The Devil's Chord

I've loved this series so far with "The Church on Ruby Road" and "Space Babies" but this episode was just lacking. I'm a big fan of Jinkx Monsoon and her singing but this role did not work for her. I couldn't tell if it was the writing, acting, or a mix of both but Maestro wasn't a scary villain, just annoying and frankly cliche. The whole episode felt bland, even when music was in the world. It was a long and boring ride that barely kept me awake. There was no point to The Beatles being in it except to provide a reason for the Maestro to get entangled with the Doctor and Ruby and for writers to be able to drop non discreet references every 5 seconds. The ending was confusing and the way they beat Maestro was lacking depth and the climatic element were all used to getting from Doctor Who.

Go back to the stories you used to tell Russell.

Sorry Guys but as someone that has followed Doctor Who from the 70's and actually watched every episode ever shown on television (including the very first episode before I was born), I have to say I was looking forward to Ncuti and Ruby taking the next step in the series but you absolutely ruined it for me, The stories (not the 3 pre Xmas ones) of the first 2 episodes with them were not up to par. I hope for the sake of the series it gets a whole lot better or I unfortunately will be sad to stop watching Doctor Who for the first time in over 50 years. Please dont continue with the poor story lines.😥

Having been disappointed by the first episode, the pre-titles sequence set the tone for a much better, more enjoyable time. The moment Maestro played into the intro was just fantastic!

The story progressed at a good pace and Jinx Monsoon stole the scenes they were in akin to the way that Neil Patrick Harris did as the Toymaker. However the episode still lacked that little extra that turns a good episode into a great episode. The jeopardy was cranked up too quickly for a natural build and not played about with enough to actually believe it (even in the reality pause world of Dr Who). I suppose the musical number at the end fit but I just wasn't keen. Having said that, I'm sure plenty will disagree on that.

Notice I've not mentioned the Beatles yet, which was the big selling point of the episode? Well that's because their initial introduction was actually quite funny but they were pretty much rendered insignificant after that except at a very predictable point. I also felt the musical number could have sounded more Beatles-esque. Opportunity missed.

In summary, fun, enjoyable and watchable, just not great.

... but it gets ruined because RTD can't play it straight.

I kinda wish they would still have a pauper's budget again, because it seemed to have worked mich better during his first run. Yes he was also campy there and also at times edged on the thin line between "a little silly" and "completely bonkers". But with this episode he completely wrecked that line.

The villain was extraordinary. Or could have been if they didn't run their mannerisms into the ground. A little less forced drama, a bit tighter pacing, especially during the "final battle" and this could have been an absolute delight.

And don't get me started on that musical number at the end. I enjoyed it in the first episode, but here it felt so overly forced and was not fun at all. More like a parody of Austin Powers. Horrible.

In the prologue to this story a music teacher in 1925 plays a 'forbidden note', the devil's note and as a result a strange woman, identifying herself as Maestro emerges from his piano. Back in the present The Doctor asks Ruby if there is anywhere (anywhen) she would like to go; she tells him she'd love to watch The Beatles recording their first album. They manage to blag their way into the studio but the first song is not what they expected; the words are trite and the music bland. The world no longer has proper music and if The Doctor and Ruby don't bring it back by defeating Maestro humanity will be doomed.

After the admittedly low bar set by 'Space Babies' this is a real step up. The story was imaginative and more importantly it was fun. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson continue to impress as The Doctor and Ruby and Jinkx Monsoon was suitably over the top as Maestro. The effects were good. The only part of the story I wasn't keen on was the 'twist at the end'... I really could have done without that but that is just a matter of personal taste; others may love it. Overall an improvement on the series opener; hopefully things will continue to improve.