In 1925, a piano teacher named Timothy Drake (Jeremy Limb), shows his student the Devil’s Chord, which summons up an evil creature called The Maestro (Jinks Monsoon), who consumes the teacher’s soul. Then the creature looks into the camera as the Doctor Who theme begins.
At companion Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) request, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) takes her back to 1963 to find the Beatles recording a lackluster song about Paul McCartney’s (George Caple) dog. The song is in fact terrible and after seeing Cilla Black (Josie Sedgewick Davies) and John Lennon (Chris Mason), they learn that the world has lost its taste for music.
The Doctor has Ruby play a song on the piano that summons Maestro out of the piano. He laughs and the Doctor recognises it as the laugh of the Toymaker, the Doctor’s old enemy. Escaping from him, the Doctor takes Ruby back to 2024, where they find the ruins of London in the Nuclear Winter. Maestro appears and says that to defeat him (or her) the Doctor needs to find the chord of banishment.
They escape again, returning to 1963. Maestro attacks Ruby nut stops when the Carol of the Bells begins to play in the falling anow. Maestro says this song was played on the night of Ruby’s birth. The Doctor tries to find the chord that will banish Maestro but can’t find the final note. The Maestro traps the Doctor and Ruby inside instruments.
Lennon and McCartney arrive and find the piano with the notes floating above it, and they discover the chord. The piano drags the Maestro inside and the Doctor and Ruby are freed. Maestro predicts the coming of “One who waits” before he disappears. The Doctor and Ruby engage in a musical number.
The story was written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Ben Chessill. The music was written by longtime Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, who plays himself., Phillip Davies plays George Harrison and James Hoyles plays Ringo Starr, and Sargeant Pepper appears. Doctor Who designer June Hudson also appears. The actors wear 1960’s period clothing and wigs. It was well received by some critics—it got 92% on Rotten Tomatoes—but others thought it struck a wrong note. There was a great deal of controversy about it, ranging from the fans, ranging from relief that something good was finally being offered to outright hatred. The Doctor mentions several incidents and people from previous incarnations.