I've always liked the idea of Doctor Who tackling social history or cultural history, the gritty details of everyday life as opposed to the key events or great figures of the past. A world without music therefore sounds like a great idea but the execution left a lot to be desired.

The whole thing felt very disjointed, it meandered along and didn't really have a sense of narrative progression. It felt as if there was no cause and effect and that things simply happened for the sake of it. A major reason for this is Maestro who, besides acting like a pantomime villain for most of their scenes, is a character that has no consistent rules or powers or weaknesses; they act as the plot demands they act with no other justification and that seriously weakens the narrative of the episode. This sense of listlessness isn't helped by the Doctor's passivity and helplessness nor by the dwelling on Ruby's mystery, which was interesting at the time but is ruined in retrospect, nor by the weird scenes with the Beatles who end up with a pivotal role at the climax despite being superfluous and disposable right up until that point.

There are couple of good scenes, like the Maestro and the Doctor having their sonic battle, some funny moments at the start, and the part where music gradually returns to the world, but they can't salvage the episode.

As for the musical number at the end: well, perhaps a world without music wouldn't be so bad after all.