Since the episode was spotted being filmed, The Devil's Chord has become one of the fandom's most anticipated episodes. Many of the fan base had been anticipating a musical-based episode featuring Beatles songs, with the Doctor and Ruby travelling to 1963. This episode is certainly *not* the one that our fandom was so convinced that it would be, which is disappointing to an extent, but it doesn't mean that it is inherently bad.

Although Russell T Davies had recently confirmed that there were to be no Beatles songs in The Devil's Chord, I am surprised that the episode isn't a full-on musical. It's a shame, because the final scene with the Doctor and Ruby singing The Twist is incredible, and demonstrates the potential for a Doctor Who musical story. And whilst the Beatles songs are expensive to license, it would have been nice had they included the Beatles in the episode more, and used some of the songs that were actually covers. The Twist could have been Twist And Shout instead, for instance, and it would have felt more fitting as a Beatles celebrity historical.

What we do get, concerning the God of Music Maestro stealing music and turning London into a joyless dystopia, is brilliant fun, and definitely an improvement over Space Babies. I particularly like the way that it utilises Ruby's talents as a musician, and we get to see her assisting the Doctor by playing the piano. It's a good way of showing how Ruby can prove useful during the Doctor's travels.

The highlight here, however, is absolutely Jinx Monsoon. Jinx Monsoon is incredible as Maestro, and chewing up the scenery in the best possible way. She's delightfully over the top, but also feels incredibly menacing, and you get the sense of the power she holds as the God of Music. Especially as the Doctor is so afraid to face her. I really hope we get to see Jinx Monsoon return as Maestro, as she is easily one of the greatest original villains introduced since the 2005 revival. The fact that she is the Toymaker's daughter makes it seem like we're potentially destined for a future Toymaker/Maestro team-up.

Her role also lends itself well to a few brilliantly meta moments, like Maestro playing the Doctor Who theme on the piano, and Ncuti Gatwa's cheeky wink before The Twist. I hope the fourth-wall-breaking will be a constant staple of this new era, as some of my favourite moments from RTD2 so far have been when the fourth wall has been broken.

Overall, The Devil's Chord sits comfortably as a 7/10 for myself. Had the episode included some Beatles songs and been a full-scale musical, however, it would have been a 9/10. I definitely think it's time that Doctor Who did an episode firmly in the musical genre, especially now that Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor seems to be very much a song and dance Doctor.