‘The Devils Chord’ doesn’t reach the comedic heights of the previous episode or the thrills it strives for.
Picking up sometime after ‘Space Babies‘, The Doctor and Ruby travel to 1960’s London to watch The Beatles record their first album.
Soon after arriving they realise that all creativity within music has disappeared and the embodiment of music, The Maestro, has something to do with it.
The plot keeps the goofy energy of episode one, with even more camp from the great Jinx Monsoon, who plays The Maestro.
Jinx is the real star of the episode, genuinely threatening but also hugely entertaining, they carry the episode through its many low points.
The Maestro is a child of The Toymaker, the big bad character of the 2023 special episodes.
Their species embody concepts. The Toymaker embodied games while The Maestro embodies music.
It’s a really interesting concept. These beings are almost unstoppable because of their seemingly boundless powers.
Image credit: BBC
The episode is almost a musical. Multiple scenes are devoted to performances and it’s really fun to see, but the final song drags on slightly too long.
There are also some historical inaccuracies when it comes to The Beatles but that’s to be expected – they only have so much time in one episode after all.
It was strange because most of the marketing for the episode surrounded The Beatles, when they were only in it for five minutes.
The costumes for this episode are amazing. The wardrobe department has been on full show since the specials.
The Doctor and Ruby’s outfits this episode were fantastic, bright and colourful in contrast to the grey the world is shrouded in without music.
Image credit: BBC
The ending is what really lets the episode down. Slightly rushed and chock full of dated looking CGI.
It’s great how they used a mix of CGI and practical effects. However, the final battle where The Doctor and The Maestro throw musical notes at each other doesn’t look great.
The day is saved by John Lennon and Paul McCartney playing a couple of notes on a piano to banish The Maestro and return music to the world.
A musical sequence plays at the end of the episode, fittingly titled, “There’s always a twist in the end.”
The song is silly, but its not offensive. It’s very Glee and it serves as a fitting ending to the episode.
‘The Devils Chord’ is slightly disappointing, it follows the tone of the first episode but nevertheless it’s still a very fun episode.
So far, the series is fun, it’s not perfect but it’s still highly entertaining.
Featured image credit: BBC
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
Deputy editor
Contact - deputyeditor@brignews.com
