We love that Doctor Who is giving Ruby Sunday the Last Jedi treatment

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the season finale of Doctor Who and mentions of child abuse by parents.

After a season and a Christmas special full of intrigue, Doctor WhoThe season finale of “Empire of Death” solves the central mystery: Why is Ruby Sundays (Millie Gibson) biological mother so important? A series known for its consistent mystery box format, Russell T. Davies deceives us by turning history and fans’ expectations on their head. Ruby’s mother, Louise Miller (Faye McKeever), is as normal as can be: a human girl. Not only that, but a vulnerable, frightened 15-year-old who gives up her newborn daughter to protect her. Louise’s courage makes her a legend, which in turn makes Ruby more than the sum of her enigmatic parts. Although it is a deceptively simple solution, This central idea is more inherent Doctor Who than any overcomplicated puzzle.

Doctor Who

The series follows the adventures of a Time Lord, “The Doctor”, who can regenerate, and his human friends. The Doctor and his companions travel through time and space in the TARDIS – a time travel ship in the shape of a police emergency call box – and save the universe with a combination of wit, courage and kindness.

Release date

17 March 2006

Main genre

Science fiction

Seasons

14

Studio

BBC America

Streaming service(s)

Disney+

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The origins of Ruby Sunday undermine the normal plot twists of Doctor Who

At this point, it is usual, Doctor Who Viewers should approach new characters with cautionWhen Davies relaunched the series of the same name in 2005, he built an overarching mystery in Christopher EcclestonThe 13-episode series handed over the solution to the mystery to companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), which practically gives her a cosmic heritage. Season 4 companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) temporarily absorbs half of the Doctor’s unique Time Lord intelligence. Amy Ponds (Karen Gillan) childhood is tied to a season-long mystery about a rift in space-time, and her daughter turns out to be the Doctor’s elusive, time-traveling wife, River Song (Alexander Kingston). To prevent a vengeful enemy from destroying all of the Doctor’s victories, Clara Oswald (, the companion of the 7th season)Jenna Coleman) sends a copy of himself into every vulnerable moment of his life. Davies and his fellow showrunners have also hinted at upcoming villains with recurring Easter eggs. Theory-loving listeners are used to this process and expect enormous answers.

For Ncuti Gatwa‘s first season as the titular Time Lord, Davies undermines the pattern he established. An old hand at structuring something that looks like a complicated puzzle from the outside, he deliberately introduces Ruby as a 19-year-old whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Yet Ruby’s lineage couldn’t be more normal (at least on her mother’s side). Because Ruby deeply longs to meet her birth mother, time and space warp to give Louise Miller a depth beyond herself — even though her actions are already profoundly brave. Time is malleable and memory is powerful. Does the answer make logical sense? Not quite. Does it fit Doctor WhoReputation? Absolutely. It’s a quintessential climax, a bit of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey hand-waving, especially as Davies brings elements of the fantasy genre into Gatwa’s Season 1.

The Doctor and Ruby Sunday are both adopted

The Doctor’s fascination with Ruby’s parentage lends an additional impact to the fateful night of her birth. Given the previous storylines, it is logical to assume – but is not explicitly confirmed in the text – The Doctor refers to Ruby. Season 12 rewrites six decades of canon by revealing that the Doctor was not born a Time Lord as they believed for a millennium. He is a foundling called the Timeless Child, a timeless member of an unnamed species who can regenerate into a new body. A scientist extracted the Timeless Child’s regenerative ability and grafted it onto his species’ DNA. Blessed with near-immortality, these people renamed themselves Time Lords and erased the Child’s memories of their past lives.

Essentially, The Doctor and Ruby are both adopted children. For Ruby, finding Louise is closure, and that is strong enough. The Doctor still has to trace his origins, but gaining the attention of an ancient being that constantly traverses time and space? That is what Louise hides with such dramatic intensity that not even Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) can find them – and this selfish concentration on a single character becomes the villain’s downfall.

“The Last Jedi” inspired “Doctor Who’s Ruby Sunday”

Russell T. Davies said Doctor Who: Video Commentaries that he created Ruby as a “reaction to” Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi And Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Davies imitated The last JedI‘s reply to Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) background story – another young woman with a cryptic identity – because Rise of Palpatine undermined his predecessor’s crucial statement that anyone, even a “nobody” without an important surname, could be a heroDavies explained:

“In the second film, they said Daisy Ridley was (…) an ordinary person with the power. And then in the next film, they changed everything so that she was the child of the Emperor, and they made her… she was sort of cosmic and had god-like powers.
And I liked the version where she was nothing special
if she’s normal. (…Ruby is not) the daughter of Sutekh. She’s not the daughter of the Time Lords or Rassilon or anything like that. Her mother is Louise Miller, who was 15 years old and pregnant, came from a dangerous, abusive home and left her child on the doorstep. And that’s my reaction to it. Because I think it’s a better story.”

Louise’s story underlines Doctor Who‘s optimistic narrative connective tissue: Despite all the horrors that humanity commits, their individual selflessness makes them remarkable. This is why the Doctor refers to humans as his favourite species, no matter how many times they wipe out the Earth. The Doctor and his companions, despite their faults, are role models of kindness, altruism and courageous bravery to each other. The companions save the galaxy just as often as the Doctor does, and sometimes just with their unassailable integrity or the literal power of love. When someone belittles themselves in front of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), he responds with, “900 years of time and space, and I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important.” And what better definition of bravery than a defenseless young girl?

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“The new season 1 of Doctor Who is just a copy of the first

No matter how hard Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson try, they pale in comparison to the last reboot of the show.

Louise Miller is not important because she gives birth to Ruby; an earlier season could have resolved Ruby’s storyline with her as the Chosen One, destined to defend the universe. This time, however, Louise is important because she is pregnant and living in an abusive home. She is neither financially nor legally independent. She can neither defend herself from her father nor protect Ruby from him. By leaving her newborn daughter in a church, Ruby has a far better chance of safety than a frightened youth from an overlooked demographic can offer. Louise’s “ordinary” act of defiant love is met with belated attention thanks to the Doctor’s influence and Ruby’s own love. Additionally, Louise outlives her father; she earns a nursing degree and lives comfortably and happily. This combination makes them even more spectacularand more human than a conspiracy that winds itself into tangled spirals.

Ruby Sunday’s return in season 2 clouds her departure

“Empire of Death” ends with Ruby deciding to leave the TARDIS after meeting Louise and reuniting with her lifelong adoptive mother Carla (Michelle Greenidge) and grandmother Cherry (Angela Wynter). Despite their shared grief, Ruby and the Doctor agree that their true journey is just beginning; it’s time for her adventures with her human family. However, Ruby will return after the 2024 Christmas special, as will the guest star from “Boom”. Varada Sethu. The phenomenal chemistry between Gatwa and Gibson was the selling point of the first season from start to finish, but Bringing Ruby back undermines both her decision and the characters’ heartfelt farewell. Although Ruby is the Doctor’s best friend, she is not her purpose in life. Although Ruby is the Doctor’s best friend, she is still not enough for him to develop anything remotely close to intimacy. Nevertheless, she heals his broken hearts. Since Ruby Sunday is a real Ruby Sunday, he might finally be able to muster enough courage to visit his abandoned granddaughter.

“Empire of Death” is also one of the few cases in which a companion left the TARDIS voluntarily and safelya tragic pattern that the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) – complete with puppets – during “The Giggle”. Davies has also started this habit; although few fans could complain about seeing Rose Tyler again, her return in Season 4 lessens her emotional separation from the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) two seasons earlier. Donna Noble, who co-directs the 60th anniversary specials, narrowly escapes a similar fate, albeit through a simple narrative solution. Ruby’s continued presence requires character work, which risks retroactively complicating her satisfying ending. For better or worse, the legend of Ruby Sunday lives on. Let’s hope she continues to subvert expectations by not becoming special for the sake of being special – or a Greek tragedy.

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