Doctor Who’s New Episode Revives Deadly 20-Year-Old Weapon—Could the Doctor Lose Control?

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In Episode 6 of “Doctor Who,” Season 2, titled “The Interstellar Song Contest,” an astronomical number of lives were at stake. When Ncuti Gatwa’s character, the Fifteenth Doctor, and Varada Sethu’s character, Belinda Chandra, found themselves in a futuristic version of the Eurovision Song Contest, they didn’t anticipate the entire event being hijacked and transformed into a lethal galactic arena. The malevolent Hellions Kid and Wynn, seeking vengeance for the invasion and destruction of their planet, seized control of the Contest’s broadcast with the intention of using it to massacre viewers across the cosmos. They employed a weapon not seen on “Doctor Who” since the end of the Ninth Doctor’s tenure.

In the “Intergalactic Melody Competition,” ardent fans of “Doctor Who” were kept guessing with unexpected twists. This episode was particularly gripping as it saw the startling return of a character. Throughout the storyline, cryptic messages from Susan resonated within the Doctor’s thoughts, providing him solace when Kid’s scheme threatened to plunge him into a perilous state.

The revelation that Kid intended to annihilate trillions through the Contest by transmitting a Delta Wave across the cosmos caused the Doctor to lose self-control. Such a situation was reminiscent of previous instances where the threat of a Delta Wave had nearly compelled the Doctor on “Doctor Who” to make choices he later regretted. The weapon posed a significant challenge for Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor as well.

The Delta Wave Returns to Doctor Who

“The Interstellar Song Contest” Brought Back the Weapon From Doctor Who’s 2005 Season Finale

Following his intrusion into the gallery at the Interstellar Song Contest situated within the Harmony Arena space station, Kid assumed command over the event’s venue. Alongside Wynn, they intended to exploit the broadcast to distribute a Delta Wave across all platforms screening the contest.

The disclosure that the device Kid carried was a Delta Wave would have undoubtedly intrigued Doctor Who enthusiasts who tuned in when the series made its comeback on television in 2005, given that a Delta Wave was initially introduced on Doctor Who in the Series 1 finale titled “The Parting of the Ways.” Before the start of Season 2, showrunner Russell T Davies hinted that one episode would involve a weapon from the Ninth Doctor’s time period.

In “The Parting of the Ways,” the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) found themselves aboard a space station, not unlike the one from the Interstellar Song Contest. This time, however, it was Satellite Five, also known as the Game Station. With the Daleks planning to eliminate all humans on board, the Doctor devised a daring plan: utilizing the technology at hand, he intended to build a Delta Wave capable of destroying the Dalek fleet. When the moment arrived to deploy the Delta Wave, though, the Doctor hesitated, as it would have resulted in the annihilation of every human on Earth below.

Kid’s Delta Wave Weaponized the Interstellar Song Contest

The Doctor had to Save Three Trillion Lives

In the “Interstellar Song Competition,” Kid devised a scheme for retribution against the Corporation, the contest’s sponsors, who had bought and exploited the planet Hellia for its Hell poppies, used in honey flavoring. The Corporation stripped the poppies from the fields, causing widespread destruction. Kid aimed to enact his revenge on the Corporation and the vast audience of the Interstellar Song Competition by linking a Delta Wave to Harmony Arena and intending to transmit it through the competition’s broadcast. The contest was being viewed by over three trillion life forms across the entire western galactic arm, all of whom would have been affected by the Delta Wave.

Overwhelmed by Kid’s plan to exterminate three trillion life forms, the Doctor vowed to thwart him, lamenting that such an act had frozen his heart. With assistance from Gary Gabbastone, a hologram specialist and architect of the arena’s positioning system, the Doctor crafted a holographic replica to divert Kid.

Upon disabling the Delta Wave, the Doctor imbued his hologram with solid matter, enabling it to physically interact. Using this duplicate, he subjected Kid to electric shocks as punishment for his genocidal intentions.

On two separate occasions when dealing with a Delta Wave, The Doctor came close to overstepping a boundary. In “The Parting of the Ways,” he almost decided to annihilate Earth’s population with his own Delta Wave. The Doctor contemplated this action because by that time, human colonies had spread across the universe, ensuring humanity’s survival in some form. However, the Dalek Emperor’s fleet was the last remnant of his sworn enemy. But when it came time to launch the Delta Wave, the Dalek Emperor goaded The Doctor, questioning if he was a murderer or a coward. Instead of pulling the trigger, The Doctor declared defiantly, “Coward, any day.” On two instances throughout Doctor Who, the destructive might of a Delta Wave nearly transformed The Doctor into a monster.

In the UK, new episodes of Doctor Who can be streamed every Saturday on BBC iPlayer. For those living outside the UK, the episodes are available for streaming on Disney+ when it is accessible.

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2025-05-19 23:05