Doctor Who Season 2, Episode 6 Subjects Its Two Celebrity Cameos To A Fate Worse Than Death

This article contains spoilers for "Doctor Who" season 2, episode 6, "The Interstellar Song Contest."

In many ways, "The Interstellar Song Contest" captures the things that "Doctor Who" does best in one convenient package. The episode marries the show's fun, cheesy, and heartfelt air with the Doctor's (Ncuti Gatwa) tragic past and deep disgust toward those who would kill, all while adding some deep cut lore and pop culture references to spice things up. To top it all off, the episode includes a couple of cameos that are really juicy if you're familiar with British popular culture. 

First, a word about the cameos in question for our U.S. readers. The first notable real-life celebrity we see in "The Interstellar Song Contest" is Rylan Clark, a British TV show personality who has been a presenter and commentator on numerous series, including the Eurovision contest (yes, the same Eurovision contest that inspired the Will Ferrell comedy). Here, he's reimagined as the Immortal Rylan, a version of himself who, it seems, has hosted the contest for the last 900 years or so. Later, we see another, even more popular TV personality (and a noted Eurovision presenter on the BBC): Comedian Graham Norton, whose AI hologram presides over the song contest satellite's Eurovision museum. Fittingly, given the episode's bittersweet themes, both of these roles are largely played for laughs ... yet tease plenty of pain hiding underneath.

Indeed, "The Interstellar Song Contest" largely treats both Clark and Norton in a comedic fashion. However, there are several not-so-subtle clues that the "Doctor Who" versions of these individuals are trapped in what amounts to a living hell.

Since Rylan is frozen in cryogenic suspension between the contests, the episode all but states that he lives his life entirely during hosting gigs. Since he looks the same as he does today, he's apparently done so since the 2020s, which implies he's spent a good 900 years living entirely on stage. Yes, it's played for laughs, but there are hints that the situation is affecting him adversely. He's deeply dependent on studio cues and struggles to function without direction, and once he's sucked into space and his skin starts to freeze, he's horrified and can only say, "Not again" — which implies he may not be stuck in the circle of freezing voluntarily.

Later, we see Norton as a hologram AI at the song contest museum. While his presence is also comedic, the literal first thing he does is express his solemn wish that he wouldn't have signed away his likeness in perpetuity. Again, played for laughs, but there's an undercurrent of desperation and hopelessness — especially since the hologram reappears later in the episode and offers some important exposition. This, along with his ability to state his dislike over being trapped in this condition in the first place, heavily implies that the Norton AI is at least semi-sentient and hates it.

All of this is in line with the Gatwa-era treatment of famous British TV faces, incidentally. In his first full "Doctor Who" episode, the 2023 Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road," noted presenter Davina McCall finds herself on the receiving end of a series of goblin-induced Rube Goldberg scenarios that wouldn't be out of place in the "Final Destination" franchise, so perhaps Rylan and Norton get away lightly.

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