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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story SMW
|name                  = ''{{StoryTitle}}''
|image                = Doctor TARDIS Ruby Maestro.png
|season number        = Series 14 (Doctor Who)
|season number        = Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)
|series episode number = 2
|series episode number = 2
|story number          = 306
|story number          = 306
|epcount              = 1
|epcount              = 1
|scripturl            = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writers/documents/doctor-who-2024-episode-2-the-devils-chord-pink-revisions-310523.pdf
|novelisation          =  
|novelisation          =  
|image                = 1960s Fifteen and Ruby 3.jpg
|doctor                = Fifteenth Doctor
|doctor                = Fifteenth Doctor
|companions            = [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]]
|companions            = [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]]
|featuring            = [[The Beatles]]
|featuring            = [[The Beatles]]
|enemy                =  
|enemy                = [[Maestro]]
|setting              =  
|setting              = [[Abbey Road]], [[20th century London|London]], [[11 February]] [[1963]]
|writer                =  
|writer                = Russell T Davies
|director              =  
|director              = Ben Chessell
|producer              =
|producer              =  
|genre                = Science fiction
|genre                = Science fantasy
|broadcast date        = 2024
|broadcast date        = 11 May 2024
|network              = BBC One, Disney+
|network              = BBC iPlayer, Disney+
|format                =
|format                = 1x49 minute episode
|production code      =  
|production code      =  
|series                = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|series                = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|prev                  = The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)
|prev                  = Space Babies (TV story)
|next                  = Regency (TV story)
|next                  = Boom (TV story)
|bts                  =
|trailer              = Here are all the adventures to look forward to in Season 1! 💞 -DoctorWho
|bts2                 =
|clip                 = Meet Maestro - PREVIEW - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
|bts3                  =
|clip2                = What's Happened to Music? - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
|trailer              =  
|clip3                = Maestro is Summoned! - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
|clip4                = Escape from Maestro! - PREVIEW - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
|clip5                = The Beatles Defeat Maestro - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
|bts                  = Behind the Scenes - The Devil's Chord - Doctor Who
}}
}}
'''''The Devil's Chord''''' will be the second episode of [[Series 14 (Doctor Who)|season one]] of ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]'',<ref name="DWM 598">[[DWM 598]] - ''[[A Letter from the Showrunner]]'', Page 10</ref><ref>[https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/doctor-who-boss-reveals-episode-title-from-next-series ''Doctor Who Boss Reveals Episode Title from Next Series'' on tvzoneuk.com]</ref> to be broadcast in [[2024 (releases)|2024]].
'''''The Devil's Chord''''' was the second episode of [[Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)|Season 1]] of ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]'', broadcast on [[11 May (releases)|11 May]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]], and as a first for the franchise, back-to-back with the first episode, {{cs|Space Babies (TV story)}}.<ref name="Premiere Date">{{cite web|url=https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/doctor-who-season-one-premieres-11th-may-2024|title=Doctor Who Season One Premieres 11th May 2024|date of source=2024-03-15|website name=Doctor Who|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411061645/https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/doctor-who-season-one-premieres-11th-may-2024|archivedate=2024-04-11}}</ref>
 
The episode and the one it was paired with marked the beginning of a brand new release method for the series; from here on, before their traditional linear [[Saturday]] night broadcast on [[BBC One]], new episodes would be uploaded to [[BBC iPlayer]] in [[the UK]] at [[12 (number)|12]] [[midnight]], simultaneous with the episodes being added to [[Disney+]] across the rest of the world, which in some countries would mean [[Friday]] at [[4 (number)|4]]pm Pacific Time/[[7 (number)|7]]pm Eastern Time.
 
Plot-wise, the episode is the first to build upon [[the Pantheon]], previously mentioned by [[the Toymaker]] in {{cs|The Giggle}}, by introducing two more of its members; the Toymaker's child, [[Maestro]], and Maestro's own son, [[Harbinger]]. Another ongoing plot point of the series is also established, "[[The One Who Waits]]".
 
Elsewhere, the Doctor tells Ruby about his granddaughter, [[Susan Foreman]], marking the first time she has been mentioned by name in a post-2005 episode. Ruby's newfound knowledge of this would go on to become a vital plot point in the season's penultimate episode, {{cs|The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)}}.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
''to be added''
The Doctor and Ruby travel to [[1963]] to watch [[The Beatles]] record their very first [[album]], but find something is amiss. The [[music]] is dull, boring and soulless.
 
They come to discover that [[Maestro]], the [[Toymaker]]'s child, is to blame. The embodiment of the essence of music, they have stolen music from the heart of humanity, causing the world to go to [[war]], without really knowing why.
 
The Doctor and Ruby must return music to the world, but how can they fight a god?


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
In [[1925]], [[Timothy Drake]] teaches [[piano]] to a young student, [[Henry Arbinger|Henry]]. When Henry finds the music of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] a tad dull, Timothy suggests that a [[tritone]], the so-called "[[Devil's Chord]]", might be more exciting, explaining that it was once banned, because it might allow the devil to enter the room. As he plays the note a few times, the lid of the grand piano on which Drake plays collapses. A banging sound comes from inside the instrument. The lid lifts to reveal a strange figure, then collapses again as the newcomer is now seated upon the piano bench. Drake insists that Henry get away from the strange figure, but Henry doesn't mind, the entity is his father - Henry's name, after all, is "Henry Arbinger" - "Harbinger". The figure laughs, tells Timothy that Henry was their prelude, whose time is done, and makes Henry vanish. The figure introduces themself as "[[Maestro]]", claiming themselves to be [[music]] itself. Calling Timothy a [[genius]], brilliant enough to find [[the Lost Chord]], but he just never has the luck, his genius unnoticed. Maestro insists that there are songs wrapped deep within his heart that just wish to be released, and asks if he wishes them to be set free. Drake agrees to Maestro's offer and they pull the music out of his body, killing him, and eating the notes that have emerged. The figure turns to the camera and plays a few [[Doctor Who theme (in-universe)|notes]] on the piano.
 
Ruby and the Doctor are in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], discussing where to go next, and Ruby decides on [[Abbey Road]], when [[The Beatles]] are recording their first album. The Doctor delights at the idea, and the two land, but before venturing out Ruby insists that if they're in the past they need to dress the part, donning clothes typical of [[1963]]. They head to [[EMI Recording Studios]] and sneak into the recording by taking around the tea trolley. As they do, they hear a [[I've Got a Dog|song]] that sounds rather unlike any Beatles song the two of them know, focused on very simple themes and a basic melody. Upon spying on two other recordings, [[I Love You, You Love Me|one]] involving [[Cilla Black]] and [[Three Blind Mice|another]] involving an [[orchestra]], they see similar issues in each, and in the cafeteria the entire studio seems despondent, no humming, no rhythm, no desire to feel any music at all. Ruby, in disbelief, exclaims that even the wind makes music as it blows through trees, which the Doctor tells her are called [[aeolian tone]]s. A newspaper the pair reads lists historical events that never happened - not only has music vanished, but the whole world is changing. Ruby and the Doctor split up, one to talk to [[Paul McCartney|Paul]], the other to [[John Lennon|John]].
 
Ruby talks to John Lennon, and he just wants to go home, to a happy home life in [[Liverpool]], but questions why he'll often wake up crying. Paul says to the Doctor that he knows their songs aren't any good, but he sees this as a positive, the whole world has realized that music is a bad thing. His goal is to squeeze a few bits of money out of old rhymes and melodies so he can move on to his next stage in life. But he does admit that when he's alone, from time to time, he can think of a note, and then a second, a third, fourth and fifth, and together they sound special. But as he sings out words to these notes the entire mood in the cafeteria shifts. Everyone around becomes slightly more hostile, chuckling laughter emanates from seemingly nowhere, and Maestro's visage looks out from every reflective surface before screaming. John suddenly tells Ruby to not waste his time and walks away, Paul calls the Doctor disgusting and storms out.
 
[[File:I heard music (TDC).jpg|thumb|left|"The chorus of ancient songs calls me... Maestro! And who... are you? Because... I heard music!".]]
The Doctor and Ruby crane a piano up to the rooftop, where they see far more smog than they'd expect, as if the whole world has begun to go dark. As they look out over London, he points out [[Shoreditch]] to her, where [[First Doctor|he]]'s currently living in [[76 Totter's Lane|a junkyard]] with his granddaughter [[Susan Foreman|Susan]]. Ruby is shocked by the revelation that he has a granddaughter and asks about her, though he insists he doesn't know - he says the [[Last Great Time War|genocide of the Time Lords]] rolled across Time and Space and may have killed her too. He plops Ruby in front of the piano and insists she play, he knows she can - he saw her band. She's the only human left with music in her heart, so she has to try. As Ruby plays a song she wrote for her friend [[Trudy (The Church on Ruby Road)|Trudy]]'s heartbreak, the notes echo out over the surrounding area, reaching a few people nearby, connecting with them emotionally. Ruby continues to play, until the piano jerks away from her in a dissonant note, the nearby people dismayed to hear the music stop. Maestro slowly crawls out of the interior of the piano, cackling in tune with [[the Giggle]] as the Doctor and Ruby run and hide, terrified of the creature they've stumbled across, the Doctor insisting that he can't fight it.
 
Maestro chases after them, using [[Maestro's tuning fork|a tuning fork]] to try and dowse their location, insisting that music is theirs and theirs alone. The Doctor uses a function on his [[Fifteenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] to cancel out the noise in the surrounding area, negating the tuning fork. Maestro is stumped at first, but takes the tuning fork to a nearby puddle, stirring up enough water droplets and vibrations to overload the sonic. As they turn to try to find the Doctor once more, one of Ruby's audience, an old woman, decides to open up her old piano and play [[Clair de Lune]]. Maestro emerges in the old woman's flat, and with a wink at the camera closes the curtains as the old lady screams.
 
[[File:I've brought you home (TDC).jpg|thumb|right|"This is your time. This is your home if Maestro isn't stopped".]]
Ruby asks the Doctor what's going on and who Maestro is. He speculates that they must be part of [[the Pantheon]], vast powers like [[the Toymaker]] who he barely beat, ripping his soul in half to do so. The Toymaker said [[The Toymaker's legions|his legions]] were coming, and Maestro must be part of that, the whole world could be destroyed so easily. Ruby can't believe it - her entire life is living proof of the opposite, that her world has music. They return back to [[June]] [[2024]] and find London in ash, a world utterly destroyed. Ruby shakenly suggests it must be a parallel universe, but the Doctor grimly confirms that this is her home if Maestro isn't stopped.
 
In the ruin of the city they find a ruin of a god, Maestro is here as well. They identify him as the [[Time Lord|Lord Temporal]] who trapped their father, the Toymaker, in salt. And now that he's imprisoned they are free to wreak havoc. The purest music of all is in the [[aeolian tone]]s of the nuclear winter, and as humans die off Maestro becomes stronger and stronger, as the aeolian tones replace the music that they steal. Maestro will spread this across the whole of creation, stealing the [[music of the spheres]] itself, ending all life.
 
The Doctor asks Maestro how they entered this world, and while Maestro is resistant at first, he insists that because their father, the Toymaker, established the [[Rules of play|rules of fair play]], they have to give him this information. And so, the Doctor learns that a genius rediscovered [[the Lost Chord]], summoning Maestro back into this world. He reasons that a different series of notes will banish them right back out of it. They accept this conclusion but insist that the Doctor is far from capable of doing it. Laughing, they play a [[The Drumming|melody]] causing the TARDIS to resonate. The Doctor and Ruby rush inside where the TARDIS's [[Roundel|roundels]] flash erratically in time with Maestro's piano performance and the console sparks and smokes. The controls fight against them, but the Doctor manages to land back in 1963, with some difficulty.
 
[[File:A hidden song (TDC).jpg|thumb|left|"There's a hidden song deep inside her soul! What is it?".]]
The duo enter a recording studio where the Doctor starts fiddling with a guitar, determined to find the right sequence of notes to banish Maestro - sometimes genius is just hard work, he insists. But while he does so, Ruby asks him if he hears music, and living musical notes wrap around her and carry her off, binding the door handles to the studio as they leave. The Doctor is surprised, commenting that he thought the music was [[Diegesis (in-universe)|non-diegetic]]. But after smashing the window to escape, he follows her into a large studio, where she's hoisted into the air by Maestro's power, the only human left with music in her heart. Maestro commands Ruby to sing, and so Ruby begins to sing. But a hidden song within her filters through, overwhelming everything else, [[Carol of the Bells]], and snow begins to fall around them. Maestro insists that the song can't have this much power, power like [[the Oldest One]], and says he can't have been present at Ruby's birth. But no, Maestro releases her, saying that she's very wrong.
 
But the Doctor moves on, skips over to the [[Mrs Mills piano]], which the Beatles used to play their greatest hits, with all the potential to send Maestro back to hell. So the two begin a music battle, with the Doctor playing the piano and Maestro playing a violin they have summoned. It continues for some time, notes flying on and on until Maestro's violin breaks. And so, testing the piano, the Doctor begins to find the right notes, music having come from living, loving, and having lost. The Doctor plays six notes, inching toward finding the Lost Chord to banish Maestro, failing to find the seventh and final note. Maestro knocks the piano out of the room and wraps the Doctor and Ruby in musical notes, pulling them each into a [[drum]] and a [[double bass]] respectively, imprisoning them before celebrating. Out in the corridor, John and Paul find the piano, the notes already played floating above it, and it speaks to them, as they recall their conversations with the Doctor and Ruby. Together they complete the chord, which causes the Mrs Mills Piano to roll back into the studio as Maestro shouts in horror. Maestro tries to run but the piano opens and sends out musical notation which wraps around their legs, pulling them into the piano as they claw at the ground in an attempt to escape. The Doctor and Ruby are released from their instruments and just before the piano closes and Maestro vanishes for good, they shout to the Doctor and portend doom - "[[The One Who Waits]] is almost here".
 
[[File:Doctor musical (TDC).jpg|thumb|right|♪ ''There's always a twist. There's always a twist. There's always a twist at the end.'' ♪]]
As Ruby and the Doctor relax from their harrowing adventure, they decide to celebrate with a song and dance number with the whole of EMI studios, "[[There's Always a Twist at the End]]", as Henry Arbinger looks on from a side room.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Ncuti Gatwa]]
* [[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Ncuti Gatwa]]
* [[Ruby Sunday]] - [[Millie Gibson]]
* [[Ruby Sunday]] - [[Millie Gibson]]
* [[The Beatles]]<ref>[https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-beatles-newsupdate/ ''Doctor Who to feature Beatles episode in Ncuti Gatwa's first season'' on radiotimes.com]</ref> - TBA
* [[Timothy Drake]] - [[Jeremy Limb]]
* TBA - [[Jinkx Monsoon]]<ref>[https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/jinkx-monsoon-joins-cast-doctor-who-series ''Jinkx Monsoon joins the new series of Doctor Who'' on doctorwho.tv]</ref>
* [[Henry Arbinger]] - [[Kit Rakusen]]
''more to be added''
* [[Maestro]] - [[Jinkx Monsoon]]
* [[Tea Trolley Lady (The Devil's Chord)|Tea Trolley Lady]] - [[Sherinne Kayra Anderson]]
* [[George Martin]] - [[Ed White]]
* [[Paul McCartney]] - [[George Caple]]
* [[John Lennon]] - [[Chris Mason]]
* [[George Harrison]] - [[Philip Davies]]
* [[Ringo Starr]] - [[James Hoyles]]
* [[Studio Producer (The Devil's Chord)|Studio Producer]] - [[Chan Shoker]]
* [[Cilla Black (in-universe)|Cilla Black]] - [[Josie Sedgwick-Davies]]
* [[Tea Lady (The Devil's Chord)|Tea Lady]] - [[Susan Twist]]
* [[Vinnie (The Devil's Chord)|Vinnie]] - [[Simon Jason-Smith]]
* [[Elderly Woman (The Devil's Chord)|Elderly Woman]] - [[Laura June Hudson]]
* [[Murray Gold (in-universe)|Himself]] - [[Murray Gold]]
* [[Shirley Ballas (in-universe)|Herself]] - [[Shirley Ballas]]
* [[Johannes Radebe (in-universe)|Himself]] - [[Johannes Radebe]]


=== Uncredited cast ===
=== Post-Cast ===
''to be added''
* [[Dancer]]s - [[Adam Tench]], [[Adina Nyahwa]], [[Alex Sturman]], [[Anja Scot]], [[Anna Head]], [[Aristide Lyons]], [[Celina Tomas]], [[Christopher Jeffers]], [[Ciro Meulens]], [[Ediz Ibrahim]], [[Elena Smith]], [[Ellie Marsh]], [[Ellis Trohear]], [[Emily Rutter]], [[Franky Attard]], [[Fraser Leigh Green]], [[Gareth Viader-Lloyd]], [[Jack William Parry]], [[Jenny Wickham]], [[Katie Webb]], [[Kyle Evans]], [[Lana Williams]], [[Myron Birch]], [[Natasha Fenn]], [[Nicholas Tredrea]], [[Olivia Byard]], [[Olivia Ferrari]], [[Oliver Wheeler]], [[Pia Driver]], [[Roselynn Mbwembwe]], [[Sean Moon]], [[Shay Daniels]], [[Sheehan Parsons]], [[Stan West]], [[Stephanie Wright]], [[Wallace Cheverall]], [[Zi Hong Mok]]
* [[Fifteenth Doctor|Doctor]] [[Piano]] Double - [[Michael Howell]]
* [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]] Piano Double - [[Anna Grieve]]
* [[Maestro]] [[Music]] Double - [[Eleanor Whittam]]


== Crew ==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
{{Wales crew
|Writer=Russell T Davies
|ExecutiveProd=Russell T Davies
|ExecutiveProd2=Julie Gardner
|ExecutiveProd3=Jane Tranter
|ExecutiveProd4=Joel Collins
|ExecutiveProd5=Phil Collinson
|Producer=Chris May
|Director=Ben Chessell
|StuntCoOrdinator=Derek Lea
|Stunt=Paul Joseph
|Stunt2=Jessica Barfoot
|Stunt3=Rachel Holifield
|Stunt4=Lucy Fowl
|Stunt5=Stuart Boother
|Stunt6=Christina Petrou
|Choreographer=Jack Murphy
|AssociateChoreoDancer=Nicole Alphonce
|Dancer=Adam Tench
|Dancer2=Adina Nyahwa
|Dancer3=Alex Sturman
|Dancer4=Anja Scot
|Dancer5=Anna Head
|Dancer6=Aristide Lyons
|Dancer7=Celina Tomas
|Dancer8=Christopher Jeffers
|Dancer9=Ciro Meulens
|Dancer10=Ediz Ibrahim
|Dancer11=Elena Smith
|Dancer12=Ellie Marsh
|Dancer13=Ellis Trohear
|Dancer14=Emily Rutter
|Dancer15=Franky Attard
|Dancer16=Fraser Leigh Green
|Dancer17=Gareth Viader-Lloyd
|Dancer18=Jack William Parry
|Dancer19=Jenny Wickham
|Dancer20=Katie Webb
|Dancer21=Kyle Evans
|Dancer22=Lana Williams
|Dancer23=Myron Birch
|Dancer24=Natasha Fenn
|Dancer25=Nicholas Tredrea
|Dancer26=Olivia Byard
|Dancer27=Olivia Ferrari
|Dancer28=Oliver Wheeler
|Dancer29=Pia Driver
|Dancer30=Roselynn Mbwembwe
|Dancer31=Sean Moon
|Dancer32=Shay Daniels
|Dancer33=Sheehan Parsons
|Dancer34=Stan West
|Dancer35=Stephanie Wright
|Dancer36=Wallace Cheverall
|Dancer37=Zi Hong Mok
|Puppeteer=Eliot Gibbins
|Puppeteer2=Arran Glass
|Puppeteer3=Benjamin Dowden
|Puppeteer4=Josh Elwell
|Puppeteer5=Rowan Elwell
|DoctorPianoDouble=Michael Howell
|RubyPianoDouble=Anna Grieve
|MaestroMusicDouble=Eleanor Whittam
|1stAD=Christopher J. Thomas
|2ndAD=Lauren Pate
|Crowd2ndAD=Charlie Campbell
|DancerCrowd2ndAD=Michael Llewellyn Williams
|3rdAD=Jennifer Day
|FloorRunner=Jac Lewis
|FloorRunner2=Devante Fleming
|FloorRunner3=Emmy Williams
|SAWFloorRunner=Micah Joshua Brown
|BaseRunner=Jamal Price
|SAWFloorRunnerStandIn=Beyagy Demba
|FloorRunnerStandIn=Emmy Williams
|SAWCastAssistant=Juanee Scott
|ProductionManager=Adrian Devane
|ProductionCoOrdinator=Sandra Cosfeld
|AsstProductionCoOrdinator=Liam Hobbs
|TravelAccommodationCoOrd=Ariana Scott
|TravelAccommodationSecretary=Adam Byard
|ProductionSecretary=Florence Trott
|ProductionSecretary2=Chris Harkus
|ProductionOfficeRunner=Danilo Van-Der Nguyen
|ProductionOfficeRunner2=Lisa Elena Williams
|ProductionOfficeRunner3=Rugie Begum
|SAWDirectorsAsst=Abdoul Razak Ceesay
|CreativeCoOrdinator=Fabia Sinigaglia
|ExecutiveAsstTo1=Dee Brooker
|AssistedExec1a=Jane Tranter
|ExecutiveAsstTo2=Kaleigh O'Boyle
|AssistedExec2a=Julie Gardner
|ExecutiveAsstTo3=Joshua M.G. Thomas
|AssistedExec3a=Russell T Davies
|AssistedExec3b=Phil Collinson
|AssistedExec3c=Joel Collins
|LocationManager=Baljinder Sidhu
|AssistantLocationManager=Alex Moore
|AssistantLocationManager2=Shuaib Said
|UnitManager=Kyle Yates
|LocationAssistant=Robyn Selby
|LocationAssistant2=Josef Coombes
|StudioManager=Richard Balshaw
|StudioAssistant=Lloyd Di Mauro
|1stAsstAccountant=Greg Robinson
|APAsstAccountant=Devon Anscombe
|AsstAccountantPayroll=Aimee Bond
|AsstAccountantPayroll2=Laura Gardner
|Cashier=Joseff Thomas
|SAWAccountsTrainee=Lauren Mackey
|AccountsClerk=Amber Cripps
|CameraOperator=Martin Stephens
|FocusPuller=Jonathan Vidgen
|FocusPuller2=Steve Rees
|ClapperLoader=Sarah Macleod
|ClapperLoader2=Evangeline Davies
|CentralLoader=Farah Rose
|CameraTrainee=Kudzai Dzokamushure
|CameraTrainee2=Chai Lee Tan
|CameraTrainee3=Andrea Jovanovska
|DigitalImagingTechnician=Nick Everett
|DataManager=David Buckley
|KeyGrip=Bobby Williams
|Grip=Ken Hodgson
|BestBoyGrip=Moses Stringer-Ogundeji
|GripTrainee=Rhys Jones
|EntryLevelGripTrainee=Emily Badger-Knight
|AssistantScriptEditor=Rasheed Bello
|ScriptSupervisor=Nicki Coles
|EntryLevelScriptSupervisor=Ines Mayorga
|1stAssistantSound=James Bowen
|2ndAssistantSound=Angharad Evans
|SAWSoundTrainee=Tayne McIntosh-Barrett
|Gaffer=Pete Chester
|RiggingGaffer=Chris Kiley
|BestBoy=Sion Davies
|RiggingBestBoy=Scott Smallwood
|LightingRigger=Paul Davies
|DeskOperator=Alan Tippetts
|RiggingDeskOperator=Pete Davies
|Electrician=Andy Green
|Electrician2=Joe Jennings
|Electrician3=Jon Down
|ScreenSkillsTraineeElectrician=Bianca Parris
|ScreenSkillsTraineeElectrician2=Daniel Williams
|SupervisingArtDirector=Robyn Paiba
|SeniorArtDirector=Rhys Ifan
|SeniorArtDirector2=Gareth Cousins
|ArtDirector=Jon Horsham
|ArtDirector2=Kartik Kundan Nagar
|ArtDirector3=Hattie Gent
|ArtDirector4=Alex Stannus
|PropArtDirector=Michael van Kesteren
|AssistantArtDirector=Eleri Lloyd
|StandbyArtDirector=Ifan Lewis Lewis
|SetDecorator=Adrian Anscombe
|SetDresser=Vicki Male
|AsstSetDecorator=Verity Scott
|AsstSetDecorator2=Billie Blue Williams
|ProductionBuyer=Helen O'Leary
|ActionPropsBuyer=Tara Lily Johnston
|AssistantBuyer=Taymar Lee
|AssistantBuyer2=Camilla Blair
|AssistantBuyer3=Harriet Wall
|PettyCashBuyer=Charlie Shelley
|PettyCashBuyer2=Llinos Jones
|PettyCashBuyer3=Oyrania Vakoulis-Morris
|SetDecoratingAsst=Lois Drage
|Draughtsperson=David Merryweather
|JuniorDraughtsperson=Lucia Heseltine
|JuniorDraughtsperson2=Lakota Gunter
|JuniorDraughtsperson3=Katja Allen-Kormylo
|JuniorDraughtsperson4=Diana Samuila
|JuniorDraughtsperson5=Sam Hanson
|ArtDeptCoOrdinator=Jason Davies-Redgrave
|ArtDeptAssistant=Ilee Khezrzadeh
|StoryboardArtist=Michael Collins
|PropMaster=Nick Thomas
|PropsChargehand=Stuart Rankmore
|PropsChargehand2=Ifan Ramage
|StandbyProps=Phill Bull
|StandbyProps2=Jonathan Barclay
|PropHand=Declan Petryna
|PropHand2=Atiff Tahir
|PropHand3=John Thomas
|PropHand4=Ingo Hans
|PropHand5=Joseph Craig
|PropHand6=Jason White
|PropHand7=Matt Shrimpton
|PropHand8=Ieuan Parker
|PracticalElectrician=Phillip Jones
|Storeman=Charlie Malik
|PropStoresAssistant=Stephen Bright
|PropPainter=Maria Faurie
|StandbyPainter=Jessie Thomas
|GraphicArtDirector=Erica McEwan
|ConceptArtist=Nandor Moldovan
|JuniorConceptArtist=Jordan Reynolds
|GraphicDesigner=Stephen Fielding
|AsstGraphicDesigner=Sophie Cowdrey
|JuniorGraphicDesigner=Aled Llyr Griffiths
|HODPropModeller=Barry Jones
|Modeller=Grant Humberstone
|Modeller2=Paul Mazonas
|Modeller3=Stephanie Howell
|Modeller4=Penny Howarth
|PropSculptor=Valma Hiblen
|FabricationBuyer=Hester Haslett-Venus
|Rigging=Shadow Rigging
|StandbyRigger=Nigel Owen
|ConstructionManager=Rhys Griffiths
|ConstructionCoordinator=Ffion Roberts
|HODCarpenter=Martyn Russell
|Carpenter=Christopher Hawksworth
|Carpenter2=David Martynski
|Carpenter3=Dean Page
|Carpenter4=Gareth Jones
|Carpenter5=Harriet Jones (carpenter)
|Carpenter6=Huw Morgan
|Carpenter7=Jason Thomas
|Carpenter8=Jonathan Tylke
|Carpenter9=Mark Borde
|Carpenter10=Patrick Watts
|Carpenter11=Richard Griffiths
|Carpenter12=Sam Burridge
|Carpenter13=Samuel Riddiford
|Carpenter14=Scott Owen
|ImproverCarpenter=Cain Griffiths
|ImproverCarpenter2=Mike Russell
|Stagehand=Ffion Griffiths
|Stagehand2=Morgan Edwards
|HODScenicArtist=Jody Raynes
|ScenicArtist=Gary Nyhan
|ScenicArtist2=Heidi Broad
|ScenicArtist3=Jessica Steel
|ScenicArtist4=Lizzie Howe
|ScenicArtist5=Mike Carter
|Painter=Justin Abraham
|Plasterer=Cellan Roberts
|Plasterer2=Drew Abraham
|Sculptor=Brent Johnson
|Sculptor2=Joe Pearce
|Sculptor3=Russell Turner
|ScenicTrainee=Luke Smith
|StandbyCarpenter=Lee Hosken
|SpecialEffects=Real SFX
|AsstCostumeDesigner=Raïssa Hans
|CostumeSupervisor=Laura Baker
|CostumeDesignAsst=Charlotte Godfrey
|CostumeCoOrdinator=Anthony Williams
|PrincipalCostumeStandby=Kitty Carin-Boyd
|PrincipalCostumeStandby2=Michelle McGrath
|CrowdCostumeSupervisor=Nicola Clay Vidales
|CrowdCostumeStandby=Nicola Rodd
|CostumeArtist=Heather Waterton
|CostumeMaker=Issy Lawrence
|CostumeMaker2=Jessica Hardy
|CostumeMaker3=Hannah Carey
|CostumeCutter=Mein Roberts
|SAWPrincipalCostumeTrainee=Lizzie Doody
|SAWCrowdCostumeTrainee=Hettie Kitson
|SAWCostumeTrainee=Ruby Blake
|HairMake-upSupervisor=Clarice Gill
|CrowdHairMake-upSupervisor=Scott Beswick
|SeniorHairMake-upArtist=Sarah Davies
|SeniorHairMake-upArtist2=Juliet Ireland
|Make-upArtistTo1a=Bella Arghiros
|Made-upActor1=Ncuti Gatwa
|HairMake-upArtist=Becky Lingham
|Hairdresser=Stuart Cheadle
|Hairdresser2=Jackie Saundercock
|TraineeHairMake-upArtist=Madison Garland
|TraineeHairMake-upArtist2=Charlotte Threadwell
|Facilities=AP Transport c/o Bob Gurney and Richard Gurney
|CastingAssociate=Becky Rossmaur
|CastingAssistant=Kristian Wall
|1stAsstEditor=Joseph Keirle
|1stAsstEditor2=Emily Lawrence
|VFXEditor=Matt Nathan
|VFXEditorTrainee=Catrin Rees
|VFXTempEditor=Chris Thomas
|AsstOnlineEditor=Luke Stanbury
|PostProdSupervisor=Liv Duffin
|PostProdCoOrdinator=Lauren Pate
|SAWPostProdTrainee=Amelia Goadby
|AudioPostProduction=Bang Post Production
|CrowdADR=Wild ADR
|VFXSupervisor=Sean Varney
|VFXSupervisor2=Fred Burdy
|VFXOnSetSupervisor=Daniel Roberts
|VFXLineProducer=Liam Tully
|VFXCoOrdinator=Siân Reynish
|VFXCoOrdinator2=Livvy Edwards
|DataWrangler=Hattie Williams
|VFXAssistant=Sarah-Hoor Aboubakar
|IrelandVFXCoProducer=Michael Garland for Grand Pictures Commissioning A Limited
|IrelandVFXTrainee=Emmett Brenna
|IrelandVFXTrainee2=Andrei Grigorita
|IrelandVFXTrainee3=Anthony McFadden
|IrelandVFXTrainee4=Dianne Murphy
|ConceptMotionPrevisVFXArt=Painting Practice
|VisualEffects=Windmill Lane
|AdditionalVFX=BBC Wales Graphics
|PostProdFacility=Gorilla (post-production)
|MusicPerformedBy=BBC National Orchestra of Wales
|Song=Three Blind Mice
|SongPerformedBy=Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra
|MusicConductedBy=Alastair King
|OriginalTheme=Ron Grainer
|MusicSupervisor=Ollie White
|AsstMusicSupervisor=Marnie Davidge
|TitleSequence=Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation
|CoProducer=Ellen Marsh
|ScriptEditor=Scott Handcock
|Colourist=Gareth Spensley
|OnlineEditor=Christine Kelly
|VFXProducer=Will Cohen
|PostProdProducer=Ceres Doyle
|SupervisingLocationManager=Iwan Roberts
|SoundRecordist=Alex Thompson (sound recordist)
|Re-recordingMixer=Paul McFadden
|CastingDirector=Andy Pryor CDG/CSA
|Music=Murray Gold
|Editor=Chris Roebuck BFE
|DOP=Jamie Cairney BSC
|ProductionDesigner=Phil Sims
|CostumeDesigner=Pam Downe
|Make-upDesigner=Claire Williams
|FinancialController=Dyfed Thomas
|LineProducer=Mark Devlin
|SeriesProducer=Vicki Delow
|ProductionFinanceManager=Sean Kenneally
|FinanceDirector=Mary Furlong
|SeniorBusinessLegalExec=Ifty Khan
|HeadLegalAndBusiness=Beth Wyllie
|JuniorProductionExec=Charlotte Cox
|ProductionExec=Steffan Morris
|DirectorOfProduction=Emily Russell
|ProductionExecBBCStudios=John Hamer
|ExecutiveProdForTheBBC=Rebecca Ferguson
|CommissioningEditorBBC=Lindsay Salt
|Note=This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland.
}}


== Worldbuilding ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
* The ''[[Danse Macabre]]'' by [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] is heard during Maestro's battle with the Doctor.
* Ruby uses the [[TARDIS jukebox]].
* Ruby confirms she was born in [[2004]].
* The Doctor exclaims "[[Turkish (language)|Hadi ama]]".
* The Doctor has prior knowledge of "[[the Pantheon]]" and [[the Toymaker]]'s adherence to that group.
 
=== Alternate timeline ===
* The Doctor finds an issue of the [[Daily Mirror]] for [[Monday]] [[11 February|February 11th]] [[1963]]. No. 18,300.
* The headline reads "<u>Russian Missile Crisis!</u> - [[Nikita Khrushchev|KHRUSHCHEV]] THREATENS [[Finland|FINLAND]]", which the Doctor notes never happened.
* Another front page article is "Tyranny of the toddler", written by [[Alexander Jackson]], which describes three-year-old [[Bastian Phelps]] being sued for reckless [[cycling]]. A maid at the Phelps household, [[Liberty Davies]], had been struck by the child while he was riding his [[tricycle]] on the [[9 February|9th]].
* On the back page, a headline reads "…an [[Iron Curtain]] …across Europe".
 
=== Individuals ===
* Timothy Drake's other students are [[Charlie Shelley (in-universe)|Charlie Shelley]], [[Stephen Fielding (in-universe)|Stephen Fielding]], [[Robert Owens]], and [[David Hangley]].
* Posters on the noticeboard at [[EMI Recording Studios]] advertise [[Chris Waites and the Carrollers]] and [[John Smith and the Common Men]], featuring [[Aubrey Waites|Chris Waites]]. A billboard advertisement for Chris Waites and the Carrollers also appears.
* The [[Tea Lady (The Devil's Chord)|tea lady]] likens herself to [[Margaret Lockwood]] in ''[[The Wicked Lady]]''. She considers Lockwood to be "statuesque".
* The Doctor claims to have met [[Gladys Mills|Mrs Mills]] and implies she served as a [[companion]] to him on several adventures.
 
=== Ruby's native time ===
* The Doctor was present when Ruby performed at the [[King's Arms, London|King's Arms]] on [[23 December]], opening with "[[One More Sleep]]".
* Ruby wrote [[The Life of Sunday (in-universe)|a piece of music]] for her friend [[Trudy (The Church on Ruby Road)|Trudy]] when [[Girl (The Devil's Chord)|a girl]] broke her heart. Maestro later refers to Trudy and the girl as "lovesick" [[lesbian]]s.
* Ruby's mother [[Carla Sunday|Carla]] once had a girlfriend, named [[Clare (The Devil's Chord)|Clare]], around [[2014]]. Clare had a passion for [[LP|vinyls]] and she owned every album by [[The Beatles]], such as ''[[Revolver (album)|Revolver]]'' and ''[[The White Album]]''. They played these albums often when Ruby's returned from [[Ruby Sunday's school|her school]].
 
== Story notes ==
* The title of the episode was revealed in [[Russell T Davies]]'s column ''[[A Letter from the Showrunner]]'' in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #[[DWM 598|598]], which was styled as an affectionate parody of the song "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas]]".<ref name="DWM 598">[[DWM 598]] - ''[[A Letter from the Showrunner]]'', Page 10</ref> The episode's title was also the answer to one of the questions in that issue's crossword puzzle.
** The title of the episode was then later given on the [[Official Doctor Who Twitter|official ''Doctor Who'' Twitter account]] on [[31 March (releases)|31 March]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]].<ref name="Twitter Announcement">{{Cite_web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1774428938942521412|title=THE DEVIL'S CHORD<br />Writer: Russell T Davies <br />Director: Ben Chessell <br />#DoctorWho|author=[[Official Doctor Who Twitter|@bbcdoctorwho]]|date of source=2024-03-31|archiveurl=https://archive.ph/cjNZE|archivedate=2024-03-31}}</ref>
* Parts of the script of this episode were used in auditions for [[Ruby Sunday]]. The script for self-tapes from potential actors were truncated from the scripts of this episode and the previous episode, ''[[Space Babies (TV story)|Space Babies]]''; however, the longer script for in-person auditions<ref name="DWM 586b">[[DWM 586]] - ''A Brand New Face'', Page 21</ref> in [[London]]<ref name="DWM 586a">[[DWM 586]] - ''Hello, Ruby Sunday'', Pages 16-20</ref> was adapted solely from the previous episode.<ref name="DWM 586b"/>
* Davies delivered the first draft of the episode on [[3 October (production)|3 October]] [[2022 (production)|2022]].<ref name="DWM 590">[[DWM 590]] - ''[[Letter from the Showrunner]]''</ref>
* In an interview with ''Empire Magazine'', released on [[11 April (releases)|11 April]] 2024, Davies revealed that the plot was inspired by copyright law, as he was led to think about how to do a Beatles episode without using any of the band's music due to the sheer expense of the music rights, which posed an obstacle to making such a story. He was inspired to make the episode by a conversation he had with Sam Arbor, a director he was mentoring, which proved that the band still had meaning for younger generations.<ref name="Empire">{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/doctor-who-beatles-episode-sprang-from-age-old-problem/|title=Doctor Who's Beatles Episode Sprang From An Age-Old Problem With Trying To Do A Beatles Episode|accessdate=2024-04-08|author=Ben Travis|date of source=2024-04-08|website name=Empire|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408154924/https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/doctor-who-beatles-episode-sprang-from-age-old-problem/|archivedate=2024-04-08}}</ref>
* The [[fourth wall]]-breaking [[wink]]s evoke the Beatles film {{wi|Help! (film)|Help!}}, which had similar winking at the audience from a villainous woman, played by Eleanor Bron.
* This is the first episode of the revived series to refer to [[Susan Foreman]] by name. She was previously referenced as the Doctor's granddaughter in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)}} and pictured in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Pilot (TV story)}}.
* The music heard when the Doctor and Ruby wander through 1963 is called "California Soul" by Ashford and Simpson.
* The Beatles first entered the recording studio in real life on Monday February 11, 1963. They appear to be recording the album "Please Please Me" and Abbey Studios indeed was not yet named as the Doctor states.
* Cilla Black was an actual real-life British singer who was a friend of the Beatles and sometimes sang together. The Beatles wrote the song "Love of the Loved" for Cilla.
* The song that the Doctor and Ruby play on the piano is called "The Life of Sunday - Ruby's Theme". It was written by Murray Gold.
* The "Mrs Mills piano" also exists in real-life. It was used by pianist {{w|Gladys Mills}}. The Beatles used the piano for their songs "Penny Lane" and "With a Little Help From my Friends".
* The Doctor and Ruby briefly splash their feet during the musical finale. This plays homage to the real-life movie "Singing in the Rain".
* This episode continues a running theme of characters breaking the fourth wall that started in [[The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)|The Church on Ruby Road]] with Mrs. Flood turning to the camera.
** Maestro repeatedly winks to the audience.
** The Doctor believes the music pursuing Ruby is "[[non-diegetic (in-universe)|non-diegetic]]." Non-diegetic music is the music that the audience can hear but the characters cannot. This would imply the Doctor is aware of the episode's score as it plays for the audience.


== Notes ==
* In the script for the episode, Maestro sings a song before the Doctor and Ruby flee from the destroyed 2024 London. The lyrics go as follows:
* The title of the episode was revealed in [[Russell T Davies]]'s column ''[[A Letter from the Showrunner]]'' in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #[[DWM 598|598]], which was styled as an affectionate parody of the song "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas]]".<ref name="DWM 598"/> The episode's title was also the answer to one of the questions in that issue's crossword puzzle.
** ''Put another nickel in,''
** ''In the nickelodeon,''  
** ''All I want is having you,''
** ''And music! Music! Music!''  
* This song was omitted from from the final episode.  


=== Myths ===
=== Myths ===
''to be added''
* [[Maestro]] would turn out to be [[The Master|the Master]], based on the fact that "maestro" is the Italian word for "master". ''This was proven false as Maestro is a new character, though they are said to be a child of the Toymaker.''


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
''to be added''
* Opening scene - {{w|Clifton College}}, {{w|Clifton, Bristol|Clifton}}, [[Bristol]]{{fact}}


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
''to be added''
3.91 million viewers<ref name="Ratings">{{cite web|url=https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&start=0&type=date&order=|title=Doctor Who Ratings|accessdate=08/06/2024}}</ref>


=== Production errors ===
=== Production errors ===
Line 74: Line 512:


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* This is not the first television story to feature [[the Beatles]]; the group appeared in the [[1965 (releases)|1965]] serial {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}} in footage played on the [[Time-Space Visualiser]]. The Doctor and their various companions often met the band in other media.
* This is not the first television story to feature [[the Beatles]]; the group appeared in the [[1965 (releases)|1965]] serial {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}} in footage played on the [[Time-Space Visualiser]]. The Doctor and their various companions often met the band in other media, including the [[Fifth Doctor]] preventing history being altered to replace their success with [[John Smith and the Common Men]] in [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)}} and the [[Tenth Doctor]] attending concerts of theirs with [[Martha Jones]] and [[Donna Noble]] in [[COMIC]]: {{cs|Signs of Life (comic story)}} and [[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Time of My Life (comic story)}}. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] also attempted to take [[Amy Pond]] to meet the Beatles in [[GAME]]: {{cs|City of the Daleks (video game)}}.
* The Maestro briefly plays the theme song of "Doctor Who" on the piano and it is briefly heard on the TARDIS jukebox. The Twelfth Doctor could play the song on his guitar ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)}})
* The Doctor mentions that his [[First Doctor|past self]] is currently living at [[Totter's Lane]] in [[Shoreditch]] with [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], as first depicted in [[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}.
* The [[Fifteenth Doctor]] is unaware of what has happened to Susan and speculates that when the [[Time Lord]]s on [[Gallifrey]] were [[Razing of Gallifrey|murdered]], as first depicted in [[TV]]: {{cs|Spyfall (TV story)}}, the [[genocide]] may "rolled across time and space like a great big cellular explosion".
* The Doctor recalls his encounter with [[the Toymaker]] and subsequent [[bi-generation]] from [[TV]]: {{cs|The Giggle (TV story)}}.
* Maestro sports [[Maestro's ring|a prominent ring]] through which they express some of their power. Their father wore [[the Toymaker's ring|such a ring]] in [[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Celestial Toymaker (novelisation)}} and [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Divided Loyalties (novel)}}, although no such item was in evidence in the original TV story.
* The Doctor takes Ruby to the future to see the result of Maestro's activity. The [[Fourth Doctor]] similarly showed [[Sarah Jane Smith]] the devastating future resulting from [[Sutekh]]'s escape from his prison in [[TV]]: {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}}.
* Maestro mentions that the Toymaker is bound by salt, which [[Kate Stewart]] ordered be done to him in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Giggle (TV story)}}.
* Maestro plans to ultimately steal the [[Music of the Spheres]]; the music created by the universe’s motion. This music was first mentioned by the Tenth Doctor in [[TV]]: {{cs|Music of the Spheres (TV story)}}.
* After returning to 1963 the TARDIS groans, which it previously did in [[TV]]: {{cs|Wild Blue Yonder (TV story)}}.
* Maestro finds the Christmas carol from the [[Church, Ruby Road|church]] at [[Ruby Road]] within Ruby, as depicted in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)}}. Reliving this memory causes snow to appear, as previously occurred in [[TV]]: {{cs|Space Babies (TV story)}}.
* Maestro claims the "[[the One Who Waits]]" is coming. The Toymaker had previously alluded to this entity in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Giggle (TV story)}}, claiming he was the only player he’d avoided.
* The Doctor orchestrates an elaborate dance number following Maestro’s defeat. He had previously taken advantage of a reality-bending “state of play” that lingered after the Toymaker’s defeat to earn himself a “prize” in [[TV]]: {{Cs|The Giggle (TV story)}}.
* The [[Moonlight Sonata]] is played{{by whom}}, but is cut short like when the [[Sixth Doctor]] played it in [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Project Twilight (audio story)|Project: Twilight}}.
* The episode names the pub and song first seen in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)}}: the [[King's Arms, London|King's Arms]] and "[[One More Sleep]]", respectively.
* A relative of the Toymaker (his sister [[Hecuba]]) was previously encountered by the Doctor in [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Queen of Time (audio story)}}.
* A rooftop billboard is seen advertising [[Chris Waites and the Carrollers]], a band that was previously mentioned by Susan in conversation with Ian Chesterton. They had the same lead singer as [[John Smith and the Common Men]] as heard of in [[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}.


== Home media releases ==
== Home media releases ==
Line 83: Line 537:


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{doctorwho.tv|the-devils-chord}}
{{bbc.co.uk|m001z8c7}}<!--
{{doctorwho.tv|the-devils-chord}}-->


== Footnotes ==
== Footnotes ==
Line 90: Line 545:
{{DWTV}}
{{DWTV}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:2024 television stories]]
[[Category:2024 television stories]]
[[Category:Fifteenth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023) stories]]
[[Category:Ruby Sunday sources]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1963]]
[[Category:Stories set in alternate timelines]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2024]]
[[Category:Television stories with unique variations of the Doctor Who theme]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1925]]
[[fr:The Devil's Chord (TV)]]

Latest revision as of 21:32, 8 December 2024

RealWorld.png

The Devil's Chord was the second episode of Season 1 of Doctor Who, broadcast on 11 May 2024, and as a first for the franchise, back-to-back with the first episode, Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"].[1]

The episode and the one it was paired with marked the beginning of a brand new release method for the series; from here on, before their traditional linear Saturday night broadcast on BBC One, new episodes would be uploaded to BBC iPlayer in the UK at 12 midnight, simultaneous with the episodes being added to Disney+ across the rest of the world, which in some countries would mean Friday at 4pm Pacific Time/7pm Eastern Time.

Plot-wise, the episode is the first to build upon the Pantheon, previously mentioned by the Toymaker in The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle"], by introducing two more of its members; the Toymaker's child, Maestro, and Maestro's own son, Harbinger. Another ongoing plot point of the series is also established, "The One Who Waits".

Elsewhere, the Doctor tells Ruby about his granddaughter, Susan Foreman, marking the first time she has been mentioned by name in a post-2005 episode. Ruby's newfound knowledge of this would go on to become a vital plot point in the season's penultimate episode, The Legend of Ruby Sunday [+]Loading...["The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)"].

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and Ruby travel to 1963 to watch The Beatles record their very first album, but find something is amiss. The music is dull, boring and soulless.

They come to discover that Maestro, the Toymaker's child, is to blame. The embodiment of the essence of music, they have stolen music from the heart of humanity, causing the world to go to war, without really knowing why.

The Doctor and Ruby must return music to the world, but how can they fight a god?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 1925, Timothy Drake teaches piano to a young student, Henry. When Henry finds the music of Beethoven a tad dull, Timothy suggests that a tritone, the so-called "Devil's Chord", might be more exciting, explaining that it was once banned, because it might allow the devil to enter the room. As he plays the note a few times, the lid of the grand piano on which Drake plays collapses. A banging sound comes from inside the instrument. The lid lifts to reveal a strange figure, then collapses again as the newcomer is now seated upon the piano bench. Drake insists that Henry get away from the strange figure, but Henry doesn't mind, the entity is his father - Henry's name, after all, is "Henry Arbinger" - "Harbinger". The figure laughs, tells Timothy that Henry was their prelude, whose time is done, and makes Henry vanish. The figure introduces themself as "Maestro", claiming themselves to be music itself. Calling Timothy a genius, brilliant enough to find the Lost Chord, but he just never has the luck, his genius unnoticed. Maestro insists that there are songs wrapped deep within his heart that just wish to be released, and asks if he wishes them to be set free. Drake agrees to Maestro's offer and they pull the music out of his body, killing him, and eating the notes that have emerged. The figure turns to the camera and plays a few notes on the piano.

Ruby and the Doctor are in the TARDIS, discussing where to go next, and Ruby decides on Abbey Road, when The Beatles are recording their first album. The Doctor delights at the idea, and the two land, but before venturing out Ruby insists that if they're in the past they need to dress the part, donning clothes typical of 1963. They head to EMI Recording Studios and sneak into the recording by taking around the tea trolley. As they do, they hear a song that sounds rather unlike any Beatles song the two of them know, focused on very simple themes and a basic melody. Upon spying on two other recordings, one involving Cilla Black and another involving an orchestra, they see similar issues in each, and in the cafeteria the entire studio seems despondent, no humming, no rhythm, no desire to feel any music at all. Ruby, in disbelief, exclaims that even the wind makes music as it blows through trees, which the Doctor tells her are called aeolian tones. A newspaper the pair reads lists historical events that never happened - not only has music vanished, but the whole world is changing. Ruby and the Doctor split up, one to talk to Paul, the other to John.

Ruby talks to John Lennon, and he just wants to go home, to a happy home life in Liverpool, but questions why he'll often wake up crying. Paul says to the Doctor that he knows their songs aren't any good, but he sees this as a positive, the whole world has realized that music is a bad thing. His goal is to squeeze a few bits of money out of old rhymes and melodies so he can move on to his next stage in life. But he does admit that when he's alone, from time to time, he can think of a note, and then a second, a third, fourth and fifth, and together they sound special. But as he sings out words to these notes the entire mood in the cafeteria shifts. Everyone around becomes slightly more hostile, chuckling laughter emanates from seemingly nowhere, and Maestro's visage looks out from every reflective surface before screaming. John suddenly tells Ruby to not waste his time and walks away, Paul calls the Doctor disgusting and storms out.

"The chorus of ancient songs calls me... Maestro! And who... are you? Because... I heard music!".

The Doctor and Ruby crane a piano up to the rooftop, where they see far more smog than they'd expect, as if the whole world has begun to go dark. As they look out over London, he points out Shoreditch to her, where he's currently living in a junkyard with his granddaughter Susan. Ruby is shocked by the revelation that he has a granddaughter and asks about her, though he insists he doesn't know - he says the genocide of the Time Lords rolled across Time and Space and may have killed her too. He plops Ruby in front of the piano and insists she play, he knows she can - he saw her band. She's the only human left with music in her heart, so she has to try. As Ruby plays a song she wrote for her friend Trudy's heartbreak, the notes echo out over the surrounding area, reaching a few people nearby, connecting with them emotionally. Ruby continues to play, until the piano jerks away from her in a dissonant note, the nearby people dismayed to hear the music stop. Maestro slowly crawls out of the interior of the piano, cackling in tune with the Giggle as the Doctor and Ruby run and hide, terrified of the creature they've stumbled across, the Doctor insisting that he can't fight it.

Maestro chases after them, using a tuning fork to try and dowse their location, insisting that music is theirs and theirs alone. The Doctor uses a function on his sonic screwdriver to cancel out the noise in the surrounding area, negating the tuning fork. Maestro is stumped at first, but takes the tuning fork to a nearby puddle, stirring up enough water droplets and vibrations to overload the sonic. As they turn to try to find the Doctor once more, one of Ruby's audience, an old woman, decides to open up her old piano and play Clair de Lune. Maestro emerges in the old woman's flat, and with a wink at the camera closes the curtains as the old lady screams.

"This is your time. This is your home if Maestro isn't stopped".

Ruby asks the Doctor what's going on and who Maestro is. He speculates that they must be part of the Pantheon, vast powers like the Toymaker who he barely beat, ripping his soul in half to do so. The Toymaker said his legions were coming, and Maestro must be part of that, the whole world could be destroyed so easily. Ruby can't believe it - her entire life is living proof of the opposite, that her world has music. They return back to June 2024 and find London in ash, a world utterly destroyed. Ruby shakenly suggests it must be a parallel universe, but the Doctor grimly confirms that this is her home if Maestro isn't stopped.

In the ruin of the city they find a ruin of a god, Maestro is here as well. They identify him as the Lord Temporal who trapped their father, the Toymaker, in salt. And now that he's imprisoned they are free to wreak havoc. The purest music of all is in the aeolian tones of the nuclear winter, and as humans die off Maestro becomes stronger and stronger, as the aeolian tones replace the music that they steal. Maestro will spread this across the whole of creation, stealing the music of the spheres itself, ending all life.

The Doctor asks Maestro how they entered this world, and while Maestro is resistant at first, he insists that because their father, the Toymaker, established the rules of fair play, they have to give him this information. And so, the Doctor learns that a genius rediscovered the Lost Chord, summoning Maestro back into this world. He reasons that a different series of notes will banish them right back out of it. They accept this conclusion but insist that the Doctor is far from capable of doing it. Laughing, they play a melody causing the TARDIS to resonate. The Doctor and Ruby rush inside where the TARDIS's roundels flash erratically in time with Maestro's piano performance and the console sparks and smokes. The controls fight against them, but the Doctor manages to land back in 1963, with some difficulty.

"There's a hidden song deep inside her soul! What is it?".

The duo enter a recording studio where the Doctor starts fiddling with a guitar, determined to find the right sequence of notes to banish Maestro - sometimes genius is just hard work, he insists. But while he does so, Ruby asks him if he hears music, and living musical notes wrap around her and carry her off, binding the door handles to the studio as they leave. The Doctor is surprised, commenting that he thought the music was non-diegetic. But after smashing the window to escape, he follows her into a large studio, where she's hoisted into the air by Maestro's power, the only human left with music in her heart. Maestro commands Ruby to sing, and so Ruby begins to sing. But a hidden song within her filters through, overwhelming everything else, Carol of the Bells, and snow begins to fall around them. Maestro insists that the song can't have this much power, power like the Oldest One, and says he can't have been present at Ruby's birth. But no, Maestro releases her, saying that she's very wrong.

But the Doctor moves on, skips over to the Mrs Mills piano, which the Beatles used to play their greatest hits, with all the potential to send Maestro back to hell. So the two begin a music battle, with the Doctor playing the piano and Maestro playing a violin they have summoned. It continues for some time, notes flying on and on until Maestro's violin breaks. And so, testing the piano, the Doctor begins to find the right notes, music having come from living, loving, and having lost. The Doctor plays six notes, inching toward finding the Lost Chord to banish Maestro, failing to find the seventh and final note. Maestro knocks the piano out of the room and wraps the Doctor and Ruby in musical notes, pulling them each into a drum and a double bass respectively, imprisoning them before celebrating. Out in the corridor, John and Paul find the piano, the notes already played floating above it, and it speaks to them, as they recall their conversations with the Doctor and Ruby. Together they complete the chord, which causes the Mrs Mills Piano to roll back into the studio as Maestro shouts in horror. Maestro tries to run but the piano opens and sends out musical notation which wraps around their legs, pulling them into the piano as they claw at the ground in an attempt to escape. The Doctor and Ruby are released from their instruments and just before the piano closes and Maestro vanishes for good, they shout to the Doctor and portend doom - "The One Who Waits is almost here".

There's always a twist. There's always a twist. There's always a twist at the end.

As Ruby and the Doctor relax from their harrowing adventure, they decide to celebrate with a song and dance number with the whole of EMI studios, "There's Always a Twist at the End", as Henry Arbinger looks on from a side room.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Post-Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alternate timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ruby's native time[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The title of the episode was revealed in Russell T Davies's column A Letter from the Showrunner in Doctor Who Magazine #598, which was styled as an affectionate parody of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".[2] The episode's title was also the answer to one of the questions in that issue's crossword puzzle.
  • Parts of the script of this episode were used in auditions for Ruby Sunday. The script for self-tapes from potential actors were truncated from the scripts of this episode and the previous episode, Space Babies; however, the longer script for in-person auditions[4] in London[5] was adapted solely from the previous episode.[4]
  • Davies delivered the first draft of the episode on 3 October 2022.[6]
  • In an interview with Empire Magazine, released on 11 April 2024, Davies revealed that the plot was inspired by copyright law, as he was led to think about how to do a Beatles episode without using any of the band's music due to the sheer expense of the music rights, which posed an obstacle to making such a story. He was inspired to make the episode by a conversation he had with Sam Arbor, a director he was mentoring, which proved that the band still had meaning for younger generations.[7]
  • The fourth wall-breaking winks evoke the Beatles film Help!, which had similar winking at the audience from a villainous woman, played by Eleanor Bron.
  • This is the first episode of the revived series to refer to Susan Foreman by name. She was previously referenced as the Doctor's granddaughter in TV: The Rings of Akhaten [+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"] and pictured in TV: The Pilot [+]Loading...["The Pilot (TV story)"].
  • The music heard when the Doctor and Ruby wander through 1963 is called "California Soul" by Ashford and Simpson.
  • The Beatles first entered the recording studio in real life on Monday February 11, 1963. They appear to be recording the album "Please Please Me" and Abbey Studios indeed was not yet named as the Doctor states.
  • Cilla Black was an actual real-life British singer who was a friend of the Beatles and sometimes sang together. The Beatles wrote the song "Love of the Loved" for Cilla.
  • The song that the Doctor and Ruby play on the piano is called "The Life of Sunday - Ruby's Theme". It was written by Murray Gold.
  • The "Mrs Mills piano" also exists in real-life. It was used by pianist Gladys Mills. The Beatles used the piano for their songs "Penny Lane" and "With a Little Help From my Friends".
  • The Doctor and Ruby briefly splash their feet during the musical finale. This plays homage to the real-life movie "Singing in the Rain".
  • This episode continues a running theme of characters breaking the fourth wall that started in The Church on Ruby Road with Mrs. Flood turning to the camera.
    • Maestro repeatedly winks to the audience.
    • The Doctor believes the music pursuing Ruby is "non-diegetic." Non-diegetic music is the music that the audience can hear but the characters cannot. This would imply the Doctor is aware of the episode's score as it plays for the audience.
  • In the script for the episode, Maestro sings a song before the Doctor and Ruby flee from the destroyed 2024 London. The lyrics go as follows:
    • Put another nickel in,
    • In the nickelodeon,
    • All I want is having you,
    • And music! Music! Music!
  • This song was omitted from from the final episode.

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Maestro would turn out to be the Master, based on the fact that "maestro" is the Italian word for "master". This was proven false as Maestro is a new character, though they are said to be a child of the Toymaker.

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

3.91 million viewers[8]

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home media releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: The Devil's Chord (TV story)/Gallery

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. Doctor Who Season One Premieres 11th May 2024. Doctor Who (2024-03-15). Archived from the original on 2024-04-11.
  2. DWM 598 - A Letter from the Showrunner, Page 10
  3. @bbcdoctorwho (2024-03-31). THE DEVIL'S CHORD
    Writer: Russell T Davies
    Director: Ben Chessell
    #DoctorWho
    . Archived from the original on 2024-03-31.
  4. 4.0 4.1 DWM 586 - A Brand New Face, Page 21
  5. DWM 586 - Hello, Ruby Sunday, Pages 16-20
  6. DWM 590 - Letter from the Showrunner
  7. Ben Travis (2024-04-08). Doctor Who's Beatles Episode Sprang From An Age-Old Problem With Trying To Do A Beatles Episode. Empire. Archived from the original on 2024-04-08. Retrieved on 2024-04-08.
  8. Doctor Who Ratings. Retrieved on 08/06/2024.