Transcript
Speaker: On today's episode of The First Question, the Beatles, the four Beatles from Liverpool, always asking questions like, do you want to know a secret? Why don't we do it in the road? Will you still need me? Will you still feed me when I'm 64? But none of these are the first question.
Speaker: this. is the first question.
Speaker: Hello and welcome to The First Question, the podcast where we talk about a Doctor Who story and then I make up a game show about it. I'm Mark Harrison, your Quizmaster and Conductor, and each week we discuss, rediscover and reimagine one of the Doctor's adventures by rolling a Trivial Pursuit cheese wheel for it. This week we're all about that music and entertainment cheese, so we're looking at 2024's The Devil's Chord, a musical episode that doesn't have as much music as you'd hope.
Speaker: but we'll see what we can do about that. So... Who's joining me on this musical mystery tour? First up, he's a writer, a critic, a visual artist, and as the host of the Pop Screen podcast, he looks at movies either about, starring, or made by pop stars, including eponymous Beatles movies like A Hard Day's Night, Help. And my dog, my dog, my dog, my dog.
Speaker: Welcome, Graham Williams. Hello. Graham, as the expert, do you think this stands up to other portrayals of the Beatles on screen, or is it actually not really about the Beatles? Yeah, it's a bit of a bait and switch, but still somehow more of a canonical Beatles movie than Yellow Submarine.
Speaker: Next, they're an award -winning musical comedian who can hear the Aeolian tones, the songs of the wind blowing through the trees. They can reach out and grab the music of the spheres and make up funny lyrics for it. It's the maestro of musical parodies, Frizz Frizzle. Hello there. Frizz, you're a songwriter. Do you agree that we have to confiscate Russell C. Davis' rhyming dictionary until we figure out what the hell is going on?
Speaker: No, he is one of the worst songwriters of all time. and um No, he he he just needs to carry on doing what he does best and introducing us to characters we love and killing them off brutally.
Speaker: Like, you don't see Paul McCartney doing that unless he's the one who killed John Lennon. You do get a little bit of character saying horribly in this, which is nice, isn't it? It's always what you want from Papa RTT. Um, Well, we've already watched this episode before we make a game show out of it, but for the listeners at home, here's everything you need to know about The Devil's Code. in 66 seconds.
Speaker: Sixty -six seconds. That seems very, very exclusive. Start the clock. Released at midnight on the 11th of May 2024 on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney Plus worldwide, The Devil's Court is the second episode of the first season of New New Doctor Who.
Speaker: Written by Russell Z Davies and directed by Ben Chessel, it stars Shuti Ghatwe, Millie Gibson and Jinx Monsoon. Other special guest stars include Shirley Ballas, Johannes Radiba and Susan Twist, again.
Speaker: The 15th Doctor takes Ruby Sunday to EMI's Abbey Road Recording Studios in London 1963 where they hope to see The Beatles record their first album. Instead they discover a world without music and battle Maestro, a powerful member of the Pantheon of Discord who wants to silence humanity forever. Promoting this episode, Davies said the prohibitive cost of licensing Beatles songs inspired a story and defined by their absence.
Speaker: Instead, it features original songs or lyrics by R2 -D and music by Murray Gold. including the closing cabaret number, there's always a twist at the end. Maestro is a child of the toy maker last seen the 60th anniversary special The Giggle.
Speaker: Drag Race Champion Jinx Monsoon later reprised her role for a live sketch called Bad Music. at the 2024 BBC Proms, in which Maestro was summarily exploded by the Doctor, the Vlinks and the Royal Albert Hall audience.
Speaker: It's time for us to summarily explode this episode. What did what do we make of The Devil's Chord? I'll come to you, Graham, first. It's funny you won the devil's card. It's sort of... That's...
Speaker: the two seasons of disney plus doctor who seem to be trying very hard to set up an order that you should expect future CVs to go in. And this is the big blockbuster episode based on a big meta kind of audiovisual conceit where the Doctor fights one of the Pantheon.
Speaker: edits. I sort of enjoyed it on second viewing, but I couldn't help but feel a slight hollowness of about it. maybe it's it galls slightly more when it ends with the entire cast.
Speaker: and some of the cast of Strictly Come Dancing making a literal song and dance about how clever Russell T Davies' writing is. And you do think, oh, get bent. But what precedes it is fun.
Speaker: Yeah, we're getting straight to the heart of the the song. we We'll get to that in a little bit. We'll stick to the the earlier bit of the episode. Frizz, what about you? I wanted more songs. I thought it was going to be a full on musical episode.
Speaker: I've been wanting a musical episode of Doctor Who for a while. ah Maybe Russell T Davies shouldn't be ah doing it ever ever ever since ah coming across his songs. i can understand why because this was the second episode uh from the disney series And I absolutely understand why they released Space Babies and this one.
Speaker: At the same time, I watched it at midnight when it was available on iPlayer. And I left Space Babies going, oh, that rocket ship just farted. I wonder how the next episode will be, and it hooked me in straight away.
Speaker: nice little double feature isn't it i also don't mind the strictly come dancing cast being on because it means one more tally of the uh taskmaster contestants slash doctor who appearance um yes grid and venn diagram that i like to keep updated well the tragedy if this is is that joel domus has just ruined my favorite bit of trivia about the doctor who taskmaster crossover which is that
Speaker: Every Doctor after Christopher Eccleston has been in an episode with the Taskmaster contestants, but Shootygat were only got ones from New Year's treats.
Speaker: Until Joel Dommert. Mattening. That's a good point. I hadn't thought that because there's Shirley Ballas, isn't there? And there's Rylan. Ah. Damn you, Dummets. It is, in fairness, it's it's not one that ShooterGat was in a lot.
Speaker: So that's probably why it's... i know that I know this isn't what the podcast is about, but my favourite bit... We're talking about this now. Go for it. Yeah, yeah. My favourite bit of Taskmaster New Year's Treat trivia that people get mad at when I point out is Adrian Charles has technically won a MOBO.
Speaker: Oh, of course. Yes. ah So you can, if you're doing a pop quiz, you can say which mobile award winner and then just... Do something that Adrian Charles did. And so many choices, all those headlines.
Speaker: Yeah. Um, I'm i' with you, Frizz, on this. like For the Doctor Who musical episode, you'd want there to be... more songs in it. I mean, because Jinx Monsoon is spectacular every minute she's on screen and I just wish there were more opportunity for her to sing in this. that would have been gorgeous uh my boyfriend introduced me to the jinx monsoon christmas special uh that she's done And that is a glorious 45 minutes of camp nonsense. And I would rather watch that over this episode.
Speaker: Yeah, it's it's just an odd one. She's more Looney Tunes. Mmm. Even more so than the cartoon character episode they do the following year, which kind of has similar problems. It's just an amazing, like incredible one -off idea for a villain in an episode that doesn't quite live up to it.
Speaker: Yeah, i wish I wish all the... all the pantheon enemies were as wacky um my My only regret about um well the Sue Tech appearance is he didn't go ha ha ha ha ha ha ha when he first appeared. Oh, woof it. yeah Yeah, hearing that, ah hearing that 98 -year -old actor just ah go through those dulcet tones.
Speaker: well this is like the the clearest idea of where the season's going isn't it that you get a pyramids of mars homage in this you get like a sort of scene where they go forward to the future to say what will happen if if we leave now and see tix coming later in the season then you also get you know susan triad turn up susan twists an actor i'm convinced is only cast because the name and is she this time susan t lady she's just there making anachronistic references. We get a mention of the Doctor's granddaughter too, and according to Russell T Davies, Disney really responded to that, which is how we got to...
Speaker: Whatever that was. Yeah. It's so much law to drop on Hey, it's a jumping on point for Doctor Who. Ha ha, talking babies, farting rocket. Now then, have you watched Periods of Mars? Have you watched her the William Hartman episodes? What do you mean you haven't?
Speaker: And it's just like, no, I don't want homework to enjoy Doctor Who. I really don't. And I'm a fan of the classic and modern series. Like, if they drop in a reference that I'd like, it'd be like, hey, that was cool. but I don't want it to be a quiet viewing.
Speaker: The thing with this is all of RTD2, as we keep calling it, it's sort of bucket list Doctor Who, isn't it? It's sort of like, right, I have to do the musical episode without loads of thought given to what the musical episode of Doctor Who is going to look like, whether it should have better songs than this. But, you know, as I was hinting at there, it's not really a story about the Beatles. It's a story in which you can do, you know, this sort of sad world where music's not there and the Beatles are just kind of in this sort of sad thing. But then still a black's pulled in as well because she's just contemporaneous.
Speaker: They've got rid of all music, but they're still recording music. I don't get it. Yeah, the music's flat. it still exists and they're still doing it and they're saying oh right write a couple songs for a couple bob All right, it still exists. Get rid of it.
Speaker: Well, maybe it's being got rid of and everyone hates it, but they're still manufacturing it. So it's kind of commentary on the AI boom in that way.
Speaker: Yeah, it's... um I mean, exempt from all the there's always a twist at the end stuff. um You know, my dog, my dog, my dog, my dog is a banger. like I think my dog, my dog, my dog, my dog is hilarious. like lyrics a Great. The trouble is, that's just the level. That's a baseline, Russell C. Davis.
Speaker: Can I talk about my dog for a second? Yeah. um So in a world where music is flat and boring, right? The worst of the Beatles, right? Here's an example of a really bad song.
Speaker: My dog is alive. He's not dead. right that is an example of a bad lyric Two episodes previously in The Christmas Show. That's a bunch of goblins who sing, he's the goblin king.
Speaker: He's not a myth, he's an actual thing. That is the same lyric. it's It's the trouble, isn't it? like There's no distinction between what's the bad flat song and what Russell C. Davis' next song and the song before. Like, Russell T Davies has tried to write a Christmas number one and then two episodes later he says, here's an example of a shit lyric. Just that again.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it's... I can tell you this. Like, I would say of all of New New Who, sort of the Disney Plus era, this is the episode you could imagine getting, like, Rocky Horror -style screenings at fan conventions, except...
Speaker: that the song the original songs are... lyrically atrocious. like I can tell you like from... you know, fan accounts people who've been to conventions they've played there's always a twist at the end of discourse and it's just absolutely cleared the dance floor That's it. course it would.
Speaker: And this is Doctor Who fans, you know. It's an odd thing for the Doctor Who musical episode to be part Looney Tunes, part Logopolis, but you know it's sort of a story that's defined by the absence of music. like what I like the the sheer cartoonishness.
Speaker: of it i think it's almost like a but as maybe after space babies you're sort of primed for it but i do think it's it it's a nice leap and once you settle into that i just kind of enjoy you be visiting this as i said i think jinx monsoon is an old timer of ah of a doctor who guest star villain.
Speaker: And I wish we'd got more if I... I do hope if it comes back. And that's a big if. um that you know they don't forget about the the The good stuff of the Russell d Davies era.
Speaker: I will say I really like the way they pivot out of the... sort of pyramids of mars lift with the ruined future earth where it just fades away and becomes that weird void that maestro's created
Speaker: yeah I think that's that's a moment where you can see why Russell C Davies was attracted to the idea of leaning into fantasy. It wasn't just so the plots didn't have to make sense anymore. You can do actual great things with fantasy Doctor Who like that.
Speaker: My headcanon is that the the doctor does that with every companion. ah takes them into the future, to the desolate. earth. Like and everyone's saying, oh, that ri that rips off Pyramids of Bards. No, my dude, he's done that to every single companion.
Speaker: at some point, just just just to shut them up. of like, no, we can't let it happen. what do you want You don't understand time, you bint. and yeah thats That's my headcanon. But yeah, i do I do enjoy this episode. Bear in mind the first time I watched it was 1am on a Friday night, Saturday morning.
Speaker: And it was like, oh, that was quite fun, but I could have been very, very tired. i mean i would gently suggest because i've noticed a trend in doctor who fandom of like really people prize the first time they saw a story
Speaker: which for a lot of people is, you know, watching a classic story on UK Gold on Saturday morning in the 90s. It means less when it's something you watched on iPlayer two years ago, but I would gently is suggest to people that who don't like this episode, who really hate it, that maybe one o 'clock in the morning on iPlayer wasn't the best time. to watch it and maybe you haven't took your best things up but I do think this at the very least when you go into bed at you know like nearly half one or nearly two o 'clock whenever it is I think this leaves you on a high because I think that bit
Speaker: where they do the keyboard. on the zebra crossing at the end is magic. It's it's absolutely beautiful. if The episode was... There's nothing else to it that I liked, and there is other things. like That would be the greatest note for me.
Speaker: Right, it's time to get into the quiz. I'm expecting big things from both of you from this question. First, because you do musical puns for a living, and Graham, because you're part of a music collective called Let's Trim Our Hair in Accordance with a Socialist Lifestyle. But do you you have a pub quiz team name you would like for this episode?
Speaker: I was just trying to work out Doctor Who Beatles puns, and it's harder than you'd think. a Hard Day's Nightmare Child. Lots of planets having northern songs.
Speaker: Drive my car full, I think was the best one I did. It's funny because it's time lash. It is funny because it's time, like, freeze, how about you? I asked the Polycule for suggestions for basically typical...
Speaker: pub quiz names and we've We've got the fastest temp in Kwisik. um We've got Atrivia Coleman as Quizner Zero. Demons of the Pub Quiz, but instead... Bleh.
Speaker: because it's a quiz and there needs to be a winner uh we have gone with um No ties are cool. um I mean, I'm happy to go with no ties are cool if only to okay the actual professional community. Let's go with no ties are cool.
Speaker: Oh God! Back in the USS Ardis! Oh my god, yes! Back in the USS Ardis it is. that's That's a great name.
Speaker: So in The Devil's Court, we see Paul McCartney and John Lennon saying they're just doing daft tunes to make money until they can get real jobs, but that's what they're doing for money. What would you two do if you won some money today, Frizz?
Speaker: I would probably, because at the moment I'm at the Edinburgh Fringe, I would probably pay someone to flyer for me for an hour. um So I can have a rest.
Speaker: Fabulous, Graham. Yeah, for a moment there, I thought you were going to ask, what would YouTube do if you had to get a real job? And that was the question. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, Yeah, a great question. As you mentioned, I am part of a musical collective. I have had my eye on an envelope filter pedal for a while.
Speaker: I probably get that really. They're great. They're like wah -wah pedals, but you don't have to actually move your foot. It's a zero effort funk. I like how both of our answers are, we want to do as little as possible.
Speaker: yeah it's laudable It's laudable. Best of luck to both of you. and There's no cash prize on the first question, by the way. I'm just asking what you would do if you won some money today. I really hope you do, but it just won't be from me. Um...
Speaker: No, if you're the the winner of today's episode, you'll be driving home in this Steinway Grand Piano. They do get around a bit, the pianos, in this episode. Before you ask, Mrs Mills does not come with the piano. She's just laid herself across it in a sparkly dress.
Speaker: Speaking of game show stuff, here's how all this works. You want music questions? You want Doctor Who questions? We've got them. Five rounds rapid of questions and games, where Fritz and Graham, back in the USS Ardis, will work together to build points for the first four rounds and then face off in a final head -to -head to decide who drives a piano home.
Speaker: I don't drive, by the way, so you are absolutely on your own figuring out how to drive out of here if you win. and But we look over here and the six -sided first question console is blinking all sorts of colours. it's time to hammer that e minor key get some dum -di -dums going for the quiz, which starts after this break.
Speaker: Cuddle! Have a break. Have a Kit Kat. Peace and love! Sometimes. I think I'm Jesus Christ.
Speaker: In a powerful new drama, charting how he met Yoko Ono, broke up the Beatles and left Britain forever. Christopher Eccleston is John Lennon. Hail.
Speaker: What are the balloons for? I'm setting them free. I'm such an African tree, me included. I'm the Liberator. So... What have you got for me? It's sort of a protest. I like a protest. It's because of you getting all this publicity just because of who you are.
Speaker: And who am I? John Lennon. Okay.
Speaker: Russell Tovey, fuck a fish.
Speaker: Hello, welcome to The Devil's Chord, the game show, the musical. Some people want to do a quiz about the Titanic or Bethlehem or Mars, but here you are in London. in February 1963.
Speaker: Round one is called Across the Universe. In the news, Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera. 13 -year -old Stevie Wonder is about to become the youngest artist ever to top the US Billboard album chart. And John Lennon's auntie nudges him to introduce Sir Black to Brian Epstein to the horror of millions.
Speaker: Heh heh. You cross the zebra crossing and enter the EMI Studios on Abbey Road. Just so you know, our contestants usually play as original characters. or if we can find them, two complete NPCs, just two side characters who are completely unimportant, made zero impact on the original Doctor Who story. So, Frizz, I'll come to you first. Would you like to play as George Harrison or Ringo Starr?
Speaker: I'd like to play as Ringo Starr please. said Thomas. Graeme, happy playing with George Harrison. Hugely, yeah, my favourite beetle. They are. that Everybody's happy. t m George and Ringo know a lot about music past, present and future, it turns out. More importantly, as Frizz and Graham contestants on this podcast.
Speaker: ah You know a bit about Doctor Who too, so... With this round, you're going to take it in turns. All the points go in the pot. Each answer has two questions. If you wanna answer the first question, a music question, you'll get two points. Or you can ask for the Doctor Who -related question with the same answer for one point. Is that all good? Yeah, happy with that.
Speaker: Right. ah How do they do this on quizzes? First name alphabetically, they go first. So Fritz, come to you again for the first question. Sure. for two points. Which singer had a UK Top 5 hit single in November 2007 covering the song Two Hearts?
Speaker: it's which singer had a UK top five hit single in November 2007 covering the song Two Hearts. Um... I know! Kylie Minogue had a song called Two Hearts, but are you on about...
Speaker: The Phil Collins Two Hearts. This was November 2007.
Speaker: Don't you dare all the information is on the taskers. I have a bet. I mean, i guess I guess I'm not allowed to sing it to try and...
Speaker: i only I only know the Phil Collins version, so unless it was... Kylie Minogue and Phil Collins. um I would like to push for the Doctor Who version. of the question please The Doctor Who question for one point.
Speaker: A month after this, who played Astrid Peth in the Christmas special Voyage of the Damned? I said Kylie Minogue. You did. Well, you didn't like anyway. That's not a cover.
Speaker: It's not a copper. No, it's not. That's an original block. Hang on, we're going to Wikipedia, lads. we going Yeah, Wikipedia this. i'm if if If it is, I'll be very annoyed.
Speaker: Then it's minus a point. We agreed. On question one. pulling it up there's two hearts to Phil Collins so Which is two hearts living in just right's one mind. And Kylie Minogue goes, two hearts are beating together. I'm in love. There are two completely different songs. Oh yeah, it's not a cover of the Phil Collins one, if that's what you were thinking. It's a cover of another song called Two Hearts. It's Kishmove.
Speaker: The electronic duo Kishmove. Of them. Of them. They didn't play Astrid Peff. That's why I said which singer had a UK Top 5 Hater 2007 covering the song.
Speaker: Too hot. So it was, it so... kish move were the original singers and then kylie minogue covered it I am absolutely fine with that.
Speaker: um as long as I get at least one point. I'm happy with that. We are not mad. Don't put it in the papers that we got mad.
Speaker: That's one point of frizz for Kylie Minogue, who had a... Yay! I completely accept that. Yeah, somehow not a Doctor Who tie -in, but a song called Two Hearts. I'm on to the voicemails and bye to the damned. Graham.
Speaker: Hello! for two points. What instruments did Doctor Who guest star Dr. Brian Cox play in the 90s pop and dance group D -Ream? Ah, hey. was the keyboardist, wasn't he?
Speaker: You're going with keyboardist. Would you like to hear the Doctor Who question anyway? You can say no, but it wouldn't be much of a Doctor Who quiz podcast. No, you you've written it and I don't want to waste your effort.
Speaker: Okay, for one point. So what instruments does Ruby Sunday play in her band in the church on Ruby Road? Are you sticking with keyboard? I am sticking with Keybox. She plays it again, doesn't she, in the flashback in The Devil's Chord. She does indeed. So that's two points for keyboard, two points of ground. It's all going in the pot at this point. You're working together for these rounds. but Yes, hello.
Speaker: Which 2006 song was the first UK number one single by Lily Allen? Twitch's 2006 song was the first UK number one single by Lily Allen. That is obviously smile.
Speaker: Obviously, Smiley, you're going with that... and i'm And I'm locking that in. The Doctor Who question, if you'd asked for it, would have been which 12th Doctor story features the Emoji Bots? And Smile is the correct answer for two big points for the bot.
Speaker: Excellent. Graham. Noel Retting and Mitch Mitchell. are the less known members of which rock trio? Noel Retting. and Mitch Mitchell are the two less known members of Witch Rock Trio.
Speaker: Oh, that's great. tough that um i I'm going to have to ask for the one point question there. You're going to go for the Doctor Who question? okay Yeah. Okay, four points.
Speaker: in Revelation of the Daleks. The DJ at Tranquil Repose plays Fire. by Witchbrook Trail. The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Speaker: It is the Jimi Hendrix experience for one point, correct. On another note, ah Mitch Mitchell is ah mine and Mitch Ben's child. yeah Congratulations.
Speaker: Frizz, Dancing Queen, Spaceman and Kung Fu Fighting are all UK number one singles named in the lyrics to which other UK number one single? Dancing Queen, Spaceman, and Kung Fu Fighting are all named in the lyrics to which other UK number one single?
Speaker: Joe. Dancing Queen. Da da da da. down What's the title? I mean, you're there, but don't sing it because we don't have any. Much like Russell C. Davis with the Beatles. We can't license anything, so don't sing it.
Speaker: Spice up your life. You want me to spice up your life for two points? I am. The Doctor Who question, had you asked for it, would have been in the giggle. The Toymaker arrives at Uni HQ with a surreal dance number to which 1990s song and it is Spice Up Your Life for two points. yeah Vindication. Well done. Graham.
Speaker: Hello. Which singer won the 2005 Brit Award for Album of the Year for her album Second Nature? Which singer won the 2005 Brit Award for Album of the Year for her album Second Nature?
Speaker: second nature Hmm. There's quite a lot of female solo artists around that point but that isn't ringing a bell for any of them.
Speaker: I'm not gonna risk locking anything in. I'm gonna ask for the Doctor Who question. The Doctor Who question for one point. who plays Abigail Pettigrew and also sings Abigail's song in the 2010 Christmas special, A Christmas Carol.
Speaker: Yeah, I think i've I've worked out why I didn't get it. Not quite my tempo. That is... Yeah. That's Catherine Jenkins. Katherine Jenkins is correct for one point.
Speaker: Frizz. Yes. Carl Orff's Music for Kinder. is a five -volume guide to playing what musical instrument? I'll read that again because there's German in it. Karl Orff's Musik für Kinder.
Speaker: is a fine volume guide to playing water musical instruments. well He sounds like... He's from Kraftwerk. um i don't I don't know if that's racist.
Speaker: um No, I'm, uh... I would say that's up to Germany, but...
Speaker: um I'm going to go with the Doctor Who question. The Doctor Who question. For one point, the second Doctor is known one for carrying and playing what musical instruments? The second Doctor is known for carrying and playing what musical instrument?
Speaker: A recorder. It is a recorder for one point. Five volumes of recorded music. Where is this played? Guantanamo Bay? Ha ha. I would suggest...
Speaker: and Kinder was the clue in that one, not the Peter Davison story. the Yeah, it's for kids. So, yeah yeah, it's an instructional thing. Well, kids are allowed to play other instruments.
Speaker: Yeah, they might like music more if they learn to play other instruments. Graham. Yeah. Which English language single is based on a Zulu song called Mbube?
Speaker: Originally recorded in South Africa in 1939. Which English language single is based on a Zulu song called Mbube, originally recorded in South Africa in 1939?
Speaker: and The only thing that's coming to mind that's like... been a pop standard with that kind of background is The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Speaker: uh which was oh yes Thanks. Do I want to lock that in? Hmm. Do you? Do you want to? Boo -bye.
Speaker: Wait. I thought Mbube was short for Michael Bublé. yeah It could be it can be two things.
Speaker: um I'm going to chicken out. I'm going to ask for the Doctor Who question, even knowing that I may regret this a lot. Okay. the Doctor Who question for one point. In Rise of the Cybermen. Mr Crane covers the noise of cyber conversion with which UK number one single by Tight Fit?
Speaker: Where would you like to go with Val Graham? Do you know that one?
Speaker: Yeah, to to my lasting shame, it's the lion sleeps tonight. It is indeed. The lion sleeps so tonight. One more question each in this round. Frizz. Nice.
Speaker: In Back to the Future, which 1950s standard plays as Marty McFly arrives in Hill Valley's Town Square? In Back to the Future, which 1950s standard plays as Marty McFly arrives in Hill Valley's town square?
Speaker: Good lord. I really thought it was going to be... Huey Lewis and the News, but then you completely changed the decade on me like some sort of time traveller. Um,
Speaker: No, let's go with the Doctor Who question. the Doctor Who question for one point. Which song connects the Doctor Who stories Delta and the Bannermen and Sleep No More? Which song appears in both Delta and the Bannermen and Sleep No More?
Speaker: Is it Mr. Sandman? It is indeed Mr Sandman for one point. Right. One more question for this round. And if I'll see you, Graham. go for For two points, which singer made his TV debut aged 17?
Speaker: being interviewed by the BBC as the founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long -Haired Men. That's which singer made his TV debut age 17? being interviewed by the BBC as the founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long -Haired Men.
Speaker: I put it to you that he deserves more cruelty towards him. laughter
Speaker: ah I put it to you that you're going to regret saying that, Frizz, because it was David Bowie. i i I think I could take him in a fight. ah but You could now.
Speaker: So for two points, you're going for David Bowie. The Doctor Who question would be, in the waters of Mars, the Mars mission base is named after which singer? David Bowie is the correct answer. That's two more points to finish off the round, so... At the end of that round, you've scored a combined 14 points. Good work. For now, at least, you've kept the other two Beatles from quitting their daft rhymes and getting proper jobs, like talking at trains or making whole films by hand, as I understand it. George and Ringo have a pep in their step. going into round two.
Speaker: Round 2 is called... Oh, how's it go again?
Speaker: You arrive in the studio canteen where the Doctor and Ruby Sunday are looking for the Beatles. The Doctor tells Sir Paul McCartney about where music went. Ruby talks to John Lennon about how he wakes up crying because he knows there's something missing in the world.
Speaker: George and Ringo have just spared dicks in all this, are left over by the tea table when you hear someone call out. Itch, you remember never wanted to - That's cucks. Hmm. Ha ha!
Speaker: You turn. And see that it's Susan T. Lady, that mysterious older cockney woman who keeps appearing all over time and space, making anachronistic pop culture references while being a washerwoman or a countess or an ambulance or something.
Speaker: Hey. I used to like when they did the intros you know sounded nothing like what they're supposed to sound like but I did laugh this should bring that back you know there was this one like Oh, how's it going again?
Speaker: Why is why's she Australian? so
Speaker: Shut up, that's why.
Speaker: I played Ashby Pet, you know. Leaving a aside that Nevermind the Buscocks won't even start for another 33 years, and then they did bring it back, it's just... Pricks haven't noticed. You realise that this woman is going to reenact an intros round, acapella in a questionable Cockney accent. How are you both feeling about the quiz right now?
Speaker: I'm I'm really hoping that you do Abigail's song and the falsettos and everything. Yeah, I'm Hoping there's some Diamante Galas in your record collection. I think you've got a secret five octave for range, Mark. I just think you keep it quiet. but What do you mean? Do you mean Susan has a secret five octave range? Oh, sorry. Yes. Sorry, Susan. This is just typical. You're just talking to me because I'm the man. She's the one doing all the work here.
Speaker: Susan C. Niddy is trying her hardest, all right. She's very trained.
Speaker: This isn't the Australian tea lady. In this round, do you have to listen to Susan T. Lady do her awkward intro and for two points each, tell us what songs they're meant to be. You may confer because let's face it, it's going to be a long round otherwise anyway.
Speaker: There are five intros in total that Susan's going to do for you, and if it helps, they all happen to be songs that are featured in Doctor Who. Go on, let's take it away. Alright then. Dang! Da -da -da! Ta -da -da -da -da -da -da. Da -da -da, da -da, da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da. -da -da -da!
Speaker: She's tried her hardest and and doesn that best i think that's all we can well it's left us for us to ask you um what song do you think that was I think I know what it was. I think it was ah the knack doing Toxic by Britney.
Speaker: ah ah Susan, was it toxic by Britney Spears? ah It wasn't all it. You know, that song's i about a super vet. Oh, I like him. Cor, he can give my puppies a once -over any time he likes. that She's so Australian!
Speaker: She's gotten more Australian. Right, so two big points for Toxic by Britney Spears. Let's have another one. ash Should we have another one? Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.
Speaker: Doo -doo.
Speaker: Doo! Yeah.
Speaker: All the fags are getting to him again. Yeah. Sorry, Susan. There you go, Susan. Sorry, cough it up. Cough it up. It's all those Winfield cigarettes. Yeah. um the ah the The Australian listeners will appreciate that joke.
Speaker: Right, while susanest Susan gets that over system, what do you think that was? I think I've got that. I think that's Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. What are you going for? Love will tear us apart by Joy Division? You're right, Susan. Oh, and have a lozenge. Come on, what was that? Hmm.
Speaker: It was, no! Yeah. but Ian do you know they nearly had that Malcolm Tucker playing that on his guitar while two girls are getting off with each other? Bleeding Moffat. It pops up in school reunion and all.
Speaker: Yeah. Ha! Guys, this is the first time I'm picking this up. Do you think that Susan T. Liddy sounds a bit Australian? ah One thing we know about her is that she's...
Speaker: She's... She's a well -travelled woman, right? Yeah, she gets a little bit of accent from everywhere. Yeah, and so good at accents. Lots of planets have an Australia. laughter It was Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. Two more points. Right, ready for another one, Susan? That's all I ever be. Okay, let's go.
Speaker: ah
Speaker: Um... Was that the James Bond theme? I don't think it was. umless Yeah, it sounded a bit James Bond -y at the start. It sounded like a copyright -free James Bond.
Speaker: Yeah. it's it yeah it's the Yeah, it's the my dog version of the James Bond theme.
Speaker: What could it be?
Speaker: Um... Okay. Is it possibly a Murray Gold original? Like, is it the 15th Doctor's theme? Da diddlea daa du and de la -da but -da ta -da Is that how it It didn't sound like anything.
Speaker: Yeah, thanks. This is the beauty of the Buzzcocks intro, when Susan does it. i don't know i'm gonna say uh in spyfall there was a lot of copyright free james bond twangs so one of them Okay, is that what we're going for?
Speaker: I don't have anything better, maddeningly. it's It's doing my nut, but it's... It's the case. Right, well, just remember Susan tried her hardest. Susan, what was that meant to be? It was Supermassive Blackout by Muse!
Speaker: Ha ha! You sound like the Doctor Who theme, though. How could you mess that up? No, Oprah Isaacson's like the Doctor Who. Oh, okay. Yeah, she scar she was doing super massive black holes. Yeah, yeah, do you remember that one from the Rebel Flesh?
Speaker: Dear me lemon, no one remembers the rebel fish! and So and no points for that one. It was Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. And here's how it should have sounded.
Speaker: I'm not going to do that.
Speaker: Do you want one more? Go on, we can go for a couple more probably. Alright!
Speaker: dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun Dun dun! Done. That was much better than the other one, Susan. What do we make of that one? oh the dun dun dun dun is uh There's definitely... Something that that's suggesting to me, but what is it? It's the inter -scene change of law and order.
Speaker: The only thing I can think of is 99 Red Balloons. stick didda di da did it da yeah I'll do it in Susan style. you da like da did da da None of us will be able to sing an instrumental bit of a song without putting on the voice of a strangely international old tea lady after this.
Speaker: Any guesses for this one, for number four? Not a clue. No. All right, Susan, what was it? It was Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Tewi and the Blockheads.
Speaker: Of course it was. Of course it was, Susan, with the diddins. Yeah. yeah Yeah, it's so great to see what she was getting up there, don't you? Yeah, that's agonising to me. What episode was that in?
Speaker: Tooth and Claw. Yes, another one. He sings in that TARDIS. How come there's more music in that TARDIS when they don't have a jukebox than when they do? All right, Susan. All right. Can we have one more and then let's draw a line under this.
Speaker: Da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da.
Speaker: Dad! Dad! Da da da da da. Okay.
Speaker: Oh. I love it. Um... i I don't... Again, I don't know. Are you sure you're listening to the correct songs before you play them?
Speaker: Susan? Yeah! Alright, yeah, she's sure. Oh, it's maddening this because every time... ah Susan clears her throat, I think, oh, I know this one, it's Napalm Death and then the song starts and I'm completely lost. Yeah. I don't know. They're all songs that are featured in Doctor Who, if that's any help. It's not ready to come up loads in the rest of the round. Jeez, mate. I didn't realise that.
Speaker: so Susan, could we can we listen to it again? Go on then! Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.
Speaker: Did that help? It did not, I'm afraid. Thank you. Well, we've had some laughs. We've made some friends along the way. I give up. I absolutely give up.
Speaker: Well, you don't know that one. It was making your mind up. box piece! Eyah! Watch this! And with that, she tears herself. All right. And there's nothing underneath. um There's tea everywhere. The other Beatles are screaming. Everyone else is crying. People don't grab dare grab her in case they get scolded. But never mind. You scored four points out of ten ah in that round.
Speaker: Beautiful. Somehow. I'm not sure how. Which gives you a running total of 21. But when you look in your teaspoon, you see a sinister face. Are we going to hear the voice that goes with this face?
Speaker: Ha ha!
Speaker: Nope.
Speaker: Round three is called Basement Tracks with 2X. You've attracted maestro's ire and with all of your listening to Susan T. Lady and questioning her accent and general choices in that intro as well.
Speaker: There's nothing to do but bravely run away. Um, Maestro gives chase, waggling a tuning fork about on the lookout for the two missing Beatles, dipping into the dark, dark basement. There's nothing to do but wait until they've moved on.
Speaker: So while we're here, fancy another quiz round to pass the time? Yeah. Yeah. This round's all about music in Doctor Who or in and around Doctor Who. It's points builder once again, two points per correct answer and it's timed. You've got two minutes on the clock.
Speaker: you take it in turns to answer and you need to score for player to pass to the other player So if you get one wrong, the next question is yours as well. And we go on till you get one right. Our time runs out. Okay, you've got 21 points so far. Graham, we'll start with you this time because you first started last time. And two minutes on the clock, your time starts when you hear Maestro's Tuning Fork.
Speaker: Ding! Graham, which actor released a spoken word single set to the Doctor Who theme tune titled I Am The Doctor? John Pertwee or Tom Baker? John Perswee. Correct. for the 2018 episode title Arachnids in the UK is a madly obtuse reference to which Sex Pistols track.
Speaker: Anarchy in the UK. Correct. Graham, like Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor is fond of playing what utensils like instruments? Spoons. Correct.
Speaker: Frizz, in which episode does the Master dance to Voodoo Child by Rogue Traders? Ah, is that the sound of drums? Correct. Graham, also in The Sound of Drums, which English pop group endorses Harold Saxon for Prime Minister?
Speaker: McFly. Correct. Frizz, Doctor and the TARDIS was a 1987 number one hit for the KLF, performing under what Doctor Who themed name? Uh... You possibly don't know. Uh, pass. The Time Lords. The Gunfighters features a repeated song called The Ballad of the Last Chance What.
Speaker: Saloon. Correct. graham in the christmas invasion four sicaracs appear on tv post like the famous cover of which single by queen Bohemian Rhapsody. Correct. Frizz, in Attack of the Cybermen, the TARDIS briefly changes from a police box to what large musical instrument? Uh, uh, church organ.
Speaker: Correct. Grim. In the TV movie, the seventh doctor dies on the operating table listening to the Puccini opera, Madame What. Pops a fly. Correct. In 2019, Jodie Whittaker sang the official Children Needs single, a cover of which Coldplay song? Yellow.
Speaker: Correct. Graham, complete the title of the Doctor Who novelty single by the Go -Go's, not that one. I've got to spend my Christmas with a what? Dalek. Correct. Frizz, which program was broadcast earliest, Doctor Who or Top of the Box?
Speaker: Uh, Doctor Who. Yep, correct. graham Saint Christopher and Sweet Illusions are solo albums by which Doctor Who actor? Peter Capaldi. Ding! Correct, I'm just in time.
Speaker: ah None of us banked. So at the end of that round, you have no points. No. the points yeah yeah You scored a combined total of 13. points in that round. And it turns out... doing a music quiz while he's trying to hide in the dark is a really terrible way to hide and Maestro finds you and chases you out of the basement all the way back up to the main recording studio for a musical showdown.
Speaker: End of part one. Intermission.
Speaker: End of intermission. Part two. it's got this it's like slow improv It's sad. It's like a D and &D campaign.
Speaker: that I don't want to do. So in my case, like any e D &D campaign. I have done one D and &D campaign. um It was during lockdown. It was four hours.
Speaker: There's only three hours to go in this. so End of part two.
Speaker: Round four, and it's time for a final showdown with Maestro. This round is called No Nuts. As Maestro coaxes you into a musical battle to prove to Scythe Wonderful who owns music forever. And you might do that by doing what you sometimes get credit for.
Speaker: Finishing Paul's half -thought -up nonsense. and Earlier and in the canteen, he was telling the doctor. about how he thinks of a note after another note, doing a G and E. a g again then maybe another G, then a C. So that's GE. GGC.
Speaker: You're going to have to play that tune. You have to finish that tune that Paul was talking about earlier on. So we're going to go on a blockbusting final quiz round where Maestro has instruments and you two are just answering quiz questions. It's a good format, this, isn't it?
Speaker: um We're going to blockbuster our our way through this chord. Every answer will begin with the next note of the sequence. And if you get a perfect sequence, it's worth 10 big points in the pot for backing the USS Ardis. If you miss though, my st straw will have you. Sound good?
Speaker: Sounds good to me. You can confer on this one. And it starts... Now! What G is a surname that connects Doctor Who star Michelle and pop star turned actor Selena? Go Mets!
Speaker: Gomez. Gomez is correct, that's G. Which E is the only UK number one single by Survivor? Oh. Eye of the Tiger. Eye of the Tiger.
Speaker: Is correct. What G is a UK number one song that plays when the 11th Doctor sees Clara Oswald's parents meet each other in the 1980s? Right. One single beginning with G from the 1980s.
Speaker: I don't know. It's... I know it's been too long since I watched that season. Fresh? Not a clue. Your pass? Puff.
Speaker: Ask. It was ghost town. Oh, of course. And Mwot G is both a Beatles trap and the title of the 2022 sequel to Knives Out. Oh, glass onion. Glass onion is correct. Which G was born earliest, Gary Oldman or Gary Newman?
Speaker: Famously, Gabi Gabri Derek Newman by 13 Days and C. Which C is a track by Athlete, best known to Doctor Who fans from the gallery scene in Vincent and the Doctor? Oh... Cold changes? Or...
Speaker: This is... choices, I think. No, no, no, no. Chances. Chances. Chances is correct.
Speaker: Take... All the chances while you can. hate the way he sings that's it you've completed the sequence let's see how your answers sound on the piano
Speaker: Maestro yells Um, no. And they trap you both in the giant drum and start banging on it. It's the ultimate humiliation. Later, Jesper Carrot will make a joke about how Ringo isn't even the best Beatle in the drum. and people will repeat it forever.
Speaker: Ha ha! Luckily, Paul and John bail you out as usual by finishing the secret chord. I'm banishing my straw back to the piano. But that's the end of this adventure.
Speaker: However... Uh -oh.
Speaker: Round five is called There's Always a Twist, There's Always a Twist, There's Always a Twist at the... Line. This is our next Lions Round in tributes to... Russell T Davies, lyrical magnificence. But at the end of this adventure, Maestro has been banished. The Beatles are recording, so sadly is Cilla Black. You've worked together throughout the quiz, but there's always a twist, isn't there? In this round, you're going to be going head to head to decide who wins that piano.
Speaker: It's the next lines round, so I'm going to give each of you 60 seconds on the clock and a lyric from a song. For each one, I want you to tell me the next line of the song. We don't want the title of the song, of the artist, or anything. Just to the next line or pass, please. The player with the most points at the end of this round will win our Devil's Chord episode.
Speaker: Graham, you scored more in the third round there, so would you like to go first or second? I'll go first. 60 seconds on the clock. Next lines please for each of these your time starts now Why you gotta to play that song so loud?
Speaker: Because we want to, because we want to. Correct. What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would he stand up and walk out on me? Correct, there's a Starman waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'll blow our minds.
Speaker: Correct. Starman, David Boy. Take my tears and that's not nearly all. Oh, tainted love. Correct. From the day we arrive on the planets blinking step into the Sun Pass.
Speaker: There is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done. Hey you with the pretty face.
Speaker: Uh, welcome to the human race. miss blue sky elo fly me to the moon let me play among the stars Um... Let me see what life is like on Jupiter and Mars.
Speaker: Correct. I just can't get you out of my head. What you're loving is all I think about. Ding! Correct, and that is time. She scored seven in that round. Fritz, that's the score to beat. Are you ready?
Speaker: Yes I am. Okay, time starts now. Is this the real life? Is this reality? It's just this fantasy, isn't it? It's just fantasy. It's is this just fantasy, Bohemian Rhapsody. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here.
Speaker: little darling Get away
Speaker: pass here comes the sun do do do do Doctor, doctor, give me the news. I got a bad case of loving you. Correct. Ground control to Major Tom. Commencing countdown. Engines on.
Speaker: Correct. Intergalactic planetary. Planetary Intergalactic. Correct. I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor. Do you really like it? Is it wicked?
Speaker: Don't bring me down by yellow Oh brother, you guessed. I'm a dude, Dad. Welcome to my dude, son. the Pass. All the young dudes.
Speaker: ah Gary the Moose. Smell like I'm sown and lost in the crowd. And I'm hungry like the wolf. Correct just in time, right.
Speaker: Fritz, you scored five. Graeme, you scored seven. That means you are the winner of the Steinway Grand Piano. ah You didn't drive here, did you? No, i'm I'm getting back home in style. No, my home is not that far away.
Speaker: And that brings us to the end of The Devil's College, the game show. Did we think this was an effective pilot for a weekly Devil's Quiz music game show? yeah yeah You're going to have a problem with traction on the second episode. You're going to be in traction if you do with the Susan T. Lady round again. I love Susan T. Lady. I hope she comes back before the end.
Speaker: Yeah, Susan T. Lady's been sending the pitch deck into the BBC, but and I say the pitch deck, it's more like voice notes, and for some reason they haven't got back to us yet. But never mind, the tender's still open for Doctor Who. Who's to say we can't bring it back as I'm mad?
Speaker: game show of some kind. Thank you both for playing and well done. ah just for getting through this. You're welcome. Graham, where can people find you? Well, I'm a host of The Geek Show's regular pop screen podcast. ah You can find that by searching for the pop screen on any...
Speaker: podcast provider of your choice. I'm a regular contributor to The Geek Show at thegeekshow .co .uk and it's Patreon at www .patreon .com forward slash The Geek Show, where among other things we do outside the blue box, a feature looking at things that Doctor Who alumni have done outside of the show. For my art and filmmaking and other things things that aren't really covered by that, I've got a website at grahamwilliamsonfilms .com.
Speaker: com. Very good. Frizz. Hello, I'm Frizz Frizzle everywhere. I've got a bunch of parody albums you can stream for free at frizzfrizzle .com and um throughout all of August I am at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. doing my own solo show, um which is musical parodies. and a panel show called what's in the box uh which is getting ah quite occult stages about it, which is pretty fun.
Speaker: Well, congratulations to Graham in first place. ah kind ah Commiserations to Frizz in least first place. We say at least first in this. There's no losers on this podcast except the guy shouting into a microphone.
Speaker: I'll be back next week with even more of the first question. But for now, it's goodbye from Graham. Goodbye. Goodbye from Fris. Goodbye. It's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from Susan T. Lady.
Speaker: I don't know why you say goodbye, I say yay! There she goes. well God bless her. We've got elocution lessons.
Speaker: The first question was written, hosted and edited by me, Mark Harrison Susan T. Lady played herself and remains at large. This podcast is 100 % unofficial and has no affiliation with the BBC, Bad Wolf, Disney and definitely not the Beatles.
Speaker: Theme tune arrangement is by DrMusicMaster. Kish Moore have produced material for Little Boots, Girls Aloud and Olly Murs, but not Phil Collins. As always, you can follow The First Question by following First Question Pod on Blue Sky YouTube and Instagram, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker: next episode. City of Death.
Speaker: Russell Tovey fuck a fish. so so we do fuck a fish graham i can't remember if i told you about all this you know blue sky but frizz was the main proponent of um the show we now all have to call Russell Tovey fucks a fish.
Speaker: like Before it happened, you you were banging the drum for that happening. Oh yeah. I did the joke saying, oh, don't worry if you miss Doctor Who soon, Russell Toby fucks a fish will be on. And it was after I had eye surgery.
Speaker: So the S of fucks turned into an E. and then uh someone so it was like chaucerion So people started calling it Russell Tovey's bucket of fish and then spelling fish with a Y. So it was fish, fish. And then the the beautiful thing is that then took a mind of its own. People started making like fan art and title screens. And on the um when the War Between the Land and the Sea was airing, Russell Tobey fucker a fish.
Speaker: was trending on blue sky And I was like, I have nothing to do with this.
