Maestro is a brilliant villain, a standout of the season. Bringing fun, camp, but also feeling like a genuine threat - I love Maestro. The story is really fun throughout, and a story that I have such joy revisiting. I'm not sure of the power of music, but for the sake of the story, it's a great concept.

The songs are a bit naff. I know that is the point of the songs at the start, but I do not care for There's Always a Twist at the End - however, a given in universe reason would have aided enjoyment (and I am aware that this was cut).

Rewatched 2025-04-03 (⭐⭐⭐½)

I really enjoyed the plot of music disappearing and it was set up well. Maestro sets themselves up as a great villain when we first meet them and it continues through the rest of the episode. They’re creepy and enjoyable. The music battle scene was brilliant. I love that Maestro is the child of the Toymaker. We already knew that his influence would be around in this series. The series arc is laid out with them. The Doctor being scared of them is great. We never see that happen but I like that he’s able to overcome it. Ruby is great in here as well. There is no major critique before the ending.

Maestro is a lot of fun and I respect how experimental this story was in just going for it. Some stand-outs like the tuner sequence hiding from Maestro, the initial Beatles review, and "I thought that was non-digetic". Ultimately it doesn't quite do the Beatles enough justice, so that's why I can't rate it higher.