Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Who episode 2, “The Devil’s Chord”!
Doctor Who introduced a terrifying new villain, Maestro, in “The Devil’s Chord” that not only stopped the Doctor in his tracks but teased the larger story for this season that was hinted at by the Toymaker. When Ruby and the Doctor travel to the 1960s in order to see one of the most iconic moments in music history with The Beatles they find that the world is wrong. Music has been stolen from the hearts of humanity and something or someone is to blame. However, the culprit, Maestro, may be more than the Doctor can handle after nearly losing to the terrifyingly powerful Toymaker.
Neil Patrick Harris brought the Toymaker back to the forefront of Doctor Who in “The Giggle” and set th stage for a larger-scale story involving powerful forces of the universe that are bigger than even the Doctor. Davies has promised more Gods to come as he leans fully into fantasy with this new season of Doctor Who. Maestro is a fantastic villain who brings the threat to the next level and hints at possible connections between this larger storyline and the ongoing mystery surrounding the Doctor’s new companion, Ruby Sunday. Jinkx Monsoon delivers an enrapturing performance as Maestro, adding depth and nuance to the role while capturing the truly terrifying and often campy element of a God as well.
Screen Rant interviewed Monsoon about her role as Maestro in the new episode of Doctor Who, “The Devil’s Chord.” She revealed why the Toymaker and Missy were a major part of how she crafted Maestro and why Davies knew she would be perfect for the role. Monsoon also explained why the message of this episode is so important to her and touched on the possibility of Maestro returning in the future.
Davies knew Monsoon would be perfect for the role of Maestro, the new villain with a connection to the Toymaker trying to wipe out all music. This character needs to have the over-the-top energy of the Gods that Harris brought in, along with the truly menacing trait of being a difficult adversary for the Doctor. She revealed how Davies knew she could bring Maestro to life.
One of the things I found really interesting was Maestro’s connection to the Toymaker. So I was curious, did you have a chance to check out the classic Toymaker from the classic Doctor Who or gain insight into how Neil Patrick Harris approached it? Or were you going purely from the script and your interpretation of Maestro?
Doctor Who has introduced many iconic villains over the years, with truly terrifying alien threats like Daleks and Cybermen. However, one of the most notorious is the Master, a childhood friend of the Doctor who took a very dark path that diverged from the Doctor. Like the Doctor, the Master has regenerated over the years with Michelle Gomez playing a version called the Mistress aka Missy during Peter Capaldi’s era of Doctor Who. Monsoon revealed that Gomez’s performance was a huge inspiration for how she approached the role as “over-the-top, but grounded in truth.”
Can you talk to me a little bit about working with Ncuti and Millie and getting to toy with them on set because it’s such a fun dynamic to see Maestro just completely toy and mess with the Doctor?
I love the climbing out of the piano part. That was absolutely terrifying in the best way. Can you talk to me about filming that a little bit?
Doctor Who always has a message and the message of “The Devil’s Chord” was especially poignant for Monsoon. At the heart of this story is the importance of music, art, and artistic expression to humanity, which was not only something she wanted to be a part of, but felt more important than ever to show in the wake of how art and artists were impacted by the pandemic.
How did it feel to almost wipe out the Beatles? That was the part where I was like, I’m on board with Maestro. I can’t get on board with this.
I love the connection Maestro has to this bigger overall plot we have with Toymaker. Is there any chance we could see Maestro appear later down the line, and would you want to come back maybe with Neil Patrick Harris and kind of have an overall battle with all of them?
The Doctor and Ruby travel through time and space on adventures to unknown lands, to the Regency era in England, to outer space worlds and the Sixties.
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Source: Screen Rant Plus