The Interstellar Song Contest

The Doctor continues to try to get Belinda home, next stop The Interstellar song contest, what should be an evening of fun takes a deadly twist.

Campness overload it's fair to say, like a row of sparkly pink Christmas trees all covered in glitter, this was the episode I looked at early on and dreaded, I wasn't hopeful.

It actually turned out slightly better than I was expecting, visually once again it looked phenomenal, Disney have had a mix of influences, one of the major positives has been the special effects. Expect lots of reveals, a few questions answered and a fairly standard plot.

Lots of wonderful costumes, droids and aliens, that's what the show was always about.

I was expecting something fun with a lot of heavy messaging from writer Juno Dawson, that's exactly what we got, you don't need to be switched on to know the point that's being made here.

This isn't going to be for everyone, I watched this with five friends over breakfast, I enjoyed it, one loved it, one felt that same as I did, the others loathed it.

I couldn't help but think of Ken Dodd in Delta and The Bannermen, only here we've got Rylan, there's definitely lots of teeth and lots of campness, plus declining viewing figures.

Could we not just once have a different type of villain, there's definitely a theme running through this series. Angry white man syndrome once again? Come on it's been done to death.

If you're watching Eurovision and planning on drinking neat Smirnoff Blue label vodka for about seven hours, you will probably find this fun, if like me you grew up on the classic series and find Eurovision somewhat painful, you may be a little unsure.

As for the first reveal, I'm all over that and it's way overdue, hopefully she'll pop up in the next few episodes. The second big reveal, all over that as well. This new trend though.....I hope they don't overdo it.

6/10.

This was a good watch, with some great alien costume designs, and some great set up for the two part Finale that's come so soon, during season 1 I had my doubts, but Season 2 was also a wonderful season, much better, with some much more light and better well rounded characters.

The Musical content is another Good episode, it was fun and Entertaining, and some of the jokes and the plot-twists had some nuances to them as they were either characters from the past, or characters that had some decent writing, like the 2 Married couple. The Devils were also cool villains and learning about their home was also good. High marks from me this series.

This episode showed Doctor who ability to create likeable characters that you can get invested into a short period of time. With a motivation for a villian that had simplicity, yet viewers can sympathise with.

A credit that I have to give to this season so far is it's ability to create emotional moments out of nowhere. The combination of the hellian song and the shots of the poppy fields of hellia were like something from a fairytale.

Overall, this was a solid episode that should create a diversive moment with the fans seeing a a newer side to this doctor. The interstellar contest element was utilised in an interesting way throughout and how it related to the plot, however left me wanting more from this episode with it being slightly forgettable overtime.

However, the 2 major revelations were a Rise like a phoenix and left me in Europhia.

This is a really solid episode of Who even without some of the big moments that everyone will be talking about. Great side characters, compelling plot, great emotion, and some fantastic bits of characterisation for the Doctor and Belinda. Really really cool one. Manages to be both very camp and very dark all in one breath, which is Doctor Who at its best.

And then there are of course a few moments which leave the audience gagged, and should satisfy a lot of fans of the show, adding lots of exciting possibility for the season but also the show as a whole. Very excited to see what's coming in the next few episodes!

What I liked: The effects were great as it's been for most of the season.

I liked that we finally get to see some aliens and the costumes were great too.

The setting. I just love space and it reminded me of Satellite 5 a bit.

Even though, the plot was predictable and nothing new, it was greatly executed and I really liked that one horned character.

Belinda was very good and the Doctor as well. They got the opportunity to show other sides of their characters.

That song and little montage at the end really worked on me.

And I really really like that they've been including all kinds of actors in this season.

What I didn't like: Even though the packaging worked really well, the content was certainly a bit generic.

I especially didn't like the villains and found them uninteresting.

The ecological/political message was superficial and two-dimensional. It's often the case in Doctor who, but I feel it could have used a bit more depth or they could have tried to explore it differently.

Overall this was quite enjoyable.