Jinkx Monsoon’s Doctor Who character Maestro is ‘the best villain since Missy’, say reviewers
Jinkx Monsoon in Doctor Who. (BBC)
The BBC has shared new images featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon in her role in the new season of Doctor Who, as the first reviews of her performance start to trickle in.
Historic two-time Drag Race champ Jinkx Monsoon will star in “The Devil’s Chord”, the second episode of Ncuti Gatwa’s new season of Doctor Who, led by gay TV legend Russell T Davies.
Jinkx plays a brand new villain in the Whoniverse, the camp and “ridiculous, all-powerful godlike figure” Maestro, who is working to change the world – not for the better – through the power of music.
In brand new photos, Jinkx appears in a frilled purple gown, pointing menacingly while perched on top of a piano.
Another image shows Jinkx Monsoon in character as a wicked music conductor, donning a blue velvet jacket dress, while others show her in the outfit fans initially got to see – a black and white tuxedo cape, emblazoned with piano keys.
Davies recently confirmed that Jinkx’s character would be one that Doctor Who fans have never seen before, shutting down a huge fan theory that she would be playing an incarnation of legendary Whoniverse villain, the Master.
In Italian, “Maestro”, the name of Jinkx’s character, directly translates to “Master” – though it can also mean teacher.
Ahead of Jinkx’s episode premiering this week, critics who have already seen it have dubbed her performance as “blistering” and “an absolute scene-stealer”.
One reviewer from the A Bite Of podcast predicted Jinkx to become “a fan favourite” villain, while another declared Maestro to be the best Doctor Who villain since Missy (Michelle Gomez).
Writing in the Radio Times, critic Louise Griffin teased Maestro “as a villain that feels like they could jump out of the screen”.
“They’re impossible to look away from. It’s almost difficult to hate them because it’s clear how much Monsoon relished bringing such a camp, theatrical and, in the best way, completely ridiculous villain to mainstream TV,” Griffin added.
While reviewers are divided on whether “The Devil’s Chord” is a truly great episode of Doctor Who, they appear united in the fact that Jinkx Monsoon was born to play a TV sci-fi villain.
The new series is set to premiere on 11 May, with a midnight release of the first two episodes on iPlayer and Disney+, before both are aired on BBC One later that day.
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