The Devil's Chord | Digesting The New Episode | SPOILERS | Step Up or Come Down After Space Babies? 

The problem with these god-like villains, is that so far, one has been defeated with a ball and the other by pressing random piano keys. They seem more like chaotic and annoying adversaries for low-stakes romp episodes.

I think there's an ultra-meta plot arc going on with the winking at the camera, the musical numbers and the snowing in the space station. When it's resolved it may put things in more context.

Now, I do like the musical genre (but not all musicals!) however I did not enjoy the musical number in this. It just wasn’t a particulrly good song! And I agree, I don’t want Doctor Who to turn into Glee. For me, the best aspect of the episode was the concept of how a lack of music destroys our world.

i read someone say that the musical at the end was the realm of maestro still lingering for a little just like it did with the toymaker in the giggle, so i dont think there will be more musical numbers

Just caught up with this - great video as per usual and I’m again very much in agreement! You make a great point about the casting of the Beatles! If they are to be so sparely used, why not at least get the visuals of them (and the era) right? Although even with their almost cameo-esque appearance, I never bought that the actors were the group, on any level really, which was a real instant disappointment for me (and my expectations for them going in were fairly low!) There are definitely some great elements and ideas of this episode, like the silent scene you mentioned, but overall I felt there were some major things that were poorly executed in this episode. Like Maestro, who was *really* entertainingly played for sure, but I was left quite baffled by the extent of their abilities and who they were as a character. And I say that as a fan who does not at all mind Doctor Who leaning towards a more fantasy style. The show has never really been hard sci fi for the most part anyway, and there are many villains that are arguably very fantasy-esque (the Weeping Angels for example). But even more abstract, supernatural characters and creatures deserve better exploration and explanation than I felt Maestro got here. And although I do enjoy a good musical (though I can certainly empathise with your reservations about them!) I thought the song at the end was genuinely awful and had me cringing in my seat. If the song was any good, then maybe I would have felt somewhat more positive. But to me, like the Goblin song in the Christmas episode, it just felt like it came completely out of nowhere and then couldn’t even justify its appearance in its quality. Like you, the thought that there could be more of this, really makes me nervous. Especially that combined with all the winking and smiling at the camera. I think mainly though, as is with most Doctor Who episodes I’m not keen on, my main issues are with the script. There just felt like a whole lot more of telling rather than showing, and general clunkiness in the dialogue this episode, that wasn’t present in Space Babies, for me to really be able to enjoy this one in its entirety. Am loving Ncuti and his ever increasing wardrobe though - love that his Doctor has a style as opposed to a singular costume. It feels so right for his Doctor! And am definitely looking forward to both next week’s episode and hearing your thoughts on it! :)

I’m not sure about Ncuti at times he’s really good at the quite moments but at other times it’s a bit much for me.

As someone who holds even more useless Beatles information than I do Doctor Who information, I enjoyed the 'deep cut' reference to the 'Mrs Mills' piano at the soon to be known as Abbey Road studios, and...that's pretty much it. It made no sense, even in its own terms. How come, if music has been destroyed, the 'Beatles' can still play and sing in tune and harmony, whilst a professional orchestra can't? And if nobody now whistles or dances, how does 'John Lennon' hope to knock off a few catchy tunes, make a bit of money, and then return to his normal life? Either music is absent from the world, or it isn't. There's was a germ of an idea here, which made it better than Space Babies, but the execution was very poor.

Prefer this to Space Babies 8/10 compared to 7/10. Apologies if I repeat what others may have said. It’s interesting the bits you picked up on compared to other things like the reference to Totter Lane and Susan, the fact that the musical number is called Always a Twist in the End and we have the actress Susan Twist appearing in 4out of the last five stories. twist - Susan? Why don’t the Beatles look familiar? Maestro is another name for Masted And why do the Doctor and Ruby think they travelled back from June/July 2024. Sorry I found the Toymaker and Maestro scary, the destruction of London looked fantastic I think there is a lot going on that we haven’t realised in the story arc and I can’t wait to find out. PS I love musicals.

Can someone confirm/refute this for me please? It seemed like the intro simply happened in the 1920's, rather than someone messing with time travel, so I don't really understand how the timeline is altered. And contrast that with stepping on the butterfly which altered the timeline, and Ruby had no memory of before the change. I only watched 5 minutes out of curiousity, and I don't demand/expect solid, consistent time travel mechanics from DW, but I'm still curious if my complaint is valid or not.

I enjoyed Space Babies (and my two boys really did), but if I'm honest this one didn't feel very Dr. Who to me. I'm not a fan of the way the show is leaning heavily into fantasy. Fine every once in a while (enjoyed the toymaker) but we've now had 3 fantasy episodes out of 4 and I get the sinking feeling that this is going to be a running theme. Love musicals BTW but thought the end felt very tacked on and uncomfortably self-aware.

Space babies was fine, decent. This was horrendous!

I Agree with every word you said here.

Chris - have you seen much Dennis Potter? I'd be interested to know your reaction to the way he interwove musical numbers into his dramas, especially Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective. If you haven't seen them, you might want to give at least one of them a try. Avoid the movie version of "Pennies", though; the TV series starring Bob Hoskins is the way to go, if you're brave enough!

I am very mixed on this one. I liked parts of it, but disliked a lot more of it. Great idea, but not wonderfully executed. I think Monsoon's performance was a little bit more arch that I like - they were much better in those small moments of real menace, but when they went big... Nah, not for me. The big musical number at the end... Doctor Who meets Glee is not something that appeals to me at all. But as I said, good concept, some nice moments with the Doctor and Ruby, nice story at the heart, but so far these last two episodes have been just too damn loud. For me.

There is a theory being floated around that this originally was meant to be later on in the series but they changed the series order later. It would make sense if that were the case, firstly it would allow breathing room between the Toymaker and Meastro, the 6 month gap between episode 1 and 2 would make more sense and be less jarring when Ruby says "you never run" and the tease for the one who waits would feel like setup to the finale instead of it being said here then nothing happens for 5 weeks Overall I didn't really enjoy either space babies nor the devils chord, both very mid to me

I do like musicals but am more the classics like Singing in the Rain etc old Hollywood musicals. I do like Les Miserables the most. However I also was not a fan of the song and dance at the end. I actually get why it was there and I think there is more to it. The title of the song, the fact that Henry Arbinger appeared in a doorway. I believe (hoping) there is more to the 4th wall breaks than is immediately apparent. Possibly that they are in a tv show similar to the truman show. The line between reality and fantasy was blurred because of the salt. The 6 month skip intrigues me and again I wonder if there is more to that. A lot of comments I have read rate Maestro as better than the Toymaker but on that I would disagree. For me I was enjoying the episode, the non lookalikes for the Beatles didn't really bother me but that end song and dance just didn't do it for me. While intrigued by the title of the song the song itself was not even remotely catchy or worth a second listen to and it also went on too long 😢. (I personally loved the Goblin Song). I think it was a good episode with a not so good last few minutes 😊

Fine, I’ll take on the challenge to Name A Musical Chris Likes….im guessing Little Shop Of Horrors (film version)

I was gobsmacked when that last musical number just happened out of the blue. The story was about music but it wasn't a musical. Star Trek Strange New Worlds managed to create a really good musical episode (which they had no right too as it theoretically was such a stretch) so how could Doctor Who get it so wrong. The execution so far, Space Babies included, has been handled terribly. New New who has not delivered in my opinion. I wait with baited breath, but I've not enjoyed a single new RTD episode yet and that has really bummed me out :(

Is it weird that I have no idea what the Beatles look like? I picture bowl cuts and I know one wore glasses, and that they had a yellow submarine. That's as far as my Beatles knowledge goes.

Music and drama can be done right - but rarely. Usually it takes someone of Mozart;'s genius to marry the two - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tFPQTeEOFbM.html

I personally think it’s better than the first episode but it was just sort of fine. It really dragged at points.

I enjoyed the Devil's Chord overall - I just couldn't accept how they didn't get the Abbey Road building right both outside and inside when they actually decided to use an existing location. It's way too nerdy for most watchers, but it put me off, unfortunately. My opinion on the episode as a whole is positive, though.

I don’t like musicals, but I could cope with a Doctor Who musical episode, but this just dropped the ball. The song at the end is awful and doesn’t sound like a 60s pop song or a song from a musical either. And it’s integrated into the episode so badly. I enjoyed most of the episode, but the climax is weak and drags the rest down.

I’m very fond of musicals, but this episode still didn’t work for me. And I agree the Beatles casting was way off. The dog song did make me laugh though.

I hate saying this (because I was really looking forward to them) but I felt both Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord were a step down from The Church on Ruby Road. I didn’t actively dislike them, I just didn’t particularly like them. I don’t mind the show becoming more fantasy oriented, but I’m not keen on “whacky fantasy “. Although I didn’t mind the musical number in TCORR, the closing number in TDC was a big turn-off for me and I just fast-forwarded through most of it. Knowing Disney’s penchant for musicals, I really hope this isn’t the beginning of a trend. On a positive note, I love the chemistry between Ncuti and Millie, my favourite Doctor/Companion pairing since the 12th Doctor and Bill Potts.

Chris, what did you make of the odd choice to have the Doctor smile immediately after admitting to Ruby that Susan may well be dead for all he knows, based on the Master's actions against the Time Lords (at least I presume that that's the genocide against them compared to the now unset destruction during the Time War)? To me, and I may be reading this the wrong way, something about Gatwa's Doctor seems like he's not quite as healed and free from pain and angst as he might make out, and sometimes still overdoes the jollity to compensate (and this isn't me laying blame at Gatwa, or RTD, more questioning *the Doctor's* facade within the fiction itself).

I really did not like this episode. It really has soured me on it going forward. I'll watch the next episode, but really thinking I may be skiping this season, sadly.

I really enjoyed 'Devil's Chord', but it did feel a little too early for the stakes to be this high. If they'd waited until later in the series to do this episode, and if they'd made it a two parter, I think it would have worked better. That said, I am loving our new 15th Doctor. He's killing it in the role.

Completely agree about the musical sequence. After 61 years of watching Doctor Who, I thought "that's it, I'm never watching again". I probably will, though. Who am I kidding, I'll give it a chance..... It was so cringy though 🤮

This episode garnered the lowest overnight viewership ratings in all of DW history. But if you guys like it, that's okay.