Editor's Note: The below recap contains spoilers for Doctor Who Season 1, Episode 2, "The Devil's Chord."

The Big Picture

• Jinkx Monsoon shines as Maestro, a new twist on classic Doctor Who villains like the Toymaker.
• The episode deepens the mystery surrounding Ruby and the Doctor, sparking engaging fan theories.
• Ncuti Gatwa embodies the Doctor's haunted heroism, setting up thrilling confrontations with Maestro.

How do you make a Beatles episode of Doctor Who without using any Beatles music? Well, showrunner Russell T. Davies has figured it out. Since licensing any Beatles songs for the series would run up the budget, Davies has crafted an episode in which a wicked god from another realm is stealing away the music we've known and loved for decades. In "The Devil's Chord," Jinkx Monsoon makes her Doctor Who debut, and it is every bit as glorious as I'd hoped. Monsoon's Maestro expands on the lore laid out in the third 60th-anniversary special last Christmas and inspires new theories regarding both Ruby's (Millie Gibson) and the Doctor's (Ncuti Gatwa) backstories.

On top of that, this episode also introduces more clues about Ruby's birth and the Mystery Lady that keeps following the Doctor around. While the original songs in "The Devil's Chord" aren't exactly anything to write home about, given the plot, the episode is enhanced by Murray Gold's phenomenal score. The beloved Who composer delivers some of his best work in this one and even makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in the episode's big finale musical number.

What's Going on in "The Devil's Chord"?

"The Devil's Chord" opens in an undisclosed location in 1925, with an elderly man teaching a young boy how to play the piano. When he teaches the boy (aptly named Harbinger) a secret chord — no, not the one that David played to please the Lord — he accidentally summons a nonbinary trickster god named Maestro. Crawling out of the piano like a queer campy version of the girl from The Ring, Maestro enters the scene with equal parts over-the-top humor and pure malicious intent. Laying it on thick with the elderly pianist, Maestro steals every bit of music right out of his heart, leaving nothing but a shell behind. Monsoon then gets to join the very elite ranks of folks who've gotten to play in the theme song, and while it's no Peter Capaldi on a guitar riff, it still brought a grin to my face. The series also gets a little meta again as it appears that Ruby has also just played the theme on the TARDIS jukebox.

Back in the present day, Ruby has been given free rein to choose their next destination, offering a nice switch up from recent memory in which it's almost always the Doctor (or better yet the TARDIS) picking where they take their companions. Despite some mild embarrassment, she confesses that she'd like to see the Beatles recording their first album — personally, I'd pick Chappell Roan, but the Beatles are good too. Ruby needn't worry, because the Doctor's absolutely thrilled to take her there, openly wondering why he'd never picked this destination before. The two don some fabulously retro garb and head out onto Abbey Road in 1963.

Unfortunately for Ruby and the Doctor, upon sneaking into the recording booth, they watch the Beatles record one of the worst songs ever put to music. Gatwa and Gibson really lean into the humor of the moment as the slow dawning horror of what they're witnessing plays out across their faces. Double-checking that it's not just the Beatles, they also pop in to hear an absolute flop from Cilla Black and a frankly dreadful orchestral version of "Three Blind Mice." Recouping in the cafeteria, the Doctor realizes that someone's been tampering with history. Before he and Ruby go to interrogate the Beatles, we get another glimpse of the Mystery Woman, now serving tea at EMI Recording Studios. While her true identity is far from revealed, she makes a quip about Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady and, once again, the Doctor never sees her face.

Without Music, Humanity Turns Sour on 'Doctor Who'

While interrogating Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Ruby and the Doctor try to impress upon the musical legends how essential their art is, but they insist that singing simply doesn't make any sense. In fact, being a musician is actually embarrassing. Pressing a little further, the Doctor and Ruby can see that buried deep down, Lennon and McCartney still long for the life they're supposed to have. Frankly, without music I am pretty sure I would go insane – and that's exactly what will happen to the whole of humanity if Maestro has their way.

Up on the roof of the building, Ruby is treated to some more Doctor lore as she learns about his granddaughter Susan living over in Shoreditch. Another glimpse into the tragedy of the Doctor reveals that he doesn't know whether Susan survived the genocide of the Time Lords. Never one to dwell on his past for too long, the Doctor promptly has a piano brought up and implores Ruby to call upon her musical talents to see if she can bring some light back into the world. Playing an original piece that she wrote for her heartbroken lesbian bestie Trudy, Ruby manages to capture the attention — and the hearts — of many a bystander. However, as the music reaches a crescendo, it's cut short by the arrival of a creature that strikes a chord of pure fear in the Doctor.

Laughing in an all-too-familiar arpeggio, Maestro climbs out of the piano again, and that's all the Doctor needs to realize that Maestro and the Toymaker are cut from the same cloth. Eagle-eyed viewers might remember that "The Giggle" also opened with unusual happenings in the year 1925. Visibly terrified, the Doctor and Ruby book it to the basement and attempt to hide from Maestro and their tuning fork by using the sonic to mute the world around them. No, there's nothing wrong with your TV, the Doctor really has put the whole episode on mute. The disconcerting sequence goes on for longer than one might expect before Maestro breaks the spell, and Ruby and the Doctor get a brief reprieve as they disappear to steal "Clair De Lune" out of some poor little old lady's heart.

Catching Ruby up on what she missed in "The Giggle," the Doctor explains that the last time he encountered one of these creatures it literally "tore his soul in half." He also tells her that he can't go through that again, possibly indicating that the controversial bi-generation in the 60th-anniversary special was just a one-time deal. As terrified as the Doctor is, Ruby refuses to believe that music is just gone, mostly because she can still remember it herself. It seems like the two of them have been traveling together for a few months since the previous episode, because when they hop back in the TARDIS for a devastating peek at what the future will look like if they don't defeat Maestro, we learn that it's now June or July in Ruby's Earth timeline. Somberly, the Doctor shows Ruby a dark and ashen version of 2024 where her own family likely doesn't even exist. While the previous episode was all adventure and chaos, "The Devil's Chord" gives Ruby a closer look at the tragedy of the Doctor and the burden he carries for the sake of humanity. It's really clear that Ncuti Gatwa has done his homework, it's very easy to see the haunted history of Doctors past in his eyes in moments like this.

'Doctor Who' Hits a High Note With Its Newest Villain

Their heartbreaking detour is interrupted by Maestro in a new Adele-inspired ensemble as they hop into the future with little more than a snap of their fingers. Reveling in a little bit of exposition and more than a few music puns, Maestro explains that the Toymaker is their father before laying out their ultimate plan to eliminate music from the whole of creation. Ushered in by a "genius" back in 1925, Maestro incidentally gives the Doctor the key to their destruction: the right chord could send them back to their own realm. Maestro isn't worried, though, confident that the Doctor is no genius, and armed with the right tune to strike even more fear into his heart. Whovians familiar with Davies' first Doctor Who era will recognize the discordant notes of the Master Suite from the Master's attempt to destroy humanity as Harold Saxon. While Davies has said that the Master is parked for now, I can't help but wonder if that was a clever bit of misdirection.

Back in 1963, the Doctor attempts to mathematically calculate the perfect tune to send Maestro packing, but the trickster is still one step ahead of the Time Lord. Wrapping Ruby in their twisted sheet music, Maestro is determined to crush the Doctor once and for all by tearing the music right out of his bubbly companion. Monsoon kills it throughout this entire episode, but she truly reaches a fever pitch as Maestro revels in the height of their power, absolutely chewing on every line of dialogue she has. Unbeknownst to both the Doctor and Maestro, however, Ruby seems to be something that neither of them can explain. Ruby can't be so easily defeated, as "Carol of the Bells" hidden in the depths of her soul sends Maestro into a tailspin.

This is where the episode gets particularly ripe for theories, as Maestro frantically mutters to themselves about the night of Ruby's birth. They mention "the oldest one" being present, insisting that "he can't have been there," ignoring the Doctor's questions for clarification. While it doesn't explain why Maestro wouldn't put two-and-two together, is it possible that "the oldest one" is actually the Doctor? With his true origins still a mystery, Davies could be setting up the reveal that the Doctor is also part of this Pantheon of trickster gods after introducing the God of Play and the God of Music. Remember the mystery lady mentioning Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady? The premise of that 1945 film sees Lockwood's character impersonating a famed highway robber until she's brought face to face with the person she's impersonating. Is the mystery woman bopping around time and space impersonating the Doctor? Is she his mother? Is she the one who waits?

Before Doctor Who reveals the answer to any of those questions, however, the Doctor gets back to the task at hand, challenging Maestro to a music battle. After a tense piano vs. violin back and forth, the Doctor gives up on finding the mathematically perfect tune and instead draws on all the love and loss he's ever experienced. Monsoon relishes the near-death experience, taking each note as a direct wound, screaming in agony and on-beat. The Doctor isn't a musical genius — don't tell his Twelfth self — but the Beatles are. Finding the mostly played chord, they unwittingly finish off Maestro with the perfect note. They're banished back into the piano, signing off with the cryptic promise that the one who waits is almost here.

Despite lacking typical tunes for such a song-based episode, Doctor Who caps "The Devil's Chord" with its big musical number: "There's Always a Twist at the End." Filled with references, and quite likely a clue or two given its title, the song goes on for so long that it becomes suspicious, before looping back around to become pure camp fun. We can't know if this moment will come back in the future, with Davies it's always worth looking for clues in every episode — especially with that sneaky shot of Harbinger lurking in a doorway. Part of what makes him one of the most beloved showrunners for Doctor Who is that he always knows how the season is going to end before he starts writing the first episode, weaving hints and clues throughout the episodes. It's why things like the Bad Wolf arc and the warnings of "something on Donna's back" are so iconic. With the pitch of the monster in the previous episode designed to make the listener afraid, and Maestro's desire to send the whole universe cascading into aeolian tones, sound may be what links this season together.

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