Doctor Who – “The Interstellar Song Contest” Review – Camp Trash
Clint Schwalen gives his SPOILER-filled commentary on the sixth episode of Series 15.
Note: this review contains full SPOILERS for episode 6 of Series 15.
Featuring a paper-thin plot and one-dimensional characters, “The Interstellar Song Contest” lacks the narrative to justify its “intergalactic Eurovision” premise. The episode makes the most of its increased budget and looks amazing, yet somehow the story feels “small.” This continues a trend within Doctor Who of underrepresenting major cultural events; while there is much to criticize about Series 2’s “Fear Her,” perhaps the biggest flaw of the episode is that it makes the 2012 Summer Olympics seem underwhelming.
A significant problem is how often “The Interstellar Song Contest” sabotages itself. The most visually captivating sequence—where 100,000 spectators, including the Doctor, are blown into space—is appropriately epic, punctuated by a shot of Mike and Gary standing in stunned silence and a scene where Belinda panics as she realizes she is stranded in a foreign place and time. However, the episode immediately undermines its own gravitas, as the broadcast’s director, Nina, tells Wynn that, “[The attendants are] not dead. The mavity shell is still on. You could still save them.”
Except that Nina later states, “There’s nothing we can do. They’re all going to die.” The episode itself can’t decide if the audience is dead or not, turning them into Schrödinger’s spectators who are rescuable or not depending on the scene at hand. In reality, the audience would asphyxiate long before they radiated enough heat for them to freeze. Yes, the episode’s dialogue offers a technobabble explanation—the Doctor has “tripled the mavity,” putting the audience into “mavitic suspension”—to verify Nina’s claim that the audience could still be saved. Doctor Who’s brand of science fiction has always been “soft,” but this episode is one of the rare times where the show’s narrative crosses into “not-so-science fiction” and distracts from the plot as it quells the narrative stakes. Series 8’s “Kill the Moon” suffered the same fate, as the “science” was so unrelatable, it undermined the emotional resonance of the episode. If the Interstellar Song Contest’s audience members are frozen in “mavitic suspension,” then why can’t they be rescued once the broadcast concludes and the station’s staff are able to call for help? The problem is unsolvable merely because the script says that it is.
Because it undermines its already simplistic story, “The Interstellar Song Contest” becomes reliant on its surprising reveals to generate audience engagement. Unfortunately, the reveal of Mrs. Flood as an incarnation of the Rani does little to enhance the episode proper, as it occurs in a mid-credits scene that serves to set up Series 15’s two-part finale. Where Series 3’s “Utopia” shocked its audience as Professor Yana burst into a psychedelic fury of regenerative energy that revealed him to be the Master, “The Interstellar Song Contest” treats the reveal of the Rani with irreverence. Mrs. Flood bi-generates—an occurrence that is supposedly so rare, even the Doctor considered it the stuff of legend—seemingly only to give the new Rani a sycophantic sidekick. Unlike the Doctor’s bi-generation, the process apparently splits the Rani’s personality traits, halving the malice she displayed in “Empire of Death.” The resulting “real” Rani is little more than a moustache-twirling caricature of a villain, while Mrs. Flood is comically doddering.
Carole Ann Ford’s cameo as an aged Susan Foreman fares a little better—despite being a teaser of an undoubtedly larger role in a future episode—because the script incorporates her appearance into the narrative. Seeing the station’s archive of Interstellar Song Contest costumes and memorabilia, the Doctor opines, “Belinda would’ve loved this.” Mike asks, “Is that your friend?” to which the Doctor responds, “I’m her protector. And I swore I’d get her home. I keep thinking . . . .” The Doctor then sees visions of his granddaughter, causing the viewing audience to wonder if the Time Lord is speaking of his current or first companion. The Doctor was Susan’s protector, too, only he chose to leave her in the 22nd century with freedom fighter David Campbell. “The Interstellar Song Contest” drives home the parallel between Fifteen rescuing Belinda and the Doctor saving Susan. Just as the Time Lord returns Belinda to present-day Earth, could he also return Susan to her original home? Surely, he wouldn’t leave her on a desolate, ravaged Gallifrey, which begs the question: could Susan’s cameo portend a return not just of the Doctor’s granddaughter but also of the lost Gallifreyan society?
“The Interstellar Song Contest” also draws parallels between the misinformation spread about Hellions and racial stereotyping. In one scene, Cora, who is secretly a Hellion, overhears her manager, Len, accuse Hellions of practicing cannibalism and witchcraft. The sequence is particularly poignant as both Cora and Len are portrayed by Black actors, visually reminding the audience that the pair have more than shared business interests in common and are being divided only by Len’s ignorance. Kid justifies his murderous actions to Nina not as an act of vengeance, but as, “Only doing the things you expect of me,” clarifying that he feels that he is merely fulfilling societal expectations. Later, Kid and Wynn shame Cora for abandoning her species and hiding her Hellion heritage, which prods Cora to sing a Hellion anthem in her native tongue as her performance for the Interstellar Song Contest.
Finally, the episode does offer a subtle hint at an aspect of the Doctor that is perhaps unique to his fifteenth incarnation. When Belinda shows excitement at seeing the Interstellar Song Contest and recounts memories of watching Eurovision with her parents, the Doctor cries, “I knew it! I knew that you’d enjoy it—finally—being with me.” The Doctor confuses Belinda not wanting to travel the stars with Belinda not enjoying his company. While the Doctor views his life in the TARDIS as his entire personality, his companion sees the two as separate, and she is able to state, “You’re wonderful,” while also wanting to return to her parents in 2025.
Random Musings
(Time) Capsule Review
With a thin plot and a cast of one-dimensional characters, “The Interstellar Song Contest” seems reliant on the surprise cameo of Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor’s granddaughter and the reveal of Mrs. Flood as an incarnation of the Rani to generate excitement in the viewing audience. Hampered by its “not-so-science fiction,” the episode feels “small,” and barely develops its themes of racial stereotyping.
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