LONDON (AP) 鈥� 鈥淒octor Who鈥� and unite for an evening of music and intergalactic adventure on Saturday 鈥� all thanks to .
Before fans tune in for the annual song contest, they can enjoy Doctor and Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra attending the Interstellar Song Contest in an episode of the sci-fi series.
In real life, the is an annual musical competition and TV event that sees 37 countries compete for a crystal microphone trophy over a four-hour live broadcast. In the interstellar version, aliens from 40 different worlds vie to win, also by singing.
Davies says it took three years to pull it off the doubleheader because they had to work with the BBC to set the schedule and storylines in stone to ensure a perfect alignment.
Britain鈥檚 Sam Ryder took a 鈥淪pace Man鈥� to Eurovision before, in 2022. Now, Gatwa will read out the U.K.鈥檚 jury scores during the song contest's grand final, held this year
Talking to The Associated Press, Davies says that both Eurovision and 鈥淒octor Who鈥� share the DNA of old-fashioned Saturday night television, making the combination 鈥渋rresistible.鈥�
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: Do you feel that Eurovision and 鈥淒octor Who鈥� naturally share a kind of fandom?
DAVIES: I almost think every episode of 鈥淒octor Who鈥� is a great big celebration, sort of noise and color and spectacle, and that sums up Eurovision as well. In pitching this to Disney+ as well it鈥檚 like, 鈥淟ook we鈥檙e going out in 60 of your territories鈥� and Eurovision itself has a viewing figure that some years is bigger than the Super Bowl. There鈥檚 not many shows that can say that on planet Earth.
AP: How much fun did you have with the lore of Eurovision?
DAVIES: It鈥檚 enormous fun. It could be said if you鈥檝e never seen a single Eurovision Song Contest in your life, you can still come along and watch this. It鈥檚 the kind of thing we鈥檇 have made up for a 鈥淒octor Who鈥� story anyway.
One day I鈥檒l do that story where the holograms come to life and start killing people. That鈥檚 the best idea ever. We鈥檝e got to do that one then. Can you imagine? That would be just amazing. I think there might be some copyright problems with that but we鈥檇 overcome them.
The actual pitch for the story to Juno (Dawson), who wrote it, was Eurovision meets 鈥淒ie Hard.鈥� So as you will see, the moment it starts, there鈥檚 trouble, someone鈥檚 out to sabotage it. There are villains behind the scenes trying to disrupt the program. All chaos is let loose and the rest of the episode is spent saving people鈥檚 lives after that.
AP: How about the songs?
DAVIES: I think there鈥檚 four songs in total (by Murray Gold). Obviously we don鈥檛 get to all 40 planets with their songs, but it was a very big production. We had to hive this off into its own production unit. There are scenes in the television gallery, where 40 different monitors have output of 40 different screens. And that鈥檚 all been fed in live. That鈥檚 not done with green screen afterwards, that鈥檚 all stuff they鈥檇 already shot. Crowds, acts, rehearsals, backstage, presenters, all of that stuff, playing onto that set, so it鈥檚 terribly complicated.
AP: Is this the most expensive episode of 鈥淒octor Who鈥�?
DAVIES: Frankly, they鈥檙e all expensive. It was a lot, yes. It had to be planned very far in advance, more than any. Once you plan something carefully, then it costs less just because you鈥檙e not busking. We allocate each story more or less the same amount of money. So I think it ends up costing as much as the others, but it just looks so good because they had so much time to plan it.
AP: Am I allowed to ask how much an episode normally costs?
DAVIES: We never say that. I don鈥檛 know why, but we just don鈥檛 ever do it. I don鈥檛 think they鈥檇 tell me. I鈥檇 faint.
AP: Are you planning to watch Eurovision this year?
DAVIES: Yes, I will be. This will be a great night. I always sit and watch 鈥淒octor Who鈥� 鈥� I鈥檓 old-fashioned 鈥� on its old-fashioned BBC One transmission at 7 o鈥檆lock at night.
I know people who have Eurovision parties, which I鈥檝e never gone to actually. Look at my life, it鈥檚 devoted to television. I can鈥檛 bear other people talking over it. That would just be a nightmare. So I will be sitting in. I鈥檒l get some nice dinner. I鈥檒l be a very happy man.
AP: Have you got any favorites for this year?
DAVIES: I would like to go on a date with the man from Cyprus (Theo Evan). He鈥檚 beautiful. I do like the U.K. entry this year (鈥淲hat the Hell Just Happened?鈥� by Remember Monday). I have a theory it鈥檚 being underestimated in Great Britain. Just because we鈥檙e so used to losing. We鈥檝e won five times, everyone. But this country gets a bit cynical about Eurovision sometimes. But I love our song. I think it鈥檚 got a very memorable chorus.
Hilary Fox, The Associated Press
