Doctor Who has teamed up with Disney+ to usher in a new era of the long-running sci-fi series. During the 60th anniversary specials last year, showrunner Russell T. Davies created an opening that has allowed him to introduce a plethora of new bad guys into the Doctor Who zeitgeist, preceeded by the legendary Toymaker. The latest, introduced as a descendant of the trickster god of play in "The Devil's Chord," is Jinkx Monsoon's Maestro. Stomping around the 1960s and stealing the music of The Beatles, Cilla Black, and more, Maestro leaves their mark as one of the best new villains introduced to the series in years.
Ahead of this weekend's new episode, I sat down with Monsoon to chat about her turn on the series. During our conversation we spoke about how Davies reached out to her about the role, the inspiration behind Maestro's elaborate costumes, and their connection to the Toymaker. Monsoon also discussed taking inspiration from the incomparable Michelle Gomez, who previously wowed Whovians as the first femme presenting version of the Master in Seasons 8-10. Monsoon had high praise for stars Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson, who gave their all for every take - even when they weren't on camera. Finally, we also chatted about her current run on Broadway as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.
The show follows the adventures of a Time Lord “The Doctor” who is able to regenerate, and the Doctor’s human friends. The Doctor and companion’s journey through time and space in the TARDIS - a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box - saving the universe with a combination of wit, bravery, and kindness.
Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the TARDIS, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as a unique immortal being with new personality traits.
As a Drag Queen, Monsoon has her fair share of experience in crafting stunning aesthetics through both makeup and fashion. However, when asked if she had any influence over Maestro's look she confessed that they "were perfect when they came to me." She went on to say, "I just loved the looks. All I did was say, “Yes, and…” you know?"
Monsoon continued, explaining that each of Maestro’s costumes were inspired by iconic musicians from The Beatles to Adele. As the costume designers pulled from these legends, Monsoon applied that to her performance, assuming that Maestro also took the aesthetics of these musicians. She explained:
“They came to me showing me these ideas for Maestro that were inspired by iconic musicians throughout time, so you get a little bit of Liberace flair in the piano key coat and then we have a nod to Adele with my grande dame at the piano moment, and then of course, Sergeant Pepper in my music battle. But all I really did was say to them, “We the people, them, the designers, are getting the idea for the costumes from the iconic musicians, but in my mind, the iconic musicians got their ideas for their look from Maestro.” As if these iconic musicians throughout time have interacted with Maestro in some capacity before. That didn't really change the costumes, that's just where we all kind of went, “Yeah!” And I guess leaned in a little bit. [Laughs]”
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