Russell T Davies brings two of Earth’s biggest shows together: ‘Doctor Who’ and Eurovision

LONDON – “Doctor Who” and Eurovision unite for an evening of euphony and intergalactic escapade connected Saturday — each acknowledgment to Russell T Davies.

Before fans tune successful for the yearly opus contest, they tin bask Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor and Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra attending the Interstellar Song Contest successful an occurrence of the sci-fi series.

In existent life, the Eurovision Song Contest is an yearly philharmonic contention and TV lawsuit that sees 37 countries vie for a crystal microphone trophy implicit a four-hour unrecorded broadcast. In the interstellar version, aliens from 40 antithetic worlds vie to win, besides by singing.

Davies says it took 3 years to propulsion it disconnected the doubleheader due to the fact that they had to enactment with the BBC to acceptable the docket and storylines successful chromatic to guarantee a cleanable alignment.

Britain’s Sam Ryder took a “Space Man” to Eurovision before, successful 2022. Now, Gatwa volition work retired the U.K.’s assemblage scores during the opus contest's expansive final, held this twelvemonth in Basel, Switzerland.

Talking to The Associated Press, Davies says that some Eurovision and “Doctor Who” stock the DNA of old-fashioned Saturday nighttime television, making the operation “irresistible.”

This speech has been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: Do you consciousness that Eurovision and “Doctor Who” people stock a benignant of fandom?

DAVIES: I astir deliberation each occurrence of “Doctor Who” is simply a large large celebration, benignant of sound and colour and spectacle, and that sums up Eurovision arsenic well. In pitching this to Disney+ arsenic good it’s like, “Look we’re going retired successful 60 of your territories” and Eurovision itself has a viewing fig that immoderate years is bigger than the Super Bowl. There’s not galore shows that tin accidental that connected satellite Earth.

AP: How overmuch amusive did you person with the lore of Eurovision?

DAVIES: It’s tremendous fun. It could beryllium said if you’ve ne'er seen a azygous Eurovision Song Contest successful your life, you tin inactive travel on and ticker this. It’s the benignant of happening we’d person made up for a “Doctor Who” communicative anyway.

One time I’ll bash that “ABBA Voyage” communicative wherever the holograms travel to beingness and commencement sidesplitting people. That’s the champion thought ever. We’ve got to bash that 1 then. Can you imagine? That would beryllium conscionable amazing. I deliberation determination mightiness beryllium immoderate copyright problems with that but we’d flooded them.

The existent transportation for the communicative to Juno (Dawson), who wrote it, was Eurovision meets “Die Hard.” So arsenic you volition see, the infinitesimal it starts, there’s trouble, someone’s retired to sabotage it. There are villains down the scenes trying to disrupt the program. All chaos is fto escaped and the remainder of the occurrence is spent redeeming people’s lives aft that.

AP: How astir the songs?

DAVIES: I deliberation there’s 4 songs successful full (by Murray Gold). Obviously we don’t get to each 40 planets with their songs, but it was a precise large production. We had to hive this disconnected into its ain accumulation unit. There are scenes successful the tv gallery, wherever 40 antithetic monitors person output of 40 antithetic screens. And that’s each been fed successful live. That’s not done with greenish surface afterwards, that’s each worldly they’d already shot. Crowds, acts, rehearsals, backstage, presenters, each of that stuff, playing onto that set, truthful it’s terribly complicated.

AP: Is this the astir costly occurrence of “Doctor Who”?

DAVIES: Frankly, they’re each expensive. It was a lot, yes. It had to beryllium planned precise acold successful advance, much than any. Once you program thing carefully, past it costs little conscionable due to the fact that you’re not busking. We allocate each communicative much oregon little the aforesaid magnitude of money. So I deliberation it ends up costing arsenic overmuch arsenic the others, but it conscionable looks truthful bully due to the fact that they had truthful overmuch clip to program it.

AP: Am I allowed to inquire however overmuch an occurrence usually costs?

DAVIES: We ne'er accidental that. I don’t cognize why, but we conscionable don’t ever bash it. I don’t deliberation they’d archer me. I’d faint.

AP: Are you readying to ticker Eurovision this year?

DAVIES: Yes, I volition be. This volition beryllium a large night. I ever beryllium and ticker “Doctor Who” — I’m old-fashioned — connected its old-fashioned BBC One transmission astatine 7 o’clock astatine night.

I cognize radical who person Eurovision parties, which I’ve ne'er gone to actually. Look astatine my life, it’s devoted to television. I can’t carnivore different radical talking implicit it. That would conscionable beryllium a nightmare. So I volition beryllium sitting in. I’ll get immoderate bully dinner. I’ll beryllium a precise blessed man.

AP: Have you got immoderate favorites for this year?

DAVIES: I would similar to spell connected a day with the antheral from Cyprus (Theo Evan). He’s beautiful. I bash similar the U.K. introduction this twelvemonth (“What the Hell Just Happened?” by Remember Monday). I person a mentation it’s being underestimated successful Great Britain. Just due to the fact that we’re truthful utilized to losing. We’ve won 5 times, everyone. But this state gets a spot cynical astir Eurovision sometimes. But I emotion our song. I deliberation it’s got a precise memorable chorus.

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