Story: The Church on Ruby Road
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 60 Minutes
Year: 2023
It's time for a brand new era of the show. Again. It happens a lot huh? After having his launch as the Fifteenth Doctor sort of undercut, in my opinion, by not changing directly from Tennant but splitting off from him...this meant we did get a little extra Ncuti right before his era truly began than you usually get for Doctors, I think it also just makes it difficult for some viewers to fully except that this is the new Doctor when the last one never left. For example, I watched this with my brother and his boyfriend, his boyfriend is new the world of Doctor Who, and they have so far together watched the revival starting with Eccleston and are part-way through Tennant's second season. They also watched the 60th Anniversary Specials. But my brother's boyfriend was finding it hard to except this new incarnation. Perhasp because most his experience is with Tennant and so he is just going through what many fans go through when it's time for a new Doctor...but he also just had this feeling that he wasn't really the Doctor because the other Doctor didn't go away. I think that is a definite issue.
But hey, he gets his first full blown adventure here, a Christmas story where he meets his new companion, Ruby Sunday, fights off some goblins, saves babies and time itself...its got plenty to enjoy. It's also merely okay. I think I found it a middling episode overall, but I did on the whole enjoy it. I am sick of big over the top specials, and want simple adventures again, so I am not going to complain too much.
I think the story felt half baked honestly, but I like Gatwa's Doctor for the most part. His energy and enthusiasm feels fresh and fun. He is maybe a little too cool for my tastes, I want the Doctor to be a bit of a weirdo or a nerd...and this just seems like the coolest guy in the world. And the Doctor shouldn't necessarily come off as the coolest guy in the world. Hopefully this incarnation will develop more as he gets a full series.
Ruby is also a likable new companion. Plagued by bad luck because of the Goblins, she shows initiative before the Doctor even truly enters her life, seeing the baby she is meant to watch being taken by the Goblins she chases them onto the roof and climbs up after them on their rope ladder. This is the kind of spunk we want in any companion.
The episode ends with a weird bit where the neighbor lady pushes Ruby towards the TARDIS and when it vanishes she tells some guy who saw it happen that it's all fine and looks directly into the camera to say "first time seeing a TARDIS!" Is this supposed to mean something? It felt very off to me. Like maybe it was meant to be a joke and it didn't land. Or it is setting up a villain or a new character and it made no impact for me. Also, being American, I had some weird "Doctor Who now on Disney+" teaser thrown in the middle. It was an awkward way to end this. Even the true last line, when Ruby comes into the TARDIS for the first time, and the Doctor proudly declares "I'm the Doctor" feels less exciting...because he has already said that multiple times to ruby throughout the episode...so I dunno.
Some of it works, some of it does not, but none of it was terrible. Well, maybe the musical number was terrible. But honestly, a decent start for the new era.
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