Doctor Who – The Church on Ruby Road Review

You know your enjoying the latest incarnation of Doctor Who when your only complaint is that the latest sonic screwdriver is a bridge too far in terms of qualifying as anything in the realm of a “screwdriver.” Because that is such a minor quibble to have in terms of the story, characters, and aesthetic of the new Russell T. Davies Doctor Who series that it’s not even really worth complaining about in the end. After all, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor is so incredibly charming, suave, and capable – and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday is so bright, interesting, and such a presence – that I find myself even more excited to see what adventures this duo find in their upcoming season of traveling through space and time.

But first, the pair had to tackle goblins intent on stealing a baby – first Lulubelle, an infant being fostered by Ruby’s adoptive mother on Christmas Eve, and then baby Ruby herself after she and the Doctor thwart their plan – to feast upon with their Jabba the Hutt-esque Goblin King. In terms of Christmas specials, this one wasn’t a huge production. There wasn’t a true threat to the world at large, there wasn’t a massive group of people or planets cowering in terror. Rather, it was a story hyper-focused on a single family and how the actions of the goblins were able to utterly destroy it. Remove Lulubelle, you take away a tiny child’s chance at a better future. Remove Ruby, well, you turn her adoptive family into a cold shell of itself. Ruby was the light that made her mother and grandmother’s lives better – that gave them hope and a purpose throughout the years and inspired her mother to continue fostering children and opening her heart and her home. Take her away and the ripple effect means those children lose someone who gave them stability, and those two women lose the person who helped them find their joy. Quite the commentary on the power of family – and how family and love doesn’t need to stem from a blood relationship (which, naturally, is the foundation of Doctor Who, a series that creates found families with every Doctor-Companion combination).

In terms of the villains, may I say how creepy and excellent the goblins were? Just incredibly detailed and incredibly performed. And so, so creepy in a way I didn’t expect they would be. Walking the line between creepy and scary is never easy, and Davies and his team nailed it here. These weren’t nightmare inducing characters, but they absolutely were villains who were eerie enough that I believed they could pull off what they were attempting without any regard for the people they were willing to eat. Which is saying something. They could easily have veered into campy but never crossed that line either. So, great work all around. They won’t become all-time Who villains by any means, but they were absolutely the fun one-off villains that the episode needed to really work.

Now, for the last piece of the critique: with the combination of Gatwa’s Doctor and Gibson’s Ruby, I think we’re in for a great partnership between these two. There’s a delightful chemistry between the pair – reminiscent of Rose and Ten, with a fun youthful energy, ready to take on the universe together and have fun doing it. Gatwa is already showing such a confidence as the Doctor that it’s like he’s been playing the part for years instead of one and a half episodes. And Gibson so far is the perfect blend of confused human and young woman desperate to see what else is out there and what else she can learn. I suspect we’re in for some really great adventures between the two and I can’t wait to see how their partnership develops moving forward. I also have to say that while this incarnation of the Doctor seems to be lacking some of their past hangdog tendencies (thankfully – I’m tired of sad Doctors), they still haven’t gotten over the hump that they might be the reason so many of their companions end up in complex and difficult situations. Their worry that perhaps they were the reason Ruby had bad luck was a symptom of past Doctors’ own struggles with how they impacted their companions lives in the long run. But I’m glad this time the Doctor pushed those fears aside and waited for Ruby to join them on their next adventure. I’m fully on board myself, eager to see where Davies, Gatwa, and Gibson will go.