Line # Recap/DoctorWhoS40E2TheDevilsChord


1	[[header:[[center:[-''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWho recap index]]\
2	'''Fifteenth Doctor Era'''\
3	'''Series 14:''' [[Recap/DoctorWho2023CSTheChurchOnRubyRoad CS]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E1SpaceBabies 1]] \| '''2''' \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E3Boom 3]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E473Yards 4]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E5DotAndBubble 5]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E6Rogue 6]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E7TheLegendOfRubySunday 7]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E8EmpireOfDeath 8]]\
4	'''[[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheStarBeast <<< 60th Anniversary Specials]]''']]-]]]
5
6	!The Devil's Chord
7
8	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_who_with_the_beatles.jpeg]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:Not Pictured: The [[LargeHam Largest Ham in the Cosmos]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the teaser image for this episode:]]\
11	https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_who_teaser__the_devils_chord.jpg\
12	]][[/labelnote]]
13
14	->Written by Creator/RussellTDavies\
15	Directed by Ben Chessell\
16	'''Air date:''' 11 May 2024
17
18	JustForFun/TheOneWith Music/TheBeatles, a [[DancePartyEnding twist at the end,]] and with a ham so '''[[LargeHam astronomically large]]''' that they make the Daleks, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E2ParadiseTowers Kroagnon]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern the Wire]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon Soldeed]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E2Mindwarp King Yrcanos]], [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride the Empress of the Racnoss]], and even the Captain from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E2ThePiratePlanet The Pirate Planet]]" '''combined''' look '''''[[TheStoic stoic]]'''''.
19
20	----
21
22	It's 1925, and a man named Timothy Drake is teaching piano to a boy named Henry. The boy isn't terribly engaged in the lesson, so Timothy decides to teach him about tritones, or [[TitleDrop "The Devil's Chord"]], so called because the church used to ban it in the belief that it could let the Devil into the room. As Timothy gets caught up in playing, the lid of the grand piano suddenly crashes shut.
23
24	Timothy is relieved that no-one was hurt, but then alarmed to hear knocking coming from ''inside'' the piano. Suspecting someone of playing a trick, he lifts the lid, only for the largest ham in the show's history to pop out.
25
26	'''''"[[LargeHam TA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!]]"'''''
27
28	The person instantly appears sitting at the piano, and Timothy warns Henry to get away from him. [[NonHumanNonBinary "It's them"]], the person insists, but Timothy is confused by this. The person greets Henry affectionately, and Timothy wonders how they know each other. Henry claims the person is his Daddy and asks Timothy to check his name. Timothy sees that Henry's full name is Henry Arbinger, and before his eyes the words change to form the word Harbinger.
29
30	The person dismisses Harbinger, and the boy vanishes, leaving behind an empty pile of clothes. They then introduce themselves as Maestro, and pronounce that [[IAmTheNoun they ''are'' music.]] They tell Timothy that he has so many unwritten songs in his heart, but that he never got the chance to let the world hear them. Maestro promises to help him release them, and Timothy agrees to this. Maestro then pulls the songs (in the form of musical bars and notes) out of Timothy and eats them, which kills Timothy.
31
32	Maestro then looks directly into the camera, and starts to play a very familiar theme on the piano...
33
34	In the TARDIS, Ruby finishes listening to the end of a very familiar theme on the jukebox. She then suggests that the Doctor take her to 1963 to listen to The Beatles record their first album. The Doctor is overjoyed; most people want to go to the Titanic or Bethlehem, but this is a new one on him. Ruby suggests they change their clothes to blend in, and in an unusual turn for the Doctor, he agrees to not [[ChangedMyJumper walk around in the past wearing obviously anachronistic clothing.]]
35
36	Now dolled up for the swinging 60's, Ruby and the Doctor cross the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing and head to Abbey Road studios, or as the Doctor correctly points out, EMI Recording Studios, as it was at the time. The pair convince a tea lady to let them cover her shift, and use the tea trolley as an excuse to enter the recording studio, where George Martin is getting the Beatles ready to record. The band shares some good natured banter, before starting to play. Ruby and the Doctor are giddy with excitement, as they about to hear history being made.
37
38	You remember the famous Beatles song about Fred the dog? No? Well, neither do Ruby or the Doctor. The "song" that the Fab Four play is absolutely awful - rambling, tuneless with lyrics that struggle to fit the meter or rhyme. The Doctor and Ruby's faces fall in disbelief. They go to watch Cilla Black in another studio, and her performance is just as bad, if not worse. Finally, they visit Studio 1, where an orchestra plays a rendition of "Three Blind Mice" that would embarass an Elementary School band.
39
40	In the canteen, the Doctor notes how dull everything is. No one is humming, whistling, or even tapping their fingers. A newspaper reports of Russia threatening to invade Finland, something that never happened in the "correct" timeline. The Doctor charges Ruby with questioning John Lennon to find out what happened to cause the change, while he plans to interview Paul [=McCartney=] , but not before getting a cup of tea from a very familiar looking tea lady...
41
42	John Lennon is tired of making music, and longs to go home and lead a quiet life with a wife of his own, yet he still wakes up crying and doesn't know why. [=McCartney=] claims that his work is embarrassing but that he needs the money. He states that there used to be real music, before everyone "started seeing sense" around the 20's or 30's. Still, [=McCartney=] talks about dreaming of music, and sings a short phrase, at which point time seems to slow down around Ruby and the Doctor.
43
44	The face of Maestro starts to appear in every reflective surface, including Lennon's glasses. The Doctor sees them in a falling teaspoon, only for the reflection to shriek at him, before everything returns to normal. The Beatles suddenly become hostile to the questioning and storm off.
45
46	The Doctor arranges for an upright piano to be lifted onto the roof of the studio. Then he asks Ruby to play something, figuring that she is probably the only human left with any music left in them. Ruby protests that she is not that good, but the Doctor talks about seeing her play at a Christmas show, one that she had no idea he had attended. Ruby starts to play a song she wrote for a heartbroken girlfriend, and people in the nearby buildings open their windows to start listening, enraptured and emotionally overcome by hearing real music for the first time in forever.
47
48	Suddenly the piano jolts away from Ruby as if struck by a heavy object. The listeners become frustrated and slam their windows shut, but the old lady who had been listening seems to have been inspired by it.
49
50	To Ruby and the Doctor's surprise, the lid of the piano opens, and a pair of hands start to emerge. Then a very familiar giggle is heard, and the Doctor immediately grabs Ruby and runs for it as Maestro emerges from the piano.
51
52	The Doctor runs to hide in a basement, but Ruby asks why he isn't standing his ground. The Doctor is terrified and flat out states that he cannot fight the thing chasing them. The pair hide in the basement as Maestro descends from the roof, hunting down the music they heard. The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to silence all sound in the area, but Maestro overpowers it by vibrating their tuning fork in a puddle. As Maestro closes in on them, the old lady decides to play her piano. Maestro hears this and teleports into her room through the piano, before advancing on her and killing her.
53
54	The Doctor and Ruby emerge from the basement, and the Doctor concludes that Maestro is related to the Toymaker. He admits that defeating the Toymaker took everything he had and literally broke his soul in half, something he does not believe he can survive a second time.
55
56	Ruby is still optimistic about their chances; after all, her world in 2024 is fine, so this means Maestro can't have won, right?
57
58	The Doctor's demeanour becomes grim, and he takes Ruby back to the TARDIS, before travelling back to 2024. Ruby steps outside to see London in ruins, with no signs of life anywhere. The Doctor explains that without music, the human race had no outlet for their most powerful emotions, which boiled over into anger, violence and then all-out nuclear war. Ruby asks where her mum is, but the Doctor's silence says enough. He explains that this is now the fate of the future unless Maestro is stopped, and that Ruby only persists despite her timeline being destroyed thanks to the effects of travelling with the Doctor.
59
60	Before they can re-enter the TARDIS, a familiar face shouts "Boo!" and they are suddenly in an empty space with only Maestro and a grand piano. Maestro thanks the Doctor for banishing the Toymaker, as he was apparently [[AbusiveParents "very bad"]] to them. Maestro reveals that "a genius" summoned them by finding the lost chord, and the Doctor realises that this means there is another chord which will banish them. Maestro revels in the sound of nuclear winter howling in the ruins of Earth, and plans to inflict the same fate on the rest of the universe, so that they are the only music in existence. The Doctor tries to bind Maestro to rules like the Toymaker, but Maestro has no such limitations. Maestro points out they can control anything that vibrates to make sound, which includes the TARDIS. Ruby and the Doctor enter the TARDIS, which is going haywire, and the Doctor has to tear open the console to return to 1963, something he apologise to the old girl for.
61
62	Upon exiting the TARDIS in 1963, the police box makes a strange noise, which the Doctor notices. The Doctor and Ruby try to use the sonic screwdriver and John Lennon's guitar to find the secret chord needed to banish Maestro, but then Ruby notices that [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn she can hear the episode's soundtrack in the studio with her.]] Musical notation ensnares Ruby and drags her into Studio 1. The Doctor grabs the sonic screwdriver and chases after her.
63
64	Inside Studio 1, Ruby is suspended in midair by musical notation, and Maestro is waiting. The Doctor tries to use the sonic screwdrwiver on them, but they sing a loud note which frazzles it. Maestro prepares to extract the music in Ruby's heart, but then she starts singing an eerie, ethereal tune. Maestro states that there is a "hidden song" inside her, and uses their tuning fork to reveal it.
65
66	The song is "Carol of the Bells", the same song that was playing on the day Ruby was left outside the church on Ruby Road. Maestro is dumbstruck - how can this song have so much power? They conclude that "the Oldest One" must have been there that night, but doesn't know how that is even possible. Maestro releases Ruby, declaring that something is "very wrong" with her.
67
68	The Doctor jumps on the famous Studio 1 piano, deciding that its musical legacy gives it power, and challenges Maestro to a music battle. Maestro pulls a violin from thin air, and the two play furiously against each other. Ruby joins in on the piano and together they are able to overpower Maestro, shattering their violin. Frustrated, Maestro dares the Doctor to play the banishment chord and finish it. The Doctor begins to play, with each correct note appearing as a glass musical note above the piano, while Maestro grows weaker and weaker. The Doctor only has one more note to play to banish Maestro for good. He plays the last note... and gets it wrong.
69
70	Maestro stands up triumphantly, using their power to send the piano rolling into the corridor. They then ensnare Ruby and the Doctor in musical notation, trapping the former in a double bass and the latter in a timpani drum. Maestro stands victorious...
71
72	...and then John Lennon finds the piano in the corridor. He looks at the glass notes hovering above and begins to work out how to finish it. [=McCartney=] joins him, and together they play the correct chord to banish Maestro. Maestro screams as the piano rolls back into the room and ensnares them with musical notation, dragging them inside it. The Doctor and Ruby are released, but as Maestro is pulled inside the piano, they shout out [[SequelHook "The One Who Waits is almost here!"]] before vanishing.
73
74	On the roof of the studio, music can be heard flooding back into the world. People are singing and playing music all over London, and Ruby is overjoyed. But, the Doctor warns her, there's always a twist at the end...
75
76	Cue DancePartyEnding as the Doctor sings "There's Always a Twist at the End" while everyone in the studio performs and elaborate song and dance number. [[NotQuiteDead Henry Arbinger is watching though,]] and disappears without the Doctor even knowing of his existence...
77
78	Right after everyone's finished with that long, final note, the Doctor and Ruby catch their breath and start heading back to the TARDIS, but not before having a bit of fun as the last bit of Maestro's magic allows the two to prance and skip on the Abbey Road crosswalk as it briefly comes to life with music. With the two back inside the TARDIS, the doors open for one final flourish. Cue credits!
79
80	----
81	!!Tropes featured in ''The Devil's Chord'' include:
82	* The60s: The episode takes place in 1963. Enforced by 60s pop idols The Beatles and Cilla Black featuring in the episode.
83	* AbstractEater: Maestro can eat music, but unique from other examples they can also eat music that goes unplayed, meaning that engineering the death of anyone that can play music still feeds into their power.
84	* AlternateHistory: Due to Maestro's interference in the 1920s, music as a concept has become looked down upon by the 1960s, with Music/PaulMcCartney and by extension the rest of the Beatles only forming for monetary gain. The Doctor also finds a newspaper detailing a threat the USSR has made towards Finland, showing that the politics of this world are being affected by the lack of music as well. This eventually culminates in the Doctor and Ruby returning to 2024 to discover London (and presumably the rest of the world) has become a desolate wasteland, due to a nuclear war breaking out, as without music no one had any healthy outlets for their heartbreak and frustration, ultimately turning to unrestrained violence.
85	* AmbiguousSituation: Susan Foreman's fate has been left unresolved since the revived series began, and up until now it had been presumed by fans she was either deceased or otherwise lost. However in this episode, the Doctor admits for the first time that he himself doesn't know what happened to her. So she could've died in the Time War, or in the Master's genocidal rampage against Gallifrey... or she could still be out there somewhere.
86	* ArtisticLicenceHistory: The episode is set in February 1963 and features Cilla Black - but she hadn't been signed yet at the time (she was signed in September that year) and so shouldn't have been at the EMI Recording Studios. Also, Music/JohnLennon is wearing the round spectacles that would become his iconic accessory later in the Sixties (probably to identify him to the audience). That said, all this may be justified by AlternateHistory being explicitly in play, with the Doctor finding a news article about the USSR issuing a threat towards Finland, something that never happened in "correct" history.
87	* AscendedFridgeHorror: After it was only implied in previous episodes, her fate during and after the Time War left ambiguous, the Doctor explicitly brings up the possibility that Susan was killed in the Master's genocide of the other Time Lords.
88	* AvengingTheVillain: SubvertedTrope. The Toymaker warned the Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheGiggle The Giggle]]" that his legions would arrive in the universe, but Maestro thanks the Doctor for banishing their father.
89	* BadFuture: Maestro's meddling leaves humanity with no outlet for their emotions, causing a HopelessWar that reduces Earth to a wasteland by 2024.
90	* BeehiveHairdo: As part of her '60s ensemble, Ruby opts to wear a wig styled in a beehive.
91	* BeyondTheImpossible: Ruby points out that Maestro shouldn’t even have been able to fit inside an upright piano, let alone have it still work with them inside it, but as a child of the Toymaker, [[RealityWarper the laws of physics mean nothing to them]].
92	* BookEnds: The show opens and concludes with diegetic musical covers of the theme song, and the disappearance and reappearance of Harbinger.
93	* BreakingTheFourthWall: When Ruby is kidnapped by Maestro's musical notation, the Doctor briefly notes that he thought the music he'd been hearing was non-diegetic, suggesting he could hear the soundtrack of the episode itself.
94	* CallBack: As in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]", the Doctor reveals to a companion who wants to escape an otherworldly monster in the past that if they don't defeat the evil, then [[BadFuture the present time will be doomed]].
95	** The Maestro plays [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums the Saxon theme]] on their piano, making the TARDIS's lights flash with the signature four-count beat.
96	* TheCameo:
97	** For the first time in 19 years, Music/MurrayGold appears onscreen as himself, playing the piano during "There's Always A Twist At The End".
98	** Johannes Radebe and Shirley Ballas from ''Series/StrictlyComeDancing'' dance with the Doctor and Ruby during the finale song as well.
99	* CerebusRetcon: When the Doctor "bi-generated" back in "[[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheGiggle The Giggle]]", both of him seemed completely happy, nay overjoyed, with the situation, and neither gave any indication that it was in any way a particularly painful or unpleasant experience. Here we learn that, in fact, it was a horrifying one which involved the Doctor's soul being ''literally torn in half'', and they wouldn't be able to survive it a second time.
100	* ChangedMyJumper: Initially, the Doctor and Ruby are content to just step out into 1963 as is, until Ruby invokes this. After all, if you're going to the '60s, gotta dress the part. The two bounce with glee at the thought.
101	-->'''Ruby:''' Wait, wait, wait! If we're in the '60s... what about my clothes?\
102	''(A {{Beat}} as the Doctor turns back to her)''\
103	'''The Doctor:''' ''Good. Thinking.''
104	* CloseEnoughTimeline: The Doctor defeats Maestro in 1963; it's not clear if this undoes everything they've done since 1925, or just gives a new generation of musicians an opportunity to fix it.
105	* ContinuityNod:
106	** Two for "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild An Unearthly Child]]", the series premiere. Fitting, since it aired in 1963 and the episode's set in 1963:
107	*** Visiting 1963, the Doctor points out that near Shoreditch, his younger self currently lives with his granddaughter, Susan.
108	*** Near the end of the episode, after music is returned to the world but just before the Twist at the End, the camera pans past a billboard advertising Chris Waites and the Carollers, a band mentioned in the very first episode of the show when Ian and Susan are discussing music.
109	** Maestro's piano rendition of the ''Doctor Who'' theme tune plays over the opening credits, just like [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood the Doctor's own electric guitar rendition once did]]. Both of the preceding cold opens mention Beethoven, too.
110	** Maestro mockingly calls the Doctor "[[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor timey]]-[[Characters/DoctorWhoEleventhDoctor wimey]]" when they meet.
111	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Compared to the Toymaker, who wanted everyone to play his games, Maestro wants to be the sole person that plays music. Whereas rules of the game define the Toymaker, Maestro has no qualms about cheating. While the Toymaker kept his first victim alive to torment for decades, Maestro kills theirs within a couple minutes of meeting them. Defeating the Toymaker required only beating him at a game - ''any'' game - whereas Maestro requires a very specfic chord to be banished. And while the Toymaker was explicitly a PoliticallyIncorrectVillain who repeatedly made racist remarks, Maestro is a PoliticallyCorrectVillain who uses they/them pronouns and briefly mocks Timothy Drake for accidentally misgendering them.
112	* CreatorCameo:
113	** The old lady who is [[DeathByCameo killed by Maestro]] while playing the piano is played by June Hudson, a 1970s BBC costume designer who worked on both ''Doctor Who'' and ''Series/BlakesSeven''.
114	** Series composer Murray Gold makes an appearance, according to the credits AsHimself, playing the piano in one shot during the ending musical number.
115	* DancePartyEnding: At the end of the episode, Ruby and the Doctor get involved in an extravagant musical number of "There's Always a Twist at the End" at EMI Recording Studios.
116	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Downplayed, as it’s just confusion rather than intolerance or hatred. Timothy Drake, a man from the 1920’s, instantly pegs Maestro as a man in drag, but when Maestro [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain insists on they/them pronouns]], Timothy reacts with confusion (seemingly not realizing that they/them can be a singular pronoun), something Maestro mocks him for.
117	* DiegeticSwitch: At the end of the cold open, Maestro taps out the first few notes of the ''Doctor Who'' theme, blending into the theme proper, and it ends by leading into a rendition of the theme on the Doctor's jukebox.
118	* DraggedOffToHell: Maestro is sent back from whence they came when the Beatles complete the lost chord that the Doctor began on the studio's piano.
119	* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Doctor tries pointing out to Maestro that their father adamantly stuck to the rules and never cheated. Maestro isn't so constrained.
120	* EvilIsHammy: Maestro is quite possibly one of the hammiest ''Who'' villains ever, and that is saying something. Appropriately enough, they're the child of another such LargeHam, the Toymaker.
121	-->''"BUT IT'S SOOOOOOOO'' '''SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD,''' ''Timothy... you never had the ''LUCK.'' YOU NEVER ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis GOT. THAT. BREAK.]]''"''
122	* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Maestro namedrops the Music/DavidBowie song "Sound and Vision" while [[https://i.imgur.com/dR8SsYI.png posing to replicate its cover art]].
123	* GoodIsNotNice: When Ruby says that Maestro's plan in 1963 won't succeed because she was born in 2004 and there's no apocalypse then, the Doctor takes her back to 2024 and shows her the nuclear wasteland that will exist if they don't defeat Maestro. The entire time, he's solemn and grim in a way this incarnation had never been before in order to emphasize the urgency of defeating the villain. Ruby is quite upset by this and gets his point.
124	* {{Herald}}: Henry Arbinger, also known as the Harbinger.
125	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The four [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]: Music/JohnLennon, Music/PaulMcCartney, Music/GeorgeHarrison and Music/RingoStarr; plus Music/CillaBlack and George Martin. [=McCartney=] and Starr, unusually for ''Doctor Who'' historical celebrity characters, were still alive when the episode was broadcast.
126	* HopeSpot: The Doctor seems to find the lost chord that will banish Maestro, but then they get the last note wrong, which allows Maestro to recover and send the piano out of the room. It takes the combined effort of Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney to finish the chord and send Maestro packing.
127	* HorrifyingTheHorror: Maestro is thoroughly weirded out and declares that something is "wrong" with Ruby upon hearing the rendition of "Carol of the Bells" echoing from her childhood. They're also terrified by the possibility of The One Who Waits returning, further building up the being's status as TheDreaded.
128	* InSpiteOfANail: In a world where people have avoided good music since the 1920s to avoid attracting Maestro, Music/TheBeatles are still signed with EMI, they're just intentionally bad.
129	* ItOnlyWorksOnce:
130	** Invoked by the Doctor. It ''is'' possible to trick and even defeat a god, but any solution you come up with will only work once. This is vividly demonstrated during the climax, where Maestro completely shrugs off and seemingly ''breaks'' (or at least damages) the Sonic Screwdriver after it was previously used to mute all sound in their vicinity.
131	** In a meta-sense, the Doctor discussing how bi-generation was so harrowing that they wouldn't survive going through it again [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall leans on the fourth wall]] to state that it won't be happening again in the foreseeable future.
132	* KickTheDog: Maestro gives an [[ScreamDiscretionShot unspecified]] [[SoundOnlyDeath nasty fate]] to an elderly woman who heard Ruby's piano playing, who then sat down at her own piano in her apartment to play some music (presumably something she remembered from before Maestro arrived in the 1920s and started taking music away).
133	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: After eating Timothy Drake's inner music, Maestro glares right at the viewer, before [[DiegeticSwitch tapping out the beginning of the show's theme]]. They also WinkDing at the camera before closing the curtains into the flat of the old woman they're about to do something horrible to.
134	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: As the Doctor and Ruby rush to try and stop Maestro, typical energetic music is playing… then Ruby notes that ''she'' can hear the music as well.
135	* LivingProp: Outside of the musical number, neither Ringo or George get any dialogue among the Beatles.
136	* MagicAIsMagicA: Once he learns that Maestro was summoned by playing the Lost Chord, the Doctor accurately deduces that there must be a chord that banishes them. The problem with that, of course, [[OneInAMillionChance is figuring out which one out of countless note combinations]].
137	* MickeyMousing: When Ruby and the Doctor walk back to the TARDIS, the zebra crossing on Abbey Road plays musical notes as they walk, in somewhat of a nod to the piano scene from ''Film/{{Big}}''.
138	* MirrorCharacter: The Doctor ruminates on Susan Foreman, his long-lost granddaughter who may have died in either the Time War or the Master's genocide of the Time Lords. He doesn't know her fate-- nor, for that matter, the existence of Harbinger, the Toymaker's grandson.
139	* MusicalWorldHypothesis: Everybody bursts into song at the end. Presumably as a side effect of Maestro being defeated and music coming back to the world.
140	* MythologyGag: After leaving the Earth silent and humanity-less, Maestro declares their next goal will be to destroy the [[Recap/DoctorWho2008PSMusicOfTheSpheres Music of the Spheres]], leaving themselves as the only composer of music in the universe.
141	* NearVillainVictory: The Doctor flubs the ending to the lost chord that would seal away Maestro, and both he and Ruby get imprisoned in nearby instruments with little effort on Maestro's part. Only the intervention of the Beatles on the piano saves the day and gets Maestro DraggedOffToHell.
142	* NextSundayAD: Modern day for Ruby is said to be June or July 2024, when the episode came out in May.
143	* NonHumanNonBinary: Maestro is a cosmic entity and child of the Toymaker who uses they/them pronouns.
144	* OhCrap: Upon hearing Maestro echo an [[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheGiggle all-too-familiar giggle]], the Doctor's face drains as he takes Ruby and bolts away, knowing that he doesn’t stand a chance against them.
145	* OmnicidalManiac: Maestro's goal after wiping out all life on Earth is to take their act on the road, and wipe out all life everywhere, becoming the ultimate solo act.
146	* OutOfGenreExperience: When Russell T. Davies said that this episode would be more fantastical than anything the show had ever attempted before, he certainly meant it. Maestro's powers are probably the closest thing to actual magic yet seen on the show (even more so than their father, the Toymaker, or some of the villains who fought the Seventh Doctor), with no attempt ''whatsoever'' to give a scientific explanation for their reality-warping powers; both Maestro and the Doctor lean on or outright break the fourth wall on multiple occasions; and the whole thing culminates in a DancePartyEnding.
147	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Snippets of "Three Blind Mice", Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Debussy's "Clair de Lune", "Carol of the Bells", "{{Reveille}}" and "Largo al factotum" from ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville'' are heard throughout.
148	* RippleEffectProofMemory: Both Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney know that something is wrong with music: Lennon wakes up crying and doesn't know why, while [=McCartney=] dreams of distant songs. Unfortunately, Maestro's presence causes them to angrily deny it when questioned about it.
149	* SequelHook:
150	** We get more hints that something weird is going on with Ruby's birth, as the rendition of "Carol of the Bells" which was playing on the night she was abandoned at the church is somehow embedded into her soul and powerful enough that Maestro themself is left dumbstruck by it. Maestro attributes this to "the Oldest One", whom they claim must have been there on the day Ruby heard the song, though they can't explain why. As they're banished back to where they came from, Maestro also makes another reference to "the One Who Waits", claiming that they are almost here.
151	** During the DancePartyEnding, Henry Arbinger appears to watch in confusion. This is despite him appearing to only be a construct of Maestro who was destroyed at the start of the episode. This implies that he is much more than he seems, and will return.
152	* ShoutOut: The Beatles singing a bad song about a dog? [[Memes/{{Music}} At least it's not one about how it's ok to leave it in a hot car.]]
153	* SpecialGuest: Creator/JinkxMonsoon, Broadway star and winner of both ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' season 5 and ''Series/RuPaulsDragRaceAllStars'' season 7, portrays Maestro.
154	* SpoofingInTheRain: One of the shots during the song is a tribute to the title song from ''Film/SinginInTheRain''.
155	* StealthPun: The dancers seen in "There's Always a Twist at the End" are, in fact, doing the Twist.
156	* StevenUlyssesPerhero: In the cold open, Maestro asks Timothy Drake for the name of the boy whom he tried to teach the piano to, and then [[EvilLaugh cackles]] when his name, Henry Arbinger, spells out "Harbinger".
157	* StylisticSuck: PlayedForHorror. The Doctor and Ruby travel back to 1963 to hear the Beatles record their first album, only for the Fab Four to play an abysmal, rambling, tuneless song about a dog. Meanwhile, Cilla Black can’t even form coherent phrases, and an orchestra can only play a dreadful version of “Three Blind Mice.” This is when the Doctor realises that something has gone very wrong with the timeline.
158	* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: The Doctor warns Ruby that being around him means "[[PlotTwist there's always a twist at the end]]"-- then winks at the camera, and the episode then ends on a musical number titled "There's Always a Twist at the End". However, the appearance of Henry Arbinger does undermine this somewhat, teasing a possible future villain.
159	* ThemeTuneCameo: The theme tune is played on the TARDIS jukebox at the beginning of the episode, Maestro also plays part of it a few times.
160	* TimeSkip: The preceding episode, "Space Babies", had the Doctor returning Ruby home around Christmas, but here she cites her "present day" as being in June 2024 or so, suggesting that she's been traveling with the Doctor for around six months.
161	* TwistEnding: Parodied. When all is said and done, the Doctor notes that there's always a twist at the end... and then goes into a big song and dance number called "There's Always a Twist at the End".
162	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Maestro was accidentally called to the earthly plane by a musical genius discovering and playing the "Lost Chord". He ends up their first victim.
163	* VaguenessIsComing: Much like their father, Maestro cryptically warns that The One Who Waits is coming, before Maestro is DraggedOffToHell.
164	* WhamLine: A wham ''sound''. As Maestro emerges from the piano, they emit [[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheGiggle a very familiar giggle]], revealing their connection to the Toymaker.
165	* WhosOnFirst: Maestro does a game of this when explaining their pronouns to Timothy:
166	-->'''Timothy:''' Henry, get away from him!
167	-->'''Maestro:''' (correcting Timothy) ''Them.''
168	-->'''Timothy:''' [[FlatWhat What?]]
169	-->'''Maestro:''' Me.
170	-->'''Timothy:''' ''What?''
171	-->'''Maestro:''' I'm ''them''.
172	-->'''Timothy:''' You're who?
173	-->'''Maestro:''' [[CopycatMockery "yOu'RE wHo?"]]
174	* WorldOfSilence: Ironically this is Maestro's ultimate goal. First engineering Earth to be blasted into a wasteland by war, the only music being the wind blowing through the ruins of humanity, before moving onto the greater universe and stopping the music of the spheres, leaving them the only musical performer left in the universe.
175	* WouldHarmASenior:
176	** Maestro angrily attacks (and is heavily implied to have killed, from the ScreamDiscretionShot) an elderly woman in London who heard Ruby's piano playing from the rooftop and was inspired or reminded to sit down at her own piano and start playing herself.
177	** In the episode's cold open, Maestro's first victim, Timothy Drake, is fairly advanced in age himself.
178	* WritingAroundTrademarks: The episode was inspired by the production team knowing that that actually licensing any Beatles music was never going to be within the scope of their budget (even with the extra funding provided by Disney), so they had to create a reason for its absence in an episode involving the Beatles.

Context Recap / DoctorWhoS40E2TheDevilsChord