What’s new and different about the RTD2 approach? What does a post-Giggle Doctor Who look like? When is a chord not a chord? What does a ‘twist at the end’ really mean? How is 15’s first run taking shape as a season?
TIMECODES:
00:00:00 Cartoon episode + Maestro + opening theme
00:05:03 Direction + sustained sequences
00:09:14 The lost chord
00:12:34 Wonky premise + music battle
00:22:14 Maestro villainy + 15 characterisation
00:26:40 Susan (Foreman) + Time Lord genocide ellision
00:31:24 Six month gap
00:36:17 ‘Saxon theme’ + subtitles
00:39:47 There’s Always A Twist At The End
00:53:43 The ending
00:55:21 Carol of the Bells + secret song + Pantheon
00:59:55 Tone of the episode + 1960s
01:02:15 Maestro’s music
01:04:37 RTD comments on The Devil’s Chord
01:11:11 ‘Media literacy’
01:22:58 RTD2 season 1 arcs
SOURCES
1.
~4m6s
Murray Gold suggesting new versions of the theme tune
Gold, Murray, and Russell T Davies. “Gold Faithful.” Interview with Benjamin Cook. Doctor Who Magazine, vol. 590, 27 April 2023, pp. 24-25.
2.
~13m32s
Marketed as a Beatles episode
“Doctor Who meets The Beatles.” BBC [Doctor Who], 7 May 2024, https://www.bbc.com/articles/c04lmggndeno
“Doctor Who – Golda Rosheuvel jumps aboard the TARDIS as episode titles are revealed.” BBC Media Centre, 31 March 2024, https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/doctor-who-golda-rosheuvel-episode-titles
3.
~30m22s
Patrick Ness on Weeping Angels in Class series 2
Ness, Patrick. Liner notes. Class – Original Television Soundtrack. Silva Screen Records, 7 Dec. 2018. CD.
4.
~31m32s
Unleashed showing the episode being labelled as 2/8 (episode two)
“Doctor Who Unleashed: The Devil’s Chord.” Doctor Who Unleashed, BBC iPlayer, 11 May 2024, ~4m21s, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001z8db
5.
~47m38s
Murray Gold talking about composing the song
Gold, Murray. “Behind the Scenes | The Devil’s Chord | Doctor Who.” YouTube, uploaded by Doctor Who, 12 May 2024, ~13m30s, https://youtu.be/XbxvewrxaqQ
6.
~52m23s
The Eleventh Hour not being the first episode Matt Smith filmed
Doctor Who: The Complete History #65. Stories 203-205: The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks. Panini UK, 9 Aug. 2017, pp. 33-34.
7.
~1h4m44s
RTD comments on The Devil’s Chord
Davies, Russell T. “Preview: The Devil’s Chord.” Doctor Who Magazine, vol. 603, 25 April 2024, pp. 16-17.
8.
~1h10m25s
Maestro not being written for performer
Davies, Russell T. “Devil in Her Heart.”” Jinkx Monsoon interview with Benjamin Cook. Doctor Who Magazine, vol. 603, 25 April 2024, p. 26.
9.
~1h25m7s
Official socials
[@bbcdoctorwho]. “A Twist at the end…? 🤫 #DoctorWho” Twitter, 20 May 2024, https://x.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1792208593057431974
10.
~1h36m38s
Series 11 episode order shift
“The Making of Series 11” Doctor Who Magazine, vol. 539 (deluxe edition), 30 May 2019, p. 16, 18, 20.
Who Cares? 
idk i think you guys were being very blasé and dismissive in your criticism of “the twist at the end”, and … tbh are being overtly negative in general this season? like… again I’m here because I was looking forward to dissection for a new season, I like how detailed you guys go… but there’s a difference between trying to dissect something to understand it and just saying “this sucks, this was bad, this was bad” etc. It’s giving cinema sins energy at this point. Like there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in that number that you guys aren’t accounting for, and when you *do* acknowledged it you are just dismissing it because you don’t like the song / the episode (and also like… just because you don’t like a song, it doesn’t mean the song is bad? it’s a fun song, and it’s a great number with neat references).
The lyrics are talking about moments in music (guys from liverpool (beatles), stayin’ alive, etc), but they’re also talking about things that are “musical” (the experience of watching a game and your team doesn’t get “penalties” after a faults). And the dark aspect of it is likely referencing what’s coming for the season, but it’s also likely a reference to The Toymaker, who cursed someone one time to dance forever in the original serial.. And also, yes, harbinger showing up. “Oh the harbinger showing up isn’t a twist!” like… it is? it’s huge that “the devil” in this episode is supposed to be maestro, but then harbinger is shown hanging out at the end After maestro is defeated. Like… that’s just cool, and it’s literally a twist. It’s a classic horror twist.
And the other thing is that like… if looking forward to clues to what’s coming or reference to the past ,while watching doctor who, makes you go “ugh, who cares” well, idk that’s a bit strange to me, as an attitude, this is what most dw fans I know most get high off, including myself. Why else talk about a show with 60 years of history with other uber-fans if you can’t enjoy or evaluate the text beyond “just what it is doing” for that particular week of TV? And like dude… what’s wrong with a song that gains more on reprise? We know now as well that stuff like “Lindy Hop” was a reference to . Like, that’s neat! that’s cool! it’s meta. It’s exciting and It makes rewatching this episode and the song fun. I don’t know why you guys are so opposed to the larger arc building, and even actually implying that foreshadowing is bad because somehow it is “taking away” from the episode.
And finally on the argument that “that’s not a twist” yes… it is? episodes of doctor who don’t typically end with a musical number, the doctor is talking about “what’s expected” of his adventures in the line before, therefore following this with that *does* constitute a “twist” (on your expectations of what a doctor who should end with (and on the claim that “doctor who stories don’t tend to have twists” well… yeah, most doctor who adventures do tend to have twists, not just climaxes, it’s just that in new who they were more towards the 2/3, and in classic who they were the cliffhangers at the end of each serial, but the fake-out / monster reveal “twist” is the most classic of classic doctor who things).
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OK, and again the “media literacy” section is just the same thing… “who cares if these notes were a reference to the trickster? it’s not that cool, it doesn’t mean anything!” idk man, what’s cooler than intertextuality? do we really need to explain why intertextuality is cool or why author’s intent isn’t the be-end to a piece of art?
just like you guys go “it’s very strange to me people would care about this”, it’s very strange to me that you guys *wouldn’t* care about this. of course It’s fun that the toymaker giggle *could* be referenced in the music? because it means the “horror finale” of the song it’s being communicated not just by the harbinger, but also by the song… (and it’s fun that the trickster *could* potentially appear or be referenced at some point. “Oh, people just want to say they know what the trickster is and have that connection” like… yeah? don’t you guys? why else are you just doing these videos if not to find new connections?)
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