The document is a story about a man named Maestro who can manipulate time and space through music. He takes a boy named Henry on a journey through history via a sentient piano. They visit the Beatles recording their first album and encounter dark forces that have caused music to disappear from the world.
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The document is a story about a man named Maestro who can manipulate time and space through music. He takes a boy named Henry on a journey through history via a sentient piano. They visit the Beatles recording their first album and encounter dark forces that have caused music to disappear from the world.
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A SINGLE PIANO NOTE REPEATS
First, we have a note.
Then we have a tune. HE PLAYS: Three Blind Mice Then...we have a melody. HE PLAYS: Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven Beethoven wrote this when he first discovered he was going deaf. All that rage... ..and fury... ..out of which... ..something beautiful. PLAYING STOPS Am I boring you, Henry? It's just a bit stuffy. Can't you play something more exciting, sir? There is one thing you might like. It's called The Devil's Chord. Tell me more, sir. It was banned by the Church in medieval times in case it allows the devil to enter the room. HE PLAYS A SINGLE NOTE HE ADDS ANOTHER NOTE DISSONANT CHORD Ha. Makes you shiver, doesn't it? Technically, it's known as a tritone. But...put it in context and... HE PLAYS A ROMANTIC MELODY Oh! Gosh! Oh, goodness me. KNOCKING What? KNOCKING FROM WITHIN PIANO Is someone playing a game? MORE KNOCKING Ta-da! DRAMATIC CHORDS Henry, get away from him. Them. What? Me. What? I'm them. You're who? "You're who?" THEY CHUCKLE Nice to see you again, kiddo! You know each other? That's my daddy. Don't be ridiculous. You didn't look at my name, sir. Of course I did. It's Henry... What was it? Henry... Henry Arbinger, that's it. PIANIST CACKLES Harbinger! MORE CACKLING Think of him as my prelude. And now his song is sung. Who are you? My notation is... ..Maestro. But what are you? I... ..am... ..music. And you, Mr Timothy Drake... ..you're a genius. Don't be ridiculous. You're the greatest composer who ever lived. Clever enough to find the lost chord. But it's so sad... ..Timothy. You never had the luck. You never got that break. I did not. You're right. Nobody ever understood me! All those melodies... ..stifled and strangled inside you. All those songs you never sang. They sit there still... ..wrapped around your... ..heart. Still beating. Wrapped... ..so... ..tight. Would you like me to set them free? I would love that. Yes. Yes! Music, Maestro, please! MAESTRO PLAYS JOLLY MELODY TIMOTHY CRIES OUT MAESTRO CACKLES MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING CLANKING AND WHIRRING MAESTRO SIGHS, THEN HICCUPS Now... MAESTRO PLAYS: Doctor Who theme THEME CONTINUES THROUGH CRACKLY JUKEBOX MUSIC ENDS I want to see... ..the Beatles recording their very first album. Seriously? You asked! If I could go anywhere in time and space, that's where I'd go. Because my mum, she had a girlfriend, Clare. I loved Clare. And she was dead into vinyl. She had all the Beatles albums, so we used to play them every day after school. Ten years old, I was. We had Revolver, the White Album. So, yeah, if I could go anywhere, then that's where I'd go. CLANKING AND WHIRRING That...is... ..amazing! Oh, right! Seriously? Oh! People always say the Titanic, or Mars, or Bethlehem. But the Beatles? Why have I never done that before? Come on! CLANG Oh. February 11th, 1963. No way. Really? Mm-hm. RUBY SQUEALS Wait, wait, wait. Wait. Wait. If we're in the '60s, what about my clothes? Good thinking! Go-go boots! Oh, my God. Eyeliner! Eyeliner! I want a beehive! I've got wigs galore! MUSIC: California Soul by Marlena Shaw # Like a sound you hear that lingers in your ear # But you can't forget from sundown to sunset # It's all in the air, you hear it everywhere # No matter what you do, it's gonna grab a hold on you # California soul... # 1963! THE DOCTOR CHUCKLES Oh, no way! It's like the album cover! Oh, I am having the best time! Look at the cars! Oh, come on! DOCTOR LAUGHS, RUBY SQUEALS BOTH: # Da-da-da-da-da, da! # Da-da-da-da-da, da! Ho-ho! Abbey Road Studios. Not called Abbey Road yet. Right now, in '63, they are... .the EMI Recording Studios. Huh! THEY LAUGH And how do we get in? Won't they ask who we are? Hmm... RUBY: Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hi. Janet said we could take over, so you can have ten minutes off. Oh, right. Thank you! Very kind! Oh! Yep, there's always a Janet. And everyone wants a cuppa. Brilliant! RUBY GIGGLES Good morning! Cup of tea? Er, yeah, make it a strong one, two sugars. Er... MICROPHONE FEEDBACK Boys, do you want anything? I'm all right for now. Maybe something stronger later on. What do you think, John? Now you're talking, Paul, lad. I just want a good night's sleep. You keep playing like that, we'll all have a good kip. All right, all right, let's take it from the top. I thought, the chorus, don't slide in the harmonies. Just hit it. Whatever you say, boss. Hurry up, then, George. We're only getting paid seven quid a day. Er, good luck. Thanks. Roll to record. And a three, two, one. # I've got a dog He's called Fred # My dog is alive He's not dead # I love my dog He loves me too # I haven't got a cat Only a dog # My dog, my dog My dog, my dog # I've got a dog I love my dog # He's my dog He's not your dog # If you want a dog Get your own. # KNOCKING AT DOOR Hi. Don't mind us. Just...cup of tea. OK. Going from the second chorus, playing in the last four bars of the verse. Good luck, Cilla. Don't let me down, Cilla. And a three, two, one... # I love you, you love me # We are two, we are not three # Cos you love me # And I love you # We're quite happy, I think, perhaps. # Oh, Cilla. DOCTOR: Don't mind us! PRODUCER: And roll to record, please. ORCHESTRA PLAY SLUGGISHLY: Three Blind Mice DOCTOR: Look at them. Everything's gone dull. No-one hums, no-one whistles. No-one taps their feet. I don't get it, though. Music isn't... Like, you can't lose it or steal it or kill it. It's just natural. You get music when... ..the wind blows through the trees. That's called Aeolian tones. But music - music is the highest form of thought. If you take that away... Finland? That never happened. If music has gone, that means everything is changing. The whole human race is taking a different path. OK. So what do we do? You take John Lennon, I'll take Paul McCartney. Find out what's happened and when it happened. Two cups of tea, my darlings. That's half a crown, ta very much. How much? BOTH: That is outrageous! Take it or leave it, sweetheart. That is daylight robbery! Ooh. That's me, Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady. Now, there was a woman. Statuesque! Excuse me. Hold on, Paul. Um... Could I just have a word? I've got a cup of tea for you. Mr Epstein sent me. OK. Um... You... ..are writing the songs for the band, yeah? They're not very good, are they? Oh. Er... Well, no. No. Great! That's great, lad. That's how it should be. It's not like the old days, when we had waltzes and fandangos and all that. But waltzes used to exist. When did they start becoming wrong? Dunno. Way back. '20s, '30s. Why? What happened? We started seeing sense. What we're doing here today is the last gasp. If I can make a bit of money out of cheap old rhymes, then I can settle down and get a proper job. It's embarrassing, singing. I just want to finish the album, get back to Liverpool and forget it. But you can't do that. We need you. What for? I'm no good at anything. But, Paul, see...when it's just you on your own... ..don't you think... ..there must be better songs? Songs that...lift you? And devastate you? And make you soar? Songs that are tucked away somewhere in secret, in the back of your mind? How do you know that? I just want to go home. Forget this life. Just have my tea and go to bed with a woman of my own, you know. That's all I want. But then why do I wake up crying? It's like sometimes, late at night, I get this thought... ..like, it's so far away... ..but it's a note. A single note. And then a second. And a third and fourth and fifth. And you put them together and it feels like the most holy thing on this Earth. Like a... ..G. Then an E. Then a G maybe twice. Then C. And if you put words to it, words right from your heart... # I love you # So much... # FAINT LAUGHTER MORE CHUCKLING MAESTRO CLEARS THROAT CLANG ECHOES MAESTRO SHRIEKS Don't waste my time. Do you know what you are, with your ideas, pal? Disgusting! You are disgusting! What the hell was that? DOCTOR: That's it, Vinnie. Nice and safe. I want that installed on the rooftop like it is precious china. VINNIE: Easy, boys! Don't hit the wall! Right. Let's head on up. Thing is, without music, dance must be gone. No-one dances any more! I mean, can you dance without music? I mean, you can, but do you want to? And think about it, Ruby - love songs! There are no more love songs any more. Oh, my God! There's no more love songs in the whole wide world! Ah! Whoo! IN COCKNEY ACCENT: Old London Town! Is that smog? I thought they got rid of that in the '50s. We had a really bad smog in December '62, but this... ..is more like a darkening. The world is darkening. I live over there. You do what? I live over there. What do you mean? Shoreditch. I'm there right now. OK, you're gonna have to start again. In the past, right now, I live in a place called Totter's Lane. 1963, I park the TARDIS in a junkyard and live there with my granddaughter, Susan. Oh! DOCTOR CHUCKLES OK? Your what? My granddaughter. Susan? We could go and have a look, but, you know, timelines - kachoom! You've got children? I did have. I will have. Time Lords get a bit...complicated. Yeah, but you've got a granddaughter? Like, now? Like, today? Back in our time - my time - agh! Where is she? I don't know. How do you not know? The Time Lords were murdered. The genocide rolled across time and space, like a great big cellular explosion. Maybe it killed her too. Doctor... God... DOCTOR LAUGHS SOFTLY Here we go, Doc! Hey, Vinnie! Thank you very much! Come on. Bit of luck, I'll have you whistling by sundown. Can't bear whistling, Doc. All those horrible tunes! No, thanks! All right. RUBY LAUGHS Oh-ho! It's all yours, honey. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm... I'm not that good. Ah, you are, sweet. I've seen you. December '23, King's Arms. You opened with One More Sleep. I can't believe you were there. Ah! It all comes back to Christmas with you, doesn't it? I need you to play again. But what for? At this moment in time, Ruby Sunday, you are the only music in the world. Let's see what happens if you bring music back. Right, I'll just... No pressure. OK. I wrote this for my friend Trudy when a girl broke her heart. Hmm. SHE PLAYS A GENTLE WALTZ RUBY KEEPS PLAYING SHE SOBS QUIETLY CRASH! No! Oh! CRASHING AND THUDDING CACKLING CACKLE RESONATES MORE CACKLING You called? That was the Giggle! Hide! Do what? We've got to hide! You never hide! I can't fight this thing. MAESTRO: I heard music! MAESTRO GIGGLES PING! PING RESONATES OPERATICALLY: # Where are you? # Who was playing that piano? The chorus of ancient songs calls me... ..Maestro! And who... TUNING FORK PINGS ..are you? Because... ..I heard music! THEY CACKLE And music... PING! ..is mine! WHIRRING SUDDEN SILENCE NO SOUND STILL NO SOUND WATER RIPPLES SOFTLY THRUMMING FIZZING AND BEEPING Sound and vision. SHE STARTS TO PLAY: Clair De Lune by Debussy Music! SHE HUMS ALONG PIANO KEYS CRASH THUD! MAESTRO CACKLES WOMAN SHRIEKS MAESTRO CACKLES MANIACALLY But who was that? Were they inside the piano? How can they be inside the piano? The piano wouldn't work! OK. OK, OK, OK. OK. You're scaring me now. That thing... ..must be part of the Pantheon. Oh, Ruby, there are... ...vast powers... ..beyond the universe. I told you, when we first met. I said... I said the Toymaker... And defeating him took everything. It ripped me in half. But you survived. It literally... It tore my soul in half. I can't...survive that again. The Toymaker said... He said... He warned me. He said, "My legions are coming. "My legions are coming." He said, "My legions are coming." But you made that silence with the sonic. That worked, didn't it? Yeah, one trick, once. That's all you get with the gods. OK, so what do we do? I don't know. I don't know, Ruby. That is the point. I don't know. But you always know! I don't! The last time, I got lucky. Catch! One trick, once. But this thing... ..is stealing music! I mean, how the... How the hell is...? I'm sorry... ..but the power of these creatures is so vast, the whole world could slide into the pit. Doctor... ..I know you're clever and all that, but I've got news for you. The world did not end in 1963. Right. No, but it didn't! OK? I'm living proof! I was born in 2004, and all my life I've had Beyonce and Sam Fender and Strictly and tap-dancing and raves. My mum sings Danny Boy at Christmas when she's drunk to my gran. Don't you see, Doctor? Music...exists. Come with me. So when is it for you, back home? What time are you? June 2024? Er, it's hard to keep track, but, yeah, I think so. June, July? CONSOLE BEEPS THUD Have we done it? Are we back? 2024. I've brought you home. TARDIS DOOR OPENS WIND WHISTLES RUBY GASPS SHE SOBS This is what we're trying to stop. But this isn't...real. This is... This is just like a parallel universe. This is your time. This is your home if Maestro isn't stopped. Where's my mum? I think without music, the human race goes sour. Without any way of expressing a broken heart, they go to war without even knowing why. WIND HOWLS Then how am I still alive? Why don't I fade away? Because of me. Boo! MAESTRO CACKLES THEY PLAY A GENTLE MELODY Maestro! The Doctor. That was you in '63, wasn't it, sweetcheeks? You stepped from one time to another, like...the Lord Temporal, who trapped my father and bound him in salt, yes? Child of the Toymaker. C'est moi, mon cher! THEY GIGGLE I should thank you, Doctor. Daddy was so bad to me! TUNE CONTINUES # Daddy was so mean # Daddy was so tough # Daddy daddy'd me # And that was quite enough. # If he was a living game, you are the essence of music itself. Ah! But what's the point? You've destroyed the world! Music is gone. How is that a win? Not...gone...darling! Hush! WIND WHISTLES MAESTRO SIGHS The sound... ..of a nuclear winter. The purest music of all. Aeolian tones. Music without the need for people. And every song that goes unsung feeds me. I get stronger and stronger until I can reach out and steal the music of the spheres. Then...the universe will stop turning. It'll keen... ..in a minor key. Aeolian tones across the whole of creation. And that lament will be my symphony supreme. With all of life extinguished. I'm going solo. How did you enter this world? Oh... THEY GIGGLE ..that would be telling, babes. No...babes! Your father established the rules of fair play. One thing that he would never do is cheat! So I have a right to know! A genius. A single silly man... ..who found the lost chord. Which means a different combination of notes would banish you. I said, genius! THEY LAUGH And you might be bright... ..and hot...and... THEY PLAY A FEW NOTES ..timey-wimey. MAESTRO CACKLES But genius? Oh, honey, I don't think so. DISTORTED VERSION OF DOCTOR WHO THEME What are you doing? MELODY CHANGES Everything resonates, Doctor, dear. Every atom hums. And anything that plays a tune is...mine! TARDIS THRUMS Sing along, Doctor! Everybody! What is it? What's happening? Maestro! Controlling the TARDIS. But I say...never. Never! CRASH Ruby! MORE CRASHING Are we flying? Only just. ANOTHER CRASH The only think I can do is take us back to 1963! CRASH! PIANO MUSIC STOPS BOTH GASP Where's Maestro? Composing. And the next tune might be deadly. CREAKING I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't hate me. TARDIS POWERS UP OK, come on. Come on. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on! OK. LOW WHIRRING AND CREAKING Strange. Did you break it? No. No, no, no, no. That's something else. Hadi ama! Right... OK, if we can record the right tune on the sonic, we can use this as a weapon. Right. No, no, no, no. Oh, oh, OK. We need to find the Notes of Banishment! DISTANT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS Ah, John Lennon's guitar! That's got to be a good start. OK. But don't you need to be a genius? No, no offence. Just a musical genius. Sometimes genius is just hard work. Yeah? If I can find the right notes... MUSIC GETS LOUDER Wait a minute. DOCTOR TUNES GUITAR There are 66 billion trillion different tunes out there, but... No, but just wait! LOUD MUSIC PLAYS NEARBY Can you hear that? That...music? LOUD CRESCENDO Doctor! I thought that was non-diegetic. Doctor! No... No! RUBY SCREAMS Doctor! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! RUBY SHRIEKS Doctor! Put... ...her... ..down! Never... THEY SING OPERATICALLY DOCTOR YELLS Can't trick me twice, honey. Then fight me! Huh? Leave her alone! But she's the only human left with music in her heart! Playing lovesick songs for heartbroken lesbians. And that just makes me hungry... ..for all those delicious songs. Let me go! That's right, pretty girl. Sing! TUNING FORK PINGS AND RESONATES Maestro... Maestro, I am asking you, just... SWEET SINGING What? That's wrong. What do you mean? There's a hidden song deep inside her soul! What is it? TUNING FORK PINGS MUSIC: Carol Of The Bells Ruby...? CAROL CONTINUES What is this? Christmas. The music that was playing the night that she was born. How can a song have so much power? And power like him? Like who? The Oldest One. On the night of her birth. He can't have been there. What for? What for? What for? Who was there? CAROL CONTINUES Enough! TUNING FORK CLATTERS MUSIC STOPS Whoa! OK? Yeah. I've got you. OK, OK. I've got you. OK. What was it? What happened? It's OK, it's OK, it's OK. All right. It's OK. This creature is very wrong. And this, this... ..is very, very, very right! Do you know what this is? This is the famous Abbey Road piano. They call it... ..the Mrs Mills piano. Oh, ho! Oh, she was a girl. We had some adventures, me and Mrs Mills. Ha! But this, this is the piano that the Beatles will play on their greatest hits. Penny Lane! Lady Madonna! All from this! So I know that this piano is rattling with all the potential to send you back to hell. DOCTOR PLAYS RAGTIME TUNE Music battle. MAESTRO PLAYS CLASSICAL MELODY DOCTOR PLAYS DRAMATIC PIANO PIECE MAESTRO PLAYS LIVELY FOLK MUSIC DOCTOR PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE MAESTRO REPLICATES SAME TUNE DOCTOR ADDS EXTRA FLOURISHES MAESTRO DOES THE SAME PIZZICATO PLAYING DOCTOR CONTINUES VIVACIOUS MELODY RUBY JOINS IN ALL PLAY AT ONCE MAESTRO SCREAMS ANGRILY DOCTOR PLAYS SINGLE NOTE HE REPEATS NOTE SAME NOTE REPEATS Go on, then. DOCTOR REPEATS NOTE Do it. DOCTOR REPEATS NOTE Can you find it? SAME NOTE REPEATS The lost chord? DOCTOR REPEATS NOTE Are you enough of a genius? Oh, I would never call myself that, Maestro. But I have lived. And I have loved. And I can only smile like this because I have lost so much, I've experienced everything, every single thing, and if that's where music comes from... HE PLAYS A DIFFERENT NOTE MAESTRO GASPS ..I can find the chord to banish you. MAESTRO GIGGLES DOCTOR PLAYS ANOTHER NOTE MAESTRO GASPS, THEN CACKLES DOCTOR PLAYS THIRD NOTE MAESTRO GROANS, THEN CACKLES DOCTOR PLAYS FOURTH NOTE MAESTRO CRIES OUT CRY BECOMES OPERATIC MORE CACKLING DOCTOR PLAYS FIFTH NOTE MAESTRO CACKLES, THEN GROANS DOCTOR PLAYS ANOTHER NOTE MAESTRO CACKLES MAESTRO GROANS One more. MAESTRO GROANS Just one more. One... ...more. MAESTRO WHIMPERS Bum note! MAESTRO CACKLES OPERATICALLY: # Maestro! # Song time! MAESTRO PLAYS BUGLE FANFARE THEY CACKLE Ruby, get the piano! DRAMATIC HARP MUSIC Sorry to keep harping on! FOOTSTEPS APPROACH DRAMATIC MUSIC No, no, no, no, no! RUBY SCREAMS No, no, no, no, no! RESONANT HUMMING DOCTOR YELLS DRAMATIC DRUMMING MAESTRO: You ain't no genius! THEY CACKLE DOCTOR YELLS INSIDE DRUM JOHN: I just want to go home. RUBY: Well, you can't do that. We need you! JOHN: What for? I'm no good at any... MAESTRO SINGS OPERATICALLY BANGING INSIDE MAESTRO CACKLES I can't breathe! MANIC SINGING AND CACKLING DOCTOR YELLS PAUL: And then a second. And a third and fourth and fifth. And you put them together and it feels like the most holy thing on this Earth. BOTH PLAY CHORD NOTES RESONATE MAESTRO SINGS OPERATICALLY No! No! RUBY GASPS AND COUGHS MAESTRO YELLS MAESTRO GROANS The One who Waits... ..is almost here! DOCTOR LAUGHS Listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Here it comes. BELLS RING OUT Everywhere! OPERATICALLY: # Music! # DOCTOR LAUGHS MAN IN DISTANCE: # Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro! # ORCHESTRA PLAYS NEARBY They're making music! The whole city. The whole world! Yes! Yes, yes. But there is one thing that I should warn you about, Ruby. And this is really very serious. With all of my adventures throughout time and space, I have to tell you... ..there is always a twist at the end. # There's always a twist There's always a twist # There's always a twist at the end # There's always a twist There's always a twist # There's always a twist at the end # My friend, depend Press send, let's bend # Cos there is always # Hey! # There's always # Yes, there's always a twist at the end! # Hey! # Hey, hey # We got the bop and the rock and the lindy hop # We got the jive, beehive and the Stayin' Alive # We got conga and the salsa and the mighty Big Bopper # The waltz and the schmaltz and no penalties for faults! # There's always a twist There's always a twist # There's always a twist at the end # There's always a twist There's always a twist # There's always a twist at the end # Pretend, descend Land's End, make do and mend # Cos there's always # There's always # Yes, there's always a twist at the end! # Hey! # There's always a twist at the end # Ah-ah-ah # There's always a twist at the end # Ah-ah-ah # We ain't no fools from Liverpool # Cos there's always a twist at the end # I always said that it ends with a twist # That's one good thing that can't be missed # Have a smashin' little dance cos we know what's best # Cos we're the smart girls from the northwest! # INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE # Sing along if you've got a twist # Sing along if you kiss the mist # There's a special little dance you'll run the risk # There's always, always # Always a twist # La-la la la la la-la # La la-la-la-la-la la-la-la # La la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la- la-la-la # La la la-la la la # There's always a twist at the end # I said there's always a twist at the end # What you intend, I can't defend # I think this song will never end # Cos there's always # Always # Always # A twist at the end! # CHEERING BOTH SIGH RUBY GIGGLES PIANO NOTES PLAY DRUMBEAT RAGTIME MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC STOPS MUSIC STARTS AGAIN, THEN STOPS FINAL MUSICAL FLOURISH Where are we? In the middle of a war. One wrong move and... ..boom. DOCTOR CRIES OUT Doctor!