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Notes on - Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest

 

The Interstellar Song Contest notes

Nice opening space station establishing shot

Cat woman host

I’m not familiar with Rylan

Harmony Arena. I expected a return of Harmony Shoal

2925

I love how phony their kisses were

The TARDIS materializing in a pod/booth. I don’t think we’ve seen that before

This is the last Vindicator reading they need to get Belinda home

Belinda: Oh, we’re so staying

The Doctor: We’re staying

That’s pretty accurate for what the booth looks like during live telesivion

Cool that the director is of short stature and it never matters

I like Wynn’s horns

This is transmitted across thew entire westen spiral arm. That’s impressive

Poppy Honey as the sponsor – fake honey

Mrs. Flood is there with Barbara’s hairdo

Of course the Doctor was there in 74

I love Belinda’s childhood memory of watching the Eurovision in jammies as a special night. So sweet

Belinda is surprised that they’re in a space station inside a bubble

Final vindicator reading done

Oh, Mrs. Flood has been counting on these vindicator readings and that’s the last one she needs

Nice acknowledgement that the Doctor and Belinda stole someone seats before segueing to seeing the people whose seats they are

I don’t love the robot attendents. Rehash of the heavenly host from Voyage of the damned

Fun gay couples

Rylan loses his earpiece. That’s a big deal in live television

Cora from Trion!!

Nice way to segue to introducing Cora through necessity because Rylan is trying to compensate for not having earpiece contact

Nice reuse of the same set for each stadium hall slightly redressed

Wynn with the horns was in on it

Hellions.

Nice conceit that they’re broadcasting the dress rehearsal and Rylan’s absence is the only tell

Alpha Centauri and Zygon new habitat?

Liz Lizardene from the planet Lizoko

I like the acts

*** This is the greatest song contest in the universe, so as you would say – let’s raise the roof

It’s sweet how genuinely into the song competition Belinda is. Also a very slick way to handle the Doctor being outside the luxury doom and therefore separated from Belinda who is inside it

Did Mrs. Flood really not know this was coming?

Man, the effects and visuals of the dome blowing and the people being sucked out are amazing

It really feels like the Doctor just died

So gorgeous – all the bodies floating out

Rylan: Not again.

Verada is amazing

Kid: I’m only doing the things you expect of me.

Mavity shell. They’re leaning heavily into Mavity still. That’ll be important

Delta Wave. That’s a deep cut callback

Cora and her manager

Dugga Doo!

Belinda’s main concern is that her parents will wait for her forever

Belinda: I don’t even know where I am.

Cora: You’re on the Harmony Station.

Belinda: Where’s that?

Cora: Sector Diamond Five.

Belinda:  But where’s that?

Cora: West of Vangossiter.

Belinda: But where’s that?  Where the hell am I??

Cora is very kind to a stranger having a panic attack

Small detail questions are the correct way to help someone having a panic attack focus

Belinda thinks the Doctor is wonderful and never told him

The software is re-writing itself.

Wynn saved ‘that girl from Trion’

Hellia

It’s helpful that the gay couple is a computer tech and a nurse. Very useful.

Did Mrs. Flood get sucked off?

I’m worrying that this is going to be yet another Doctor Lite

Susan: Grandfather. Go back!

Susan!!!

Susan wants the Doctor to find her!  It’s about time

It’s nicely done how they set uo the confetti cannon earlier so that the Doctor can use it here

Gary and Mike

Using the confetti cannon to fly through space is a lot of fun

Really nice how the sets are all just slightly redressed. And Mike’s medical experience is used well, mostly for a pulp fiction gag

The Doctor: Did I just fly through space on a confetti cannon?

Mike: Yeah.

The Doctor: Camp.

The Doctor triplicated the mavity field, which is technobabble for the Doctor made it so no one expelled into space has died

The Doctor doesn’t know that Belinda wasn’t ejected into space. Of course he wouldn’t

What is the upload being broadcast in song 14

Wynn and Kid have a personal beef with Cora from Trion

Hell poppies

The company slandered the hellions and made everyone believe they’d ruined their planet themselves. I like that they’re not explcitily spelling that out

Bit of Delta Wave made everyone deaf

Three trillion people are watching the show. They’ll all die if the delta wave is triggered

There are so many openly racist beliefs about the hellions. Again, they never explicitly call it out, but it’s there in a nicely subtle way

Len: Weird lot. They say they practice cannibalism and witchcraft. They’ve got these horns. People say they give them psychic powers.

Cora: Yeah, people say that a lot. About species they don’t understand.

Gary and Mike are proud of each other

Gary got his tickets from working on the hologram museum

Graham Norton

Graham: I’m Graham Norton. Long since dead. Aw, sad face.

It’s nice that the Doctor still doesn’t know that Belinda isn’t dead

And seeing Susan again!

Really nice organic way for Belinda to find out that the Doctor is still alive

This is Ncuti’s Doctor getting properly mad

Belinda is seeing part of the Doctor that scares her and she doesn’t love.

Kid is very smug

There’s no need for the droneguards to be in this at all

Cora: She’s called Wynn. He’s called Kid.

Belinda: As in.. baby goat?

Cora: As in, his mother was shot before anyone asked her his name.

The reveal that Cora was a Hellion is visible from a mile off, but still works.

Len is being a total dick

Hellios was a nice planet, then got bought by a company who destroyed it to make honey substitute. Not even actual Honey. Honey flavoring.

If her horns were cut off by force, who did it and why?

Len is being a bigot

Belinda: Trust me. If he’s angry, this whole world is going to shake.

And it’s song 14. That’s an unusual countdown convention. I like it.

Fuck you len. You try being a persecuted minority.

The Doctor calling out Kid for just being an asshole looking for an excuse to kill is a great moment

I love how totally unconcerned the Doctor is about Kid while he destroys him

I’m in favor of the Doctor torturing Kid at this point.

OK, when Susan says to stop, you should stop

The Doctor keeps going torturing him even after Susan says to stop. Until Belinda walks in and sees him doing it

This should cause a HUGE rift between Belinda and the Doctor

Wynn is a fanatic

The justice monolith?

Kid has ni idea how much danger he’s in from the Doctor’s rage

100,000 people out there freezing in space. How to save them?

Floating into space really isn’t the same as being put in cryogenics.

I love the dueling ‘I’d do anything for you’s from Gary and Mike. Fun joke

Rylan must be very tall

I wonder what the significance of this song is?

Cora is going to sing a song about Hellia. It’s a good choice to have it be in a language we don’t understand so that it can resonate with the viewer however it does to them

It’s a great directorial choice to show how Hellia was destroyed in flashbacks during the song

I like that Belinda is open with him about how his behavior made her feel

I hope we get more Susan next episode

Graham Norton gets to explain that the Earth still was destroyed on May 24th, 2025. Bring on the two part finale

But Mrs. Flood wanted the Vindicator readings

Cloister bell

Oh, there’s Mrs. Flood. Still with Barbara’s hair

She’s a time lady

I wish she’d just regenerated instead of bigenerated

Archie is The Rani

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