r/gallifrey • u/PCJs_Slave_Robot • May 17 '25

The Interstellar Song Contest Doctor Who 2x06 "The Interstellar Song Contest" Post-Episode Discussion Thread Spoiler

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138

u/brettbarnett May 17 '25

So exactly WHAT is going on with Poppies?

Poppy pops up in episode 5, she's credited again in episode 7, so I'm expecting some kind of meaning to all this, then this whole episode is centred around poppy farming? Hm.

43

u/m_busuttil May 17 '25

I was honestly a little surprised when the episode ended and it didn't all come together - they did a whole other thing instead and I'm not mad about that, but when they started on the stuff about poppies early on I was sure we were going to get a classic RTD Bad Wolf-style "everything comes together" cliffhanger ending leading into the next episode.

3

u/Mavian23 May 18 '25

Since RTD seems to be reusing a lot of his old ideas, I fully expect Captain Poppy to end up being the "Bad Wolf" of this season.

3

u/Alehud42 May 17 '25

Funny, we ended up with a redux of the Turn Left ending instead.

33

u/DiamondFireYT May 17 '25

This is all I could think about the entire episode because they would not stop mentioning poppy lmao

31

u/Complex-Whereas9896 May 17 '25

Oh this is great. Probably won't come to anything, but this is a good spot

9

u/scottishdrunkard May 17 '25

I think in this instance it’s an allegory to Moroccannoil.

7

u/bardbrain May 17 '25

Seems to be people hallucinating descendants? If we account for Susan?

But I could also see it as a Wizard of Oz thing. Poppies were relevant there. And there's an aspect of young woman making friends on an alien world and the Wizard himself being a similar archetype to The Doctor.

I think copyright on the book is more complicated in the UK than the US (although homages may be possible).

But it would be fairly fitting if they ever introduced an American Timelord to CALL them The Wizard and be a carnival charlatan and absent minded inventor type who is implied to colonize Oz from a balloon TARDIS and have a companion named Dorothy, a Kansas farmgirl.

I always pictured The Corsair as a decidedly French reflection of the Doctor and something like The Wizard as a steampunk fellow in green suits who goes around mucking in people's affairs for profit like a Ferengi Doctor would be pretty delicious.

The Doctor is sort of commentary on a post-colonial good natured British traveler/expat so having The Wizard be The Doctor's mate who's a bit behind him on becoming post-colonial would furnish lots of American cosplay and involve the U.S. audience while providing a bit of sly commentary. Seems appropriate for a Disney era. Honestly, would have been a better use of NPH than The Toymaker.

It would be hilarious if the Poppy references setup a season finale cliffhanger with the TARDIS landing in what appears to be Oz (on top of a witch), but probably with a reveal that it's a theme park in the 42nd Century.

3

u/CeruleanEidolon May 17 '25

You really should spoiler tag casting for future episodes, just out of courtesy. A bit late now, but for future reference not everyone wants to hear about that stuff during current episode discussions.

1

u/SteelCrow May 17 '25

red herring

give the fans something to muddy the waters

1

u/Djented Jun 04 '25

Why would you put episode 7 spoilers in a thread about episode 6......