S01.E02 (BBC/D+): The Devil's Chord

[DanaK]

Double bill with Episode 1 on Friday May 10 with Episode 2 following Episode 1 (which starts at 7pm ET with a runtime of 46 minutes) in the US on Disney+ (May 11 at midnight Saturday UK time)

Synopsis: The Doctor and Ruby meet The Beatles but discover that the all-powerful Maestro is changing history. London becomes a battleground with the future of humanity at stake.

Runtime: 49 minutes

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Julie Anne Robinson

Full production listing https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001z8bz

 

Edited May 3 by DanaK

[DanaK]

Clip of Maestro. At bottom of Billboard article

https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/jinkx-monsoon-doctor-who-clip-watch-1235671586/amp/

[DanaK]

Another clip of Maestro, the Doctor and Ruby

 

[Arynm]

Omg, that's Jinx Monsoon! How did I miss that she was going to be on Doctor Who? I am 10 times more excited now, and that is saying something.

 

[DanaK]

That was pretty entertaining and definitely creepy at times, though I didn’t particularly like the song performance at the end. I thought Jinx totally stole the episode as Maestro

[Lantern7]

Anyone else here watch Mystery Science Theatre 3000? Watching the Maestro chew on scenery, all I could think was that they were the evil twin of Mr. B. Natural.

Even with the cheese, this was a harrowing episode. Looks like the children of Toymaker will be gunning for the Doctor. Also, something is really "wrong" with Ruby. Maybe. It might snow in every episode. I hope that ongoing plot doesn't drag the season down.

Another thought: "There's Always A Twist At The End" = what happens when you give "shrooms" to a Time Lord. Man, that was offbeat, even for Doctor Who.

Edited May 11 by Lantern7

[NeenerNeener]

Davies should have picked '67 instead of '63, and the Stones instead of the Beatles. Ruby could have been the inspiration for the song "Ruby Tuesday".

So Doctor Who has finally done a musical episode. The production values this season are awesome; Disney is throwing big bucks into this in a way the BBC never did. But I'm not sure I'm totally onboard with the Disney-fication of Doctor Who. Maybe it's just the whole feel of the show now. Disney didn't mess with the Star Wars franchise, or the Marvel universe but Doctor Who just feels like a Disneyland ride now. I won't be surprised if there's a theme park being considered.

[ML89]

14 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

Disney didn't mess with the Star Wars franchise

Have to disagree on that. For one thing, they declared all the existing books non canon but anyway….

This one was better than the space babies but who cast Lennon and McCartney?? I did like the use of the chord from “A Day in the Life.”

”Chris Waites and the Carrollers” on the sign at the end means something, right?

The last number seemed like a missing song from “Hairspray.” Or a follow up to “Hey Ya” - and I liked the “Stayin’ Alive“” nod too.

While I’m tired of companions meaning everything in the universe from jump, I do like 15 and Ruby. Even though those clothes seemed off for 1963.

Edited May 12 by ML89

[tv-talk]

Absolutely love The Maestro! Great villain, made the episode. However- how did they win out? Did it boil down to Ruby being the specialist most special person in the universe? For some reason we dont know yet? UGH- not this again. 

Overall I like The Doctor and Ruby quite a bit as far as being energetic, charismatic talents in their roles...but you can already see exactly what is coming with Ruby being the latest key to all the Universe, Creation, Humanity, and all of Time and Space. I may have to watch a classic Who tonight where the Companion is along for the adventure as opposed to being the central point of it all.  

Oh and the old lady from Ep1 is The Doctor's granddaughter, that seems pretty obvious imo. The figure that dropped baby Ruby off at the Church...I'll just guess the Master for now, I mean why not.

[marketdoctor]

The Twist at the End might have been a tribute to beach movies from the 60's (also used in some cartoons), where they have a band perform a song-and-dance number at the end as a form of closure.

I know Bollywood films often do this as well, but that didn't seem as connected.

[DanaK]

The overnights on the linear transmission on BBC One were 2.4 million viewers, 3rd for the night behind “Space Babies” at #2 and Eurovision at #1. The streaming numbers before the linear broadcast are not included in the overnights, but will be included in the +7 day ratings

https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/doctorwho-s1e1e2-ovratings

[gail56]

I really loved this episode! I can watch this over and over. I am getting tired of the companion being super duper special, though. Can't she just be an ordinary girl along for the ride?

This Doctor is so different from any Doctor I have ever seen, and I love it! He is so much fun, but definitely still the Doctor!

[Affogato]

I’m unsure. I still do not like the plastic and sterile new TARDIS, although it is perfect to stage dance numbers and very retro sixties. So far the TARDIS doesn’t seem like a person to me, and I miss that. I liked the maestro but I didn’t like the effects particularly or think they were necessary. You could have done without them and the actress would have carried it just fine.  The effects distractd from her performance and mde it less memorable. Is Ruby showing actual personality and agency? I mean except bouncy can sing and dance? I also would like exposition from the doctor to be less expositiony, although maybe they want that. 
 

maybe I just am upset by change. 
 

i found it watchable but not memorable. Back to add it is maybe that I don’t want to be a part of this journey. I mean generally I’d jump at the chance. 

Edited May 12 by Affogato

[Llywela]

On 5/11/2024 at 6:41 AM, Lantern7 said:

Another thought: "There's Always A Twist At The End" = what happens when you give "shrooms" to a Time Lord. Man, that was offbeat, even for Doctor Who.

Headcanon: all the music and dancing at the end was the hangover of Maestro's actions, the unfurling of music back into the world after being stripped out of it. A bit like how the Toymaker's spell had enough after-effect to create two TARDISes.

Has no one here spotted the actual Twist at the end? Susan Twist. She's an actress who has appeared in tiny cameo roles in every one of Gatwa's episode so far...

20 hours ago, ML89 said:

Even though those clothes seemed off for 1963.

A bit like how the outfit Rose chose for Victorian England wasn't actually period-appropriate. It's a detail I like, actually. They aren't doing deep-dive research to find the exact right outfit for the specific year. They are just having fun playing dress-up and therefore don't get the details quite right. To be honest, what 15 and Ruby were wearing before they got changed would probably have been fine, but they liked the idea of dressing up for the trip so they did!

Edited May 12 by Llywela

[ABay]

The Twist at the End reminded me of the beginning of the first Austin Powers movie. Just a random musical number with everyone joining in.

They could've spent a few extra minutes and found actors who actually look like McCartney & Lennon. It had to the Beatles but I would've picked 1964.

[arachne]

On 5/11/2024 at 4:31 PM, ML89 said:

Even though those clothes seemed off for 1963.

Agreed. Maybe '65 at the earliest. 

I assume the baddies of this season, while they may not be Time Lords, still have the power to travel thru time and screw around with history. 

Don't know yet what to make of Gatwa's Doctor. A little too flamboyant for my taste, but YMMV. 

[howiveaddict]

Loved Jinkx Monsoon!  They were already a favorite of mine.  So talented and so good at chewing the scenery!  Perfect person for the role.  I like the twist number at the end.  The last episode had a musical number also.  

[tv-talk]

20 hours ago, Affogato said:

I’m unsure. I still do not like the plastic and sterile new TARDIS, although it is perfect to stage dance numbers and very retro sixties. So far the TARDIS doesn’t seem like a person to me, and I miss that.

Yeah I have been taken aback by how sterile the TARDIS is. On the one hand it's the most advanced looking machine yet which is befitting given what it can do, but wow it certainly doesnt appear lived in. I found myself assuming that it will work perfectly doesnt have any of the idiosyncrasies of previous versions. I'm not sure if it's going to do well as a main set piece. 

[lovett1979]

This episode was so bonkers and I loved every minute of it! Jinxx was a fantastic villain, and I WANT that first outfit she was wearing.  As a musician, I loved the idea that without music, the world would fall into despair and that the opposite of the "Devil's Chord" is found by John and Paul (of course!).

I'm sure many of you noticed the numerous forth-wall-breaking moments in this episode. First Maestro looked at the camera, then they started playing the theme music (woah!). And right before the "Always a Twist" song, The Doctor gave us a wink. But what many probably didn't catch was a moment in the middle of the episode. The Doctor and Ruby go into the studio to try to find the magic reversal music with her in the booth and him in the studio. Music is heard getting louder and louder. Ruby asks The Doctor if he hears that and then she is swept away by it. The Doctor says "I thought that was non-diegetic." I was so shocked, I had to rewind and watch with CC just to make sure he said what I thought he said. Diegetic is a term for when music in a film is played or heard by the characters in the film themselves. When Ruby played on the rooftop, that was diegetic. Non-diegetic is the music on the soundtrack of a film, solely for the benefit of the audience and not heard by the characters (ex., the Jaws theme playing as the shark swims up. It's there to create tension for the audience, but the character has no idea). So...The Doctor saying he thought that music was non-diegetic means HE KNOWS HE'S IN A TELEVISION SHOW.

Between all that, the recurring background actress, the snow from Ruby's birth-day, and Mrs Flood from the Christmas special (now called Episode 1 on D+), I cannot wait for the rest of this season.

P.S. Always love a good dance number! 

[jah1986]

I enjoyed this episode more than I did the Space Babies, but I'm still not loving this season.  I think Ncuti is a fantastic Doctor but I'm not sure the writing is good. Two episodes in a row of the Doctor running away in fear doesn't feel right. He seems to be missing some of that bravado I'm used to. I want to like Ruby, and I do, but I really don't want another Impossible Girl Who Waited Bad Wolf. Just give us a regular companion.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, jah1986 said:

I enjoyed this episode more than I did the Space Babies, but I'm still not loving this season.  I think Ncuti is a fantastic Doctor but I'm not sure the writing is good. Two episodes in a row of the Doctor running away in fear doesn't feel right. He seems to be missing some of that bravado I'm used to. I want to like Ruby, and I do, but I really don't want another Impossible Girl Who Waited Bad Wolf. Just give us a regular companion.

I agree, the special companion thing needs a rest. Companions can be special just by being good people who are just regular people. 

I look back at some of my favorite companions from the old series... Sarah Jane, Harry, Jo, Tegan. A lot of this started with Ace having a back story but they ran with it in the new series. 

Edited May 13 by libgirl2

[Sakura12]

This one was fun. Jinx Monsoon is an amazing villian. They really brought that character to life. We have the Toymaker who controls toys and games, their child who controls music. What else is there to control. 

I agree the extra special companion is getting annoying. But I am interested in finding out why Ruby is wrong and who her parents are. 

I'm really loving Ncuti as the Doctor. And I love the bouncy energy from Ruby and the Doctor.  This does feel like RTD is back in control. He does tend to go more wacky then other creators. The Musical number was unexpected. I'm just going to go with its the overflow from all the music that the Maestro had bottled up.  It made everyone break into singing and dancing. 

I read there's an actress that has appeared in all the episodes so far. She was the one giving them tea in this episode and her name is Susan Twist. Is she's the twist at the end?

 

[dalek]

I liked this episode more than Space Babies. I was amused by alt-timeline Cilla singing what was pretty close to the Barney theme. Nice cameo by June Hudson. After Ruby let real music into the air, I thought it was interesting that her character was the one to play music, because given when the Maestro came into the world to start devouring music, most of the characters in the episode would have been too young to have been exposed to proper, really good music, but Hudson’s character was old enough to remember good music. It was very obvious that none of the actors were actually playing their instruments or doing proper bowing, etc. during the music battle, which I thought spoiled it a bit. It would have been cool if the chord that Paul said he dreamed about had been the magic chord to defeat the Maestro.

[QuantumMechanic]

I liked it more than "Space Babies" but that was a verrrry low bar.  I hope this season isn't decaying completely into schlock fantasy.  The trailer for next week gives me some hope.  Guess we'll see.  On the plus side I'm still likeing how Ncuti and Millie play off each other.

And after that final musical "number" I had to go watch Schmigadoon!'s "There's Always a Twist" number to purge it from my ears.

Edited May 14 by QuantumMechanic

[tennisgurl]

That was certainly a wild ride, I had a ton of fun with this one. Ncuti is a great doctor for this sort of adventure, he has this very infectious joy that lends itself to a wacky musical episode. I am interested in seeing what he does in a more serious episode, like what the next episode looks like.

I'm surprised its taken the show this long to meet The Beatles in swinging London, I wish we had seen more of the Fab Four (poor Paul and Ringo, not even one line) but I liked what we got and it was cool that Paul and John got to save the day. 

Maestro is hammy even by Doctor Who standards, which is really saying something! They're probably the closest we have gotten to a actual magic on the show, even more than during The Giggle, they were a great mix of creepy, campy, and fun. Looks like we are going to be having a whole host of fifth dimensional beings coming up, this is certainly going to be interesting.

I like Ruby and I am interested in seeing what her deal is, but I am among those who prefers my companions to just be normal people on a wild adventure than the Most Special Girl in the World. It was nice to have so many normal companions for awhile but the show just couldn't resist giving us another Special Girl companion. 

In the shows universe, the Always a Twist at the End was possibly what happened when all of the music returned to the world and it exploded into a huge musical number. Of course, the real reason is because its a ton of fun and everyone had their 60s costumes and their Disney budget, so we just have to dance. 

[Sailorgirl26]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Maestro is hammy even by Doctor Who standards, which is really saying something! They're probably the closest we have gotten to a actual magic on the show, even more than during The Giggle, they were a great mix of creepy, campy, and fun. Looks like we are going to be having a whole host of fifth dimensional beings coming up, this is certainly going to be interesting.

In the shows universe, the Always a Twist at the End was possibly what happened when all of the music returned to the world and it exploded into a huge musical number. Of course, the real reason is because its a ton of fun and everyone had their 60s costumes and their Disney budget, so we just have to dance. 

I was watching a "behind the scenes" video with the key players of this episode and that's exactly what they said "Always a Twist" was supposed to be--all of the music returning and once and exploding into the number. Side note -- 15 and Ruby's umbrellas in the very last scene were a practical necessity -- apparently it poured that entire day in Cardiff and they realized they had the colorful umbrellas from the dance scene on hand, so they incorporated them at the end.  

RE: the other posters commenting about the doctor being fearful and running away -- maybe it has something to do with the soul split? Didn't 15 say something like he can't survive that again?

Maybe 14 got the id and 15 got the ego --its always all been in the same individual before so the fear was more easily tempered? Throwing out brainstorms. . . . 

I think RTD set up the ability for there to have wackiness with the Tennant/Tate special espisode on the ship at the edge of the universe. How is whatever might have come back with them affecting things? 

I'm interested in finding out Ruby's lineage. The companions having something special about them doesn't bother me as it does others. Different strokes!  

Edited May 14 by Sailorgirl26

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, Sailorgirl26 said:

I'm interested in finding out Ruby's lineage. The companions have something special about them doesn't bother me as it does others. Different strokes!  

I think the problem is when they become more important than the Doctor as I think happened with Clara. All of a sudden it was the Clara show. 

[DoctorAtomic]

A proper, bombastic Doctor Who villain. Who can play the opening theme. 

Would you want to see the first Beatles album, or St. Pepper? Ruby even mentioned Revolver. I'd think you'd rather see them at their peak. 

I really enjoyed how wonderfully bad the music was and their reactions. 

It was really interesting that "the music" was still buried in Paul and John but, they couldn't access it. 

Was this the first time the Doctor confirmed that Susan was their actual granddaughter?

It's also interesting the the Doctor doesn't always have the answer to everything all time this time around. 

For some reason for me that xmas Bells song always creeped me out. I don't mind that there's a mystery to Ruby, but I also agree being the key to the universe again is a bit much. I mean, it's the universe. Quite fragile if all these young women from London have to keep propping it up. 

[tv-talk]

21 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I am interested in seeing what he does in a more serious episode, like what the next episode looks like.

Same! I like this Doctor so far and enjoy making him a more well rounded character, but it's time for some gravitas and a bit more being THE DOCTOR as in having the confidence that comes with that. The way he was so scared in Space Babies and then instantly called himself powerless in the face of the Maestro is decidedly un-Doctor like. I am looking forward to an Ep that's a bit more serious too. 

[Enigma X]

I liked this episode better than the first one (which I did not hate). I love the Doctor and really don't mind that Ruby is special. She is interesting, and I am invested in her back story.

Maestro was AMAZING! Loved her. Jinkx Monsoon chewed, but well.

I did not like the hokey ending of this one, though.

[tv-talk]

So how come when Ruby stepped on the butterfly it turned her into an alien version of herself but when she and the Doctor were cavorting around in 1963 it didnt cause any changes?  Is that dynamic just going to be something RTD uses as needed to advance storylines and then tie them up neatly when needed? So Ruby will die, let's say, but the Doctor just goes back in time and fixes it? Or more likely given this show, the Doctor will be permanently killed but Ruby will just go back in time and save him.

[Ceindreadh]

6 hours ago, tv-talk said:

So how come when Ruby stepped on the butterfly it turned her into an alien version of herself but when she and the Doctor were cavorting around in 1963 it didnt cause any changes?  Is that dynamic just going to be something RTD uses as needed to advance storylines and then tie them up neatly when needed? So Ruby will die, let's say, but the Doctor just goes back in time and fixes it? Or more likely given this show, the Doctor will be permanently killed but Ruby will just go back in time and save him.

Because the Doctor used the Butterfly Compensation switch in episode 1 - which he'd forgotten to used before Ruby had stepped on the butterfly. 

 

[edhopper]

The meaning of Maestro is Master, but I am glad they didn't go there.

Fun episode with some Beatles joy. Could have used some Beatle music, but I am sure they didn't have the budget. 

[QuantumMechanic]

On 5/15/2024 at 12:09 PM, tv-talk said:

So how come when Ruby stepped on the butterfly it turned her into an alien version of herself but when she and the Doctor were cavorting around in 1963 it didnt cause any changes? 

Because Davies wanted to do a gag and doesn't care about consistency or the implications of it.

[tv-talk]

On 5/15/2024 at 6:28 PM, Ceindreadh said:

Because the Doctor used the Butterfly Compensation switch in episode 1 - which he'd forgotten to used before Ruby had stepped on the butterfly. 

 

Oh right! Totally forgot that heretofore unknown setting on the Tardis. 

19 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

Because Davies wanted to do a gag and doesn't care about consistency or the implications of it.

Well there is that too. I was thinking though that in this season the Doctor is going to end up having to change something in the past to "correct" the present. 

[bugsmum]

Kinda love that John and Paul saved the world.   

Maestro was fabulous; I'm not familiar with Jinx Monsoon but wow they were great.  

As others have said, the companion being the most special creature in the universe has gotten really really old (I bow to no one when it comes to detesting Clara Oswald) but oddly enough I'm intrigued with Ruby's story and I'm curious to learn more as the season goes on.

[John Potts]

Not a fan. It seemed more an opportunity for some 60s nostalgia than anything else and the story was decidedly thin. Although I did like that it was John Lenon that saved the day, I felt it could have done with more messing with sound (like when the Doctor used his screwdriver to silence Maestro - actually using it for something sonic for once!). For a cosmic entity, it shouldn't be a case of "finding the right chord" as if we're sticking to the 88 piano keys there are only a finite (admittedly very large) number of possible chords, so with 4 billion people, random chance would have one person find it by now

On 5/11/2024 at 11:28 AM, NeenerNeener said:

Ruby could have been the inspiration for the song "Ruby Tuesday".

I keep wanting to call her that anyway!

On 5/11/2024 at 11:31 PM, ML89 said:

Even though those clothes seemed off for 1963.

I thought what she was wearing at the start would have fit in pretty well, though I won’t begrudge them the chance to dress up.

[Kite]

On 5/17/2024 at 11:40 PM, tv-talk said:

Oh right! Totally forgot that heretofore unknown setting on the Tardis. 

Yeah, it goes "ding" when there's stuff. The Doctor always has new (to us) random mysterious Time Lord technology and senses around time, the thing which clearly makes very little sense when you think about it. Also nicely bookends Ten's annoying "don't step on any butterflies then" to Martha which was clearly an unsatisfactory answer and made me assume he had some minor way to mitigate that. 

[DanaK]

+7 day ratings for this episode: 3.909 million viewers, and #12 for the week

Link to BARB ratings for the week https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/most-viewed-programmes/

Only a few shows got above 5 million for the week

[Affogato]

If butterflies have such an effect on the future, imagine if you killed a mouse.

 

[Meow Mix]

Coming late to the party, but I loved this episode.  The dance number at the end was good silly fun.  By far though, my favorite part was that John and Paul were the ones to save the world.  And not only that, but the created the chord together.  That's a perfect commentary on their partnership in the Beatles.

[DanaK]

Per DWM, 28-day number 4.59 million viewers,6th for the week

[Dobian]

This Doctor so far is forming a habit of running from every encounter at first.  Come on, Doctor, you're supposed to laugh in the face of death!

I'm not sure how I feel about the Who School Musical direction the show seems to be on this season.  It has been entertaining so far, though.

Paul wasn't very much like Paul, but the Lennon actor was a little bit more like him.

Since they fixed things in 1963, history remains changed then.  Didn't the Russians invade Finland or something?  On the musical side, there never would have been Elvis.  They needed to fix it in 1925.

A bit more fantasy than sci-fi so far this season, but the vibe is very good and the new Doctor keeps me engaged.

BTW I was at the Abbey Road crosswalk in May, and they filmed this at a different crosswalk.  I compared my pics to still pics from the show of the surrounding walls and buildings, and street markings.

Edited August 5 by Dobian