Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
The Interstellar Song Contest
"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the sixth episode of the fifteenth series of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Juno Dawson and directed by Ben A. Williams, and released on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and Disney+ on 17 May 2025, ahead of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 on BBC One. In the episode, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), arrive at the Interstellar Song Contest — a futuristic version of the Eurovision Song Contest – where they uncover a plot to kill trillions of people across space headed up by Kid, a member of the Hellion race who seeks to gain revenge for the negative treatment of his species by the Contest's sponsor company.
This was the first Doctor Who television story written by Dawson, who was advised by showrunner Russell T Davies to write a plot around "Die Hard meets Eurovision". Filmed at Wolf Studios Wales in early 2024, the episode utilised over half of the soundstages present on the lot. Several original songs for the programme were created by Dawson, Davies, and composer Murray Gold. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the script, its humour, Gatwa's performance, the political subtext involving the Hellions, and the return of characters Susan Foreman and the Rani. However, there was criticism over the fast pacing, lack of emotional depth, and the weak development of Kid as the story’s villain.
The Doctor and Belinda arrive on a space station that is hosting the Interstellar Song Contest at Harmony Arena. The pair watch the contest while Mrs Flood observes them and collects data from a device, called the Vindicator, which the Doctor uses to return Belinda to Earth. The arena is hijacked by Kid and Wynn, two horned humanoids called Hellions, who deactivate the oxygen dome. This causes the Doctor and most of the spectators to be sucked into space. A few people, including Belinda, remain trapped on the station.
The Doctor has visions of his granddaughter, Susan Foreman, encouraging him to save himself, where he is revived by a nurse, Mike Gabbastone, and his husband Gary, a technician for the arena. The Doctor and the Gabbastones hack into the station's systems. Meanwhile, Belinda and contestant Cora team up to hack into the systems.
The Doctor opens a means of communication with Kid, who tells him he is seeking revenge against the contest's sponsor because they exploited his home planet, Hellia, for a honey flavouring. Cora is revealed to also be a Hellion who hid her forcibly cut-off horns as she would not have been allowed to sing since they are victims of widespread derogatory rumours. Kid plans to use the contest transmission to kill all 3 trillion people watching by transmitting a signal that destroys their brains. The Doctor reaches the station's broadcast room and stops the transmitted signal. He then tortures Kid for wanting to kill everyone until Belinda arrives, stopping him. After Kid and Wynn are arrested, the Doctor recovers the people ejected into space so the Gabbastones could revive them. Cora sings to them all with a song in her language about Hellia, which receives a standing ovation from the audience.
The Doctor and Belinda learn from a hologram that the Earth was destroyed on 24 May 2025, the day they have been unable to return to. Now able to travel to that date at last using the Vindicator, they hear ominous sounds, before an explosion occurs in the TARDIS doors.
In a mid-credits sequence, the Gabbastones also revive Mrs Flood who had experienced a lethal injury in space, where she undergoes bi-generation, becoming two women who reveal themselves to be the Rani. Mrs Flood appears subservient to the new incarnation, and she gives her the data from the Vindicator.
"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the first Doctor Who episode written by Juno Dawson. She is a best-selling author, who had previously authored expanded Doctor Who universe content, including the BBC Sounds' Doctor Who: Redacted podcast (2022–23) and a novel titled The Good Doctor (2018), both featuring the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker). She was additionally among the new writers that had been approached for a prospective second series of the 2016 spin-off show Class, prior to it being cancelled. Dawson was first contacted by Russell T Davies to write for the main series during filming of "The Church on Ruby Road". She initially pitched a disaster plot taking inspiration from The Poseidon Adventure. This was deemed to be too expensive and turned down, so Davies instead instructed her to write "Die Hard meets Eurovision". Davies also contributed to portions of the script, specifically the pieces surrounding the character arcs of Mrs Flood and the Rani. Dawson stated that she first watched Doctor Who with her grandmother when she was ten-years-old, and that writing for the series, which she described as "the best TV show of all time", was a dream come true for her.
Hub AI
The Interstellar Song Contest AI simulator
(@The Interstellar Song Contest_simulator)
The Interstellar Song Contest
"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the sixth episode of the fifteenth series of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Juno Dawson and directed by Ben A. Williams, and released on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and Disney+ on 17 May 2025, ahead of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 on BBC One. In the episode, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), arrive at the Interstellar Song Contest — a futuristic version of the Eurovision Song Contest – where they uncover a plot to kill trillions of people across space headed up by Kid, a member of the Hellion race who seeks to gain revenge for the negative treatment of his species by the Contest's sponsor company.
This was the first Doctor Who television story written by Dawson, who was advised by showrunner Russell T Davies to write a plot around "Die Hard meets Eurovision". Filmed at Wolf Studios Wales in early 2024, the episode utilised over half of the soundstages present on the lot. Several original songs for the programme were created by Dawson, Davies, and composer Murray Gold. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the script, its humour, Gatwa's performance, the political subtext involving the Hellions, and the return of characters Susan Foreman and the Rani. However, there was criticism over the fast pacing, lack of emotional depth, and the weak development of Kid as the story’s villain.
The Doctor and Belinda arrive on a space station that is hosting the Interstellar Song Contest at Harmony Arena. The pair watch the contest while Mrs Flood observes them and collects data from a device, called the Vindicator, which the Doctor uses to return Belinda to Earth. The arena is hijacked by Kid and Wynn, two horned humanoids called Hellions, who deactivate the oxygen dome. This causes the Doctor and most of the spectators to be sucked into space. A few people, including Belinda, remain trapped on the station.
The Doctor has visions of his granddaughter, Susan Foreman, encouraging him to save himself, where he is revived by a nurse, Mike Gabbastone, and his husband Gary, a technician for the arena. The Doctor and the Gabbastones hack into the station's systems. Meanwhile, Belinda and contestant Cora team up to hack into the systems.
The Doctor opens a means of communication with Kid, who tells him he is seeking revenge against the contest's sponsor because they exploited his home planet, Hellia, for a honey flavouring. Cora is revealed to also be a Hellion who hid her forcibly cut-off horns as she would not have been allowed to sing since they are victims of widespread derogatory rumours. Kid plans to use the contest transmission to kill all 3 trillion people watching by transmitting a signal that destroys their brains. The Doctor reaches the station's broadcast room and stops the transmitted signal. He then tortures Kid for wanting to kill everyone until Belinda arrives, stopping him. After Kid and Wynn are arrested, the Doctor recovers the people ejected into space so the Gabbastones could revive them. Cora sings to them all with a song in her language about Hellia, which receives a standing ovation from the audience.
The Doctor and Belinda learn from a hologram that the Earth was destroyed on 24 May 2025, the day they have been unable to return to. Now able to travel to that date at last using the Vindicator, they hear ominous sounds, before an explosion occurs in the TARDIS doors.
In a mid-credits sequence, the Gabbastones also revive Mrs Flood who had experienced a lethal injury in space, where she undergoes bi-generation, becoming two women who reveal themselves to be the Rani. Mrs Flood appears subservient to the new incarnation, and she gives her the data from the Vindicator.
"The Interstellar Song Contest" is the first Doctor Who episode written by Juno Dawson. She is a best-selling author, who had previously authored expanded Doctor Who universe content, including the BBC Sounds' Doctor Who: Redacted podcast (2022–23) and a novel titled The Good Doctor (2018), both featuring the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker). She was additionally among the new writers that had been approached for a prospective second series of the 2016 spin-off show Class, prior to it being cancelled. Dawson was first contacted by Russell T Davies to write for the main series during filming of "The Church on Ruby Road". She initially pitched a disaster plot taking inspiration from The Poseidon Adventure. This was deemed to be too expensive and turned down, so Davies instead instructed her to write "Die Hard meets Eurovision". Davies also contributed to portions of the script, specifically the pieces surrounding the character arcs of Mrs Flood and the Rani. Dawson stated that she first watched Doctor Who with her grandmother when she was ten-years-old, and that writing for the series, which she described as "the best TV show of all time", was a dream come true for her.