The Devil's Chord (TV story)

The Devil's Chord

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The Devil's Chord
Doctor:	Fifteenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Ruby
Featuring:	The Beatles
Main enemy:	Maestro
Main setting:	London, 11 February 1963
Key crew
Writer:	Russell T Davies
Director:	Ben Chessell
Producer:	Chris May
Music:	Murray Gold
Release details
Story number:	306
Number of parts:	1
Premiere broadcast:	10 May 2024 11 May 2024
Premiere networks:	BBC One, Disney+
Format:	1x50 minute episode
Doctor Who television stories
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Next →	Boom
Production order
← Previous	Boom
Next →	Rogue

The Devil's Chord was the second episode of Series 14 of Doctor Who. The episode was released simultaneously with its predecessor Space Babies ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 14 (BBC One and Disney+, 2024). to mark the start of the new series.

This episode was the first historical episode of the series, featuring notable artists from the 1960s, such as the Beatles and Cilla Black. Furthermore, it also featured the introduction of the Toymaker's child Maestro, building on the events of The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023). with the first of the Toymaker's legions arriving on Earth.

The episode also featured a mention of "The One Who Waits", also last heard when the Fourteenth Doctor encountered the Toymaker. It also continued Ruby Sunday's ability to summon snow, as established in Space Babies, and revealed it had been gifted to her by the Oldest One the day she was abandoned in The Church on Ruby Road ^[+]Doctor Who Christmas Special 2023 (BBC One and Disney+, 2023)..

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.

Plot

In England, 1925, Henry Arbinger is having a piano lessons with his teacher, Timothy Drake. He asks the man to play something exciting, and is introduced to a melody called "the Devil's chord". The piano lid suddenly drops, but knocking is heard from inside. Maestro emerges from the lid and reveals that Henry's name is short for "Harbinger", calls Drake a genius for unlocking "the lost chord", and consumes the music from his soul. Remarking on their need for more music, Maestro turns to the piano and begins to play a tune.

In the TARDIS, Ruby asks the Doctor to take her to see the Beatles record their very first album. Having changed into 1960s attire, they venture out to Abbey Road on February 11th, 1963 and enter the studio. Taking over a tea cart, they enter one of the recording studios and come across the Beatles in the midst of a recording session, but are confused at their tone-deafness, as well as their somewhat lacklustre choice of song about Paul McCartney's dog. They also peek into separate sessions with Cilla Black, and an entire orchestra, who are also all inexplicably tone deaf.

In the cafeteria, after reading a headline of the Soviet Union threatening Finland, the Doctor theorizes that music's sudden disappearance is leading humanity to a dark future. The Doctor and Ruby approach Paul McCartney and John Lennon respectively to ask about what happened to music. Paul and John reveal that the human race has stopped caring about music since the early 20th century and they plan on finishing the album and retiring to normal everyday lives. The men react angrily when the Doctor and Ruby try to reassure them of music's importance.

The Doctor has a piano lifted up to the studio's roof, while Ruby makes a note of a mysterious dark smog overtaking the skies. The Doctor talks briefly about his granddaughter, who is living nearby with his first incarnation, then implores Ruby to play the piano, and plays a sad song she wrote for a friend. The music attracts the attention of Londoners, who emotionally react. The piano violently shifts, interrupting the playing, and Maestro emerges. The Doctor flees into a cellar, and uses his screwdriver to silence the environment around them as Maestro searches. Maestro reverberates a puddle of water to return the sound. An elderly lady begins playing Clair de Lune, distracting Maestro. The Doctor suspects Maestro to be part of the Toymaker's legions: the Pantheon. Ruby tries reassuring him, but the Doctor fears its powers. He takes Ruby back to 2024, where she finds London has been devastated by war in a nuclear winter.

They are interrupted by Maestro, who summons a piano and transport them elsewhere. They reveal they are the child of the Toymaker and grow stronger by consuming music until they are able to steal the music of the spheres. The Doctor deduces that Maestro could be banished by a different combination of notes, but Maestro reveals they can drain anything that makes a sound. They start playing the piano, which affects the TARDIS. Panicked that Maestro could drain the power of the TARDIS, the Doctor immediately takes Ruby back to 1963, escaping Maestro's control. He then recalibrates the TARDIS, but it makes a mysterious groaning sound.

Returning to Abbey Road Studios, he plugs the sonic into the control booth and uses John Lennon’s guitar to find the Notes of Banishment. Maestro uses physical music notes to kidnap Ruby, disables the sonic, and threatens to consume her music. Ruby begins singing "Carol of the Bells", which confuses Maestro due to its power from deep within her soul and Maestro states that this music was present on the night of her birth, saying that this power is that of The Oldest One. The Doctor uncovers the "Mrs Mills Piano", which he uses to fight Maestro. They engage in a music battle, the Doctor on piano, Maestro on violin. Ruby joins the Doctor on piano, and Maestro breaks their violin. He discovers the Notes of Banishment, but plays a bum note, allowing Maestro to regain full power, flings the piano down the hallway, and traps the Doctor and Ruby in instruments. Lennon and McCartney come across the piano and play the final note, finally defeating Maestro, who before disappearing, remarks to the Doctor that "the One Who Waits is almost here."

With music returned to the world, the Doctor and Ruby celebrate on the roof of EMI Studios. Ruby remarks positively but the Doctor halts her, warning her that there is always a twist at the end. He winks and proceeds to lead a musical dance number, "Twist at the End", with Ruby, the Beatles and Cilla Black throughout the studio. Henry Arbinger watches on as they do. Once complete, he and Ruby proceed back to the TARDIS, dancing along Abbey Road, which reacts to their steps as if a keyboard. Once in the TARDIS, it gives a thrum and a slam of its doors.

Cast

• The Doctor - Ncuti Gatwa
• Ruby Sunday - Millie Gibson
• Maestro - Jinkx Monsoon
• Timothy Drake - Jeremy Limb
• Henry Arbinger - 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
• Vinny - Simon Jason-Smith
• Elderly Woman - Laura June Hudson
• Himself - Murray Gold
• Herself - Shirley Ballas
• Himself - Johannes Radebe

Uncredited cast

• The Toymaker - Neil Patrick Harris (archive audio)

Crew

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter with Joel Collins and Phil Collinson

Series Producer   Vicki Delow

Written by Russell T Davies	Produced by Chris May	Directed by Ben Chessell	Director of Photography Jamie Cairney BSC	Production Designer Phil Sims	Visual Effects Windmill Lane
Make-up Designer Claire Williams	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG/CSA	Hairdresser Stuart Cheadle	Music Murray Gold	Costume Designer Pam Downe	Edited by Chris Roebuck BFE	Special Effects Real SFX
Original theme music by Ron Grainer  •  Title sequence by Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation  Music conducted by Alastair King  •  Music performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

General production staff Executive Producer for the BBC - Rebecca Ferguson Production Executive - Steffan Morris Co-producer - Ellen Marsh Line Producer - Mark Devlin Production Manager - Adrian Devane Supervising Location Manager - Iwan Roberts Location Manager - Baljinder Sidhu Assistant Location Manager - Alex Moore Location Assistant - Robyn Selby Unit Manager - Kyle Yates Production Co-ordinator - Sandra Cosfeld Assistant Production Co-ordinator - Liam Hobbs Production Secretaries - Florence Trott, Chris Harkus Production Office Runners - Danilo Van-Der Nguyen, Lisa Elena Williams 1st Assistant Accountant - Greg Robinson Script department Script Editor - Scott Handcock Assistant Script Editor - Rasheed Bello Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Christopher J. Thomas 2nd Assistant Director - Lauren Pate 3rd Assistant Director - Jennifer Day Floor Runners - Jac Lewis, Devante Fleming, Emmy Williams Script Supervisor - Nicki Coles Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Camera Trainees - Kudzai Dzokamushure, Chai Lee Tan Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Steve Rees Key Grip - Bobby Williams Grip - Ken Hodgson Clapper Loaders - Sarah Macleod, Evangeline Davies Gaffer - Pete Chester Rigging Gaffer - Chris Kiley Best Boy - Sion Davies Electricians - Andy Green, Joe Jennings, Jon Down	Art department Supervising Art Director - Robyn Paiba Art Directors - Jon Horsham, Kartik Kundan Nagar Assistant Art Director - Eleri Lloyd Art Department Assistant - Ilee Khezrzadeh Art Department Co-ordinator - Jason Davies-Redgrave Production Buyer - Helen O'Leary Assistant Buyer - Taymar Lee Petty Cash Buyer - Charlie Shelley Set Decorator - Adrian Anscombe Set Dresser - Vicki Male Action Props Buyer - Tara Lily Johnston Storyboard Artist - Michael Collins Concept Artist - Nandor Moldovan Graphic Designer - Stephen Fielding Standby Props - Phill Bull, Jonathan Barclay Standby Carpenter - Lee Hosken Prop Hands - Declan Petryna, Atiff Tahir, John Thomas, Ingo Hans, Joseph Craig, Jason White, Matt Shrimpton Standby Art Director - Ifan Lewis Lewis Rigging - Shadow Rigging Standby Rigger - Nigel Owen Standby Painter - Jessie Thomas Painter - Justin Abraham Storeman - Charlie Malik Prop Master - Nick Thomas Props Chargehand - Stuart Rankmore Construction Manager - Rhys Griffiths Construction Coordinator - Ffion Roberts Plasterers - Cellan Roberts, Drew Abraham Practical Electrician - Phillip Jones Scenic Artists - Gary Nyhan, Heidi Broad, Jessica Steel Draughtsperson - David Merryweather Carpenters - Christopher Hawksworth, David Martynski, Dean Page, Gareth Jones, Harriet Jones, Huw Morgan, Jason Thomas, Jonathan Tylke, Mark Borde, Patrick Watts, Richard Griffiths, Sam Burridge Costume department Costume Supervisor - Laura Baker Assistant Costume Designer - Raïssa Hans	Make-up and prosthetics Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Derek Lea Stunt Performers - Paul Joseph, Jessica Barfoot, Rachel Holifield, Lucy Fowl, Stuart Boother, Christina Petrou Choreographer - Jack Murphy Casting Casting Associate - Becky Rossmaur Casting Assistant - Kristian Wall General post-production staff Post-production Producer - Ceres Doyle Post-production Supervisor - Liv Duffin Post-production Co-ordinator - Lauren Pate On-line Editor - Christine Kelly Assistant On-line Editor - Luke Stanbury Special and visual effects Additional VFX - BBC Wales Graphics VFX Producer - Will Cohen VFX Editor - Matt Nathan VFX Co-ordinators - Siân Reynish, Livvy Edwards VFX Assistant - Sarah-Hoor Aboubakar Colourist - Gareth Spensley Sound Sound Recordist - Alex Thompson Re-recording Mixer - Paul McFadden Audio Post-production - Bang Post Production

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

Individuals

• Charlie Shelley, Stephen Fielding, Henry Arbinger, Robert Owens, David Hangley are Timothy Drake's students
• Ruby uses the TARDIS jukebox for the first time.
• Ruby's mother used to have a girlfriend called Claire who was into music and favoured the Beatles. Ruby loved Claire too when she was ten years old.
• The Doctor pretends that he is sent by Mister Epstein.
• Ruby confirms she was born in 2004.
• Ruby wrote a song on a piano to help a friend called Trudy after a girl had broken Trudy's heart.
• Maestro is the child of the Toymaker.
• The Doctor can speak Turkish. (He says "Hadi ama" which translates to "Come On" in English.)
• The existence of the mysterious group known as "The Pantheon" is confirmed. Sarah Jane Smith had previously faced the "Pantheon of Discord".
• The Doctor claims to have met Mrs Mills and had some adventures.

Art

• Ludwig van Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata when he first discovered he was going deaf
• The Devil's Chord was banned by the Church in medieval times
• Ruby listened to Revolver and the White Album.
• Abbey Road Studios was called the EMI Recording Studios in 1963.
• The Doctor mentiones Aeolian tones
• Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady was statuesque, according to the tea lady
• Ruby performed One More Sleep in the King's Arms in December 2023.
• Ruby listened to Beyoncé, Sam Fender, Strictly and tap-dancing and raves.
• Carla sings Danny Boy at Christmas
• Penny Lane, Lady Madonna were played on Mrs Mills piano.
• Maestro dances to Danse Macabre when they trap Ruby and the Doctor in instruments.

Maestro's world

• In a timeline, created by Maestro, the Russian Missile Crisis takes place, as Khruschev threatens Finland.
• The front page of the Daily Mirror also had an article "Tyranny of the toddler" by Alexander Jackson about a trial over Bastian Phelps.
• Both Ruby and the Doctor are upset that there are no more love songs in the world.
• In order to banish Maestro from N-Space the Doctor needs to find the Notes of Banishment.

Notes

• Maestro briefly plays the theme song of "Doctor Who" on the piano and it is briefly heard on the Doctor's jukebox. The Twelfth Doctor could play the song on his guitar (TV: The Magician's Apprentice ^[+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One|BBC One]], 2015).)
• Maestro and the Doctor both break the fourth wall in this episode, with the former doing so in the cold open before they begin playing the aforementioned Doctor Who theme song, directly addressing the audience and seemingly performing the piano of the non-diegetic music itself. Later the Doctor comments on the music being used by Maestro to kidnap Ruby, stating he thought it was non-diegetic, which is music that takes place outside the fictional universe of the work in question and is only audible to the audience.
• Maestro later also plays the Saxon theme song to control the TARDIS' Cloister Bell and the TARDIS lights.
• Ruby mentions that her family owned "Revolver" and "The White Album" when she was ten years old.
• 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 Road Studios indeed was not yet named as the Doctor states.
• The reason why no actual songs of the Beatles were used in this episode is because it was simply too expensive.
• Cilla Black was a British singer/entertainer/TV presenter who was a friend of the Beatles and sometimes sang together. The Beatles wrote the song "Love of the Loved" for Cilla.
• The old woman plays the song "Clair 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 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".
• Maestro dances to Danse Macabre when they trap Ruby and the Doctor in instruments.
• The ending sequence of the Doctor and Ruby dancing on the streets of Abbey Road serves as a double homage: the first is to the famous piano dance from Big (which Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson acknowledge in this episode's Unleashed), and the other is the film Singin' in the Rain.
  • The fact that the two dance in the rain was something of an accident: the scene had been reserved for the end of the day during an outdoor shoot with the intention of it taking place during sunset. When a rainstorm muddled these plans, the production team decided to have the two characters keep their umbrellas from earlier in the song, providing a judicious means for the two to be holding umbrellas.

Comparison between BBC and Disney+ versions

To be added...

Myths

• Maestro was to be revealed as an incarnation of the Master. This was proven false. Instead, they are a child of the Toymaker.

Filming locations

To be added...

Ratings

• BBC UK ratings: 3.91 million

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.

Production errors

to be added

Continuity

• The Doctor jokes people he travels with always want to go to "the Titanic", "Mars" or "Bethlehem". The Doctor previously visited the Titanic, as implied in TV: Rose ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., and Mars, as shown in TV: The Waters of Mars ^[+]Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, Doctor Who Autumn Special 2009 (BBC One, 2009).. He once recounted a tale to Susan, and her son Alex Campbell, of how Leonardo da Vinci begged to visit Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ during AUDIO: Relative Dimensions. The Tenth Doctor had previously implied that he was present in Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus, as shown in TV: Voyage of the Damned ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007 (BBC One, 2007)..
• The Doctor and Ruby use the TARDIS wardrobe, a feature the Doctor used in TV: The Unquiet Dead ^[+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005). and The Christmas Invasion ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas special (BBC One, 2005)..
• 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, as depicted in GAME: City of the Daleks.
• Ruby claims that the 21st century can't have been changed as she herself had not changed only for the Doctor to prove her wrong. Martha Jones once had a similar debate with the Tenth Doctor in TV: The Shakespeare Code ^[+]Gareth Roberts, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)..
• The Doctor taking Ruby back to her time 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 with the Fourth Doctor doing a similar thing with Sarah Jane Smith in 1980 in order to prove to her that her world will end in 1911 unless they defeat Sutekh in TV: Pyramids of Mars ^[+]Stephen Harris, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1975)..
• The Fifteenth Doctor confirms he had children and that he had a granddaughter called Susan, as first seen in TV: An Unearthly Child ^[+]Anthony Coburn, adapted from The Pilot Episode (Anthony Coburn), Doctor Who season 1 (BBC tv, 1963)..
• The Doctor mentions he and Susan lived on Totter's Lane in Shoreditch in the year 1963, shown in (TV: An Unearthly Child ^[+]Anthony Coburn, adapted from The Pilot Episode (Anthony Coburn), Doctor Who season 1 (BBC tv, 1963)..
• The Doctor is unaware of what became of Susan, a fate established in TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth and AUDIO: The Shoreditch Intervention. He believes she may have been killed in a cellular explosion when the other Time Lords were murdered, as seen in TV: Spyfall ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020)..
• The Doctor mentions he saw Ruby perform earlier in December 2023 at King's Arms. She opened with the song "One More Sleep", as displayed in TV: The Church on Ruby Road ^[+]Doctor Who Christmas Special 2023 (BBC One and Disney+, 2023)..
• The Doctor theorises that Maestro is one of the Pantheon of Discord, first mentioned in TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith ^[+]Gareth Roberts, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 3 (BBC One, 2009)., based on them having the Toymaker's signature giggle palindrome. Maestro later confirms they are the Toymaker's child, last seen in TV: The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023)..
• The Doctor recalls his catch battle against the Toymaker and how the conflict "tore [his] soul in half" through a bi-generation during the events of TV: The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023)..
• Maestro remarks that "The One Who Waits" is coming. The Toymaker previously mentioned this entity in TV: The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023)..
• After the Maestro is defeated, their powers still linger in 1963 for a while, evidenced in Penny Lane functioning like a keyboard. There was a similar after effect present when the Toymaker was defeated during the events of TV: The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023)..
• Maestro plans to steal the Music of the Spheres; the music created by the universe's motion, recalling the name given in the titular TV: Music of the Spheres.
• A rooftop billboard can be seen that advertises Chris Waites and the Carrollers. This band was previously mentioned by Susan in conversation with Ian Chesterton, having had the same singer as John Smith and the Common Men, mentioned in TV: An Unearthly Child ^[+]Anthony Coburn, adapted from The Pilot Episode (Anthony Coburn), Doctor Who season 1 (BBC tv, 1963)..
• Maestro arrives on Earth in 1925, the same year that her father the Toymaker settled in Soho, seen in TV: The Giggle ^[+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023)..

Home media releases

DVD and Blu-Ray

This story was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United Kingdom on 12 August 2024, along with the rest of Series 14. The Bluray release is encoded to Region B, atypical of BBC releases which usually do not have any kind of region encoding on the disc.

Uk DVD cover

Digital releases

This story is available on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom, in Ultra High-Def (4K). It is also available on Disney+ in other territories.