Doctor Who Episode Review: The Devil's Chord (2024)
Synopsis: The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) travel to 1960s London to watch the Beatles record together for the first time. However, they instead discover a world that has lost its taste for music and one of the Toymaker's minions, Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) is behind it. If Maestro isn't stopped, humans will destroy themselves in nuclear war but the Doctor, still traumatized from the events of The Giggle, doesn't believe he can stop Maestro.
Review: My wife spent most of yesterday evening working on an outfit she designed/is sewing so instead of watching a movie, we ended up watching another Doctor Who episode, The Devil's Chord. Overall, I think can say I liked this one.
Maestro is an intriguing character though, much like some others from the newer episodes, they did remind me a bit of a character from a movie (my first thought was the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland). The fact Maestro was one of Toymaker's minions and had similar god-like powers seemed like a worthy challenge for the Doctor, even if he wasn't still crippled with fear after literally having his soul torn in two.
I also found I liked the plot of the episode and the way it both described and demonstrated how music shapes the human race. The idea we would quickly destroy ourselves if we didn't have song and dance as a way of expressing our feelings was an intriguing one and a theory that was hard to argue with.
Part of me did think the episode, much like The Church on Ruby Road, went to great lengths to show off the musical talents of both the Doctor and Ruby Sunday, making me wonder if that is a defining characteristic of the new doctor that is trying to be established. However, the piano solo Ruby played certainly had a bit of an emotional impact and the musical battle between the Doctor and Maestro was admittedly unique so I will give it a pass.
My only real complaint was, for a movie that was supposed to have the pair visiting the Beatles, that band really didn't get a whole lot of screen time. We also didn't get to hear any of their songs.
I'm also a little confused by the song and dance number that ended the episode. Was that part of the storyline? And, if so, what the hell? Or was it meant as a fun way for the cast to just end the episode. I didn't hate it; I was just uncertain about what it meant.
Final Opinion: It's not a perfect episode but it was still a decent one with a powerful message about the importance of music. I would recommend it.
My Grade: A
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Here are some more television reviews:
Star Trek Episode Review: What Are Little Girls Made Of (1966)
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