With a return of a prelude (which, I just learned, is called a “cold open”), we’re introduced to the next episode.  Within seconds, Jinkx Monsoon shows up on screen as Maestro.  A friend of mine had been very excited by the news that Jinkx was going to appear in Doctor Who.  I didn’t know why.  After this episode, it became abundantly clear.  There’s not a moment Jinkx is on screen that isn’t mesmerizing.  Jinkx has a range unlike any other villain I’ve ever seen in Doctor Who.

Like the previous episode, I watched this with friends, and we all enjoyed it.  I watched it again on my own, this time with captions on, and I enjoyed it even more but that’s because the episode gets really trippy in a way I didn’t expect.  See, I’m a bit of a logophile; I love words.  (It might explain why Roger and I have been writing a daily blog for so many years.)  When watching with the captions on, the Doctor said something I hadn’t understood.  I looked it up.  I love learning new things like this!  This episode became a must-see episode and there may even be more to unpack than I’d first realized.

The question “where do I start” is a tough one to answer; there’s a lot to unpack.  The biggest hurdle to overcome for the episode is dealing with the heavily protected Beatles music.  How do you have an episode with the Beatles without featuring their music?  You make it where music is gone from the world.  When The Beatles perform My Dog, it’s outright funny, if not for the fact that we were dying to hear some Beatles music in Doctor Who.  This leads to a wonderful reveal that the reason the future has been destroyed is because a world without music is not worth living in.  Without music, people go to war without ever knowing why.

“You stepped from one time to another, like… the Lord Temporal, who trapped my father and bound him in salt…”  Maestro acknowledges that the Toymaker was their father, and the first reveal chilled me to the core.  We heard the giggle come from the piano!  It’s a remarkable moment worthy of repeated viewing all on its own (although that first laugh, I am certain, has an extra “ha” in it!)  The second time, it’s much clearer.  The Doctor takes off in terror.

This is the one area that didn’t work for me.  Ruby says to the Doctor,  “You never run!”  Actually, Rubes, he does – in fact the two episodes we’ve seen this season show him doing just that.  The only thing I wonder is if there are “hidden episodes”.  Maybe we need to refer to the comics?  The novels?    The Doctor asks her later, “When are you?  June 2024?”  She replies, “It’s hard to keep track.  June?  July?”  So do they have a relationship similar to 12 (Capaldi) and Clara where he leaves her from time to time?  There’s no indication other than this one line but it might explain the comment that he “never” runs, when in fact, two of his three episodes show him doing precisely that.

Another weird observation is that Ruby has now thought of two things before stepping out of the TARDIS.  She’s commented on the butterfly effect in Space Babies and she now worries about her clothing in this one.  Thing is, I’m so fashion-blind I can’t rely on my own observations, but I didn’t think what she was wearing was particularly out of place.  I’d love to know what others think.

Despite those few odd moments, I have very little to complain about; the episode is a powerhouse.  Visually, there are some great moments.  I loved the reflection scene when Maestro first turns up in 1963.  The silent scene was intense with a remarkable resolution with a tuning fork and a puddle.  During this sequence, Monsoon shows a powerful range that was chilling.  I really hope Maestro isn’t done with the Doctor yet.  For that matter, I hope the same of “daddy”, the Toymaker too.  And the music battle, started with Maestro’s warped voice, was exciting in a way I never expected a music battle to be.  This was very reminiscent of The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band.

Like last week, there are a few interesting tidbits for the viewer to take in.  When Maestro learns about Ruby’s hidden song, there’s speculation that I was fascinated by: “The oldest one.  He couldn’t have been there!”  Of course, that leads to Maestro observing that Ruby is “wrong”, having a hidden song in her soul.  More snow falls that even Maestro doesn’t understand.  I love the mystery!  There’s also the warning when being defeated that “The one who waits is almost here!”  Ooooo!  Can’t wait to find out… although I guess that makes me one who waits!  Ok, that’s a bit meta but maybe that’s appropriate for an episode that really does get meta.

Where I could see some people having a problem is around the fourth wall breaks, which I typically dislike too.  This happens four times; twice with Maestro and twice with the Doctor.  The first with Maestro launching into the Doctor Who theme on the piano which breaks effortlessly into the actual opening of the story.  Later, Maestro winks at us before killing an old woman.  But it’s the Doctor’s moments that really matter.  The first is a comment during the climax where the audience hears music that seems like incidental music, but becomes part of the story.  The Doctor says “I thought that was nondiegetic”.  (This is what I had to look up!)  Nondiegetic means it’s part of a movie/show that can’t be heard by the characters.  But that means, he knows he exists in a universe of fiction because he thought it was something he couldn’t hear.  I don’t know how I feel about that; I don’t think I love it… and yet, I think I love it.  Why am I so confused about how I feel about it?  However, that’s the same thing that happens earlier when Maestro launched us into the Doctor Who theme.  Yet that same bit brings us back from the opening credits and it appears to be playing the final chords on the Doctor’s jukebox.  This is going to be a very cool season, I think.  Yet all of that is nothing by comparison to the end comment that, “There’s always a twist in the end…”

I’m not a big fan of musicals however this sequence with the “twist in the end” is so upbeat and enjoyable, you sorta have to have fun with it.  It’s too happy not to.  But is there more to it?  I refer to the cast list.  There was a twist in the end credits.  Ironically, there was a twist in the end credits last week too.  Namely, actress Susan Twist!  This week she was “tea lady”, last week she was Comms officer Gina Scalzi.  According to IMDb, she was “woman in concert” in The Church on Ruby Road.  There’s always a twist in the end! Is that just an inside joke?  Is that why the Doctor winked at us when he said it?

I know I’m being ridiculous, but I’m really hoping it means something else entirely. One of the highlights of this episode for me was when the Doctor explained to Ruby that in 1963, the year they are visiting, he’s living in Shoreditch with his granddaughter Susan.  I love the continuity.   This show is working on bringing in new viewers but not leaving the classic fans without something to hold onto at the same time, so I love the reminder that Susan was a part of the Doctor’s life.  I really, really wanted to see a colorized image of her dancing at the end even if it was a reused image from An Unearthly Child.  But what if… I mean, it’s a crazy long shot but… what if the Twist in the End is that Susan Twist is a Susan twist?  Notice that the Doctor and the tea lady spectacularly fail to make eye contact.  He also doesn’t appear to be looking when Scalzi is on the screen on the space station.  What if, after all this time, we finally get to see Susan again?  I can’t say just how excited this makes me to see more of this season…

Too frequently with Doctor Who, head cannon ends up being better than what we’ve seen onscreen.  I’m looking at you, Teselecta!  But Russell T. Davies is a fan for as long as I am; maybe he has some ideas that will be new, and fresh, and still make the older fans applaud!  This episode was loads of fun and I have very high hopes for the remainder of this season.

Between a great story and the fantastic villainy of Maestro, all I can say is, “encore, encore!”    ML