May 10th, 2024
15 comments
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Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 2 The Devil’s Chord
Saturday 11/05/2024 on BBC iPlayer at 00:00 and 19:05 on BBC1
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.
The Season 1 Steelbook is available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com and www.rarewaves.com
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Trenzalore
May 12th, 2024 - 4:44pmI enjoyed both of last nights episodes. Neither was 10/10 of course but they were solid and I thought both set out RTD’s vision of this new era nicely. It was cleverly aimed at Americans but in a way Brits may not notice because it positioned itself as just so british, such as baby’s with cute british accents, followed by the beatles and abbey road. So I think it is smart for RTD to fill that niche in american TV that doctor who should fill – that of endearing british show. Another scene I loved that I thought encapsulated this new era well was of the monster being saved in the first ep. That is what makes doctor who different from other shows, because even the ugliest monster deserves saving. So again RTD is setting out why Doctor Who isn’t like anything else. I think that was the goal of these episodes.
I found myself contrasting Ruby with Rose in these episodes, how Rose came from a gritty council estate, real world vibe. With Ruby there are these fantasy elements such as the snow appearing, which really has no scientific explanation. I think some long time fans may struggle with this sort of stuff. Same with the musical number at the end. Doctor who was a show where it was like well how did they all do that and know what to sing and dance. But for me it really underscores how we are watching a new show in a way. with more money of course. so for me i think it was the right decision to call this season 1. and I think it’s a great achievement for RTD who wrote series 1 in 2005 to then come back and make something so different. I think if you want to enjoy this era then you must let go of believing that the show can’t do this or that. There shouldn’t be any limitations on a writer of doctor who. that is how the show has survived 60 years and still looking as fresh and new as it did last night
Theta sigma
May 12th, 2024 - 1:45pmJust terrible the doctor isn’t the doctor anymore
Cully’s Pal
May 12th, 2024 - 11:16amAh I see the Doctor puts his foot on a land mine in the next episode. Shame he won’t have Harry Sullivan there to tackle it this time. Some of those scenes from past greats really stick in the head.
SDW
May 12th, 2024 - 10:35am(^ that last bit was a cringe smiley, lol)
Cully’s Pal
May 12th, 2024 - 10:29amThinking about it its a shame Maestro didnt conjour up the Blue Meanies….as a big fan of the Yellow Submarine that might well have been interesting….
Cully’s Pal
May 12th, 2024 - 10:27amAre we going to get to see the Daleks or the cybermen – which are about the only points of interest in Who as it stands – this season ? Want to see how he faces up to major opponents. So far I dont think much of his ‘Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch’ style – others might find him good I find him irritating and hyperactive….
SDW
May 12th, 2024 - 10:09amI’m wondering if Doctor Who (or RTD) has just had it’s Jumping The Shark moment… That whole “twist in the tale” was just ♂️
WhoCollector
May 12th, 2024 - 8:29amA couple criticisms – A) Why is RTD obsessed with making pronouns a part of each episode? B) why did he feel the need to get Jinx to specify “love sick songs for heartbroken lesbians” – good to see that he sees people not as friends, but as orientations. Personally? I would say friend before their orientation. But, “people have to be very brave to get in the way of RTD” – RTD,2024 (slight misquote) – of course the argument could be made that Maestro is a Celestial, so surely they would say “Humans”? Why would a Celestial be bothered by pronouns? Why would a Celestial see people as orientations before species? C) The Sonic, ahh the sonic. RTD is against pointing it like a gun… but Gatwa does just that – with more anger than any other doctors have – his actions and way of using it making it look more like a weapon than before… Except now he looks like the Master when pointing the sonic. Tbh, i actually think the new design looks worse, and more “weapony” than the proper sonics. D) Theres always a twist… no more needs saying, No more.
The Temporal Jelly Baby
May 11th, 2024 - 10:50pmMassively enjoyed this one. I was gripped all the way through. Maestro is a fantastic villain. I’ve only just watched the episode so my thoughts aren’t finalized yet and the score could still drop, but it’s possibly the first to reach the 9 out of 10 barrier since World Enough & Time / The Doctor Falls.
Shame we seem to have missed a few months’ worth of adventures though?! Odd place to do a time jump.
Dalek Eye Stalk
May 11th, 2024 - 10:16pmBetter than the previous episode, but not by much. Very OTT performance from Monsoon, yet memorable and very watchable. Gatwa and Gibson are very good too, but we are yet to see them in a truly fantastic episode. Hopefully we get that some point in this season. I’d give this second episode of the season 6/10.
Cully’s Pal
May 11th, 2024 - 8:00pmMy interest wanders with these episodes…………he keeps ripping ideas from other episodes…certain Pyramids of Mars overtones when we saw her world destroyed…..
Kone112
May 11th, 2024 - 7:58pmWho-ever is responsible for this needs there heads knocking off.
anon
May 11th, 2024 - 7:08pmAs colourful as the second episode was i felt like it wasn,t Doctor Who for me. I really wanted to like it but i hated it. The first episode was rather cute and had its share of amusing moments. the scene where the infants are cheering the return of the doctor and ruby made me smile especially given there was a child at the back on the verge of crying and the nosewiping to create a monster was a a nice touch. It wasn,t particularly scary and the bogeyman monster was ok but it felt like it was a case of deja vu and had seen something very similar in a previous scifi film or programme. Let us see what Steven Moffat has to offer. Fingers and everything else crossed.
PAULGARDNER
May 11th, 2024 - 6:10pmso,so
Gordon
May 11th, 2024 - 9:17amThe devils chord I thought was mostly great. Great use of music especially how they linked the music with the intro. Jinx was camp as Christmas but so much fun. Very much an rtd creation. Loved how they used musical notes that kill people. The use of the Beatles worked well and the lack of Beatles music does make sense. The guys don’t exactly look like the real thing but they are used in only a couple of scenes I feel they didn’t need to be. However I’m not sure how I feel about “the twist” at the end. Can’t make my mind up if it’s genius or terrible.
Really quite invested in what they are doing with ruby. Got a couple of ideas who the big bad/the one who waits is. Sutekh has been bandied about which is a possibility but how about omega? It would connect with episode 7’s synopsis about a long buried secret since the pertwee era. I know he returned in arc of infinity but it could still work if the secret was an item or something from the 3 doctors. Alternatively fenric is another possibility. I suspect that the mention of Susan in such a big way makes me suspect it wont be the last time her name pops up. The lack of master name drop suggests to me that they aren’t doing anything with him anytime soon which prettty much what rtd said on the giggle commentary