Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest Review - 5 Ups & 4 Downs

The antagonists of this week’s episode were Kid and Wynn, a pair of legally distinct Tieflings who, unfortunately, feel massively underexplored despite having a pretty compelling backstory. 

I’m not really sure what writer Juno Dawson was aiming for with Kid but to my mind this guy should have been more of a revolutionary, or a freedom fighter. He feels like he’s trying to be a little too cool and detached, and this makes it difficult to sympathise with him, which the episode wants you to do later on.

Actor Freddie Fox does his best with this part, and I won’t lie the blame entirely at his door – especially when he’s saddled with what might be the worst line of the season so far:

“You know my favourite music genre? Pop.”

I’m not saying I think Kid and Wynn needed to be presented as ‘good guys’ here, where they categorically are not, but a little more nuance, a little more time spent getting into this guy’s headspace, his trauma, would have enriched this episode far more than a swaggering ‘bad boy’ with a mullet. They’re not bad, just a missed opportunity.