Doctor Who’s new episode left me disturbed for all the wrong reasons
The episode took on more than it could handle.
Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who episode six, The Interstellar Song Contest.
Ncuti Gatwa’s second season as the Doctor opposite Varada Sethu as reluctant companion Belinda Chandra is almost at an end with only the two-part finale to go.
But after a strong season filled with some of the show’s best run of episodes in a long time, Juno Dawson’s The Interstellar Song Contest left me feeling all kinds of confused – and uncomfortable.
It is a vital episode for more than one reason.
Not only do we see Mrs Flood once more but also in a major reveal, the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan Foreman, appears to him in frantic, as yet unexplained, visions pleading for him to find her.
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Aside from a brief cameo in 2013’s The Name of the Doctor, the character’s last onscreen appearance was in a 1965 episode, making this a huge twist ahead of the finale where she will no doubt play a bigger role.
Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s granddaughter, makes a jarring return (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)However, the Doctor’s strange dismissal of the visions set a shaky tone for the episode, which was clearly trying to tie up as many pre-finale threads as possible while also providing a main episode plot.
And I’m not sure it quite got the balance right.
Of course, by the end we have a hologram Graham Norton delivering the news to our time-travelling duo that the Earth ceased to exist on May 24, 2025 and as they run back into the Tardis in an attempt to return the doors explode off their hinges.
A suitably dramatic conclusion to the episode as we finally face the season’s big bad next week
Slightly clunky plot mechanics aside, there was another element of this episode that left me feeling deeply unsettled. And that was the Doctor’s attitude towards the villain, Kid, played by Freddie Fox.
The fearsome villain Kid has a plan to murder trillions – but is given a complex backstory to go with it (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)As a cryogenically unfrozen Rylan kicks off the intergalactic version of the Eurovision Song Contest, Kid takes the programme controller hostage, banishes the audience to die in outer space and sets in motion a plan to kill all three trillion viewers at home.
Although he initially comes off as a fearsome and terribly evil villain, we are soon provided the context that his race, the Hellions, have been systematically abused, killed and discriminated against by the rest of the universe.
There’s no denying the red-hot parallels to the widespread protest over Israel’s inclusion in this year’s Eurovision – and the reiteration that the contest is not political.
Given the context, it was extremely alarming and disturbing, to watch the Doctor confront Kid and immediately begin to torture him in a display of heartlessness that is never fully explained (in the lead-up or fallout).
The episode doesn’t know what to do with the political overcurrent – leading to a disturbing ending (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Dan Fearon)Belinda, who shows far more sympathy for this race’s plight, manages to stop him from going all the way, and he only justifies his behaviour by saying that he was blinded by his rage given the slaughter of the Time Lords.
No offence, but this is something the Doctor has grappled with since the start of the reboot (not to mention dedicating an entire regeneration for healing in therapy) and has only been driven to this level of cruelty by his mortal enemy, the Daleks.
What’s more, even when the Doctor discovers the full context of Kid’s violent actions, he shows no interest in appealing to any good left within him or helping his race.
Just sends him to prison without a second glance. Despite the good intentions of the episode, the episode ultimately felt like it bit off more than it could chew.
At least we end on Cora’s empowering performance (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)It’s a horrid move for this Doctor’s characterisation, who has shown more kindness to literal racists. Even Lucky Day conspiracy theorist Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King) got away with a bit of a scolding.
In a typical Doctor Who ending, another member of the wronged race, Cora (Miriam Teek-Lee), brings people together through the power of song – an ending I imagine many will be left unsatisfied with but seems to offer some redemption.
I’m glad at least we see some acknowledgement of the Hellions’ struggle and how important it is to give them a voice. And the Doctor showed some remorse at how the cruelty he displayed.
It also suffers from the lack of time we have spent with this duo (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)Elsewhere, the episode also suffers from a sheer lack of time we’ve spent with these characters given the shortened season.
At one point, Belinda declares she has never seen the Doctor so angry (despite seeing him filled with rage in just the last episode), but her deep understanding of the Doctor is difficult to believe since we have only seen them together five times.
Overall, it’s a wobbly inclusion in an otherwise strong season. I can only hope the two-part finale manages to raise my spirits once more.
Doctor Who airs every Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. It is available to stream on Disney+ outside the UK.
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