The Devil's Chord (TV story)
The Devil's Chord was the second episode of Season One of Doctor Who,[1][2], broadcast on 11 May 2024, back-to-back with Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"].[3]
Synopsis
The Doctor and Ruby meet The Beatles but discover that the all-powerful Maestro is changing history. London becomes a battleground with the future of humanity at stake.[4]
Plot
In 1925, Timothy Drake teaches piano to a young student, Henry. When Henry finds the music of Beethoven a tad dull, Timothy suggests that the 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". The figure laughs, "Harbinger", their prelude, whose time is done, and the student vanishes. The figure introduces themself to Drake 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, he'll go unnoticed. Maestro insists that there are songs wrapped deep within him that just wish to be released, and asks if he wishes them to be set free. Drake agrees to Maestro's offer and the mysterious figure pulls 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.
Cast
- The Doctor - Ncuti Gatwa
- Ruby Sunday - Millie Gibson
- Maestro - Jinkx Monsoon
- Timothy Drake - Jeremy Limb
- Henry - Kit Rakusen
- 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 - Chan Shoker
- Cilla Black - Josie Sedgwick-Davies
- Tea Lady - Susan Twist
- Vinnie - Simon Jason-Smith
- Elderly Woman - Laura June Hudson
- Himself - Murray Gold
- Herself - Shirley Ballas
- Himself - Johannes Radebe
Crew
| Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter with Joel Collins and Phil Collinson |
| Series Producer Vicki Delow |
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| 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. |
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This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland. |
Worldbuilding
- Timothy Drake's other students are Charlie Shelley, Stephen Fielding, Robert Owens, and David Hangley.
Notes
- 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".[1] 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 account on 31 March 2024.[5]
- 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[6] in London[7] was adapted solely from the previous episode.[6]
- Davies delivered the first draft of the episode on 3 October 2022.[8]
- 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.[9]
- The fourth wall-breaking winks evoke the Beatles film Help!, which had similar winking at the audience from a villainous woman.
Myths
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Filming locations
to be added
Ratings
to be added
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- This is not the first television story to feature the Beatles; the group appeared in the 1965 serial The Chase [+]Loading...["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.
- The Fifteenth Doctor says that when the Time Lords on Gallifrey were murdered, genocide "rolled across time and space like a great big cellular explosion" which may have killed off-world Time Lords. The description of a cellular explosion could refer to the detonation of the death particle in TV: The Timeless Children [+]Loading...["The Timeless Children (TV story)"].
- The Doctor mentions that his past self is currently living at Totter's Lane in Shoreditch with Susan.
- 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: The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"].
- Maestro is the child of the Toymaker, and must therefore abide by some of the same rules that he does, which the Doctor exploits to force them to reveal the existence of the music that can banish them.
Home media releases
to be added
Gallery
- Main article: The Devil's Chord (TV story)/Gallery
External links
- Official The Devil's Chord page on the Doctor Who website
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 DWM 598 - A Letter from the Showrunner, Page 10
- ↑ DOCTOR WHO BOSS REVEALS EPISODE TITLE FROM NEXT SERIES. TV Zone UK (2023-12-06). Archived from the original on 2023-12-07.
- ↑ Doctor Who Season One Premieres 11th May 2024. Doctor Who (2024-03-15). Archived from the original on 2024-04-11.
- ↑ Doctor Who, Season 1, The Devil's Chord. BBC website. BBC. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved on 8 May 2024.
- ↑ Space Babies (TV story)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 DWM 586 - A Brand New Face, Page 21
- ↑ DWM 586 - Hello, Ruby Sunday, Pages 16-20
- ↑ DWM 590 - Letter from the Showrunner
- ↑ 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.
