The Interstellar Song Contest (2025) Review and its fumbled nature

Will Sanger
May 28
12 min read

Updated: Jun 27

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Juno Dawson feels like a writer who has been waiting for a chance on Doctor Who for a while, with well received contributions to the expanded Doctor Who universe with the Good Doctor novel and the audio series Doctor Who Redacted, which she was the lead writer of. Russell T Davies has given Juno Dawson the right chance with a Eurovision tie in, the Interstellar Song Contest. How did it work out? Let’s take a look.

The Doctor’s quest to get Belinda home takes them to 2925 to the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest as the Doctor and Belinda sit back and enjoy the show. The song contest is interrupted by a terrorist called Kid; a Hellion angry at the corporation’s genocide of his people wanting revenge. Kid plans on using a delta wave targeting the three trillion people tuning in to the contest. This deeply angers the Doctor who is determined for Kid to feel his full wrath.

The idea of a Eurovision themed Doctor Who episode has the potential to go two ways. It’s a solid way to draw audiences in but could also feel very cringey depending on the execution. I was holding out hope simply from the fact that Juno Dawson had been hired to write the story, as I really enjoyed the first series of Doctor Who Redacted. Juno Dawson did a wonderful job of seamlessly integrating LGBTQIA+ representation into the series and tackling the Doctor Who universe from an alternative and relatable perspective. However, the Interstellar Song Contest didn’t turn out as expected.

In order to succeed, the Interstellar Song Contest really needed to pick a lane. It could have tuned up the campy fun of the story or focused in on the darkness and revenge story but trying to do both results in a tonal clash which falls apart. The Interstellar Song Contest is trying to be a combination of both Eurovision and Die Hard, but the lack of a commitment of a direction hinders and ruins the overall thing.

The idea of an outer space song contest is an idea that in concept I really like. Song Contests and music events are very popular and merging that idea with outer space and fantasy is a very appealing idea, but the lack of world-building lets it down. More context was needed to how things developed from Eurovision to the Interstellar Song Contest.

Another big failing in the world-building is the utilisation of the aliens and different species involved in the song contest. The Curse of Peladon is one of my favourite Jon Pertwee stories because it embraces the silliness of its universe and the mad combination of different alien creatures that exist, but focuses itself on a serious story that’s politically relevant. The Interstellar Song Contest had the strange opportunity to do something very similar. You could have made use of the alien races taking part in the song contest and given them an active role in the story; it would have made the story feel more vibrant, weird, creative and interesting. Here it feels like the alien characters are there for glamour. It’s nice to have a sense of the universe, but delving into the alien characters would have added more depth and variety to the world, and explored race in an interesting manner tying into the central themes of the story. Every character does not need to be human looking to have depth. Taking advantage of the luxury of science fiction is a benefit rather than a hindrance.

I think there should have been some attempt to tie the world of the story into the Doctor Who universe in some way. Integrating the Ood, the Graske, or a few other recognisable alien creatures would have been a massive benefit. It would have added some sense of recognition and familiarity which would have aided the world-building and the stakes of the story. You have an inbuilt mad world, and I think the show should take advantage of that by building on the creatures and aliens which have already been established. The world that the Interstellar Song Contest takes place in feels very tame. It feels like a dulled down and muted version of the Doctor Who universe where you aren’t allowed to see and get to know any of the aliens involved. When you think of the Curse of Peladon and the End of the World and the madness you get on screen combined with actual character dynamics, the Interstellar Song Contest fails in comparison.

Juno Dawson can’t decide on where she wants to take the episode, so you have something which is very tonally confused and the different ideas and aspects don’t mesh together well or make a success out of anything. The celebratory Eurovision aspects invite a display of camp silliness and theatricality, but that doesn’t work well with the darkness as the stakes of the episode ramp up. You’ve got an episode with silly songs such as Dugga Doo and where the Doctor flies through space on a confetti cannon which I thought was totally ridiculous and stretched believability considerably. A good chunk of the Interstellar Song Contest acts as a fun romp and runaround. The trouble is that it’s not representative of what the story is actually about or the themes and ideas it's trying to tackle and explore. When the story starts delving into genocide and the darker side of the Doctor as a character, it starts to divert heavily from the mission statement. I’m open to subverting the expectations of the story and doing something dark and interesting with the space Eurovision idea, but that needed to be clearer earlier on in the story. The Interstellar Song Contest needed to make its subversive and dark nature apparent and show the audience the dark tone it's going for. Once the story starts ramping up its silliness, it's decided on a tone which the revenge story does not fit with. As it is, there is a lack of overall cohesion.

The themes of the story focus upon the consequences and aftermath of genocide and colonialism, and the destructive pain of violence. This is possibly made to mirror the Israel and Palestine conflict given the ongoing genocide, Eurovision’s complicity in Israel’s actions and the sponsorship of Moroccan Oil. It seems to tie into the episode. It also fits as a much broader statement on genocide across human history. If it was made to mirror the Palestine conflict, then the message feels hypocritical. Telling this kind of message within a celebratory tie-in of Eurovision feels counterproductive to the aims of the story, and the message feels watered down and heavily limited as a result.

I don’t have a problem with the villains of the story being extreme terrorists who have taken their anger too far, but the corporation is more evil and never gets their comeuppance. You’ve got a corporation and organisation that has done unspeakably exploitative and devastating things. They’ve ravaged a whole planet for honey flavouring and are responsible for the racial marginalisation of an entire race. They deserve to be taken down and there are no consequences to their actions. The Doctor by the end, should at least put the pieces in place to take them down. It's largely because the corporation is faceless, you’ve got a limited runtime and a tie in with Eurovision. It would have been interesting to have a character representing the evils of the corporation to go up against. It's in the spirit of Doctor Who to be idealistic and oppose violence as a solution, but there are no real solutions at play at the end.

The song at the end for me falls flat on its face and has no impact. Its purpose is to be moving, but it doesn’t do anything for me emotionally. I understand that it's meant to imply that Cora is awakening the universe to see the suffering and dignity of the Hellion as a people and the corporations' corrupt practices, but it doesn’t come across. It feels like there has been no active change and the corporation are left unchallenged.

It's time to take a look at Kid, played by Freddie Fox, who features as the main villain of the story. The problem with Kid is that you have a generic character who is overly vilified, which doesn’t serve the purpose or themes of the story. Freddie Fox does a decent enough job but isn’t given a fleshed out enough character to play. There are hints of his backstory and motivations being influenced by the racial prejudice and attitudes towards Hellions, as he has resorted to acting the vicious way people expect of his people. This isn’t really fleshed out or developed, which means you get a very thin broad strokes character. The issue is the lack of sympathy that Kid as a character is given. He is clearly a hurt person suffering from genocide who has resorted to total death and destruction. That is a potentially interesting villain to build a story around, but the way he is condemned means the interesting qualities get swept away and dismissed, ruining the opportunity for character development.

Wynn is the secondary villain of the story played by Iona Anderson. She is working on the production team of the Interstellar Song Contest but, in truth, part of the hijack. Her character is a real wasted opportunity. You can see the conflict of her character throughout and her struggle with the ethics and morals of what they are doing. You can see her internal difficulties in balancing her past history with Cora and her commitment to Kid and the cause. It feels so slapped onto the top of the story and utterly pointless to the overall trajectory of the episode. If you are going to include a character like this, then you need to do something worthwhile with their reluctance. Having them switch sides and oppose Kid or doing something with their complicity would have been a reasonable direction.

Let’s move onto Ncuti Gatwa and his performance as the Fifteenth Doctor. Ncuti Gatwa always impresses as the Doctor and there is a cheekiness and a fun to his personality. He finds the right merge between smoothness, intelligence and heroism. There is a recklessness to Ncuti Gatwa’s performance as the Doctor and his handling of the surrounding situation. There is a sense of impossibility about the Doctor and a wonderful juggling of trouble. Ncuti Gatwa brings the wildness and wackiness of the Doctor to the centre of attention and commands the screen, and I like the heartfelt emotion in his performance. He feels a sense of concern for Belinda and all the people trapped in space; suspended in the mavity field. He feels a sense of protectiveness towards Belinda and a determination to keep her safe, and a lot of regret and pain for what has happened as a result.

The Interstellar Song Contest pushes the darker side of the Doctor’s character to the limit. Ncuti Gatwa is certainly strong with the petty and vengeful energy he has, but I don’t think they justified the Doctor’s actions in this episode. Without someone to keep him in check, the Doctor has been capable of very dark and dangerous things. However, I feel previously with the actions of the First, Seventh and Tenth Doctors, the lack of heroics of the Doctor felt more within reason. You could understand the perspective and reasons of why the Doctor did the things they did. You learn by the end of this story that the Doctor was triggered due to the genocide of his people, which caused him to behave irrationally. With the emotion of the Fifteenth Doctor, I can also understand how the more dangerous and violent emotions could be unleashed in a vile way. The problem is that you don’t have that context throughout, and the explanation is slapped on at the end. The shift in the Doctor’s character feels sudden, and he is behaving in a traditionally Doctor-like way the rest of the time. You needed to feel his rage, pain and revenge more throughout and centre the story around that dangerous shift in him for it not to feel out of character. It doesn’t feel like the shift in him is fully delved into. It would make more sense for the Doctor to feel sympathy for and try to reason with another genocide victim. If you had focused more on the Doctor’s shame upon realising the backstory of the Hellions, this could have worked better dramatically but instead it feels brushed past. It feels uncomfortably vile and very out of character.

Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu, is continuing to be a very strong companion and a well-defined character. She has begun to enjoy the fun of the universe and swept up into the adventure of the Doctor as all human companions are. You can understand why the prospect of the Interstellar Song Contest would thrill her and why she would want to stay and see how it turns out. Her reaction to the Doctor and the Tardis being drawn out into space is incredibly believable. Belinda is a very calm and rational person, but her panic attack and elevated emotions align in this situation. Being totally isolated without the Doctor or the Tardis and having no sense of purpose in this world would be a very scary situation. Her strength is shown through the worry she feels towards how the Doctor reacts to Kid, and her determination to get to him and stop him from taking things too far. I don’t feel like she challenged the Doctor enough, when confronted with the Doctor I feel she should have been more outraged and angrier towards him. A companion should help keep the Doctor’s morals in check.

The Interstellar Song Contest does have a very strong guest cast. Mike and Gary are played by Kadiff Kirwan and Charlie Condou. The two of them are a very believable couple and work well with the energy of Ncuti Gatwa. Cora, played by Miriam-Teak Lee, is a central figure in the story. As a Hellion who has had to hide and suppress her race and identity, she has clearly dealt with a great deal of prejudice, which she is constantly having to overcome and push past. There is a believable agony and frustration in the performance, and you feel for the character. I just don’t think the character makes substantial changes in the way that’s intended.

You have Rylan Clarke playing himself, who has been cryogenically frozen. I’m not opposed to including celebrity figures on Doctor Who, but it needs to be done in a certain kind of way. Here it feels like Rylan is shoved in there for the sake of promotion and a celebrity cameo, which feels forced and embarrassing. I feel his character should have had a darker Doctor Who edge. The idea of Rylan being cryogenically frozen has something disturbing about it, which you could have done something with. His humanity has been disregarded, and he is simply being used for his celebrity status beyond his natural existence, which raises disturbing questions which aren’t explored. When you think back to how Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways used Anne Robinson as the Anne Droid and Trinny and Susannah, there are a lot of disturbing things that can be done with celebrity figures in a science fiction narrative. The Graham Norton hologram is handled far better. He is minimally and tastefully included in a way that fits with this future.

The story is directed by Ben A Williams who has directed the likes of The War of the Worlds, Sherwood and Humans. There is something very immersive about his style of directing, which fits the futuristic and vast sci-fi setting. I love the opening shots as you are absorbed into the space station and the song contest, it grips you right away. There is a frantic and clever movement to the story. There's a swerving and sense of action to the control room that feels natural but full of a lot of energy and keeps everything invigorated. The characters being sucked into space has a wonderful and tense energy and spectacle to it. It has movement but a sense of focus at the same time. Whilst the story is one that has a lot of action and energy which Ben A Williams creates in the story, there is also a focus on the characters which keeps things human and relatable. Ben A Williams finds the right blend between action and emotional focus.

So, overall, how did I feel about the Interstellar Song Contest? I thought it was a very bad story. It's trying to be a mix of Die Hard and Eurovision and the contrast of different elements feels very clunky and mixed together badly with a lack of cohesion. The campiness of the Eurovision tone mixed with the dark revenge story and intense themes means the whole thing ends up underdeveloped and the lack of world-building hurts the story. The Doctor going off course isn’t well justified, and he ends up feeling out of character. The Eurovision tie in also makes the themes and messaging feel severely hamstrung with a lot of issues.