The King of Eurovision himself, Graham Norton, is cast in the sixth episode of Doctor Who Season Two, The Interstellar Song Contest.
Doctor Who Showrunner and co-writer of the episode Russell T Davies said:
“There’s no song contest without the great man himself, and it was an honour to welcome Graham Norton to our studios in Cardiff. And it’s not just a cameo, he has a whole plot twist all to himself! This is the wildest episode of all, and we’re lucky to have Graham adding to the mayhem.”
The episode, written by Juno Dawson and Russell T Davies, will follow the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) as they travel to the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest, a Eurovision-type contest where planets from across the universe compete for the top prize.
Eurovision regular Rylan will also appear in the episode along with guest appearances from stars of stage and screen Julie Dray, Miriam-Teak Lee, Freddie Fox, Charlie Condou and Kadiff Kirwan.
The plan is to air The Interstellar Song Contest on BBC One between two of the television events of the year: the FA Cup Final (2024 peak: 8.6 million) and the Eurovision Grand Final (2024 peak: 8.5 million). However, if the teams are drawing at 90 minutes, the game will go to extra time. The start of Eurovision is immovable so, if there isn’t enough time between the programmes, UK fans will need to watch The Interstellar Song Contest on iPlayer or on repeat.
Russell T Davies had this to say about the potential airtime conflict in SFX Magazine:
“It’s going to be very, very interesting what happens. Honestly, that day it’ll be like, ‘Are we transmitting or not? They did run this past me and say, ‘Do you want to take that risk?’, and I said, ‘That’s the sexiest f***ing risk I’ve ever heard in my life. Let’s do it!’ I will, probably for the first time in my life, be sitting watching the football wondering what’s going to happen. And I love it. My god, do you want this programme to make a noise or not?
How likely is it? Of the last 10 finals, two went to extra time, so let’s say 20%. Place your bets! But don’t fret – it’s not as if the episode will vanish into the ether. “It’ll be on the iPlayer, and probably be transmitted on the Sunday or something – it’s all fine!”
Since The Interstellar Song Contest reportedly has some big reveals leading up to the two-part series finale, the recommendation is that fans either stay off the internet or stream the episode at their earliest convenience to avoid spoilers.
Written by Juno Dawson and Russell T Davies and directed by Ben A Williams, The Interstellar Song Contest will transmit on Saturday 17 May at 8am on BBC iPlayer and (hopefully) on BBC One in the UK between the FA Cup Final and the Eurovision Grand Final. Those outside of the UK can watch it on Disney+ where available simultaneously starting at 3am ET/12am PT. The remaining two finale episodes of the series will transmit on 24 and 31 May.