Rogue (TV story)
Rogue is the sixth episode of Season 1 of Doctor Who,[1][2] to be broadcast in 2024. It is written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman.[3][4]
Synopsis
This whole episode is basically a teenager's cringey Tumblr slashfiction come to life.
The Doctor and Ruby land in 1813, where guests at a duchess’s party are being murdered, and a mysterious bounty hunter called Rogue is about to change the Doctor’s life forever.[5]
Plot
In progress
In 1813 Bath two men are arguing, Lord Galpin is demanding that Lord Barton take accountability for ruining the reputation of his sister. Barton resolutely refuses, taunts Galpin and insists that the latter duel him if he wishes satisfaction. Galpin reflects and decides that Barton’s life is far, far more fun than his, gambling, affairs, insulting others. Galbin grabs Barton, electricity flashes, and a burnt husk of Barton’s body falls to the ground, another copy of Barton standing atop it.
The Doctor and Ruby Sunday dance in a ballroom, Ruby marvelling at how she’s keeping up when she doesn’t know the steps. The Doctor tells her the earrings she’s been given are psychic - they beam the information directly to her, and she can adjust the dance, so long as she stays off of battle mode. Their hostess, the Duchess of Pemberton, walks over to them and the trio become acquainted. Ruby notices some interference in her earrings, some feedback, and the Doctor endeavours to determine the source as the Duchess pulls Ruby away to find a suitable suitor.
Lord Barton approaches Ruby, and she finds him to be quite off-putting and rude, walking away. Barton latches on soon after to Emily Beckett, and Ruby, sensing drama, follows them into the library. Using his sonic screwdriver the Doctor narrows the frequencies to be coming from a strange man standing on a balcony, watching the party from above. The man introduces himself as Rogue, and after some extended verbal sparring, suggests that the two should venture outside.
The Duchess finds herself outside, and notices her housekeeper is visible to the partygoers, which she takes to be scandalous. As the Duchess tells her off, the housekeeper replies that she made a stupid mistake being staff, working all day. And the housekeeper grabs the Duchess; lightning flashes.
Ruby watches Barton and Beckett in the library, their lives a melodrama. Barton insisting that he won't marry Beckett, even as she tempts him, Beckett begging him to leave her reputation intact as she wrestles with his continued presence. Ruby stumbles into some shelves, prompting Barton to leave. Ruby tries to comfort Beckett, and ultimately the pair decide to go back to the dance floor. As they dance and after they dance, Ruby and Emily continue to bond, Ruby trying to convince Emily that there's more to life than just marrying a man and settling down - she can do whatever she wants to.
The Doctor and Rogue walk through the gardens, talking, much to Rogue's consternation, as they find the husk of the Duchess. The Doctor scans her with his screwdriver, trying to determine what's happened, and the Doctor and Rogue both come to the same conclusion - that this happened due to otherworldly technology. And each blames the other. Each insists it was the other. And then Rogue pulls a weapon on the Doctor. The pair walk back to Rogue's ship, cloaked in a field, Rogue insisting that the Doctor is a Chuldur, a shapeshifter.
As the Doctor enters Rogue's ship, he's placed inside a tri-form, stuck in place until it charges and sends him to an incinerator. Just for the paperwork, Rogue does a scan of the Doctor and determines that he's a shapeshifter, justifying his decision to incinerate him. The Doctor, desperate to hold on to life, tosses his psychic paper at the scanner, turning it back on, showing his old faces, showing that he's a Time Lord, convincing Rogue to let him free.
Free, the Doctor takes Rogue back to the TARDIS, where he modifies the tri-form to deposit its prisoner to an empty dimension rather than into an incinerator. The pair flirt as this happens, the Doctor offering to take Rogue to Gallifrey some time in the future. The Doctor and Rogue return to the ballroom to find Ruby and inform her of what they've figured out. As they talk, they realize that the reason the Chuldur are taking the forms of people is cosplay, to experience the drama and scandal of people they inhabit. The Doctor suggests that he and Rogue dance, and the pair move out onto the floor.
As they dance, the entire room's eyes draw towards them, the room growing still and silent, only the band continuing to make noise. When enough attention is focused on them, the pair fake an argument, mock disagreement and a mock proposal, leading to the Doctor storming out and Rogue following. The Chuldur are enraptured and follow, determined to play them. Four Chuldur follow them outside, Rogue and the Doctor only having planned for one. The Doctor and Rogue run and hide, the Chuldur family chasing after them, failing to find them among the carriages in the courtyard. As the Chuldur leave, they contemplate the wedding later that night, and then their next moves - to London, to plot wars against the rest of Europe, cosplay on a massive scale. Watching them depart, the Doctor boosts the output on the tri-form, it now can carry 6 people at once, but it will be one time use, there'll only be one shot.
Cast
- The Doctor - Ncuti Gatwa
- Ruby Sunday - Millie Gibson
- Lord Barton - Paul Forman
- Lord Galpin - Maxim Ays
- Duchess of Pemberton - Indira Varma
- Rogue - Jonathan Groff
- Emily Beckett - Camilla Aiko
- Housekeeper - Debra Baker
- Butler - Ashley Campbell
- Miss Talbot - Nancy Brabin-Platt
- Carla Sunday - Michelle Greenidge
- Mr Price - David Charles
Crew
Worldbuilding
to be added
Notes
- Since the Doctor Who crew, as of 2022, with the 60th Anniversary Specials, began filming content far in advance, the fanbase would become aware of bits of information about episodes before their announcement, with this episode becoming known among fans as "Regency" as a result of a comment from Ncuti Gatwa. This eventually led to Russell T Davies himself calling it that in DWM 598.[2]
- The episode's official title was first revealed on the official Doctor Who Twitter account on 31 March 2024.[1]
- In his column for DWM 602, Davies said that Rogue had less FX than other episodes in the season, and that he and his team had recently watched and enjoyed the episode's final cut, describing it as having "one of the best monsters ever". He also revealed a line of dialogue from the episode: "Live vivisection!"[6]
- Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson considered it their favourite episode of the season.[7]
- This episode is the first with multiple credited writers since the show's return in 2005 in which neither writer is the current showrunner. It is also the first since The Haunting of Villa Diodati in which neither credited writer had previously written for the series.
Myths
to be added
Filming locations
Ratings
to be added
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- Rogue's scan reveals a number of incarnations of the Doctor, including the Fugitive Doctor, introduced in TV: Fugitive of the Judoon [+]Loading...["Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)"], the War Doctor, introduced in TV: The Name of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"], and the Ninth Doctor played by Richard E Grant in WC: Scream of the Shalka [+]Loading...["Scream of the Shalka (webcast)"].
- The victims of the Chuldur are reduced to a husk, much like those of Richard Lazarus, as seen in The Lazarus Experiment [+]Loading...["The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)"].
Home media releases
to be added
Gallery
- Main article: Rogue (TV story)/Gallery
External links
- Official Rogue page on doctorwho.tv
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 @bbcdoctorwho (2024-03-31). ROGUE
Writer: Kate Herron and Briony Redman
Director: Ben Chessell
#DoctorWho. Archived from the original on 2024-05-29. - ↑ 2.0 2.1 DWM 598 - Alien Superstar, Page 24
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 @herronthatkate on Instagram (2023-10-24). And here's our episode with some regency Jonathan Groff
💙💙#doctorwho
Showrunner: @russelltdavies63
Director: @benchessell
🔥 provided by: @ncutigatwa @milliegibbo & Jonathan Groff
Written by Briony Redman and me. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. - ↑ DWM 598 - A Letter from the Showrunner, Page 10
- ↑ Doctor Who, Season 1, Rogue. bbc.co.uk. BBC. Archived from the original on 2024-04-29.
- ↑ DWM 602 - Russell T Davies
- ↑ James Hibbs; Morgan Jeffery (2024-05-02). Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson reveal favourite episode from Doctor Who season 14. RadioTimes.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02.
- ↑ NTM 160 - Through space and time, Page 28
