By Owen Quinn author photos copyright BBC
Yes, you read that right. I gasped. Just like when we visited the Big Brother House and The Weakest Link, I knew this visit to this celebration of all things Eurovision song contest was not going to be straightforward.
I have to admit that eleven minutes in, I messaged my buddy and told him if the rest of the episode was as awesome as the first eleven minutes, I’d be a very happy man. From the very first sequence, I was smiling. I’m not a Eurovision fan but I know people that have parties for it. It got so political, it drove me away. That’s not what it is about and this episode reminds us it is all about fun and bringing people together.
There are so many easter eggs here for Euro fans and even a nice museum with Graham Norton serving as the holographic host. Rylan has somehow managed to escape the destruction of Earth to go into deep freeze only to be revived to host the contest each year. Rylan milks this episode and is a treat to watch. He is such a down to earth person anyway, he is seamless. The Tardis isn’t big enough for him and Ncuti (though it would be fun to find out). This time the contest is being hosted aboard the Harmony Arena, a space station in an air bubble. It is also sponsored by the Corporation that brought you Poppy Honey.
But this contest is highjacked by Kid and Wynn, Helians whose planet was reduced to ash and practice cannibalism and witchcraft. At least, that’s what the rumours say. With an audience of three trillion watching and over 100.000 people in the audience including Mrs Flood who is watching the Doctor’s every move and recording his vindicator readings for herself. This tells me that she cannot get back to May 24th either which means that she may not have been the reason for its destruction.
Within ten minutes, Kid and Wynn have taken control of the robot guards, popped the air bubble and nearly everyone is sucked into space to die including the Doctor. Only a few people are safe including Belinda, a singer named Cora, partners Gary and Mike and a few others. Belinda believes the Doctor is dead and that she is now alone and panics before Cora calms her. But the Doctor being the Doctor, he realised just in time that something was wrong and switched it so everyone is actually in suspended animation. The effects here are stunning as the bodies float upwards like something out of a horror movie. Kid and Wynn are played so well and their horns made me realise, there aren’t enough aliens with horns. Hmm, I think the Time Warriors books are about to get a few new species.
Kid is angry as the galaxy treats the Helians like lepers to the point they are banned from singing. Kid and Wynn are here to reveal the truth about what happened to their planet and the lies the Corporation spread to drive his people into the shadows. Nina, who is running the contest broadcast, calls Kid a monster. He replies that he has been called that all his life and that he is only doing what they think he does anyway. This simple sentence speaks volumes about what has led him here. The reveal that the Helian planet was destroyed by the Corporation who own Poppy Honey is raw. The Helians were branded monsters just so the Corporation could take the poppies from their world to flavour their honey and make it a best seller. When Cora reveals she too is a Helian who cut off her horns so she could sing her song, that we see they have genuine cause but no justification for their actions.
Frozen in space, the Doctor is called to by a familiar face seemingly from inside the Tardis. And I gasped and clapped at the same time.
Susan is finally back after being teased for so long with the Sutekh business. She keeps popping up in his head urging him on so he does what the Doctor would do. He grabs a confetti cannon and flies to an airlock where he, Gary and Mike work together to bring everyone back. I loved Gary and Mike being puppy dogs as they both fall for the Doctor. And of course, it’s done to the classic Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz. You can see the pain and joy in his face as the very possibility of his granddaughter just may be alive after all and connected to him. So good to have her back but will Susan appear in the finale or is this an illusion caused by freezing in space, a near death experience. Brilliant.
Ncuti Gatwa is stunning once again in this episode as we see him slip to a part of his nature that frightens Belinda. His threats towards Kid are terrifying because Kid has put ice in his heart. When we learn that the potential murder of over three trillion people triggered memories of Gallifrey dying in a second and that he doesn’t realise Belinda is safe, the dark Doctor comes to the fore. As the twelfth Doctor warned Ashildr that if Clara died, nowhere would be safe from him because the Doctor is no longer there once she dies. Belinda knows enough to get to him and bring him back from the edge before he truly does kill Kid. Only this time we see it as the Doctor intends to pummel Kid to death by hurting him three trillion times using a hard light hologram. It is only the sight of Belinda that brings him to his senses and not even Susan pleading with him to stop works. This says so much about the pain within the Doctor. People ask why he cried at the end of Empire of Death. Because he thought he was about to get part of his family back but Ruby got hers instead. Now, here Susan is, calling to him.
But the big reveal as to who Mrs Flood really is comes and she turns out to be the Rani, the evil Time Lady that battled the sixth Doctor and caused his regeneration into the seventh Doctor. Played by the late Kate O’Mara, she was a powerful adversary. And in an added twist, Mrs Flood bi-generates just as the Doctor did. Mrs Flood is now a literal yes woman to this new Rani played by Archie Panjabi.
Is this what we have now? The Doctor’s bi-generation was a myth, a legend and now the Rani does it too? I feel that this is a plot device for the next episode. So could the Rani’s downfall be the time Mrs Flood spent as a neighbour among humans giving her a conscience? One thing the Rani never was, was a mouse. Her reveal was for me, a disappointment. It’s been rumoured since Mrs Flood first appeared that she was the Rani. What causes a flood? The rain. Rearrange into the Rani. I feel it’s a bit anti-climax to be honest but I have a feeling there is another villain in the wings behind the destruction of Earth. If I am right then even the Rani is a pawn of someone else’s game.
We will wait and see. In the meantime, what a cliffhanger as the Tardis doors exploded inwards as the Tardis plunges into May 24th 2025; the day the Earth died.
Absolutely brillaint and another cracker. Where was this quality in season one?
The Time Warriors and Beyond 