R is for... Ramo

Ramo was one of the High Priests of the Temple of Amdo in Atlantis. These were the 20th Century descendants of the original city state, which sank beneath the ocean in antiquity.

He hated Professor Zaroff, who had come to Atlantis promising to return the city to the surface to become a great power once more. He distrusted his scheme to achieve this, and was disdainful of his blasphemous opinions about their deity. The Doctor was able to see in him a potential ally - someone who might have the ear of King Thous and who might be able to persuade him that Zaroff's plan would destroy the entire planet. However, the monarch was too much under Zaroff's sway and eager to see his kingdom revived. Ramo was discredited, and sent to the temple to be sacrificed to Amdo along with the Doctor.

Ben, Polly and Jamie were able to rescue them both. Later, Zaroff had been kidnapped by them to stop him putting his scheme into its final phase. The wily scientist feigned illness to escape - killing Ramo with a trident before fleeing.

Played by: Tom Watson. Appearances: The Underwater Menace (1967).

• Watson was a well-known face of stage and screen in Scotland. He is best known for playing the boss of Chief Inspector Taggart - Superintendent Murray - for the first three years of the long-running series.

R is for... Rakweed

When Sarah Jane Smith, Luke, Rani and Clyde were menaced one day by Slitheen, they were rescued by a pair of Blathereen named Leef and Tree. These were a rival clan from Raxacoricofallapatorius, orange in colour, who despised the Slitheen.

Leef and Tree had come to Earth to offer a gift - a flowering plant known as Rakweed, which grew profusely on their home planet. It could be processed to create a highly nutritious foodstuff which could alleviate famine on the planet.

That night, the plant given to Sarah as a sample began to germinate, producing hundreds of spores. Breathing them in, Luke fell dangerously ill. The spores spread out through an open window, and soon the plants were beginning to sprout up everywhere.

Clyde had to sit a science test the next day, and decided to smuggle K-9 into the classroom in advance to help him. Rakweed had established themselves in the lab, and these began to emit more spores.

Sarah was able to use super-computer Mr Smith to work out what was going on. The parasitic Rakweed would soon destroy all life on Earth, as the spores were programmed to eliminate any lifeform which might threaten its existence. 

It transpired that Leef and Tree were actually cousins of the Slitheen, harbouring the same genocidal intent. It was discovered that the plant was susceptible to high frequency sound - noticed when the spores shrank from the school bell. K-9 and Mr Smith were able to replicate and broadcast this frequency across West London to destroy the Rakweed and save Luke.

Blathereen were addicted to the plant and, after gorging themselves on it, Sarah used the frequency to destroy what Leef and Tree had just eaten - blowing them up.

Appearances: SJA 3.6 The Gift.

• Leef and Tree were voiced by Miriam Margolyes and Simon Callow respectively.

R is for... Rakaya

Rakaya was an ancient god-like figure who had been imprisoned in a cell suspended between two stars. She was able to reach out with her mind to connect with the Doctor's companion Graham O'Brien. Because of this, the Doctor decided to mount a rescue mission. As well as Graham, the Doctor's other companions and their friends and family members were being subjected to nightmares, which always featured a sinister figure whose fingers could detach from his hand. These inserted themselves into the victim's ear and induced their dreams.

This was a fellow immortal named Zellin, who had tricked the Doctor into freeing Rakaya. They were both Eternals, who fed on the dreams and nightmares of ephemeral beings, having long ago exhausted their own imaginations.

An ancient race blighted by Rakaya had succeeded in capturing and imprisoning her - but she was now free to cause the human race to have nightmares on which she and Zellin would feast.

The Doctor was able to put her back in her cell, along with Zellin - trapping them forever with a savage creature - a Chagaska - created in the nightmares of a young woman named Tahira, who came from 14th Century Aleppo.

Played by: Clare-Hope Ashitey. Appearances: Can You Hear Me? (2020). 

• The Eternals were first introduced in the 1983 story Enlightenment. 
• Ashitey has appeared in the movie Children of Men, and TV series Doctor Foster.

R is for... Radnor

Commander Julian Radnor was a senior official on the T-Mat matter transportation project. He had previously been involved in rocketry, working alongside the pioneering scientist Professor Daniel Eldred. Earth turned its back on space exploration and concentrated entirely on the new T-Mat system to transport people and goods across the planet. Radnor had foreseen this and moved over to join the project, which caused a rift between him and Eldred.

When the moonbase which housed the vital T-Mat relay station was invaded by Ice Warriors, the system was brought to a halt - causing widespread chaos. In desperation, Radnor turned to his old friend, whom he knew to be working on a secret project to build a new rocket. This would be used to get a team to the Moon who would be able to solve the issues - which were thought to be purely technical at this point.

Initially resistant, the Doctor was able to help Radnor convince Eldred to co-operate. Too old to pilot the rocket himself, the Doctor and his companions volunteered to fly it.

Based in London's T-Mat Control, Radnor had to contend first with alien seed pods arriving, which could suffocate and kill when they germinated, and then with the appearance of an Ice Warrior - sent to ensure that the seeds could establish themselves on Earth and so change the climate to suit the Martian invaders.

Having more of a political role on the project, Radnor had an uneasy working relationship with the ambitious Gia Kelly, senior technician for T-Mat.

Played by Ronald Leigh-Hunt. Appearances: The Seeds of Death (1969).

• Leigh-Hunt would return to the series in 1975 to play another commander - Stevenson - in Revenge of the Cybermen.
• He had earlier played King Arthur in the TV series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, which had starred William Russell in the title role - one which very much influenced his casting as Ian Chesterton.
• He would work again with Wendy Padbury in The Freewheelers, and can be seen in The Omen, which also featured Patrick Troughton.

R is for... Racnoss

The Racnoss were an ancient race of giant arachnids, who plagued the universe in its early history - a period known simply as the Dark Times. They had a voracious appetite for flesh, and were said to be born hungry. 

As they rampaged through the universe, destroying many early civilisations, the Time Lords of Gallifrey decided that something should be done to stop them. They were very much an interventionist race at this point, determined to use their great powers to shape the cosmos and bring order out of chaos. They went to war with the Racnoss and eventually wiped them out - or so they thought. The Racnoss Queen went into hiding whilst one of her spaceships - a Webstar - had wandered into what would become the Solar System. Still forming at this point - some 4.5 billion years ago - gravitational forces caused a new planet to form around the Webstar. This particular Webstar contained millions of the Queen's progeny, which were in a dormant stage. The new planet became the Earth.

In the early 21st Century, the Torchwood organisation began drilling operations beneath the Thames, to the east of London. The Thames Flood Barrier was constructed at the same time, to mask their activities. Torchwood had detected something buried here - which proved to the Webstar.

The Racnoss Queen had also slept through the millennia, but she now returned to resurrect her species by reanimating her children. Torchwood had fallen, and she engaged a human agent named Lance to help her. He worked for a company named HC Clements, which had been a front for Torchwood. 

In order to reanimate her children, the Queen required Huon Particles - an energy source now extinct in the universe, eliminated by the Time Lords as harmful to humanoid life. The Queen had retained some of this energy source and Lance was to secretly dose a co-worker with the particles. The energy would be released, and the host fed to the waking children. The worker selected was a secretary named Donna Noble.

The Doctor became involved with the Racnoss scheme when the Huon Particles in Donna's body caused her to be transported onto the TARDIS, drawn to the ship like a magnet.

The Racnoss Queen had employed the robot Santas, previously used by the Sycorax, to abduct her

Donna was later captured by the Queen but the Doctor was able to rescue her. Instead, the Queen dosed Lance with the particles and used him instead. To stop the newly wakened children from getting to the surface, the Doctor flooded the drilling chamber - draining the Thames - and the Racnoss offspring were drowned.

The Queen fled back to her Webstar - but it was blown out of the skies over London by the army on the orders of politician Harold Saxon (really an incarnation of the Master).

In an alternate timeline experienced by Donna, the Doctor himself drowned achieving the destruction of the Racnoss children.

Played by Sarah Parish. Appearances: The Runaway Bride (2006).

• Parish had previously acted opposite David Tennant in the dramas Recovery and Blackpool, and joked that the pair would eventually end up doing a sitcom together like George and Mildred.
• Other roles of note have included appearances in Merlin, Cutting It, W1A and detective series Bancroft, in which she starred as the title character. She was also a regular in BBC's Atlantis.
• She is married to Primeval star James Murray (who also featured in RTD's Cucumber), and the pair received MBEs in 2025 for their children's charity work.

Episode 212: The Dominators (3)

Synopsis:

Zoe and Cully have just arrived back at the survey unit by travel capsule, seeking proof of the invaders to show to the ruling council. It has just been visited by the Quarks, who are now ordered by Toba to destroy the installation. 

The building begins to collapse around them...

The attack is halted by the arrival of Rago, who is angered that Toba is wasting resources on wanton destruction. The Quarks have limited energy supplies, and they are needed for their drilling operations. Rago orders that any survivors inside be taken alive.

Zoe and Cully manage to open the outer door of the unit - only to be confronted by one of the robots.

The Doctor and Jamie arrive at the Capitol and are granted an audience with Senex and the council.

Rago has been examining Teel more closely and is concerned that the Dulcians may be too physically weak to act as a slave labour force. He instructs Toba that the three prisoners, along with the two from the survey unit, be sent to work on one of the drill sites - their progress to be observed and collapse time noted. 

One of the Quarks is sent back to the unit to capture any others who might arrive there.

The Doctor and Jamie are concerned to learn that Zoe and Cully have returned to the island. They struggle to convince the council that the Dominators pose a threat. If they want something on Dulkis, Senex states, then they will simply give it to them. Senex and Bovem also point out that the Dominators let them go - so what can there be to fear from them? Jamie is alarmed to hear that the Dulcians have no armies to defend themselves, being pacifists.

Cully and Zoe are waiting by the museum, where one of the drill sites is located. Discussing a means of escape, Zoe recalls the laser weapon which she saw inside.

Teel, Kando and Balan are sent to join them, accompanied by Quarks.

In the council chamber, video contact is established with the survey unit, and everyone is shocked to see it damaged - and a Quark visible on the screen. Only now does the council begin to accept what Cully and the Doctor have been trying to warn them about. The Doctor and Jamie realise that Zoe and the others are in danger, and insist on returning to the island immediately.

As they set off in a travel capsule, Jamie points out to the Doctor that they know there will be a Quark waiting for them at the survey unit. The Doctor decides that they must make a landing elsewhere on the island - and this will mean overriding the automatic guidance system. He opens a hatch and begins rewiring the controls, much to Jamie's consternation as they are still in flight.

The prisoners are put to work clearing rubble away from the drill site outside the museum, guarded by a pair of Quarks. Whilst Zoe and Cully want to escape and fight back, they find Balan and Kando unwilling to take any action - though Teel begins to accept that it would be wrong to submit.

Rago is surprised to learn that of all the prisoners, it is a female who is proving the strongest - Zoe.

As Balan collapses and has to be moved to the side, Zoe attempts to slip into the museum to seize the weapon - only to find another Quark inside.

His rewiring completed, the Doctor warns Jamie to prepare for a landing.

The Dulcian council has called upon Tensa, Chairman of the Emergencies Committee, to attend them. He usually has to deal with natural disasters and accidents, and has never had to consider a threat of this nature. He informs Senex and the others that they have three options to respond: fight, flight, or capitulation. The Director is shocked. They cannot fight as they have no weapons or armies; they cannot flee as they have nowhere to go; and the idea of submission to some unknown aggressor is unthinkable. Tensa advises that for now they must simply wait, since they do not know for certain that the new arrivals on the island are hostile.

The travel capsule has landed on a hillside near the museum. The Doctor and Jamie set off to look for Zoe.

The prisoners are discussing what they should do next, if they do manage to get the weapon and destroy their guards. Teel recalls that the museum contains a bomb shelter, though he is not sure where the entrance is.

They are being observed from the hillside above by the Doctor and Jamie, who split up to try to make their way down to them.

It is Cully who manages to slip away from the work party into the building, and finds the weapon. He takes aim at one of the Quarks, but cannot get a clear shot. Just he gets one in his sights, he is interrupted by the arrival of Jamie.

The robots note that one of the party is missing.

The Doctor stumbles into Toba and is captured. The rest of the prisoners are being escorted along a path back to the spaceship and the Doctor is forced to join them. On hearing that Cully is missing, Toba returns to the museum with a trio of Quarks.

When Cully refuses to surrender, they begin to open fire on the building. Jamie takes aim and destroys one of the robots, which infuriates Toba.

The Quarks continue to bombard the museum building, with Jamie and Cully trapped inside...

 

Data:

Written by Norman Ashby

Recorded: Friday 31st May 1968 - Television Centre Studio TC3

First broadcast: 5.15pm, Saturday 24th August 1968

Ratings: 5.4 million / AI 55

VFX: Ron Oates

Designer: Barry Newbery

Director: Morris Barry

Additional cast: Brian Cant (Tensa)

Critique:

Technically, this is the final episode of Doctor Who to have been written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln - for reasons we will go into next week...

As previously mentioned, all the location work involving pyrotechnics was filmed on the same day at Gerrards Cross - Thursday 25th April. This included the partial destruction of the survey unit - a forced perspective model - and the Quark which is attacked by Jamie in this episode. A single dummy Quark was blown up, filmed from different angles so that the footage could be used to show different attacks in more than one episode.

Wendy Padbury was not free in the morning and so attended filming after lunch, including the sequence where Zoe and the Dulcian prisoners are escorted back to the spaceship, with the Doctor being forced to join them. It can clearly be seen that this is not Patrick Troughton, but his stand-in Chris Jeffries.

The next day had seen the travel capsule model footage filmed for this and the previous episode at the Puppet Theatre in Television Centre. A still photograph of the crash-landed capsule, its nose partially buried in the sand, was taken - to be inserted into this episode as a caption.

Joining the cast this week was the legendary Brian Cant, playing Chairman Tensa. For generations of children he was known as the presenter of series Play School and Play Away, as well as the voice of Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley. As with many of the cast, he had previously worked with Morris Barry on Compact.

The Dominators was once again recorded at Television Centre but moved into Studio TC3 this week, where it would remain for the rest of the story. 

Earlier on the day of recording, Troughton and Padbury recorded the brief exchange which would act as voice-over introduction for the repeat screening of The Evil of the Daleks.

This episode was allocated an extra 15 minutes recording, taking it up to 10pm. It was also recorded onto 35mm film, taken from a 625-line video monitor, for ease of editing.

The "Episode 3" caption was mistakenly omitted from the opening credits, which rolled over a filmed reprise of the cliff-hanger to the previous week's episode.

Senex's chair was now seen to have a TV monitor built into it, so that he could view the scenes from the damaged survey unit - fed from a camera on that set.

The first recording break was to allow Troughton and Hines to move from the council chamber set into the travel capsule. Its erratic flight was indicated simply through camera movement.

Camera masks were used to show the telescope view of the working party, as seen by the Doctor and Jamie, and to show the cross-hairs on the gun sight as Jamie and Cully tried to aim the laser weapon at a Quark.

Wendy Padbury suffered some wardrobe malfunctions throughout recording as the zip on the back of her dress often came loose.

The final recording break of the evening was to set up flash charges on the museum set to show it being blasted by the Quarks. The end credits ran over this attack, as the charges were detonated.

One small cut to the episode was made during the editing. This had the Doctor and Jamie pause as they left the council chamber to discuss the fact that there would be a Quark waiting for them when the got back to the survey unit - dialogue already covered in a travel capsule scene.

This week we start to see some action, though characters are still mainly going backwards and forwards, and men are debating in rooms. The lack of incident was the main issue of concern for Derrick Sherwin throughout the story, and would be the reason why it was eventually truncated.

The war museum, full of functional weapons, is a "Chekov's Gun" - i.e. if you show a revolver sitting on a table in Act One, then someone will have to have fired it by the end of Act Three. 

Unless you really want to include something as a 'red herring', the narrative shouldn't include anything you don't intend to use.

The war museum exists here to show that this island was once the site of a nuclear bomb test, and an initial source of radiation - but the fact that it has working laser guns has to mean something for the plot.

(It's odd that there should be a museum dedicated to the Dulcians' warlike past, as a reminder to cherish their current peace-loving society - but located in a place that only a few students ever visit. And why does it contain working weaponry? Would an energy weapon still have power after 172 years? It is claimed that it is self-charging - though you saw a power cable at one point in Episode 2).

Chairman Tensa is introduced, head of the Emergencies Committee. Despite only having the information given to the council by Cully and the Doctor, plus the video of the Quark in the survey unit, he does initially appear to accept the fact that they are under threat. His advice? Fight, Flight or Surrender. That he should even advocate fighting as an option might show that this society isn't entirely pacifistic. In cut dialogue, Cully had said that one of his father's roles was to maintain their peace-loving existence - which might imply that their pacificism does not run very deeply.

However, Tensa then spoils things by reverting back to the threat only being hearsay at present, and they ought to simply wait and see what happens.

Certainly Balan and Kando are unwilling to get involved in any escape attempt which might involve attacking the Quarks - though it looks like she is simply bowing to the older man's advice. Balan's advice is simply that violence begets violence. 

Teel, on the other hand, is beginning to stand up for himself and admits that it would be wrong to capitulate, though he isn't prepared to go quite as far as the rebellious Cully for now.

There's more visual comedy on show from the Doctor and Jamie. First of all there's the clowning around in the travel capsule as the Doctor dismantles the controls and does a spot of mid-air rewiring. At one point he falls head first into the workings and we see his legs waving in the air.

Later, there's the business with the telescope as Jamie snatches it away before the Doctor has a chance to use it. A little moment, but one indicative of the way Troughton and Hines worked together, and are one of the most popular Doctor / Companion combinations.

Apart from these scenes, the Doctor and Jamie have little to do in this episode - until the latter decides to go on the attack right at the end.

In the council chamber, Jamie gets increasingly frustrated by the attitude of the Dulcians, whilst the Doctor actually finds himself being distracted by some of their arguments:

The Doctor: "Because they are aggressive, callous and unfeeling. Don't expect them to act and think as you do. They're alien, from another planet"

Senex: "Well so are you, Doctor"

The Doctor: "Oh dear, you've got me there..."

As for Zoe, well it's nice to see her getting more to do. She gets captured and put on a work party - but immediately starts planning an escape, encouraging the others to contemplate helping. She also takes care of the weaker members of the party, and proves to be the strongest of the lot. This despite her academic background in the City and on the Wheel. The story is trying to say more that the Dulcians are physically rather weak through their indolent lifestyle, rather than that she is particularly strong.

Trivia:

• The ratings drop even further this week, to what will be the lowest figure for this story. The appreciation score remains constant however.
• Brian Cant had previously played Kert Gantry in the recently rediscovered The Nightmare Begins - the opening instalment of The Daleks' Master Plan. His son Richard will appear in the series in 2007, playing Kathy Nightingale's grandson in Blink.
• Now synonymous with the Fourth Doctor, the Second Doctor here enjoys a bag of jelly babies in the travel capsule. He favoured lemon sherbets in the last story.
• In the early spaceship scene where Kando wants the Dominators to leave Teel alone, a camera can just be glimpsed creeping into shot.
• Radio Times included a photograph of Jamie and Cully on the day's listings page in some regions. Note Dee Time at 6.15pm, presented by Simon Dee. Frazer Hines was desperate to appear on this chat show, but they were only interested in getting him along with Troughton - and the latter refused point blank to do TV interviews at this time.

Story 318: The Interstellar Song Contest

In which the Doctor and Belinda visit the Harmony Arena, in the year 2925. This vast space station is about to play host to the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest - a future incarnation of Earth's Eurovision Song Contest. The TARDIS has materialised inside one of the VIP Pods. One of the presenters is Rylan Clark, who has been taken out of cryogenic suspension for the event. The Vindicator has been set up and the readings taken - but, on seeing Rylan, Belinda wishes to stay and see the show, and the Doctor agrees.

She enjoyed the contest as a child, and the Doctor recalls being present in 1974 when ABBA won with Waterloo. It is announced that the show is going out live to some 3 trillion viewers across the western galactic arm.

Their arrival has been noted by Mrs Flood who is also in the audience - observing them through a pair of opera glasses. She too decides to stay and see the show, as she has managed to record the Vindicator readings. This is the final one required.

As the Doctor and Belinda wonder who should be in this Pod, the actual ticket holders - Gary and Mike Gabbaston - are locked out. They are barred from entering by a robotic Droneguard, which simply states that "Phase One is completed" before moving off. 

In the production gallery, the Droneguards there repeat the same phrase. In charge here, directing the broadcast, is Nina Maxwell. She is surprised when a young man from the planet Hellion enters - given access by one of her crew, Wynn Aura-Kinn. His name is Kid, and Wynn is his girlfriend. He is armed, and announces that he has taken over the Droneguards.

On stage, Rylan improvises to cover the loss of instructions from the gallery, as the contestant representing Trion takes to the stage. She is Cora Saint Bavier. Everyone in the gallery has now been locked out, apart from Nina. Wynn interrupts the broadcast and replaces it with the recorded dress rehearsal, so that the viewers will be unaware that anything is wrong. However, Rylan was not present for this.

The Doctor spots the discrepancy between the broadcast, which can be viewed in the Pod, and what they can see on stage. He leaves the Pod to investigate.

Nina is forced to give Kid access to the arena's systems. He sends a message to Rylan, before shutting down the arena's air shield. Everyone in the auditorium is ejected into space - including the Doctor, the TARDIS, and Mrs Flood. They become frozen, but a gravity field prevents them from floating away - and Nina tells Kid that they could all still be saved. The Pods have an emergency override which seals them, so Belinda is safe. These were activated by Wynn. Those in the corridors and rooms outside the main arena are also unharmed.

Kid has no interest in saving anyone, telling Nina that he has been called a monster all his life due to being a Hellion. He orders the Droneguards to bring in a delta wave generator for the final phase of his scheme.

A panicking Belinda leaves the Pod and meets Cora, who attempts to calm her. She also explains that the station is in a communications lockdown, to prevent people betting on the contest, so no-one will be able to come to their aid until after the show has ended. They encounter a man named Len, who is a member of the tech team. He is examining the computer systems and finds that something is rewriting them.

Nina realises that she cannot reason with Kid, but she noted that Wynn saved those in the Pods. She therefore tries to speak to her. This fails to work. What they are doing, they are doing for Hellia.

In space, the rapidly freezing Doctor has a vision of his granddaughter Susan, standing in the TARDIS, urging him to go back and find her...

He spots a confetti cannon floating nearby and grabs it - using it to blast himself towards one of the station's airlocks. He is given access by Gary and Mike. The latter is a nurse, and he is able to use a first aid medi-kit to fully revive him.

He explains that he was able to increase the strength of the gravity field outside, just before being ejected, so everyone outside can indeed be saved. They are in a form of cryogenic suspension at present.

Kid rigs the delta wave generator to activate on reaching a specific song. The Doctor breaks into the computer system and discovers this. If broadcast, it will destroy the brains of all 3 trillion viewers. It is currently 70% ready.

The computer script is recognised as Hellion. This race had a beautiful world, but is now an ecological wasteland. This has always been blamed on the Hellions themselves, who have a terrible reputation across the galaxy. Cora, however, tries to defend them.

The Doctor, Gary and Mike come to a museum dedicated to the contest, where there is a computer access panel. Gary is a technician, specialising in hologram systems. To demonstrate his expertise, he operates a hologram of Graham Norton.

The Doctor then experiences another vision of Susan...

In the gallery, Kid detects that the computer is being tampered with and appears on the machine being worked on by the Doctor. Elsewhere, Belinda and Cora are also able to see the exchange between Kid and the Doctor, though they cannot be seen by them. Belinda is pleased to see that the Doctor has survived - whilst the Doctor is still unaware of her fate.

The Doctor and Kid threaten each other, with Kid stating that he will open all the airlocks and kill the survivors throughout the station. The Doctor, in turn, tells Kid that he will track him down and throw him out into space. Belinda is shocked to hear him speak like this. Wynn appears to tell Kid that the generator is now at 95%, and she is recognised by Cora.

Kid terminates the conversation and sends Droneguards to the museum to kill the Doctor, after tracing his location.

Cora admits to Belinda that she knew Kid and Wynn as children. He got his name as his mother was killed before she could tell anyone his real one. She confesses that she is actually a Hellion, and removes her wig to show the stumps where her horns used to be.

She tells of how Hellia was home to a unique poppy which was used to flavour a type of popular honey, marketed by the Corporation, who had bought out the planet and its people. After stripping Hellia of its poppies, the Corporation then ensured that none could ever be grown again and so become a source of competition for them. They ruined the planet, and helped spread the terrible reputation of its people - to the extent that someone like Cora had to hide her true identity. The Corporation sponsors the song contest - which is why Kid is targeting it. She thinks that Kid might listen to her, so she must get to the gallery - and Belinda assumes that is where the Doctor would also make for.

Kid and Wynn see generator power reach 99%, as Nina continues to try to talk them into stopping their scheme.

The Doctor suddenly appears. Kid shoots at him, only to find that he is a hologram being generated by Gary. He destroys the generator and disarms Kid. He has adapted this hologram so that it has some physical substance, and uses a control glove to begin torturing Kid with electric shocks. Wynn and Nina try to get him to stop, but he only does so when Belinda arrives in the gallery with Cora - and he sees another vision of Susan imploring him to stop. Cora tries to speak to Wynn, but she refuses to listen as Cora ran away and abandoned her people - doing nothing to expose what happened to their world.

Nina takes back control of the Droneguards and Kid and Wynn are taken away to face justice.

There is still the issue of the thousands of people frozen in the gravity field. The Doctor has Gary adapt the hologram generator to turn it into a tractor beam, whilst Mike will adapt one of the VIP Pods to turn it into a revival booth, to process groups at a time.

The contest soon resumes, and Cora takes to the stage to sing as a Hellian one of their songs, highlighting the ruination of the planet.

The TARDIS has been found and placed in the museum. The hologram of Graham Norton is triggered, which tells the history of the original contest. He states that it ended with the destruction of Earth in May 2025. They take to the TARDIS and set the controls for 24th May 2025, but the TARDIS responds badly and the doors explode inwards...

When Gary and Mike restore Mrs Flood, she begins to regenerate. Instead of changing body, however, a second figure emerges from her, for this is a bi-generation.

Mrs Flood is revealed to have been the Rani all along...

The Interstellar Song Contest was written by Juno Dawson, and was first broadcast on Saturday 17th May 2025. The timing wasn't random, as this was the evening on which that year's Eurovision Song Contest was to be shown. 

This was a gamble as there was live football on that afternoon, which may have gone to extra time / penalties in the event of a draw - in which case Doctor Who would almost certainly have been postponed as the song contest was a live affair being coordinated by multiple international broadcasters.

Juno Dawson had written a number of Doctor Who spin-off stories - both books and audios - and had been earmarked to write an episode for the second season of Class had it gone ahead.

If there's an earlier story from which this has drawn its inspirations, then that would be Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways. In both we have an evil but never seen corporation behind popular entertainment, current TV celebrities cameo as themselves despite a far future setting, a pastiche of current popular TV shows, and use of a delta wave weapon is threatened.

The episode will mainly be remembered for four things: the return of Susan, as played by Carole Ann Ford; the appearance as themselves by certain celebrities; the return of the Rani; and that earworm that is Dugga Doo...

Ford had last been seen in the programme proper in 1983, when she joined the cast of The Five Doctors. She later featured in the CiN Doctor Who / EastEnders special Dimensions in Time, and has continued to play Susan on audio. Susan's return had been anticipated by fans for some time, with hints that she might have been in the Vault in Series 10, or that Susan Triad might be a later incarnation of her in the previous series.

The Rani had been introduced in The Mark of the Rani opposite the Sixth Doctor and had returned to face the newly regenerated Seventh Doctor in Time and the Rani. She too featured, as the main villain, in the Children in Need affair. Throughout she had been played by Kate O'Mara, who had died in 2014.

Like Susan, her return had been anticipated often - with just about every enigmatic female character about to be exposed as the Rani.

Fans had actually sussed that Mrs Flood was the Rani the year before.

Playing themselves are Graham Norton and Rylan Clark, who are both associated with Eurovision itself.

As for Dugga Doo, it was simply a pastiche of the irritatingly catchy melodies many countries come up with for the competition. The song is "performed" by a black and orange puppet.

How much you like this episode really depends on your level of interest in Eurovision. I used to watch it in the 1970's, but have no interest in it at all these days. Even people who have never watched it know what it is about, however, as it often makes the news anyway. Turkey never votes for Greece and Greece never votes for Turkey because of Cyprus, the UK gets nil points, and a number of countries boycotted this year's contest because of Israel's inclusion. The winner is someone you will invariably never hear of ever again. That's it in a nutshell.

Despite my ambivalence towards its source material, I was actually enjoying this episode but it all went wrong for me half way through. The image of the floating bodies in space, lit by a hellish red glow from beneath, was one of the most striking images I've ever seen in the programme - not just because of what it looked like but because of what it represented. I thought that maybe this time someone had made the brave decision to show a massacre of innocent bystanders. A really shocking moment.

But then they suddenly announce that the people aren't really dead, and all can be saved - and you just know that this is exactly what is going to happen before the end of episode. Narrative cowardice in my view.

There are other problems. We have a very stereotypical contemporary gay couple - Gary and Mike - who are obsessed with the contest. Between them, they just happen to have the exact skill sets needed for the plot. Gary knows all about holograms, and Mike is a nurse. It's like "Plot Writing For Beginners". There's something lazy about the writing, what with its stereotypes and fairly unimaginative storyline.

Another problem is the presentation of the Doctor. In this he becomes someone else entirely and begins to threaten to get even with the villain, and then goes on to torture him. I could well see this coming from Capaldi's Doctor, but Gatwa has been such a lightweight in the role that it simply doesn't ring true. The Twelfth was dark and unpredictable, but Fifteen has always been too shallow a characterisation.

Kid is made out to be a monster - he admits as much himself - but one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, and when you learn his backstory and that of his planet, you can begin to see some reasoning behind his actions - even if you abhor the way he intends to go about achieving his revenge. The episode seems confused on the issue. If Kid really was a monster, killing for no reason, then we might have sensed why the Doctor reacts the way he does. But we get to see that, in his own mind at least, Kid has justification for taking the actions he does - making the Doctor's reaction an aggressive knee-jerk one, leaping in without gathering facts or making any informed decision. This is something we rarely see from him. He makes mistakes, but doesn't resort to this kind of cruel behaviour.

It's an attempt to make this incarnation of the Doctor more threatening - but just doesn't work. We too used to seeing him burst into tears over everything that upsets him by this point.

Belinda says she's shocked to hear the Doctor threaten Kid, and fears what he would be like if left unchecked - but she's only known him five minutes. It's a watered down version of Donna Noble's "You need someone to stop you" in The Runaway Bride.

My final criticism is the bi-generation. It was made out to be something pretty unique when used for the Fourteenth / Fifteenth Doctor, but now looks like any old Time Lord can do it. At least it let us use "The Two Ranis" joke (and I've a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly why RTD2 did it).

The main guest artist is Freddie Fox, who plays Kid. He's a member of the well-known British acting dynasty - his father is Edward Fox, and mother Joanna David. His sister is Emilia Fox, and his uncle is James Fox. Cousin Laurence Fox, ex-husband of Billie Piper, is infamous for his right wing politics these days. Freddie appeared in an episode of Lewis opposite him.

Freddie previously featured in RTD's Cucumber and Banana, and has played Lord Alfred Douglas on stage, and featured in the film adaptation of Wilde's An Ideal Husband. He also appeared in the 2023 "Ghost Story For Christmas" - Lot 249 - and GoT prequel series House of the Dragon. 

Wynn is Iona Anderson, who is relatively new to television. She recently appeared opposite John Simm in crime drama Grace.

Playing Cora is Miriam Teak-Lee, who is best known for stage musicals.

Ex-Coronation Street regular Charlie Condou plays Gary, opposite Kadiff Kirwan as Mike. He has appeared in Black Mirror, Slow Horses and Inside No.9. Condou is at time of writing appearing in RTD's latest drama Tip Toe, which stars Alan Cumming and David Morrisey.

Nina is played by Kiruna Stamell, whose first film role was in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. She was a regular in daytime medical soap Doctors.

Also amongst the cast is Christina Rotondo, playing singer Liz Lizardine. Rotondo had previously played Janis Goblin in The Church on Ruby Road.

Joining the series as the new incarnation of the Rani is Archie Panjabi, star of The Good Wife. She has guested in many of the British detective dramas, as well as comedies such as Still Open All Hours and The Thin Blue Line. Film roles include East is East and Bend It Like Beckham.

Overall, it could have been so much better had they allowed it to go darker - but tying it in with the lightweight Eurovision Song Contest meant that was never going to happen. The terrorist / hijack scenario might be ten a penny in US crime shows and movies, but it's rare for Doctor Who, and maybe should have been saved for another time and another context. Biggest disappointment will be one of hindsight, as we now know Susan's reappearance is going to lead absolutely nowhere...

Things you might like to know:

• Dawson's first idea was for a disaster movie set-up, similar to The Poseidon Adventure. Not only was this deemed too expensive, it also had obvious similarities with The Voyage of the Damned. Instead, RTD2 suggested "Die Hard meets the Eurovision Song Contest".
• Dawson and Davies contributed lyrics to some of the songs, though Dugga Doo was entirely the work of Murray Gold, who wrote four new compositions for the episode.
• Bucks Fizz's Making Your Mind Up can be heard in the episode. This won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest for the UK.
• Rylan Clark wasn't in the original version of the script. In his place was a blue-skinned being named Xylan, presumably based on him.
• Freddie Fox was named after Fred Zinnemann - director of the original The Day of the Jackal, which starred his dad.
• The bi-generation scene was recorded later, once production on Wish World had got under way.
• The Droneguards will be back in the next story, based in the Rani's Bone Palace.
• The song performances had to be filmed first, so that they could then be shown on screens in scenes shot up to 10 days later with the main cast.
• The planet Trion gets a mention. This was homeworld to the Fifth Doctor's companion Turlough, and has recently featured again in the ancillary material for the Season 21 - The Collection box set. The Doctor and Tegan visit the planet in the comic strip which concluded the events of the specially made trailer.
• The aforementioned Liz Lizardine is, in appearance, potentially a member of the same race as Malpha, one of the Planetarians in Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks' Master Plan. Or maybe not.
• Alpha Centauri and Trenzalore are also mentioned. One of the performers is also said to be a Zygon.
• Susan's earrings were based on the signet ring worn by her grandfather.
• It was Ncuti Gatwa who had suggested that the Rani return, though I suspect that RTD2 did not need much persuading.
• Gatwa was to have been the UK's voting spokesman for Eurovision on the night, but dropped out very late in the day, replaced by Sophie Ellis-Bextor - daughter of a Doctor Who guest artist.