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Maestro
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 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.
| | | Source: BBC Website | |
| Season: |
Forty One (New Series 14)
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| Production
Code: |
14-2 |
| Story Number: |
306 (New Series: 150)
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| Episode Number: | 877 (New Series: 181) |
| Number of
Episodes: |
1 | | Percentage of Episodes Held: | 100% |
| Production
Dates: |
April 2023 |
| Broadcast Date: | 11 May 2024 |
| Colour Status: |
HD Colour |
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Studio: |
Wolf Studios (Cardiff, Wales) |
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Location: |
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| Writer: | Russell T Davies |
| Director: | Ben Chessell |
| Series Producer: | Vicki Delow |
| Producer: | Chris May |
| Executive Producers: | Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Russell T Davies |
| Production Executive for BBC Studios: | John Hamer |
| Executive Producer for the BBC: | Rebecca Ferguson |
| Commissioning Editor for the BBC: | Lindsay Salt |
| Co-Producer: | Ellen Marsh |
| Script Supervisor: | Nicki Coles |
| Script Editors: | Scott Handcock and Rosheed Bello (Assistant) |
| Editors: | Chris Roebuck BFE, Emily Lawrence (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant) and Matt Nathan (VFX) |
| Colourist: | Gareth Spensley |
| Production Executive: | Steffan Morris |
| Junior Production Executive: | Charlotte Cox |
| Production Manager: | Adrian Devane |
| Post Production Producer: | Ceres Doyle |
| Post Production Supervisor: | Liv Duffin |
| Location Manager: | Baljinder Sidhu |
| Supervising Location Manager: | Iwan Roberts |
| Studio Manager: | Richard Balshaw |
| Unit Manager: | Kyle Yates |
| Production Designer: | Phil Sims |
| Director of Production: | Emily Russell |
| Director of Photography: | Jamie Cairney BSC |
| Casting Director: | Andy Pryor CDG/CSA |
| Online Editor: | Christine Kelly |
| Line Producer: | Mark Devlin |
| Costume Designer: | Pam Downe |
| Hair & Make-Up Designer: | Claire Williams |
| Cameramen: | Martin Stephens (Operator), Andrea Jovanovska (Trainee), Chai Lee Tan (Trainee) and Kudzai Dzokamushure (Trainee) |
| Visual Effects: | Windmill Lane |
| VFX Producer: | Will Cohen |
| VFX Supervisors: | Fred Burdy and Sean Varney |
| Additional VFX: | BBC Wales Graphics |
| Special Effects: | Real SFX |
| Stunt Co-ordinator: | Derek Lea |
| Stunt Performers: | Christina Petrou, Jessica Barfoot, Lucy Fowl, Paul Joseph, Rachel Holifield and Stuart Boother |
| Puppeteers: | Arran Glass, Benjamin Dowden, Eliot Gibbins, Josh Elwell and Rowan Elwell |
| Choreographer: | Jack Murphy |
| Incidental Music: | Murray Gold |
| Sound Recordist: | Alex Thompson |
| Re-recording Mixer: | Paul McFadden |
| Music Conducted By: | Alastair King |
| Music Performed By: | BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
| Music Supervisors: | Ollie White and Marnie Davidge (Assistant) |
| Title Sequence: | Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation |
| Title Music: | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold |
| Three Blind Mice Performed By: | Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Doctor Piano Double: | Michael Howell |
| Ruby Piano Double: | Anna Grieve |
| Maestro Piano Double: | Eleanor Whittam |
| Number of
Doctors: |
1 |
| The Doctor: |
Ncuti Gatwa (The Fifteenth Doctor) |
| Additional Cast: |
Jeremy Limb (Timothy Drake), Kit Rakusen (Henry Arbinger), Sherinne Kayra Anderson (Tea Trolley Lady), Ed White (George Martin), George Caple (Paul McCartney), Chris Mason (John Lennon), Philip Davies (George Harrison), James Hoyles (Ringo Starr), Chan Shoker (Studio Producer), Josie Sedgwick-Davies (Cilla Black), Susan Twist (Tea Lady), Simon Jason-Smith (Vinnie), Laura June Hudson (Elderly Woman), Murray Gold (Himself), Shirley Ballas (Herself), Johannes Radebe (Himself) |
This story sees The Doctor and Ruby travel back to London in 1963 so as to witness The Beatles recording an album at the famous Abbey Road Studios. But they discover a world that has lost interest in music as they are confronted by the mysterious Maestro.
"The Devil's Chord" was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Ben Chessell. It stars Ncuti Gatwa, as the Fifteenth Doctor, with Millie Gibson as his travelling companion Ruby Sunday, while American drag queen Jinkx Monsoon guest stars as Maestro, this story’s baddie. The teaser trailer hints that Jinkx Monsoon promises to deliver a suitably camp and creepy performance using music to a sinister end.
As well as Jinkx Monsoon appearing as Maestro, Shirley Ballas and Johannes Radebe both make cameo appearances and former Doctor Who costume designer June Hudson makes a cameo appearance as an elderly woman who is killed by Maestro.
In this story it is revealed that The Doctor can speak Turkish when he is heard saying ‘Hadi ama’ which translates to ‘Come On’ in English.
The Doctor confirms that he has children and that he had a granddaughter called Susan. This is the first mention of Susan by name in the revised show.
The Doctor mentions to Ruby that in 1963 he was living nearby in Shoreditch with Susan, a reference to the first story of the show, "An Unearthly Child", where the First Doctor and his granddaughter lived in the TARDIS in a junkyard in Shoreditch.
The Doctor contemplates the fate of Susan following the genocide of the Time Lords by The Master in "Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children". The Doctor reveals in this story that he is unaware of what became of Susan (see "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" and the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Shoreditch Intervention"). He believes she may have been killed in a cellular explosion when the other Time Lords were murdered (see "Spyfall").
Ruby confirms she was born in 2004.
The existence of the mysterious group known as The Pantheon is confirmed. The Doctor theorises that Maestro is one of the Pantheon of Discord and that these are a group of transcendental beings that sought to alter reality and cause chaos. Sarah Jane Smith previously faced one of their member, called The Trickster, in "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith".
Before broadcast there was myth that Maestro was to be an incarnation of The Master. This was proven false. Instead, it is revealed that Maestro is The Toymaker's child - and so the first of The Toymaker's legions arriving on Earth (see "The Giggle").
Maestro plans to ultimately steal the Music of the Spheres; the music created by the universe’s motion (see "Music of the Spheres").
Maestro mentions ‘The One Who Waits’ (see "The Giggle").
Russell T Davies has teased that this story would be the first of many to feature gods at war.
The Doctor confirms that the TARDIS still looks like a Police Box because the Chameleon Circuit is still broken (see "Logopolis").
The Maestro briefly plays the Doctor Who theme song on the piano and it is briefly heard on the TARDIS jukebox. The Twelfth Doctor could play the song on his guitar (see "The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar").
The Maestro also plays the Saxon Theme to control the TARDIS' Cloister Bell and the TARDIS lights.
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 the 11th February 1963. They appear to be recording the album Please Please Me and Abbey Road Studios indeed was not yet named as The Doctor states.
Ruby mentions that her family owned a copy of The Beatles albums Revolver and The White Album when she was ten years old.
No actual songs of The Beatles were used in this story due to the cost. Beatles music has though been heard previously in the show (see the 1965 First Doctor story "The Chase" and the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Evil of the Daleks").
Cilla Black was a singer/entertainer/television presenter who was a friend of The Beatles and sometimes they sang together. The Beatles wrote the 1970 song Love of the Loved for Cilla.
The old woman is head playing the Claude Debussy song Claire de Lune on her piano.
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 Doctor mentions he saw Ruby perform earlier in December 2023 at the King's Arms where she sang a song called One More Sleep (see "The Church on Ruby Road").
The Mrs. Mills Piano exists in real-life. It was used by pianist Gladys Mills. The Beatles used the piano for their 1967 songs Penny Lane and With a Little Help From my Friends.
The Doctor is heard joking that people he travels with always want to go to the Titanic, Mars or Bethlehem. The Doctor previously visited the Titanic (see "Rose") and Mars (see "The Waters of Mars"), and once recounted a tale to his granddaughter Susan, and her son Alex Campbell, of how Leonardo da Vinci begged to visit Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ (Big Finish Productions audio story "Relative Dimensions"). The Tenth Doctor had previously implied that he was present in Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus (see "Voyage of the Damned").
The Doctor taking Ruby back to her own time in 2024, which now consists of a destroyed London, in order to prove to her the world will end in 1963 unless they defeat Maestro mirrors a similar scene, in the 1975 story "Pyramids of Mars", when the Fourth Doctor does a similar thing with Sarah Jane Smith in order to prove to her that her world will end in 1911 unless they defeat Sutekh.
The Eleventh Doctor previously took Amy Pond to London in July 1963 only to find it destroyed by a Dalek invasion. Amy had also desired to meet John Lennon while visiting in the City of the Daleks game.
A rooftop billboard can be seen that advertises Chris Waites and the Carrollers. This band was previously mentioned, in "An Unearthly Child" by Susan in conversation with Ian Chesterton, having had the same singer as John Smith and the Common Men.
The ending sequence of The Doctor and Ruby dancing on the streets of Abbey Road (including the famous zebra crossing) serves as a double homage: the first is to the famous piano dance from Big (which Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson acknowledge in this story’s episode of Doctor Who Unleashed), and the other is the film Singin' in the Rain.
This story’s title was revealed in December 2023, in issue 596 of the Doctor Who Magazine, before the reveal of the rest of this season’s stories on the 31st March 2024.
The end titles include the caption: ‘Produced with the support of Incentives for the Irish Film Industry provided by the Government of Ireland’.
This story was broadcast on BBC One on the 11th May 2024, immediately following the main season opening story, "Space Babies". This is the first time that two stories (or even two episodes) were broadcast on the same day. Both stories were given an early screening exclusive for critics on the 6th May 2024.
This story was simulcast on BBC iPlayer at midnight on the 10th May in the UK and on Disney+ internationally.
Overnight viewing figures estimate that this story was watched by 2.6 million people on its BBC One broadcast, 200,000 less than the preceding story. Writing for the Radio Times, Louise Griffin attributed the low ratings to this story’s launch on BBC iPlayer nearly 20 hours previously.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Ben Chessell.
Along with "Space Babies" this is the first time that two stories (or even two episodes) were broadcast on the same day.
The first time that The Doctor confirms that he has children and the first time he mentions his granddaughter, Susan by name in the revised show.
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