Ahead of watching, I thought this episode would be more up my street and I wasn’t wrong but I do feel it dropped the ball in two key parts.
The 60s setting was excellent and I absolutely loved the bit where the Doctor and Ruby slowly discovered that something was wrong with music. And then the lovely scene with the people listening to Ruby’s piano playing.
I can see Jinxx Monsoon’s Maestro wasn’t to some people’s tastes but they were almost exactly how I expected them to be and I enjoyed them immensely. I’ve always loved the concept of the Toymaker (and loved NPH’s version) so a camp child of the Toymaker seemed like a natural step and ‘the essence of music’ is a great concept.
I know there will be some who baulk at fantasy being so prominent in the series but, IMO, it’s always been part and parcel of the show from day one and it’s just that, like Season 7 leant into a gritty, thriller vibe, or Season 13 into Hammer Horror or Season 18 into mathematical sci-fi, RTD is leaning into the fantasy while he plays out the story of the Pantheon and the Toymaker’s legions. It won’t be here forever and it won’t even be here in every episode (there wasn’t any ‘magic’ in Space Babies for example).
But oh my that song…
I adore musicals and I was excited when the trailers hinted there would be a musical episode with singing and dancing. First of all, Murray Gold is a great composer of incidental music. His songwriting skills, though, aren’t as good. None of his songs for the show have a particularly good structure, melody or lyrics (and I don’t know who is writing the lyrics because it might not be him). This one was hugely repetitive and just went nowhere - it was just the same riff and lyric over and over and over again. (And I’m assuming everyone spotted Gold at the piano in one shot).
The dancing was actually quite fun - and I did enjoy Ruby dancing and singing with Cilla, although it took a rewatch of the clip to realise we had the two Strictly cameos as well.
But the song just felt tacked on the end and not part of the episode really which was the major failing. It also went on and on and on and on!
And then there was the hugely unnecessary and inexplicable bit on the musical zebra crossing. Are we supposed to assume that ‘a bit of the Maestro’s power was lingering’ a bit like the part in The Giggle where the cartoon mallet came out to split the TARDISes? If this was the case, it really should have been mentioned because, as presented, it just seemed like a really weird epilogue.
So I’m a bit sad about the musical number because I did feel a bit let down by it but it’s ultimately something I can get past easily enough.
I am intrigued by ‘what’s coming’ and the reappearance of Henry Arbinger at the end (he should have been the epilogue rather than the musical crossing) and I would welcome further ‘legion members’ because I rather love all that.
And my god the Doctor looked good in that suit!
ETA: AND JUNE HUDSON WAS BRILLIANT!!!
