Doctor Who Reactions: "The Devil's Chord" (SPOILERS)

[The Baron]

1. I've no idea whether that business about the Devil's Chord is real or not.
2. "I'm them." Pronoun trouble!
3. Did they sit down with Jinkx Monsoon beforehand and say, "Please play this part so over-the-top that characters like Witchie-Poo and Rita Repulsa will look subtle and nuanced by comparison", or is that just how they always are? 
4. "Henry Arbinger". OK.
5. "Mister Timothy Drake" - Is Big Russ a Batman fan?
6. The bit with the theme tune proceeding from Maestro's piano through the opening credits and to the TARDIS jukebox was amusing.
7. As an aside, I was never a big Beatles mark, myself. I was always more of a Stones fan. That said, there are a number of Beatles songs that I like.  "Eleanor Rigby", in particular.
8. It's interesting that  - so, far, at least - this Doctor doesn't seem to have a fixed "costume", or even particular style, the way that most of his predecessors did.
9. I liked the dog song.
10. I live over there...with my granddaughter."  Whouldn't the Hartnell Doctor have noticed that something was wrong with music?
11.   A world without music would be creepy. 
12. The elderly woman looking out the window while Ruby plays the piano is the legendary June Hudson, who was the program's costume designer from 1978-1981.
13. Maestro giggles like the Toymaker.
14. The Doctor showing Ruby what 2024 would  look like  if they don't defeat Maestro in 1963 is RTD's homage to the scene in "Pyramids of Mars" where the Fourth Doctor showed Sarah Jane what 1980 would look like if they didn't defeat Sutekh in 1911.  Well, at least we know that Sutekh won't be coming back, since the Doctor killed him.
15. "Child of the Toymaker" - So, "music" proceeds from "games"?
16. "That's something else." Well, we know it's not secretly Sutekh, that's for sure.
17. "Heartsick Songs for Heartbroken Lesbians"  sounds like one of those compilation albums that they used to sell on UHF channels late at night.
18. "The Oldest One was there." But he definitely wasn't Sutekh.
19. "Music Battle."  What, no golden fiddle for the winner?
20. "Sorry to keep  harping on." Har-har-har.
21. And we end with some Beatles ex machina.
22. "The One Who Waits is almost here."  Amy Pond?
23. The billboard advertising Chris Waites and the Carollers is a callback to "An Unearthly Child".
24. "There's Always a Twist at the End" - Too cheesy!

Overall: Another so-so episode. It had some good moments, but, geez, I found Jinkx Monsoon irritating.

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Another unique* episode... one that can be told only on Doctor Who. 

*(That doesn't necessartily mean good, only that there is nothing else like it.)

So as we're sitting down to watch it and the disc is booting up, Tracy starts reminiscing about the very episode we're about to watch... and I barely remember it. I know you know about Mrs. Flood, but there is another character we have seen on all three episodes so far. When we were watching season two, Tracy pointed out the woman who had been popping up all throughout season one... and I didn't know who she was talking about. Now she's pointing her out in every episode (she was one of the cooks in the EMI cafeteria in this episode)... and I can't remember her significance from season two. That's why I need to watch these more than once... sometimes more than twice. I don't know if I am in cognitive decline or if I just don't pay close enough attention.

I've no idea whether that business about the Devil's Chord is real or not.

The bit with the theme tune proceeding from Maestro's piano through the opening credits and to the TARDIS jukebox was amusing.

Agreed. Quite well done. (Brian Wilson did something similar on a Beach Boys album once.)

I was never a big Beatles mark, myself.

Paul McCartney does not have blue eyes. Couldn't RTD have sprung for a set of brown contact lenses?

It's interesting that  - so, far, at least - this Doctor doesn't seem to have a fixed "costume", or even particular style, the way that most of his predecessors did.

Oh, just wait.

I liked the dog song.

Reminds me of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog."

Wouldn't the Hartnell Doctor have noticed that something was wrong with music?

And wouldn't Susan have noticed something was wrong with The Common Men?

The elderly woman looking out the window while Ruby plays the piano is the legendary June Hudson, who was the program's costume designer from 1978-1981.

Did not know that. Interesting.

The Doctor showing Ruby what 2024 would  look like  if they don't defeat Maestro in 1963 is RTD's homage to the scene in "Pyramids of Mars" where the Fourth Doctor showed Sarah Jane what 1980 would look like if they didn't defeat Sutekh in 1911. 

It's scenes like those that make me not sweat the inconsistancies in the Daleks' backstory, or where Mondas was in 1986, or even Dark Shadows in 1840 so much.

Well, at least we know that Sutekh won't be coming back, since the Doctor killed him.

Riiight.

 Well, we know it's not secretly Sutekh, that's for sure.

Riiight.

But he definitely wasn't Sutekh.

Riiight.

What, no golden fiddle for the winner?

That's on Million Mile Reflections.

"The One Who Waits is almost here."  Amy Pond?

I'm not sayin'.

The billboard advertising Chris Waites and the Carollers is a callback to "An Unearthly Child"

Yeah, but what about The Common Men?

"There's Always a Twist at the End" - Too cheesy!

Reminded me of that musical Star Trek (SNW) episode.

Another so-so episode.

Like I said, "unique" doesn't always mean "good."

But this episode did bring to mind a lot of good music.