Dr. Who 14x2 - The Devil´s Chord
Added 2025-06-28 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
Comments
"1925" Ooh, that's the same year we saw the Toymaker in his shop at the start of "The Giggle". "You're the greatest composer who ever lived. Clever enough to find the lost chord.", Maestro, "The Devil's Chord" There was a poem called "A Lost Chord" written in 1860 which was famously set to music in 1877 by Arthur Sullivan (he wasn't a "Sir" when it was written). It's not the same idea at all - no supernatural manifestations come to destroy all music - but it irritates me slightly that the words "the lost chord" was used but there was no reference made to that song. As you pointed out, it they had a fun audio transition from Maestro playng the Doctor Who theme into the opening credits. It reminds me a bit of one Classic Who story where the companion was asked to scream at the cliffhanger at the exact musical note that would transition perfectly into the Doctor Who closing theme. "But, Paul, see, when it's just you on your own, don't you think that there must be better songs? Songs that lift you? And devastate you? And make you soar? Songs that are tucked away somewhere in secret, in the back of your mind?", The Doctor, "The Devil's Chord" I'm a Beatles fan - and it was clever to have a story when they went to visit the Beatles (how exciting!), only for the world to be in such a state that the Beatles' songs were so bad. The production obviously couldn't reproduce the quality of the best Beatles songs - but the writer could create some really bad songs for this version of them to sing. And of course we really want John and Paul to help the Doctor at the end. Incidentally, The Beatles have had several references made to them in Doctor Who history - we saw a performance of them on a TV screen in a 1st Doctor story, and several times in Classic Who when we were in the 1960s their music was playing in the background. Of course, they also got a mention in one of the quiz questions in "42". It was nice to have Cilla Black, another contemporary singer from Liverpool, in this story as well. "This is your time. This is your home if Maestro isn't stopped.", The Doctor, "The Devil's Chord" We've seen the Doctor take his companion to a potential future to demonstrate that they can't just run away from the current problem - as Jade mentioned, you saw it in "Pyramids of Mars" when the Doctor took Sarah to show her the future if Sutekh was not stopped. "John Smith is the stage name of the Honourable Aubrey Waites. He started his career as Chris Waites and the Carollers, didn't he, Susan?", Ian Chesterton, "An Unearthly Child" At the end of this story, the big sign on the roof of the studio is advertising a record from "Chris Waites and the Carollers" - a reference all the way back to the first Classic Who story. "Listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Here it comes. Everywhere! Ha, ha! Music!", The Doctor, "The Devil's Chord" And after that there was a distant sound of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" - I love that composition! "With all of my adventures throughout Time and Space, I have to tell you there is always a twist at the end.", The Doctor, "The Devil's Chord"
Andrew Vignaux
2025-07-02 03:13:02 +0000 UTCI really enjoy this episode. A big improvement on last weeks. It's a 4/5 and that only because I wish Jinx Monsoon had toned the character down in places. She is great but really OTT all of the time and I wish she had given a more layered performance. Also love the scene where the Doctor takes Ruby to see the future if they don't stop Maestro which mirrors the scene in Pyramids of Mars where the doctor does the same with Sarah. As for the song at the end? Well I both like it and don't like it. I like the song and dance number itself but I don't like it as being part of the story. As someone mentioned in the comments there was an explanation of how its a bit of a left over from Maestro being defeated, a bit like how there was enough power from the Toymaker being defeated to allow for a second Tardis as a prize in The Giggle, but it was cut so it just ends up feeling a bit weird in this episode. I wish that maybe they had just done it at the end outside of the story as a kind of extra for fun. You seemed confused by the appearance of the boy during the dance number? This was the boy from the beginning, the Harbinger. Fun fact the old lady who starts playing the piano before Maestro kills her was a costume designer for classic Who. She was the one who designed the outfit for the Tom Baker Doctor during his last season. (goggle fourth Doctor season 18 if you want to see an image of it)
Jade Ellis
2025-06-28 20:28:50 +0000 UTC
