The second<\/a> of the new Doctor Who episodes<\/a> is called \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Chord.\u201d The title and the opening sequence make reference to the notion that the church banned tritones because they were demonic. Although Doctor Who<\/a> started out aiming to teach young people about history, it has regularly repeated pseudohistorical notions, and this most recent episode is an example of that. The fact that someone called the dissonance created by two notes a half step apart or by a diminished fifth\/augmented fourth as \u201cthe devil in music\u201d<\/a> should not be taken as anything other than a metaphor. If you\u2019re aiming for beauty then such dissonance needs to be kept to a minimum. That\u2019s not theology, it is aesthetics based in physics.<\/p>\n Be that as it may, the premise of music being used to conjure, and the being (\u201cthe Maestro\u201d) who appears starting to play the Doctor Who theme on the piano and then having it segue into the actual opening credits is effective.<\/p>\n For those interested in religion, the Doctor\u2019s reference to everyone wanting to go to Mars or Bethlehem rather than see the Beatles is striking, and not just because of John Lennon\u2019s quip that the Beatles had become \u201cbigger than Jesus Christ.\u201d (See my short story \u201cCertainty\u201d<\/a> for time travel to Jerusalem in the first century. It was recently reprinted in Esoterica Magazine<\/em><\/a>. Also don\u2019t forget about when the Doctor said he went to the original Christmas<\/a>.)<\/p>\n What happens next is hilarious, if also somber. The Beatles (and also Cilla Black) are seen singing songs, but not good ones. Even an orchestra is heard playing a dissonant version of \u201cThree Blind Mice.\u201d It turns out that it is not only music that has changed, but historical events are going awry too. The Doctor says,\u00a0\u201cIf music is gone that means everything has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n The Doctor and Ruby talk to Paul and John and there is a hint that there is a holy music they have an inkling of, but then we see glimpses of the Maestro and that\u2019s it. No love songs, no dancing.<\/p>\n There is also a great open-ended discussion of whether the Doctor\u2019s granddaughter escaped the genocide of the time lords.<\/p>\n Ruby plays the piano in an effort to bring the music back and we see people responding emotionally. Then the Maestro appears cackling the giggle of the Toymaker<\/a>. The Doctor makes reference to the Maestro in religious terms:<\/p>\n \u201cThat thing must be part of the Pantheon<\/a>. Oh God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne trick \u2013 that\u2019s all you get with the gods.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We also get to see a world robbed of the beauty, artistic, and poetic that music and also mysticism make room for. The Doctor says, \u201cWithout music the human race goes sour.\u201d If there\u2019s no way to express a broken heart, humans go to war without even knowing why. We learn that the Maestro seeks aeolian tones, music produced without people. We also get a moving appearance of the Carol of the Bells. Hearing it leads the Maestro to ask, \u201cHow can a song have so much power, power like the oldest one?\u201d Am I right that somehow that carol is inherently transcendent, haunting, full of power in the way the episode describes? Is there anyone for whom it doesn\u2019t have that effect?<\/p>\n We then get a \u201cmusic battle\u201d (as the Maestro calls it) which has inherent religious overtones thanks to the scenario\u2019s depiction in songs like \u201cThe Devil Went Down to Georgia\u201d and the movie\u00a0Crossroads<\/em><\/a>. The Doctor seems to be winning but then messes up the last note. But then\u00a0Paul and John come and play, as Paul recalls what he said, you put the notes together and it is like the most holy thing on earth. They discover the notes the Doctor had played and add the last one. Just as the so-called \u201cdevil\u2019s chord\u201d summoned the Maestro, the \u201csecret chord\u201d (perhaps the one that Leonard Cohen says \u201cpleased the Lord\u201d) reverses it.<\/p>\n The Maestro, before being banished, says \u201cThe one who waits is almost here.\u201d<\/p>\n If you have read my blog for a while you\u2019ll know that music is one of the major elements in my religious faith. It expresses aspects of life that go beyond words, and points towards transcendence, depth, and mystery. I don\u2019t mean specifically religious music. Often it is music without words that touches my heart and brings joy and hope to my soul, as so often in this episode (apart from the bits of rock comedy).<\/p>\n Carol of the Bells is but one wonderful example.<\/p>\n See here for some past Doctor Who Beatles intersections<\/a>. The actual Beatles appeared on the very early Doctor Who episode \u201cThe Chase.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n What did you think of \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Chord\u201d?<\/p>\n Is It Reasonable To Believe In God?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n