WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Doctor Who has delved into and taken on many genres with horror, murder mystery, spy fantasy and more. I’ve been in favour of Doctor Who broadening its scope with different genre stories and exploring different ways of telling a Doctor Who story. Big Finish had done a musical story before with Doctor Who and the Pirates and we got a taste of it in the Church on Ruby Road. The Devil's Chord leans in this direction with a story and idea centred around music, a 1960s setting including the Beatles and a villain with Maestro who is the personification of music. How well did it work out? Let’s take a look.
The Devil's Chord begins with Ruby asking the Doctor to take her back to 1963 to see the Beatles' record their first album. Sadly, when the Doctor and Ruby arrive at EMI studios, as they visit both the Beatles and Cilla Black, all music has been drained of talent and the world has gone sour. Due to a lack of music in everyone's soul, death and disaster loom on the horizon. Maestro, the offspring of the Toymaker and personification of music, has been released by the hidden devil's chord. The Doctor is up against a deadly godlike force, and it is up to him and Ruby to restore music to the world to prevent the end of everything.
I was nervous about the Devil's Chord going into it, mainly because of the inclusion of the Beatles. I grew up with the Beatles from my Dad and I have a fondness for their music. However, I was worried that the Devil's Chord could easily become a series of cringey 60s rock and roll gags, and that I wouldn’t be able to take the Beatles seriously as they could easily become forced impressions and caricatures. I was surprised and relieved by the Beatles' minimal appearance in the story. They were a part of events, but the story was not centred around them as musical historical figures. They act as more of a starting point for the story to develop from, which I think was a very wise decision.
The lack of rights for the Beatles' music is really where the inspiration for the story came from, to create something memorable and noteworthy. You have an inspired idea where all music has been torn away from the world as the story cleverly details the consequences of such a thing. I like how we’re shown the importance of music as a core expression of emotion within our society. It shows how it touches people and how people find meaning and comfort in music. As a result, the world would be a very different place without music.
The story shows how the world is a duller and more downbeat place without the presence of music, which brings light and life to people’s lives. This is shown through the reaction and joy that comes when Ruby plays the piano on the rooftop. The way people come to their windows out of curiosity excellently shows the emotional impact of music on people’s hearts and souls and the brighter feeling it gives people. The 1960s setting was the perfect place for this story. It was a time of musical experimentation and revolution and the idea of that passion and creativity ceasing to be is a devastating idea. This idea is sold through the main Beatles themselves. The idea that the Beatles wouldn’t ever get to find their feet or display the true musical genius, talent and songs which are hidden inside of them has a real sadness to it.
I love the scene when the Doctor takes Ruby back to 2024 and shows her the disaster and destruction of the earth and its state. It brings a sense of stakes and importance to the Doctor and Ruby’s efforts. It is a very clever Pyramids of Mars style of storytelling that shows the cataclysmic results of what they are facing. It’s a story that shows us that music impacts and changes the world. The idea of humanity going to war without a way of expressing a broken heart has a relatability and reality to it. The 1960s was a dangerous and frightful time with the threat of atomic weapons and ongoing political tensions. I can see that without the presence of music to brighten and inspire people, things could have turned out very differently. The story has a definite and clear sense of stakes and danger, which is emotionally baked into the story.
I don’t think I can go any further without talking about Drag Race star Jinkx Monsoon as the villain who has an excellent energy. Maestro is the best original villain we’ve had in Doctor Who in a very long time, possibly over a decade. What I love about Maestro is that they are full of a silliness and a campy energy that feels right but that doesn’t stop them from feeling unpredictable and incredibly dangerous. Maestro is the offspring of the Toymaker and represents the personification of music as they steal and rip all potential songs from people’s souls. I love their opening scene with Timothy Drake in 1925 as Maestro is released through the hidden devil’s chord. I like the idea that Maestro is released through a real thing and superstition. It puts a lot of weight behind the idea of the devil's chord itself and preys on something tangible and very sinister. It makes some logical sense in the capacity of what Maestro is meant to be and puts a fear and a terror behind something real in music which I really enjoy. The godlike presence and power of the character of Maestro also heightens and develops the vast stakes of the story. They are a vast force, and you don’t know the extent of their limitations or powers, which brings an extra sense of graveness to the story. With the power of the Toymaker in the Giggle, you already have a sense of the kind of power Maestro represents and are wary of the cost of facing a similar force once again. Maestro is a true power and villain to be reckoned with and has an enormous sense of danger behind them that you feel the baggage of. Tying them into the Toymaker was a very clever idea.
Maestro is a very fantasy-based character which opens the door for a brilliant inventiveness and pure creative energy which I love to see. I really like Maestro’s drag queen look and genderless non binary identity. It expands the normality of Doctor Who and what you are used to seeing as a villain. What I love about Jinkx Monsoon’s performance is how easily she is able to flip between a gentle playfulness and silliness and pure anger and rage. There is a lot of variety in her performance to enjoy. Their actions and attitude have a cheekiness and a naughtiness and a heightened villainous energy which I adore. However, the possessiveness of their character, feeling a sense of belonging over music with a pure sense of spite, is what makes them incredibly vicious. They are a different kind of enemy from Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, but within the same kind of idea, which is interesting. There is a bold imagery to the story that takes place through Maestro. The musical showdown between the Doctor and Maestro has high stakes and fun involved, but the wildness of the range of ways music is used as a weapon is nothing but pure joy. The best Doctor Who stories are the ones with great villains and Maestro is incredibly memorable.
The Devil's Chord also breaks and tears apart boundaries within Doctor Who in a way I find fascinating. This is in the way the story toys and plays around with the fourth wall. You have a story with Maestro playing the Doctor Who theme on a number of occasions, Ruby Sunday playing her own theme, Maestro acknowledging the audience with a cheekiness to the performance and the Doctor winking at the camera. It’s not entirely new territory for Doctor Who, but the show has never broken the fourth wall in such an upfront way before. It’s done with such boldness and intentional ambition, and I can’t help but admire it. Even the final musical number is done with a certain self-awareness of its audience, which I think is how it manages to get away with the sequence. The whole story has a wildness in the way it’s playing with its audience.
The musical sequence at the end is a bit of an acquired taste. I’m not the biggest fan of musicals myself. I don’t like the Sound of Music, Mary Poppins or Les Misérables. However, I can still appreciate the skill and spectacle of the sequence at the end. I kind of went along with and embraced it and it did make sense within the context of the story itself, with it resembling the revival of music. I would have preferred it if this sequence was worked into the conclusion of the story to have more purpose as I’m not sure it entirely worked. The Goblin Song, I think, worked better with the darkness and silliness of the song and feeling more natural to the story. That being said, I think the silliness and self-awareness of the song makes it fit well into the conclusion of the story. With a story that is about music and the absence of it, you have an idea which fits into the musical genre rather nicely.
Ncuti Gatwa once again impresses as the Doctor with his excellent energy and skill in the part. I enjoy the passion and thrill the Doctor has upon the idea of meeting the Beatles and seeing them record their first album. The Fifteenth Doctor has a sense of youth about him, which is invigorating. Ncuti Gatwa certainly looks very stylish in his 1960s clothes. He always brings a fun and energy which leads the show with the presence of him as an actor. There is an effortless sense of love in his Doctor but a sense of age as a man who has been battered and come out more loving and passionate as a result.
The Fifteenth Doctor faces his biggest challenge yet in this episode going up against Maestro as a godlike being. There is a real sense of fear and vulnerability when the Doctor hears the giggle and realises the kind of threat which he is facing. You can see the aftermath and the torment which the Toymaker has left upon him and the pain that has brought him. You get a sense that the Doctor is out of his depth and powerless against godlike forces.
The Doctor is aware that he got lucky when put up against the Toymaker and is wary of his ability to survive this time. I love the emotional pain you see on the Doctor’s face when he takes Ruby to 2024 to see the catastrophe that has become of earth. It’s very difficult for the Doctor but Ncuti Gatwa’s performance is played at the right level. Ncuti Gatwa also has tremendous conflict and chemistry with Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro, as the Doctor always feels vulnerable and on the backfoot but determined and daring every step of the way. Maestro’s fearlessness and sense of power obviously terrifies the Doctor, and you can see it in Ncuti Gatwa’s performance. His conviction and age come through in his efforts to put a stop to and banish Maestro. There is an emotional honesty in the Fifteenth Doctor I really appreciate. A side I really like in his Doctor so far though is how he puts Ruby in the line of danger without thinking about the end result like when he gets her to play the piano on the rooftop. It shows a thoughtless and dubious alien side to the Doctor that is very important under the lively exterior.
Ruby continues to be a very relatable character which an audience can latch onto. Her excitement and want to see the Beatles record their first album is relatable as something a lot of us would want to see if we could travel back in time. Millie Gibson puts a great deal of emotion and reality into her performance as Ruby Sunday. Her sadness at the idea of Paul McCartney giving up on music, going back to Liverpool and getting a job obviously fills her with a lot of regret. Her sadness for the Doctor and the fate of his granddaughter and not knowing whether she is alive, or dead is something that bonds them and shows a sympathetic side of Ruby. Her best moment, though, is the emotional impact of seeing the state of the way things have turned out in 2024 without music. Her despair, emotion, and struggle to take things in is very relatable.
The Devil's Chord doesn’t have an especially large guest cast, but you do have the cast playing the Beatles and Cilla Black. My big problem is how the Beatles actors fail to look like the band. Given the Beatles are still within living memory and two of them are still alive, it’s more difficult to sell the actors as the actual Beatles because of how familiar we are with them. The advantage I think both Chris Mason and George Capel have as John Lennon and Paul McCartney is that they are given the chance to be characters and to have feelings and opinions so aren’t purely reduced to impressions. I think it was a wise decision to keep them to a limited role to stop the story from feeling cringey as they are never gonna feel like the actual Beatles. I did find it rather clever seeing them banish Maestro at the end, though as true musical geniuses.
The story was directed by Ben Chessell, whose previous work includes Deadloch and the Great. I love the way the opening scene in 1925 is filmed. The introduction of Maestro is given a wonderful terror. The separate shots of Maestro and Timothy Drake personifies a conflict visually. I also really like the way the Doctor and Ruby are shot on board the Tardis. The transition and flow from the jukebox playing the Doctor Who theme to the conversation between the Doctor and Ruby has an organic and natural feel to it and the changing of costumes has an energy but naturalism. The gentle movement of the camera across the story makes the visual storytelling very natural. The way the frame converges upon characters in certain moments like in the cafe scene with John Lennon and Paul McCartney has a feeling of emotional and dramatic stakes. Ben Chessell has a way of lingering and focusing on characters and using the space of the scene to the best advantage.
So overall, what do I think of the Devil's Chord? I think it’s a wonderful story that really embraces both the silliness and the menace and stakes of Doctor Who. I’m really glad that they released two episodes at once in the first week because I would have been concerned if they’d just shown Space Babies, but the Devil's Chord assured my confidence. It has a real braveness to it, an inventiveness, and a whacky energy which I admire. I think Jinkx Monsoon makes the story what it is with a campy, overwhelming menace of an enemy putting the Doctor into a vulnerable position with a real sense of stakes. The way the story explores the importance of music and consequences of the absence of music has an emotional core to it and it gets the best out of the idea. It’s brave and interesting in the way it plays around with and pushes the boundaries of the fourth wall and use of music. Whilst the Beatles actors have limitations and the ending musical number didn’t entirely work, I think it thrives through its chaotic energy, terrific villain and wonderful fun.
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