The Interstellar Song Contest

[TranslatorCircuit @translatorcircuit]

This story is obviously based on The Eurovision Song Contest. It even refers to The Eurovision Song Contest as the form it originally took, although at some time it became The Interstellar Song Contest.

The word Mavity is mentioned yet again, showing that we’re still in an alternative timeline created by The Fourteenth Doctor and Donna.

We hear about an oppressed and exploited people called the Hellion whose planet has been destroyed to harvest Poppies as a flavouring and stop them from growing there again. The company sponsoring the song contest is the same company who did this. It sounds a bit like native Americans. A group of them want to kill all the viewers using a special frequency piggy backed onto the video broadcast signal!

Susan, the Doctor’s Granddaughter from the First Doctor’s Era, appears in visions that The Doctor has, but I can’t help wondering why this happened. It couldn’t be just from memory, as she looks much older than in the First Doctor’s Era, or even in “The Five Doctors” when we last saw her. There seems to be no in universe explanation. Ncuti Gatwa and the Carole Anne Ford just both wanted it to happen.

A hologram of Graham Norton reveals to The Doctor and Belinda that Earth was destroyed on 24-05-2025 and the Earth influences they see in The Interstellar Song Contest have ben salvaged from its debris. This sounds more or less impossible.

Mrs Flood was in the audience, then at the end when she’s rescued from space we finally learn that her identity is what lots of people have already suggested, although only as one of several alternatives. Mrs Flood is The Rani! She bigenerates, although when The Doctor did it, he mentioned that it was only a myth, so it doesn’t seem very likely this would happen.

However, I think this story is a massive improvement over the previous stories!

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

As the Doctor gets sucked into space he is yelling. Can I raise the most common and most commonly ignored quibble – “In space no-one can hear you scream”.

I still can’t reconcile myself to this ‘mavity’ business. Still strongly suggests we’re somehow in an alternate reality.

The frozen people – space is neither hot nor cold. A vacuum has no temperature. (Just consider a vacuum (Thermos) flask). Brain damage starts to occur after 4 minutes without oxygen, longer if extremely cold (a technique used to assist, I’m told, in e.g. heart operations). So I’m pretty sure all those people would have died from oxygen deprivation long before their temperatures dropped by evaporative/radiative cooling to cryogenic survival temperatures. Never mind, this is one I’ll overlook, even though it clashes with ‘Oxygen’.

But the theme of the Evil Corporation is still extant, I see.

The Sonic Screwdriver is turning into quite a weapon.

I don’t think I’ve seen the Doctor so bloodthirsty before, as when he keeps zapping Kid. Not that Kid didn’t deserve it.

The ‘revival booth’ idea is kind of impractical, how long would it take to drag in and revive 100,000 people. Say a minute each, that’s 1600 hours or 67 days, non-stop. Still, it gives us an excuse to see a few interesting aliens. Oh, I see they’re batch processing them. Okay.

I think I would have liked to see some sort of revenge on The Corporation for its predatory behaviour. Not sure what, maybe a DNA mutation transmitted by TV signal that could turn every ounce of Poppy Honey mildly toxic? Thus destroying the Corporation. (See, I can think of wacky ideas, too).

So, speculation (some of it) confirmed, Mrs Flood IS the Rani. Though I gather from various comments in this site, the Rani was considered a pretty naff villain. I never saw her myself (down boy, Translatorcircuit).

Okay, an interesting episode. Not a great one, but diverting enough, even if only a case of sit back and goggle at the monsters. By the way, I guessed Cora was a Hellion. Something about the hairstyle, though that would have concealed far more substantial horns than the stumps that she had.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

I really liked ISC. It could have been a nondescript Chibesque Fam outing but this was done with a certain panache.

The blown into space section was of course problematic, though it looked a million dollars. Mavity is apparently at hand so maybe none of it was real…?

The glitter gun was surely a tribute to the McCoy opening credits.

Torturing Kid followed on from Kate losing her cool. Something going on, there. Remembrance (broadcast Oct 5th) was the destruction of Skaro. Delta waves are of course from Parting of the Ways. Hi Rose.

May 24th 2008 Silence in the Library was pushed back a week because of Eurovision. That leaves The War Games as the only previous May 24th ep.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u   Panache.   I like that.   Yes this did feel more entertaining than a typical Chibs episode, even though I can’t put my finger on it, maybe ‘panache’ will have to do.

The glitter gun, I thought the Doc was going to sail through the doors of the Tardis.   And before that, I thought the Tardis was going to materialise around him, I’m sure it’s done that before.

And I did notice that first Kate, now the Doctor, are getting more unforgiving.   Is there a reason? – maybe the next episode will give a clue.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Well, I just watched it again.   Wrote several paragraphs, most of which I’ve deleted because they were just repeating what I posted a year ago.    A couple of points survive –

Blowing the roof off – that’s certainly drastic. Minor quibble – I’m not sure the Doctor and the Tardis would get sucked into space – there must be artificial gravity still operating, and if they’re on the bottom of the space (like the rest of the audience in fact) they’d feel the drop in air pressure but there shouldn’t be enough wind to lift them into the air (just as only the couple of passengers nearest the opening get sucked out when an airliner door blows off or a fan blade shatters the window).
Another minor quibble – no way the Doctor could move through space by windmilling his arms, Newton says no. And, howcome the Doctor can aim that canister so accurately the reaction propels him through a small door? And howcome it opens for him? And howcome the couple of guys in the station can see him on a screen?

But I’ll tolerate all that for the sake of the story, this ep hasn’t offended me like Kill The Moon did, probably because that was supposedly based on Earth in current times, whereas this ep is in the science-fictiony future. So reality can be – relaxed.

I guess I would have liked to see the Corporation suffer for their crimes. Buying invading and looting countries for their natural resources seems to be more topical right now than when it was made.

Soooo, how was the episode? Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. It had some good bits in it.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent I agree the bad science is far less offensive when the entire world is fictional, and overall it was a better story that KTM which really had nothing to compensate for the bonkers plot. My main objection is the Doctor torturing the Freddie Fox character. It was out of character. that might have been going somewhere but now we will never know. Likewise the corporation I suspected were going to show up again but that too is a broken thread now.

Not sure I would watch this one again, for two reasons, the torture scene and that earworm song that took up residence in my head for weeks afterwards.

cheers

janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   Not saying the guy didn’t deserve it, but it was un-Doctor-like.   Also, the Doctor appeared to be partly motivated by revenge for himself being frozen, which was also quite out of character.   The guy had plenty of reason to hate the Corporation, but taking it out on the rest of the Universe was unacceptable.   If he had just set out to assassinate the entire management of Poppy Honey I would have sympathised with him.

Buried somewhere in all that was a message about exploitation and revenge, but I think it got swamped.

I’ve forgotten the song already, probably because I’ve been updating the playlist on my mp3 player, so it got sort of buried.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent @janetteb

Yes. What the hell, hero? Also sketchy science. Though it looked great. Also, in the words of Sylvia Noble in The Star Beast, ‘none of this real!’

Also, Eurovision looms large in Who History.

So, in my view, as you know, RTD was cooking a monster arc in which The Doctor is being tested: it was all Mind Robbers, War Games, Matrixes, tears and snow, with a familiar face masquerading as The Doctor.

Also neologisms beginning with ‘V’!

And now it almost certainly won’t happen… though Moff has been heard to say ‘no hard reboot please. Won’t work.’ And Chib is apparently very sorry, or sad, or something. I need to read both those interviews I suppose.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Well, I just watched the final double episode, and the Doctor seemed a lot more human and like his normal self in that one.

How ‘monster’ could an arc be?   Mrs Flood has been lurking for – how many seasons?

The ‘science’ in that was so – metaphysical – I don’t think I can nitpick anything.   I’m not sure how the Bone Creatures who apparently existed on a slightly different plane of existence could attack UNIT HQ, but never mind.   I’ve stuck my impressions of those eps in their right slots.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

The Arc…

The weird thing is the incomplete arc so obviously echoes the RTD vs Corporation gambit played out. But you HAVE to pay because only I can EXPLAIN! Although, as I keep observing, someone signed off those press release.

Well, the DG has just cast a whole raft of shows adrift… all light entertainment but… WHO KNOWS WHAT’S NEXT??

Or… it’s another part of the deep game. Make the usual subjects uninterested in the show. Then we can do what we want.

Wish World/Reality War was an obvious throwback to Big Bang/Wedding of River Song. Anyway, better than Legend and Empire. I’d be worried if it was worse!

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u   Hmmm, so you think RTD was making himself essential?   Possibly so.   Obviously Mrs Flood / The Rani was an extremely long-distance arc.

But suppose RTD and the Beeb had parted ways halfway through, I guess someone else could have found a continuation of the Mrs Flood storyline.   But as for all the other storylines – first it would be necessary to identify them.  Just imagining some writer was sat down with a stack of DVDs and scripts and transcripts and told, ‘sort this lot out’.   I’m not sure it would even be humanly possible.

There are complete transcripts of every episode on Chakoteya.net, and a detailed plot description of every episode on Tardis.fandom.com  (marvellous resources).   I must admit, though, that when I try to follow the plot description, the complexities of it often confuse me.    And that’s not even mentioning the Flux episodes…

Legend?  Legend of the Sea Devils?

Empire?   Oh, you mean  Legend of Ruby Sunday / Empire of Death!   I’d forgotten what they were called, even though they were the example that first sprung to my mind (but not their names!).  I do agree, not among RTD’s better efforts.   (That was British understatement for ‘sort of rubbish’  🙂

ps1l0v3y0u, sometimes your references can be a bit – cryptic.   We’re not all as with-it as you   🙂

[nerys @nerys]

Given this episode’s Eurovision connection, I fully expected to dislike it. To my surprise, I enjoyed it. I thought it was going to be a light (lightweight, lighthearted) episode, and it was anything but.

Seeing all of those people swept out of the dome into space was truly unsettling. I’m not sure how the mavity field protected them. Yes, hypothermic people can survive longer without oxygen … but not that much longer. And yes, the Doctor said he tripled the the mavity field, but still. What was it, 100,000 people? And they all had to go through Rylan’s cryogenic chamber one at a time? They made it all seem a bit too easy.

The opposite of easy was the Doctor’s rage at Kid, to the point of torturing him. This is the second time this season we’ve seen him inflict deliberate cruelty, which is very much out of character for the Doctor (though his reasons for doing that to Joy became clear). Later he explained to Belinda that it came from his trauma over the destruction of Gallifrey, but I wasn’t convinced by that, somehow. It felt more like a justification.

I was surprised that before Cora began singing, she didn’t take off her wig, revealing the stubs of her Hellion horns. To me, that would have been fully revealing her true self to the audience as she sang her song. I was surprised it didn’t happen.

Someone asked how Rylan Clark got there, if Earth was gone. I’m the *least sciency person you’ll ever meet, but since Belinda remembered Rylan, and he’d been in cryogenic suspension, then presumably he was in cryogenic suspension before the destruction of Earth on May 24, 2025. So, maybe he was cryogenically frozen someplace other than Earth (Harmony Arena?), then released for the sole purpose of hosting the Interstellar Song Contest. This harks back to the jokes about Dick Clark and his eternal youthfulness.

Also, I was delighted to see Graham Norton, even if he was a hologram. His show remains one of my “go-to”s on BBC.

I’m not going to get into all the bonkers theories since (1) now we know how the series has played out; and (2) … *least sciency, etc. Just know that I appreciate everyone’s brilliant bonkerizing.

[Author]

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