arena's broadcast room and destroy the Delta Wave. Angered over Kid's actions, the Doctor proceeds to torture him, until Belinda and Cora's arrival cause him to come to his senses. As Kid and Wynn are detained, the pair chastise Cora, also revealed to be a Hellion, for shunning her heritage, despite the fact she was unwillingly forced to undergo surgery to disguise her true self. With Mike and Gary's help, the Doctor recovers the people orbiting the station in order to revive them, having used the Harmony's mavity system to put them into cryogenic stasis.

As the contest resumes, Cora performs a somber song in memory of Hellia, which receives a rousing applause from the audience. After the TARDIS is recovered from space, the Doctor and Belinda are shocked when a hologram of Graham Norton reveals Earth was destroyed on 24 May 2025, the day Belinda was taken. The pair attempt to return, only to be greeted by ominous sounds, moments before an explosion enters the TARDIS. In a mid-credit scene, Mike and Gary revive Mrs. Flood, only to witness her undergo a bi-generation, becoming two women who reveal themselves to be the Rani. The women depart, as they pool over the Vindicator recordings that the Doctor had taken.

Production

Development

"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the first Doctor Who episode written by Juno Dawson, a best-selling author, who had previously worked on BBC's 2022-23 "Doctor Who: Redacted" podcast starring Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. She was first contacted by Davies to write for the series in 2023, who wanted her to create "Die Hard meets Eurovision". Dawson stated that she first watched the show with her grandma when she was ten, and that writing for the show, which she described as "the best TV show of all time" was a dream come true for her. Her first idea for a Doctor Who episode would have been a disaster plot taking inspiration from The Poseidon Adventure, but it was too expansive. Dawson and Russell T Davies co-wrote the lyrics for most of the songs included in the episode. Those were then sent to Murray Gold who wrote the lyrics for "Dugga Doo" and composed four original tracks for the episode.

Casting

Carole Ann Ford returned as Susan Foreman for the first time since 1983.

Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu star as the fifteenth incarnation of the Doctor and his companion, Belinda Chandra. As a tie-in with the theme of the episode, Eurovision commentators Rylan Clark and Graham Norton both appear in the episode as themselves. A further tie-in was planned to occur as Gatwa was the intended United Kingdom Jury Spokesperson in the 2025 Eurovision final. However, he was ultimately unable participate and was replaced by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Freddie Fox appeared as the episode's antagonist, Kid. Carole Ann Ford reprised her role as Susan Foreman, last appearing in the programme over 40 years prior in "The Five Doctors" (1983). Davies first approached her about returning to the show when they met at the premiere screening for "The Star Beast" in November 2023. Ford said that she believed the Whovian fandom as being responsible for her return.

Anita Dobson appeared in every episode of the series as the enigmatic Mrs Flood; in the episode her true identity was revealed to be the Rani, a villainous Time Lord. Archie Panjabi was introduced as a second incarnation of the Rani through a bigeneration process. Christina Rotondo, who portrayed Liz Lizardine, was the primary vocalist for "The Goblin Song" (2023). The remainder of the cast included Charlie Condou and Kadiff Kirwan as Mike and Gary Gabbastone, as well as Julie Dray, Kiruna Stamell, Miriam-Teak Lee, and Akemnji Ndifornyen guest starring as Sabine, Nina Maxwell, Cora Saint Bavier, and Len Kazah, respectively.

Production design and filming

Many of the alien costumes were reused from previous episodes but had modifications made to them so that they appeared as new species. A mix of masks and prosthetics were used to provide a variety in what was accomplishable technically. Camera tests occurred on 6 March 2024 at Wolf Studios Wales. "The Interstellar Song Contest" was directed by Ben A. Williams. Within the episode, the Harmony Arena has around 100,000 attendees; however, because hiring that many extras was infeasible, only 100 were used. Each extra was scanned digitally, and a "digi-double" of their body was created that allowed them to be duplicated in post-production.

Footage seen on the screens in the control room was recorded 10 days prior to recording actually taking place on that set. The bigeneration scene was filmed on soundstage 6 also at Wolf Studios on 10 May 2024. Williams viewed the Doctor Who: Unleashed episode for "The Giggle" (2023) as a reference on how to direct this scene. The same steel support was used for both scenes. Ford's scenes were filmed on a closed set, with the production staff being required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Broadcast and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	A-
Bleeding Cool	9/10
The Daily Telegraph
GamesRadar+
IGN	8/10

Broadcast

"The Interstellar Song Contest" was simultaneously released on BBC iPlayer at 8 a.m. British Summer Time (BST) in the United Kingdom and on Disney+ in the United States at 12 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on 17 May 2025. A BBC One broadcast of the episode was scheduled for later in the day at 7:10 p.m. BST. Uncertainty over the episode's transmission arose because it was scheduled to air after the 2025 FA Cup final, which had the possibility of going into overtime, and the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, which could be delayed to its live broadcast format. Davies said that network executives inquired whether or not he wanted to take the risk of scheduling on that day, to which he responded, "That's the sexiest fucking risk I've ever heard in my life. Let's do it!" Disney also handled international distribution of the episode.

Critical reception

Will Salmon, writing for GamesRadar+, praised the episode's script, characters, and humor, though he criticised the execution of the Doctor's dark side in the episode, as he felt it was not justified by the episode's plot. Robert Anderson, writing for IGN, praised the episode, highlighting the episode's script, the guest cast, particularly the appearance of Ford, and the political commentary involving the Hellions; Anderson felt that not all of the episode's emotional beats were successful, however, and felt that Belinda and the Doctor's relationship in particular felt "rushed". Martin Belam, writing for The Guardian, highlighted the episode's political commentary, the relationship between Belinda and the Doctor, and Gatwa's performance, but felt that aspects of the episode would have mixed impact for those unfamiliar with Eurovision.

Stefan Mohamed, writing for Den of Geek, held a negative review of the episode, stating that while the episode's supporting characters and the Doctor and Belinda's relationship were strong, he felt that the re-appearance of Susan was confusing to those not familiar with the series, Kid was not an effective antagonist, and that the episode did not justify the Doctor's actions toward Kid. Newsweek's Ryan Woodrow felt the episode's pace was too fast to allow for strong emotional beats, feeling that it made the twist involving Cora, the effectiveness of the Helions as antagonists, and the Doctor's actions toward Kid feel rushed. Despite this, he highlighted the performance of Gatwa and the return of the Rani. Engadget's highlighted the episode's themes and humor, though criticised the episode for feeling constrained by its length.

External links

• "The Interstellar Song Contest" at BBC Online
• "The Interstellar Song Contest" at the Doctor Who Stories Website
• "The Interstellar Song Contest" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "The Interstellar Song Contest" at IMDb