Stop future-Harboing, these episodes should all be deleted from the BBC archives

You know has this series so far felt a little Disney ABC family Once Upon a Time to anyone else? I know they've said Disney is only doing marketing and streaming it for international audiences, but it feels like that influence goes further. Even if it's just been "suggestions" from Disney.

I want to see you do a one off review on Star Trek Strange New Worlds musical episode. I immediately thought of it in comparison to this episode.

I really appreciate how fair you were to this episode. I personally loved Maestro but that's just my prefferance. its so refreshing to see a review critisisng the character without it just being "Waa waa WOKE agendar!!!" Bravo!

There were a variety of different and contradictory accounts of the Doctor's early life before their travels with Susan. Most often, the Doctor had always been a Time Lord from Gallifrey and had not regenerated before leaving in the TARDIS. However, the Doctor's own memories were unclear regarding their early life and origins, and several accounts suggested that they had non-Gallifreyan origins (human or otherwise) or incarnations before the one who fled Gallifrey. The many contradictory accounts of the Doctor's early life were equally and paradoxically true due to the Doctor's biodata being retroactively manipulated by a number of factors, such as; the Other, Omega, Faction Paradox, the Toymaker, subconscious regeneration influences, and the impact of Doctor's own adventures through time. The Toymaker implied that he had a hand in creating the history of the Timeless Child and the Fugitive Doctor, as he claimed to have turned the Doctor 's past into a "jigsaw puzzle". Please 🙏 make a video about this!

THIS!

Thank you so much for this comment ❤

I’m glad I got to watch it at 6 pm

Exactly

I agree. The times for the 60th were perfect for everyone. Should've stuck with that.

Maybe if they just showed people dancing and singing in the street in a more naturalistic sort of way vs choreographed dance numbers akin to a musical.

Does this mean that all of the music from 40 years before this episode took place doesn’t exist in the timeline anymore?

But how would you know how to dance??

Yeah you can't gloss over that initial relationship forming, she says it's June 2024 for her, and Space Babies picks up where the Christmas ep left off, meaning it's been 6 months for her, travelling with the Doctor. Time skips are fine, just not over the initial relationship forming

Yeah I think it's because it's a short series they felt the need to move everything on a bit faster. I particularly noticed it in the first episode seeing as that's supposed to be the first time Ruby has been in the tardis and she already acts as though it's all completely normal after the first like 5 minutes. That and the fact that he gives her a key to the tardis by the end of that episode made everything just feel a bit rushed which I think could've been helped by just having a normal 13 episode series.

@@tomat05 when's the Doctor given tardis keys before? I know Martha got one way later than most companions, but I can't recall when others got one And yeah, there's so much other fluff you could cut from a 13 episode season (back when Russell last wrote for Who) and the new 8 episode length I think it's a slightly easier transition than most tho, to go from them barely knowing each other in ep 1 to being best mates in ep 2, Ruby never really had any skepticism or reasons to distrust the Doctor, should've thrown in a little dash of distrust between them in episode 2, like Amy and the Doctor's distrust in The Beast Below, Rose and 9's in The End of the World with him being overly enigmatic, etc.

@@matthewlacey4198 Rose got the Tardis key in the fourth episode (Aliens in London) because she's afraid he'll leave her in London, and I think he takes it back from her when she saves her father in Father's Day.

Exactly. Theyre usually very good about at least mentioning in passing comments/jokes how many adventures theyve been on in between episodes. But this was not explained at all.

I might need to watch SJA sometime then, because Maestro was one of my favorite villains the show’s had in a long time! I guess Harbo’s right, either a love or hate character.

Hey John 🤣

He probably was a better narrator than a musician

I had the same thought lol

He wasn’t really. Back in the day he was the second favorite of everyone. The John, Paul, and George fans would argue which they loved more but EVERYONE loved Ringo. He was the main character in both Hard Days Night and Help, the first two Beatles films. It’s weird having lived through this and having been a fan since 1964, to see perceptions of the Beatles that are disconnected from what I remember. I’d also say his drumming made the Beatles. It gave the extra zing to the songs … it brought everyone together musically

Ayyy also a thomas fan here, i worked on that roblox game Sodor online- music stuff.

The script for this episode directly says that the musical number is because of Maestro.

Nailed it. This also explains the Abbey Road crosswalk becoming a magic piano, the lingering power of the Maestro

Thank you, that’s actually cool and i hate musicals haha

"I saw someone state" Was it Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor in the very same episode it happens by chance? When he literally explains that exact thing?

@@cornparade6874 how rude

I love my dog He loves me too I haven't got a cat Only a dog

One of the songs of all time.

​@@jeckjeck3119I can confirm that was, indeed, a song.

Sounds like a hit to me!

I reckon she would never go after Kiss. Not with the demon on bass

9:48 😆

That's a good point! It does feel like it's out of sequence.

Now that you say that it makes perfect sense why it has been bothering me a bit. That maybe my only problem this series: it is a bit rushed.

Right? And it was glaringly bad on the Disney+ streaming end where both were released at the same time as a two episode premiere.

I feel that way about space babies actually. I dont think that shouldve been put first in the season.

It wasn't though. We can track the production and see that it hasn't moved at all.

...I didn't make the connection, but now if Maestro ever comes back, it needs to be the whole pantheon on a pedestal-esque platform stage, and their minions are the literal spice Girls, and they break into "so tell me what you want, what you really really want" and the entrance to the pantheon can cut to each villain every time it says "I wanna 'huh' " and then cut to whoever the big boss is on "I want really really really want a zig a zig uh".

It was my first thought too lol

I can appreciate it from that angle. I think it went on a little too long for my liking though, but with this perspective it makes some sense

Yeah, I’m not a fan of musicals myself, but I thought the song at the end was fun and fitting because the episode itself was a celebration of music, so it made sense to have it in here.

I don't think either could play the piano yet (Ringo certainly couldn't as George was teaching him on Abbey Road for Octopus' garden) but yeah, they were snubbed big time despite not being as prominent at that point in the Beatles as they became later

Honestly that plus the linfering effects of the Meastro (similar to the toymaker's realm sticking around a bit after his defeat) was my exact reasoning for the sequence. But if Harbo hates musicals as much he portays, I could see him missing that due to dreading the sequence to begin with. I'm almost certain we'll get a reprise of it later on in the season with a much darker twist.

that pun truly was a twist at the end

That's it I think. Nothing more complicated than that.

tbh I would've been fine with that. It just didn't need to go on so long.

It's a deliberate misdirection. There's always a twist at the end, so they put a twist at the end - following the rules of 'things being literal' that has been a theme so far. But that's the short-term explanation - there are several threads running throughout the arc, and the inevitable twist is being simultaneously resolved and lampshaded.

No it's the closing chord of Day in the Life

Having John and Paul "read" the magical notes was fun and all but neither of those two could read music so in reality, if it was left to them to save the world, we're toast.

I was actually expecting the hard day’s night chord when john and paul stood next to each other to play it

I thought it would be the "A Day in the Life" chord

She even looks the same as Ruby!

@@philiprandall9994 She does! I noticed that as soon as I saw Ruby for the first time in promo images. Apart from the different hair color. They even have a similar accent although Ruby's is stronger.

@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o Millie and Jenna are both from Lancashire. Where Millie grew up became part of Greater Manchester when it was created in 1974, but historically it was in Lancashire, and the accents are broadly similar.

@@ftumschk Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you!

Shakespeare: "No autographs, You can't be sketched with me."

Agree BUT wish they gave them some more serious scenes. Tone it down just a bit, let them have a boom town style face off with the doctor.

​@SweptDust5340 I do get that theybseemed a bit too campy, but rhere was a couple of bits of real serious sinister, for me it's rhe quiet bit where maestro figures out how to break it, rather than throwing a fit which is what I think a campy villain would do

@@01superchunk66 i agree with that and i definitely loved Maestro as a villain overall

Especially as most original new series villains are a bit bland. Maestro is the exception.

Same! When I was watching on broadcast I kept asking my mate "ok where's the twist? This can't be it, surely? Something's gonna happen at the end" - like the Doctor ends up realising that the world is now oversaturated with music which has a bad butterfly effect for the future

The Twist was the old dance they were doing.

It’s weird too because the musical just doesn’t serve any purpose, it’s just kinda there because “oh lmao we want a musical episode but forgot to write one in” It’s a shame personally because I really loved the idea of a musical episode, one perhaps with the villain manipulating people for their own musical themed joy

Have you seen Jinkx? Hocus Pocus is her default setting lol.

He looks cringe

Maestro was actually quite scary. The actor who plays him did a great job

@@Ri57490 Yes, Jinkx Monsoon. She’s one of the most well known contestants and winners of Rupaul’s drag race. She’s done television before and was on Broadway as the warden of the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

Strong disagree. Early series RTD has always been ridiculous and even childish (Adipose, Slitheen, burping dustbins, talking Rhinos) before ramping up the serious side as the series progresses. This is very much par for the course with Russell and I am fully expecting it to get darker. I am waiting for the full series to be out before making a judgment

It would be so easy -- you start the big musical number as diegetic from the Doctor & Ruby during the music battle, then it turns non-diegetic for a fun dance number, then they finish on one big chord: the chord that expels the Maestro. Works perfectly.

I'm a younger person(22) and I have younger cousins who are like 10-15 and none us think this is cool. If it stays like this, we're out too. RTD clearly thinks he's appealing to 'modern audiences' but in reality he's losing them just as much.

​@@Ghostman2122 I think once they had a character unironically say Doggo there's no debate about that

TBF the next episodes are starting to suggest that there is more to her finding him than meets the eye, maybe even a fixed event of sorts. Guess we'll find put in 75 Yards

I mean, finding out more about her parents seems like a pretty clear motivation for jumping on board a time machine

Hard day's night, from me to you, with a little help from my friends, which more songs am I forgetting?

@@LiorTamir long and winding road

I spotted Across The Universe, Act Naturally, Let It Be... quite a few more

I mean music was the instance used, that doesn’t mean the same wouldn’t apply for the other things you mentioned. Plus, I’ve always felt art is connected.

Yeah It kinda felt thrown out for the sake of it I think it’d make more sense if the threat was a bleak and grey reality ala the workers from Metropolis

Eh I think its valid. Music of some form has always connected with pretty much everyone, its almost ubiquitous, but plenty of people aren't bothered by fashion or books (I say this as a huge book nerd). Even if you aren't properly "into" music, you still have your favourite artists and songs. That really isn't the case for any other medium imo. Also, music was a massive part of the civil rights and anti-war 60s era (Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan etc...) and in the decline and fall of the USSR.

Awesome take👏👏

Agreed completely

Same I love musicals and cutting from Gatwa winking to the camera to the song was jarring, throughout it was I like "what the hell? Uh ... okay, I guess we're doing this now." There's KIND of a logic to it, same way the umbrella piano thing is 'domain lingering' so impossible things can happen at the end of godly episodes. But Gatwa literally never thanked or acknowledged the Beatles. It cuts from Gatwa and Millie being randomly saved and then they come outside like 'haha we won' as opposed to 'well that was lucky and a bit traumatising' Without the grounding and stakes, this explosively success-driven ending is unearned because there was little tension to begin with.

Also, I get its a 'music' episode, but if the Beatles have their music taken away and that's what brings it back, you can't NOT use Beatles music at the end. The song feels tonally off because it's genre of music has nothing to do with the initial problem they were fixing.

@@B-MC exactly

@@B-MCsadly they couldn’t get the licensing to Beetles tracks for whatever reason so that inspired the episodes’ “what if the Beetles lost their groove” theme

@@ItsButterBean1020 I was aware of that and interested to see how they twist it (pun not intended), I suppose my real issue with "what if there was no Beatles music" is the episode seems to follow that premise up with "well we can easily solve that. Just don't have them in the episode much." Like either music in general is gone and it's purely about Maestro shenanigans, didn't need Beatles at all, or make it a proper Beatles historical. If people were to say in future "it's the episodes with the Beatles in it" "oh cool what happens in it?" "A music God takes music away" "so there's no Beatles music?" "No but not their fault" "well how do they make up for that? Do they do a lot of Beatles music references? Do we get to know the Beatles?" "Na they chat with them for one scene and they hate music and then they remember they're musical geniuses, that's about it" "oh ... what's the rest of it about?" "A music God shoots cgi music at people." "And ... what's the point of that? Do the Beatles help the doctor stand up to them? Do they get an adventure with the Beatles?" "Na they hit a Chord in another room and don't even know what was happening and then everyone dances yo a completely different style of music." "So okay, they couldn't get the Beatles music and didn't revolve the episode around them, what was the point?" "They wanted the Beatles in an episode. Is development and humanisation necessary?" (I'm thinking of how Historicals are usually written with organic and active characters, the plot revolves around them, here they feel accidental, apart from an excuse to go to abbey road they're an accidental inclusion.) Like its not that theyre not in it or they didn't have BTS challenges, but it sort of feels like they had clear reasons they've never done it, clear reasons they couldn't do it, and ... those reasons still apply. They just wanted it to be done, didn't think if it should be done, unless you can afford Beatles music OR have the time to focus on the four of them as characters, it's a bit of a waste and was better left for another day. It's not the lack of songs, it's the lack of Beatles.

Do you think Gatwa has the power to grow his hair at will?

He mentioned having wigs I think

@archiereid7037 Oh yeah, they were talking about a beehive for Ruby. Didn't think they'd also be referring to the Doctor's fro.

Pretty much the same here, the music battle was a bit muddled and don't think it was tense as it was supposed to come off as, and the musical number at the end. 🤦‍♀🤦‍♀ Though it is annoyingly earwormy it felt so odd to just have it _there_ on the end, a bit indulgent of RTD, I may have taken it better if it was integrated into the plot - like music was reintroduced to the world by the Doctor awakening it in peoples hearts and this song and dance routine was the way to banish Maestro back to their realm.

Good luck 🫶🏼

I was waiting for someone to roast this element XD

... it was a bridge too far ;)

It’s so visually underwhelming too, like damn why does this musical battle feel so lame

Like in the Unicron and the wasp

I also heard the song references and wanted to comment that they are appreciated

I bet he needed some Help to come up with them all. I tried to keep count, but got lost When I'm 64.

@@Rognik He must have had a little help from his friends. IT WAS RIGHT THERE!

@@jameskilgour387 pretty sure he used that in the review. I wanted to avoid any he'd already used

I get the feeling that the 'Twist' song at the end was a last minute replacement because they couldn't get the Beatles's Twist and Shout, hence why it's pretty bad. However if that is the case, why do a Beatles episode in the first place if you can't use their music.

At this point I'm convinced that The One Who Waits is Susan. Too many references to her.

@@dansharp2860 theres plenty yeah, i just find the waites thing very tied to the one who waits, as thats definitely RTD’s style. Although the recurring background thing going on right now is definitely susan triad showing up all over the place, although the season long arc is still front and centre

And the Doctor. Chris Waites is also known as John Smith.

Hmmmmm were they the good guys all along?

I thought the same when the last video came out and didn't hear their name!

Ayooo 🤣

What Road?

What do you mean? Not the best episode but plenty of good moments and there's definitely been far worse

Glad to see a positive comment on this episode. I love the shit outta this ep

Great job! You got ALMOST all of them! ;)

That's actually a massive oversight I think. Newton/gravity hasn't been fixed but doesn't actually end the world. But if the world was on the brink of the end when they arrived, then there would have been a LOT of damage already done. In giggle it was fine because the toy maker had just put an ear worm in everyone that'd make them go crazy when the whole world was online, and even then 14 went back to the beginning to confront the toy maker. Here its a basically magic ending. I guess they went with Flashpoint ripple rules.

And it's not period appropriate. The whole number is more late-60's, so there's even less reason to set the episode in '63. It feels like they're only there to make a call-back reference to the original show's first episode. They could've just as easily have landed in '67, at least the costumes would've matched better.

I like to think, that maybe RTD wants to get back to the roots of Doctor Who, where the targeted audience were children. At least, that's what I hope he does. I find the episodes very flawed, but enjoyed them somewhat. I loved the Maestro but wish they were more sinister to balance out the campy. I don't know, I just hope for the best, because I really like Ncuti as the Doctor and I don't want him to have the treatment from the writers Jodie Whittakers Doctor got, because that was more than enough...

@hb4080 Perhaps that is what he's doing, but man the tone is just all over the place. It feels like the show doesn't know what it wants to be, and maybe that's because he is slowly working towards what you are talking about.

@@micahfisher6125 maybe... man, I really hope he does. Doctor Who always had stinkers in every season, but (in my opinion) it was the journey of the development of characters, may it be the doctors or the companions, that made it good... we know RTD is capable, he's proven that he is, but yes, as of now, it's really all over the place. We just have to wait and see, that maybe (hopefully) it will tie up together in the end... (please God, make it so)