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

I tell you what opportunity Juno Dawson didn’t miss this week – the opportunity to tackle Eurovision’s major controversy of recent years.

I’ll keep things a little light and fairly non-partisan here, but I think it’s clear to see some very intentional parallels between the corporation behind ‘Poppy Honey’ and certain real-life Eurovision sponsors, with the episode tapping into the current zeitgeist regarding the inclusion of a particular country in the contest, and the casual demonising of a whole race. Even the inclusion of the ‘poppy’ as a symbol seems to have been done as an act of solidarity.

I think, regardless of where you stand on the conflict in question, it’s great to acknowledge the shortcomings of Eurovision if you’re going to create a tie-in episode like this. If Ncuti’s reason for dropping out as the UK’s spokesperson tonight was in line with the sentiment of this episode, then fair play, it’s a very wise move to not publicly endorse the contest whilst in-character as the Doctor (if not, I hope Ncuti gets well soon).

Doing this on primetime BBC One just before the contest starts is a ballsy move that requires a degree of subtlety, and for this reason I’m glad that Russell ‘The Sledgehammer’ Davies took a back seat here.

I think the song and visuals at the end of this episode were genuinely quite emotional for the reasons stated above, and I’m relieved at the decision to have the lyrics remain as alien gibberish, allowing the music to paint a picture itself without outright spelling out the sentiment it’s trying to convey, which is one of peace and unity.

Well done, Juno Dawson. You can come back.