Doctor Who viewers have same theory about divisive episode 2 detail

Doctor Who viewers have the same theory about a divisive aspect of the new season.

On Saturday (11 May), the first full series starring new lead star Ncuti Gatwa began, with the first two episodes becoming available to stream on BBC iPlayer – and Disney+ plus everywhere else – from 12am BST on Saturday (11 May).

Hours before the show’s broadcast on BBC One, fans rushed to social media to share their views on the first two instalments, titled “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord”.

The second episode has generated the most discussion, with particular acclaim being heaped upon Jinkx Monsoon, who plays Maestro, a villain that weaponises music.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

One detail about the episode, though, is splitting audiences down the middle: the breaking of the fourth wall.

Throughout the episode, there are a few moments in which the show acknowledged its status as a fictional TV show.

The first of these moments arrived just before the show’s opening credits played – before the usual score could be heard, Maestro is shown to play the opening bars of the Doctor Who theme song on a piano.

At another stage, dramatic music that sounds much like the show’s score can be heard by Gatwa’s doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). The Doctor looks confused and says: “I thought that was non-diegetic.”

Non-diegetic music is composed music that accompanies a scene, and does not exist within its world, while diegetic music is music heard by characters within a scene.

Some people lapped up the fourth-all breaking, while others were left jarred by it – but many concluded that this detail appears to be a theme of the season and believe it will tie into something grander as the show progresses.

”What’s with all the fourth-wall breaking going on? Intriguing isn’t it,” one fan wrote.

Another said they “love the way “this particular arc “is meta and how it breaks the fourth wall”, while one fan suggested past events have altered the universe Doctor Who fans are now seeing.

They wrote: “Whatever the Flux and 14’s salt have done, it’s really f*** up the universe. Butterfly effects, memory manifestations, diegetic music, constant fourth wall breaks and a Pantheon of Gods. This is not the same universe as ‘The Star Beast’.”

“The Star Beast” is a special starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, that aired in November.

“Maestro playing the Doctor Who theme WITHIN THE SHOW!? And then it playing on the TARDIS jukebox at the end? What in the fourth wall is going on!?” another fan wrote, while some suggested they hope it was a one-off and does not become a “common” theme of the season.

However, it’s being highlighted that the Christmas special, which aired in December, ended with a mysterious character, played by Anita Dobson, breaking the fourth wall.