Unlike the lackluster first episode, the second bolts right out of the gate with the Tardis crew going to swinging London in 1963 to visit the Beatles first recording sessions, which even the Doctor is surprised he's never done before. But the sessions are not what they seem, because a chaotic monster that feeds on music has taken over, dooming humanity to extinction. As the show theorizes, a race without music grows sour and frustrated, turning to war as the only outlet for their emotions. I got a little echo of classic Who in the scene where the Doctor shows Ruby the wasteland that the world will become if the Maestro is allowed to win echoes the scene in Pyramids of Mars where the 4th Doctor does the same for Sara in showing her a possible future if the evil Sutekh is allowed to live.
The Maestro herself (Jinx Monsoon) is wonderful, all high-strung energy and vicious jokes, a real, solid villain the show has been unable to produce in its last few years. The scenes with her crawling out of pianos are weirdly disturbing and probably will freak out quite a few younger viewers. That's what the sofa is for kids, so you can hide behind it.
It is disappointing that in an episode featuring the Beatles, they only appear on screen for a few minutes, the bulk of the story given over to the Doctor/Maestro battle. But hey, John and Paul end up saving the day, so that's alright then. What isn't so alright is the forced musical number inserted at the very end of the episode, which I utterly loathed. I mean, I get why it's there, but I still hated every second of it. It was like I was suddenly watching "High School Musical" or something.
The Doctor and Ruby's relationship deepens somewhat in this episode, and they are already settling in as a classic team up. What isn't settling in as much is the new glossy exterior of the show and different style (we are firmly in fantasy territory here, not sci-fi) but those will probably grow on me eventually. The Doctor reacts well when confronted with something he doesn't understand, hope to see more of that explored in the future, and the hint of seeing the rest of the Toymaker's "legions" is promising. Just no more musical numbers, please. My Grade: B+
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