Jinkx Monsoon Took Inspiration From This Iconic ‘Doctor Who’ Villain for Maestro

Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 2 “The Devil’s Chord.”

Jinkx Monsoon just stormed into Doctor Who as one of the best new villains the show has introduced in years. Playing the nonbinary trickster god of music, Maestro, Monsoon stole the show in “The Devil’s Chord.” Stomping around in Liberace-inspired outfits and stealing songs out of the hearts of musical geniuses, Maestro is revealed to be directly descended from the Toymaker. Back in December, Doctor Who brought back the very first villain the Doctor ever faced and before he was defeated he ominously promised his “legions” were on the way.

I recently sat down with Monsoon to discuss her turn on the long-running sci-fi series. During our conversation I had to ask if she looked to any other Doctor Who villains to inform her performance. Coincidentally, she just so happened to name my favorite Gallifreyan baddie, “Oh my gosh, Michelle Gomez.” Monsoon went on to praise Gomez’s prowess both in and out of Doctor Who, “I just love everything I’ve ever seen her in, and she was The Mistress, Missy, and another extremely powerful character.”

One thing that Maestro and Missy definitely have in common is their lack of fear, practically laughing in the face of the Doctor. She continued, saying:

“What I like about the Maestro and what I like about Michelle Gomez when she plays a villain is how unfazed they are because of how powerful they know they are. I don’t know, I love seeing a femme character who’s just not scared. I love playing a femme character, or a character who has femme attributes, who is just not intimidated by male tactics, and I see that in Michelle Gomez. And of course, since she had already worked in the
Doctor Who
world, I kind of thought about how she makes big, big choices seem natural because she roots it in what’s true for the character.

So, I took that into playing the Maestro. Here’s this over the top character who controls music, who moves like a ballet dancer, I decided [laughs], but they still have something real to them. There’s still gotta be a truth to them. What I’ve learned from my favorite female actors, especially character actors, is how to make big decisions seem real by grounding them in something true for the character.”

Will Missy Ever Return to ‘Doctor Who’?

As someone who would love to see Monsoon and Gomez share the screen — and as bad as it would be for the Doctor — I think we need to see Missy and Maestro interact. Monsoon was quick to agree saying, “Oh my gosh, that’s another person I would do anything for — Michelle Gomez.” While Davies has said that the Master is “parked” for now, Whovians know to never say never when it comes to this character. The last we heard of the Master, they had been trapped in the Toymaker’s gold tooth, picked up by a mysterious red-nailed figure. We’ll have to wait and see what will come of that little moment.

New episodes of Doctor Who arrive on Disney+ every Friday at 7 PM ET. Stay tuned at Collider for my full chat with Monsoon.

Doctor Who

TV-PG

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

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.

Release Date

March 17, 2006

Cast

Jodie Whittaker , Peter Capaldi , pearl mackie , Matt Smith , David Tennant , Catherine Tate , Ncuti Gatwa , Jenna Coleman , Alex Kingston , Karen Gillan

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Seasons

14

Studio

BBC America

Streaming Service(s)

Disney+

Watch on Disney+