DOCTOR WHO Recap: (S02E06) The Interstellar Song Contest
Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest,' is a wild ride from beginning to end. We see a new side to this Doctor, and Ncuti Gatwa absolutely kills it here. He channels the Doctor's rage to a tee, cutting an imposing figure. After referencing Susan in Season 1 Episode 2, 'The Devil's Chord,' she finally returns in some trippy visions. What does this mean?
Oh, and Mrs. Flood is a Rani, undergoing bi-generation to bring forth the Rani. As for our eponymous Time Lord and his companion, the narrative culminates in a high-stakes cliffhanger as the doors are literally blown off the TARDIS as May 24, 2025, comes knocking. It's a pulse-pounding, compelling episode overall.
RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Doctor Who episode, 'The Story & the Engine' Doctor Who, 'The Interstellar Song Contest'
We open on the Harmony Arena in 2925, a space station hosting the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest. Rylan Clark emerges from his cryogenic chamber to co-host alongside Sabine (Julie Dray). He joins Sabine onstage. At the same time, the Doctor (Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) land the TARDIS in a box seat. The Doctor whips out the Vindicator for another reading, revealing they only need one more to get Belinda home. Belinda wants to stay, though, after spotting Rylan. Eurovision has gone — wait for it — interstellar, baby.
Elsewhere, Nina Maxwell (Kiruna Stamell) ensures the competition runs smoothly while behind the scenes. A host of drone guards stand at attention behind her and her employees. Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) is also in attendance. She spies on the Doctor with her binoculars. We see an ad for Poppy Honey, one of the sponsors of the contest. Hmm. Captain Poppy from 'Space Babies' appeared on last week's episode. Could 'Poppy Honey' be another hint at what's to come? DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf Ready and Primed
Belinda remarks that she and the Doctor were worried about Earth's destruction on May 24, 2025. However, this contest proves Earth thrives after that. The Doctor points out the mavity shell encasing the Arena, protecting them, while also giving audience members a picture-perfect view of the stars. The Vindicator beeps, indicating that the reading is complete. 'Vindicator ready and primed,' Mrs. Flood says to herself. She picks up a circular device, which lights up. She now has the final link.
RELATED: TV Review: Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 4, 'Lucky Day'
Next, a married couple, Mike (Kadiff Kirwan) and Gary (Charlie Condou) Gabbastone, learn that the Doctor and Belinda are in their seats. Gary is a mega-fan of the Interstellar Song Contest, while Mike is indifferent about it. Frustrated, Mike approaches a drone guard, demanding it do something. 'Phase one activated,' it responds. That sounds ominous. A man named Kid (Freddie Fox), of the Hellion race from the now-dead planet Hellia, bursts into the gallery. He gains control of the drone guards as Nina tries to give him the boot. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: Dan Fearon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
Unfortunately, Kid has a lady on the inside — Wynn (Iona Anderson), another Hellion. Nina admits she took a chance hiring her because nobody hires Hellions. So, seizing the gallery and drone guards is phase one. Kid and Wynn share a passionate smooch. Phase two involves airing the dress rehearsal of the Interstellar Song Contest for all three trillion people watching. Will they notice Rylan isn't present, though? Kid claims he's prepared for that. Publicity comms can claim Rylan contracted food poisoning. Phase Two
Then, the Doctor notices something is amiss. He sees both the dress rehearsal footage and the live show on his screen, switching between them. He leaps over the side of the box seat and opens the control panel on the side, utilizing his sonic screwdriver to examine its innards. Kid grabs Nina's hand and scans it to grant him access to the Harmony Arena.
RELATED: TV Review: Doctor Who Season 2 Premiere
While on stage, Rylan notices something's amiss when Nina doesn't respond to him via his earpiece. Kid pulls down a lever, which opens the roof. One hundred thousand contest attendees fly out into space, including the Doctor and the TARDIS. The shell on the box seat prevents Belinda from joining them. Said shell encloses the box seat, keeping her within. A contestant, Cora Saint Bavier (Miriam-Teak Lee), an Interstellar Song Contest legend, is also spared. Belinda starts sobbing in a moment that delivers a gut punch of emotion.
Wynn closes the air shield. Kid kickstarts phase three. Wynn calls for the retrieval of the device — the Delta Wave. Nina insists it's not too late to save those people floating in space. The mavity shell is still activated. A drone guard brings in the Delta Wave. This ain't Doctor Who 's first rodeo with delta waves. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: Dan Fearon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf Her Only Way Home
Later, Belinda realizes she's not alone. She meets Cora and Cora's partner, Len Kazah (Akemnji Ndifornyen). Belinda wonders if the galactic police or authorities could be on their way. Cora reveals that 'gambling rules' are in place to ensure no one can contact the outside world from inside the Arena and vice versa. That means they're alone. Belinda breaks down, realizing the Doctor is gone. He was her only way home.
RELATED: Doctor Who : 11 Easter Eggs in 'Boom'
Meanwhile, Nina calls Wynn out for saving Cora from flying through the roof. Wynn orders her not to say a word to Kid. Out in space, the Doctor has a vision of his granddaughter, Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), who's in the TARDIS. Susan calls out to her grandfather, urging him to come back to her. The Doctor wakes up. He grabs a floating confetti cannon and uses it to blast himself back to the Harmony Arena. Mike and Gary, who bear witness to the Doctor's confetti escape, open the airlock so our titular Time Lord has a place to land.
Once safely inside, the Doctor collapses. Thankfully, Mike is a nurse. Mike inspects the Doctor, in awe of the Gallifreyan's two hearts. He revives the Doctor. Funny how the Doc keeps running into nurses. Our trio notes that the mavity shell is still in place. Those thousands of people can be saved. Sure, their life signs are suspended, but revival is possible. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf Delta Wave
Later, Kid and Wynn install a deadly upload, noting that song 14, Cora's tune, will blow everyone's minds. The Delta Wave will kill all three trillion people watching the Interstellar Song Contest — well, the dress rehearsal. The Doctor uses his sonic to access the control panel, but stops in his tracks when the new software Kid and Wynn uploaded takes effect. The Doctor notes the text is Hellion script. Mike and Gary explain that Hellia was gorgeous — Hell poppies as far as the eye can see. The consensus is that the Hellions destroyed their own planet.
RELATED: Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: Doctor Who 's Ruby Sunday
The Doctor touches the screen, which emits a high-pitched signal that practically bursts the eardrums. The Doctor uses his sonic to cut through the deafening noise. Afterward, the Doctor wipes his nose in bewilderment, realizing it's bleeding. This is the Delta Wave — the aforementioned deadly upload. The Doctor realizes Kid and Wynn's objective is to transmit this Delta Wave signal through the station to kill everyone watching the song contest.
Our Time Lord springs into action. To combat the signal, he needs a caustic hyperlink. Gary's quite tech-savvy, and our trio finds a tech desk in the Interstellar Song Contest museum. This museum documents the history of the competition, from its humble Eurovision roots to now. The Doctor encounters a hologram of Graham Norton. He remarks that Belinda would love this. He has another vision of Susan in the TARDIS. Fifteen's Rage
The Doctor finally makes contact with the enemy — Kid. Belinda sees the Doctor on the screen, overjoyed that he's alive. The Doctor is pissed . I love that we're seeing Fifteen's rage, undoubtedly fueled by thinking he lost Belinda. He vows to put an end to Kid's evil plan and exact justice. Belinda watches the Doctor deliver his threats and notes that she's never seen him this angry before. He's not himself.
RELATED: 6 Doctor Who Episodes That Show the Eleventh Doctor's Personality
After this, Belinda and Len learn that Cora is a Hellion. She reveals the horn nubs underneath her hair. Cora shares that they were forcefully removed. Len feels betrayed. We learn that Hellia was a harmless planet. The Corporation bought it for one reason: to harvest the Hell poppies for honey. Her planet was invaded for honey flavoring. The Corporation burned all of Hellia's fields to ensure the people couldn't grow more Hell poppies. So, Kid blames the Corporation, and the latter sponsors the competition. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: Dan Fearon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
Cora begs Len to help her reach Kid and Wynn so she can talk some sense into them. Belinda will accompany her because the Doctor will likely find the Hellion duo. In the museum, the Doctor feverishly constructs a solution to combat Kid. Mike and Gary try to warn him that two drone guards are behind him. Our Gallifreyan simply uses his sonic screwdriver to explode the drone guards' heads. Holographic Pain
Now, Cora's performance is on the docket — song 14. The Delta Wave upload is at 99 percent. Kid insists that the Corporation will be held responsible for the massacre of three trillion people (and the thousands floating in space). The Doctor enters the scene. He claims he's met so many Kids in his long lifetime, people who relish the kill and slap on revenge as an excuse. Kid fires on the Doctor, but we see he's really a hologram.
RELATED: Doctor Who : 8 References From the Russell T Davies Specials in 'Space Babies' and 'The Devil's Chord'
Then, the real, tangible Doctor appears. He tosses the Delta Wave cube into the air and explodes it with his sonic screwdriver. He also knocks the gun out of Kid's hand with it. The Doctor explains he's converted his hologram to hard light, which can inflict pain. He puts on a glove, activating the hologram. The Doctor's hologram touches Kid's shoulder, causing him to convulse. The Doctor does this repeatedly.
At one point, Kid is on the ground, curled up in the fetal position due to the pain. We've never seen this side of Fifteen before. Suddenly, Belinda and Cora arrive. The Doctor embraces Belinda. Cora kneels to chat with Wynn, who's hunched over an unresponsive Kid. Wynn accuses Cora of being spineless and cowardly, hiding behind her music. Nina regains control of the Arena and the drone guards. She orders them to take Kid and Wynn to the Justice Monolith. Kid, now responsive, warns the Doctor that he'll see our Time Lord again. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf Revival
Belinda reminds the group that there are still 100,000 people trapped in the mavity shell. At least three trillion people are now spared from the Delta Wave. A lightbulb goes off in the Doctor's head. They can use Rylan's cryogenic chamber and fashion it into a revival booth. Gary can convert the hard light of a hologram into a tractor beam, which they'll use to retrieve the contest attendees.
RELATED: Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: Doctor Who 's Belinda Chandra
Belinda and Mike launch into nurse mode, conducting medical checks on those they revive in the booth. Len also helps convert the box seats in the Arena into revival chambers, so, you know, they're not doing 100,000 times.
After saving everyone (thanks to the Doctor's 'insane genius'), the Interstellar Song Contest is back on track, with Rylan and Sabine as the co-hosts. Cora takes to the stage to perform. She shares with the audience and those watching from home that she's Hellion. So, she'll sing a Hellion song to honor her fallen planet. Kid and Wynn watch from the Justice Monolith. Wynn looks emotional. The Doctor and Belinda watch from the audience, the song also moving them to tears. DOCTOR WHO Season 2 Episode 6, 'The Interstellar Song Contest.' Photo credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
Once the song concludes, the Harmony Arena is silent … that is, until Mike and Gary initiate the clapping. Then, the whole Arena fills with applause. Cora beams with pride.
RELATED: Doctor Who : Our Favorite Easter Eggs From 'Lux' Destruction Date: May 24, 2025
Later, one space station employee reveals they found the TARDIS on the asteroid spar. The Doctor and Belinda see it now sitting in the museum. Before they depart, Belinda tells the Doctor she thinks he's wonderful. He embraces her. Still, the Doctor scared her earlier when he was torturing Kid. The Doctor admits this event struck close to home. He was thinking about Gallifrey and his people, all dying in the blink of an eye.
When the Doctor mentions getting Belinda back to Earth, the Graham Norton hologram materializes, revealing that Earth died 'many years ago.' As it turns out, Earth disintegrated on May 24, 2025. Cause? Unknown.
The Doctor and Belinda rush inside the TARDIS. Our Time Lord hooks up the Vindicator, revealing they have enough readings to take her home. How could the planet disintegrate on the day Belinda left, though? The Doctor vows to save Earth.
RELATED: Read our Doctor Who recaps
Suddenly, something prevents the TARDIS from moving. An alarm blares as the light within turns red. Belinda and the Doctor hear a peculiar groaning and a knocking from outside the TARDIS doors. The Doctor reveals it's May 24 — the source of the noises. Then, the TARDIS doors explode open as fire pours inside. Well, that can't be good. Let Battle Begin
Mid-credit scene time! Gary and Mike save the last person floating in the mavity shell. It's none other than Mrs. Flood, emerging from Rylan's converted cryogenic chamber. She asks if the Doctor has left, to which Mike and Gary reveal he has.
'Then, it's safe,' Mrs. Flood says. She remarks that her double-brain stem has frozen, which is lethal for a … wait for it … Time Lady. Bi-generation energy swarms around Mrs. Flood as she tries to think of 'famous last words.' 'Let battle begin,' she declares as another woman (Archie Panjabi) splits from Mrs. Flood, à la the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. Both are the same person — the Rani. Well, Mrs. Flood is a Rani, while this new one is the Rani. Mrs. Flood hands the Rani the Vindicator readings. The Rani declares she has a date to arrange and plans to bring the Doctor 'absolute terror.'
Oh, Panjabi is going to demolish this role.
Doctor Who Season 2 airs on Saturdays at 3 am EST/12 am PST on Disney+ and 8 am BST on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
New TV Shows This Week (May 11 – 17) Contact:
[email protected] What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events. Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet. Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
8 hours ago
- CNET
This Hilarious Prime Video Caper Flips the Script on British Crime Drama
You can't move for hit British crime shows right now. Whether it's Dept. Q or Adolescence on Netflix; MobLand on Paramount Plus; or Slow Horses on Apple TV Plus (even if that one's technically more of a spy show), gritty and binge-worthy content is showing up on the best streaming services, all delivered in a vibrant array of British accents. Deep Cover feels like a real crowd-pleaser. Peter Mountain/Metronome Film But a shift is happening. We're about to enter cozy-crime summer, when the genre will get an injection of lighthearted comedy, largely thanks to the much-anticipated adaptation of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club book series, set to land on Netflix this August. In the meantime, Prime Video is getting in there first with Deep Cover -- an action-comedy that flips the British crime script from serious to silly in the best possible way. In the film, which arrives on Prime Video on June 12, an unlikely trio of improv actors, all of differing skill levels, is recruited as undercover police officers and infiltrates London's underworld, theoretically to bust a drug ring. Needless to say, am-dram chaos ensues. Bryce Dallas Howard plays a failed stand-up comic turned improv teacher who ropes her two most hapless students into the gang: a method actor with delusions of grandeur, played by Orlando Bloom, and a nervy IT office nerd, played by Nick Mohammed. Together the three, nicknaming themselves Bonnie, Roach and the Squire, fudge their way through meetings with gangland bosses, each more intimidating than the next, and somehow manage to find friendship and romance along the way. I went to the film's premiere at SXSW London last week and came away convinced that Deep Cover should be at the top of everyone's watch list this weekend. The combination of comedy and action lands it squarely in crowd-pleaser territory, somewhere between Hot Fuzz and The Fall Guy. Of Deep Cover's three stars, it's Mohammed who has the most established comedy chops and gets the biggest laughs (you'll likely know him best as Nathan Shelley in Ted Lasso -- the kit man who defects to become a rival coach). That's not to say Bloom, who steps somewhat out of his comfort zone in this role, and Howard don't also deliver. The chemistry between the three lead characters keeps you rooting for them long after their "yes, and..." improv approach to undercover work seems to be failing them. The film's director, Tom Kingsley, has also worked on the Bafta-winning TV show Stath Lets Flats (available on Max), which is simultaneously the most Greek and most British piece of television you could ever hope to watch, and which I've long been convinced is a work of significant comic genius. Deep Cover has the same echoes of awkward, almost farcical humor, but with an Amazon-size budget behind it. Still, as Kingsley explained during a Q&A following the premiere, the budget was far smaller than anyone might expect for such a production. Bringing in bona fide Hollywood stars Bloom and Johnson attracted more funding, as did Amazon hopping on board. But the film was reportedly made on something of a shoestring by Hollywood standards. Still, it's easy to see where the injection of cash ended up. Deep Cover's action scenes are sometimes outlandishly slapstick, perfectly befitting of the three clowns at their center, and at times so graphic or high octane that they don't always jell with the overall tenor of the film. It's a minor niggle in the scheme of things, and one that shouldn't deter you. For all its silliness and stunts, Deep Cover is ultimately a heartwarming tale about developing adult friendships at that stage in life when you might feel like the moments for such opportunities have passed. If you're looking for something easy and fun to watch this weekend, then look no further.
Gizmodo
10 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Queerness Wasn't a Consideration in ‘Andor' Season 2's Most Controversial Death
When the heist on Ghorman went wrong on Andor season two, it only took one bad call for tragedy to strike. In the case of rebel leader Cinta Kaz (Varadu Sethu), her life was snuffed out in an instant when a misfire took her down. In a story about the early days of Star Wars Rebels uniting against the Empire, anyone was fair game, and it's something that show creator Tony Gilroy and writer Beau Willimon affirmed in conversation with Vulture, when discussing Cinta's death as one of the franchise's prominent queer characters. Gilroy explained that Cinta's fate was decided on early in the process of scripting Andor season two. 'I pretty much came up with an actuarial table pretty early in the sketching process of season two. There were a couple of actors who did not want to come back and people who were complicated to get back and whatever,' he said. 'I remember calling Varada and saying, 'Hey, I think that we're going to do it this way.' And I think I would really like to have friendly fire. I would like to have the stupidity of accident in the show. I would like to have something really stupid happen. This whole Ghorman thing is such a stupid cock up anyway. And I'm sorry, but you're, you know, you're the roulette. I don't have another piece. I either kill you or Vel and [I] can't kill Faye [Marsay, who played Vel]. And so it's your turn. And I'm not sure if she had Doctor Who at that point or she was in the running, I'm not sure. [But] she wasn't so depressed about it.' When it came to some of the criticisms drawn from the choice to toe the line of falling into the 'bury your gays' trope, Gilroy gave an even-keeled response. 'This fascinates me because you get all this credit and the first season, 'oh my God, you have a natural relationship 'cause, and we were like, 'well, yeah, it's just a relationship.' We're not making a big deal out of it. So then if you don't make a big deal out of it and just treat it like it's a normal thing and kill whoever you wanna kill, then that's a problem all of a sudden.' The choice was aimed at making it feel as real as possible for members of the rebellion, who no matter where they come from all choose to put their lives in the line of fire. 'I would discount the first side if I could get a little bit more on the second. I mean, what more natural way to treat it than to treat it like a real thing? I'm not gonna like start to socially engineer my characters for some chat room.' Willimon interjected, 'Honestly, our mentality was that almost everyone's gonna die. And that's broadcast everywhere in the show, almost every episode, someone's saying like, well, we're never gonna make it, we're never gonna see it.' Every Andor character is aware that they're gambling their mortality for a bigger cause—especially in a series that culminates in the events of Rogue One, where most of the key characters die. 'There needed to be something, something had to go wrong on Ghorman with that heist. We're always thinking about cost.' The importance of Cinta and Vel's relationship was not lost on them. Willimon continued, 'I mean, there is the fact that people did connect emotionally to that relationship. And there's a part of you that goes [its] just pure storyteller catnip.' he reiterated the questions asked in the writing process about losses that would impact the audience the most, 'I mean, we hurt you later with Luthen and Clea, we hurt you with Bix and Cassian–every way that you can feel the pain and the cost of sacrifice, that's what this show is about. And, you know, there were multiple versions of what that heist would be, but the friendly fire thing was quite early on.' The grim reality of Andor is that these are the people in the first wave that pave the way for the rebels we know in the original Star Wars trilogy. Their lives are given more meaning and multitudes, which is what made the show so great through the relationships it built. Willimon understood the emotional one-two punch impact of Cinta's loss shortly after her tender reconciliation with Vel, stating , 'One: you're upset after that beautiful scene that this relationship is not gonna see its way through. Two, you go, 'Damn it, friendly fire? That's the way this badass goes?'' He added more context how even the best laid plans can go awry thanks to ineptitude. 'What does Vel say to the guy who pulled the trigger at the end? 'She was a miracle. You will spend the rest of your life trying to pay for this moment, to earn your keep.' And what you realize is that it is a supremely noble death. If you're not willing to die by friendly fire or get accidentally run over, or [die] in a hail of gunfire in a big battle—they're all equal because really the choice you made from the very beginning is that I'm willing to sacrifice myself, whatever form that takes. And that's the magic trick, which is this shit is gonna happen and you don't know which way you're gonna go. You just know you are gonna go. And that noble decision was made from day one.' Gilroy added, 'But the problem with it is that everybody's going to identify with different people in the show. Everybody in this audience is gonna have their person that they climb in with and maybe it's multiple people, but there's gonna be a lot of people who climb. So if you're queer, you're gonna climb in to this character.' Gilroy pointed out, 'The biggest thing that that does [it] for me is not just the friendly fire or the surprise of it or the tragedy of it, what I really need to do is I'm really driving very much to tell the story of Luthen as a very poor human resources manager. And his failure to recognize the importance of personal relationships and his need to try to break them up is a much larger thing, and a much larger and more important issue to me than whether you think … where is the place where Cinta should die or what, I don't know. So I can't—that's a level of responsibility that comes from abundance, I suppose.'
CNN
14 hours ago
- CNN
Look of the Week: Haim sisters make the case for the return of the skinny jean
On Tuesday, Este, Alana and Danielle Haim — the sister trio behind the eponymous pop rock band Haim — arrived in London for an appearance on BBC Radio One. All wore skinny pants, albeit in their own way, effortlessly demonstrating how to style a controversial mid-aughts staple three ways. Este, the eldest sister, styled her edgy low-rise black leather pants with a solid patent heel and a lace-trimmed camisole. Alana — also known to fans as 'baby Haim' — opted for a more bohemian look with patchwork suede blue skinny jeans from Dolce & Gabbana, finished off with black ballet flats and a forest green leather jacket. Danielle, the band's lead singer, wore more industrial denim finished with silver zips and extra stitching. Her white military-style jacket, complete with gold-trimmed epaulets, was cropped at the waist in classic 2010s style — allowing a layered look with the vest underneath. The slim, skinny pant was a mainstay of wardrobes across the west in 2007 to 2018, seemingly stocked everywhere from fast fashion stores to luxury retailers. They were once a great leveller, beloved by nonchalant British 'It girls' Kate Moss and Alexa Chung as much as slick US stars such as Rihanna and Beyoncé (there are few occasions where Kim Kardashian and Amy Winehouse's sartorial taste crossed, and the skinny jean was one of them). But as the style makes a 2025 comeback, it has been met with polarized opinions. On X, one user quipped that the return of skinny jeans marked the biggest 'recession indicator' yet. In March, a series of street interviews with young people conducted by social media and influencer agency Screenshot spotlighted a shared disdain for skinny jeans as a fashion trend. But there have long been indicators of a changing tide — and shrinking silhouette. At the start of the year, WGSN's senior denim strategist Susie Draffan shared her predictions with CNN, which included a 'very slow-burn return in 2025 for the skinny jean' in the face of catwalk appearances and growing Miu and McQueen all sent vacuum-packed-style denim down the Fall-Winter runways in 2024. Unofficial trend barometer Bella Hadid has also been spotted in tight drainpipe denim (styled with chunky boots) during a recent trip to Rome, while Lila Moss carries on the family name by pioneering the skinny style just like her pioneering the skinny style just like her mother. The Haim sisters have recently been delving into other areas of 2000s-era pop culture — including their own yearbook photos — to promote their new album, 'I Quit .' The visual artwork for singles like 'Relationships' and 'Everybody's Trying to Figure Me Out' reference famous paparazzi shots of Nicole Kidman shouting with relief (allegedly after signing her divorce papers with Tom Cruise in 2001) and Kate Moss in 2000 sunning herself against a black SUV. For their most recent single, 'Take Me Back,' the band shared an image shot in Manchester — each dressed in a pair of extremely low-slung jeans and peek-a-boo lacy briefs — that has been compared by fans to a much-circulated 2004 pap shot of Keira Knightly wearing a similar outfit. It seems fitting, then, that Haim's own paparazzi photographs add to the feedback loop of act like an extension of their album narrative. Shot by Terence O'Connor, their staged images are a case of art imitating life. But the sisters are going one step further by blurring the lines between reality and reference as they commit to the sartorial touchstones of 2000s culture round-the-clock, too.
