Spice World is a science fiction story. It could very well take place in the Doctor Who universe (the Whoniverse), and I personally say that it does.
The biggest clue, literally, that this story is sci-fi, and specifically a Doctor Who adventure, is the Spice Bus. It is bigger on the inside. Whovians will recognize this phrase as one often said by The Doctor’s new companions as they enter his TARDIS (time machine/spaceship). “Bigger on the inside” is Timelord technology. (Potterheads will recognize this as magic, like Hermione’s tiny purse that carries all of their stuff throughout the final book.) It is not limited to a Timelord’s TARDIS, as we’ve seen The Doctor with “bigger on the inside” pockets, and that time the Daleks somehow used it to store lots of Daleks in a small case. Now, I don’t want to lose you, if you’re not familiar with Doctor Who! It’s a basic sci-fi concept involving dimensions. Basic, but I can’t be the one to explain it. But it is clear that the Spice Bus, a normal double decker bus on the outside, is about three times as wide and twice as tall as a bus on the inside. And that paparazzo that climbs out of a toilet must also be using some alien technology, like a compression field, to be able to climb through pipes and come out normal size...
The use of Time Lord technology then begs the question- Who here is the Time Lord? Time Lords often have names like The Doctor; The Master, The Corsair. So, obviously The Chief is our spicey Time Lord. The Chief is the mastermind behind the Spice Girls’ whole world. He’s hanging out in his TARDIS somewhere/when, but always knows when something major has just happened. And he speaks in weird riddles like someone who’s spent too much time in the time vortex. He’s been orchestrating the Spice Girls’ careers/lives from the beginning, and not just for the entertainment of Earth. How do you think those aliens knew about the Spice Girls? The Chief is the Simon Fuller of the universe; creating girl groups to pump out pop songs for the masses. Instead of taking humans on adventures like The Doctor does, he sits back and plays with them like we play The Sims.
As a Doctor Who/Time Lord adventure, it takes an unusual perspective having the Time Lord be a minor, mysterious, character and his… ‘companion’ isn’t the right word here… human, his human drives the story. I’m talking about Clifford, of course. Yes, the Spice Girls are the stars of the movie, but Clifford is the character we’re mostly following. It is his stress and fear that we feel the most. When the girls are trying to get to Albert Hall, he’s the one we’re with, being told the story of what the girls are doing.
And about that story; the girls’ eventful journey to Albert Hall is our prime sci-fi action sequence. It’s manipulating time, not following lateral cause-and-effect, and defying gravity. It’s also happening in an alternate timeline. The two men (who are they, again? screenwriters?) are telling Clifford this story, but through the twisted fun of sci-fi multiple timelines, we are also seeing the adventure as it happens. But did it really happen? Is that really how the girls got from the hospital to Albert Hall? When they finally arrive they a) do not arrive at the moment the men say they will, as they have been recounting this story in real-time, so it doesn’t line up and b) are totally chill and do not mention having any trouble getting there, like, say, a bomb or driving the Spice Bus over an open bridge. Did it happen at all? Was it just a story? Did it happen in a parallel universe/alternate timeline?
Did any of the events of this movie happen? Was it all a series of fever dreams, virtual reality trips, or slips into parallel universes? After their concert, do the Spice Girls remember any of it? Does Clifford? While the credits roll, the Spice Girls break the fourth wall and address the audience in the theatre, speaking directly to them and commenting on what they’re wearing… How did they know…?
There are many questions left unanswered and up for debate, which is another hallmark of a sci-fi story. It wouldn’t be any fun if you understood the entire thing! I’d personally love to see a spin-off showing another girl group that The Chief is overseeing on another planet in another time. Or follow Clifford as the manager of a new group- on another planet, always at the mercy of The Chief. Spice World fanfiction, anyone…?