Rylan Clark will appear in a Eurovision Song Contest themed episode of Doctor Who on the weekend ahead of the BBC airing the grand final of this year’s actual contest
Presenter Rylan Clark has spoken about keeping his role on Doctor Who a secret. It comes ahead of him appearing as the host of a fictional version of the Eurovision Song Contest out in space in an episode of the BBC show.
The Interstellar Song Contest episode will air on Saturday, ahead of the final of this year’s Eurovision, which is taking place in Basel, Switzerland, later that night. The news of his involvement was announced two months ago but Rylan, 36 – who previously said he was left in tears after being offered the role – has revealed that he tried to keep it a secret for a year.
Speaking to PA news agency, Rylan said: “It was so hard to keep the secret, and I’ve been sat on it for a year.” He’s shared that he managed to only disclose the news to some “key” individuals. He said ahead of the episode airing this weekend: “I told a few key people who had to know but we’ve really kept it super private.”
Speaking about his role, Rylan revealed that he plays himself but added elements of the Hunger Games character Caesar Flickerman, who was played by Stanley Tucci in the film series. That character, who’s considered an eccentric presenter, interviews the tributes and commentates on the Hunger Games, which see children fight to the death in an arena. Rylan said: “I played myself but also added a bit of Caesar from the Hunger Games for good measure.”
Teasing an unbelievable experience for fans, Rylan said the episode is “out of this world” with several twists, while still paying homage to the real-life song contest that it imitates. He hinted: “People can expect to see everything they love about Doctor Who. Also, from working on actual Eurovision itself, there were so many similarities – the attention to detail was amazing.” He added: “Expect the unexpected – it’s probably the most twisty one of the whole season.”
Ncuti Gatwa, 32, who rose to fame on Netflix’s Sex Education, plays the Doctor in the latest season of Doctor Who. The actor is joined by co-star Varada Sethu, 33, as companion Belinda Chandra in the new season, which is currently airing.
Writer Juno Dawson, 43, has recalled being approached by the show’s producer Russell T Davies, 62, for the episode. She said: “In 2022, Russell asked how I would feel about doing Die Hard meets Eurovision. I couldn’t turn that down.
“Russell initially pitched the bare bones concept of Eurovision meets Die Hard, which were two things I knew really well. Then, I went away and pitched a plot, and it hasn’t really changed all that much.
“Obviously, there was a lot of discussion between myself, the producers and Russell. But it’s still those two things. What would happen if an enemy faction planned an attack on the Eurovision Song Contest in space?”
Juno, whose books include This Book Is Gay and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, described the upcoming episode as reminiscent of a “disaster movie”, but with the quintessential campiness Eurovision is celebrated for. She said of the episode: “It’s like a disaster movie. I think people are certainly going to expect it to be … let’s just say camp. I mean of course it is, it’s the Interstellar Song Contest. But also, it’s action-packed. It doesn’t let up for a second. It’s a really high-octane episode.
“But also, it’s action-packed. It doesn’t let up for a second. It’s a really high-octane episode. In places it’s quite harrowing. I think the best science fiction and fantasy should always have something to say about the world. While being an absolute romp on a space station, these are characters caught in an extraordinary situation that I hope people will feel on an emotional level as well.”
The episode will air ahead of group Remember Monday representing the UK at this year’s Eurovision with their song What The Hell Just Happened? Rylan will present live commentary of the final for BBC Radio 2 with Scott Mills, 52. The pair will also host coverage of the prior semi-finals tomorrow and Thursday on BBC One.
Doctor Who continues 7.10pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday night. It will be followed by the Eurovision Song Contest final at 8pm that night. The semi-finals will air tomorrow and Thursday from 8pm.
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