Rogue (TV story)

Rogue

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Rogue is the sixth episode of Season 1 of Doctor Who, written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman. Notably, this episode provides Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor with a love interest, in the form of Rogue: a new character played by Jonathan Groff, after whom the episode is named.

	Rogue
	Fifteenth Doctor
	Ruby
	Rogue, Carla Sunday
	Chuldur family
	Pemberton manor, Bath, England, 1813
	Kate Herron, Briony Redman
	Ben Chessell
	Science fiction
	310
	1
	8 June 2024
	BBC One, Disney+
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Doctor Who television stories
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Though the Doctor has been known to share intimate moments with people of various genders before, this marks the first instance, on television, in which a male Doctor is earnestly pursuing a romance with another male character, marking another first for queer representation in Doctor Who.

Another, perhaps more curious aspect of the episode comes in the form of a direct visual reference to the "pale aristocrat" Ninth Doctor, as played by Richard E Grant in the 2003 webcast Scream of the Shalka ^[+]Loading...["Scream of the Shalka (webcast)"], which was commonly placed outside the main continuity of the Doctor Who universe in the wake of the 2005 revival, which was announced prior to Shalka's release. His face appeared as a hologram alongside other, previously establshed incarnations, including his more "mainstream" counterpart, played by Christopher Eccleston. This incarnation had previously been slotted into DWU continuity in other mediums.

Synopsis

The Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby are in 1813 to attend a Duchess's party, but once they meet a mysterious bounty hunter and a family of murderous shapeshifters, drama to rival Bridgerton ensues. Who are the imposters, what do they want... And, this time, what does the Doctor want?

Plot

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.

"Oh, this is so Bridgerton".

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.

"I'm not a Chuldur. I'm something much older and far more powerful. I'm a Lord of Time from the lost and fallen planet of Gallifrey".

As the Doctor enters Rogue's ship, he's placed inside a triform, 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 triform 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.

"Tell me what your heart wants, or I shall turn my back on you forever".

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 triform, it now can carry 6 people at once, but it will be one-time use, there'll only be one shot.

Emily is in the library, stressing herself out as to what's going on. Ruby tries again to comfort her, and eventually decides to tell her that she's from the future. As she hears this, Emily reveals that she's a Chuldur and grabs Ruby, saying that she wants to be Ruby as electricity flashes.

The Chuldur return to the ballroom in their true forms, surprising the guests, declaring that a wedding will be taking place, as the Doctor and Rogue watch from above. The Chuldur who played Barton entered, someone who appears to be Ruby on his arm. As the wedding commences, the Doctor walks downstairs and bursts in on the proceedings, objecting to the affair. He places the triform around the Chuldur wedding party as they threaten him, trapping them in place. Ruby asks him how long she has until the transport activates, insisting that she's the real Ruby Sunday, naming her mother and grandmother. The Doctor is sceptical at first, but accepts it as he hears more details - Ruby used battle mode on her earrings to escape from Emily.

"Can you lose your friend to save the world?".

The Chuldur who played Emily runs into the room behind the Doctor, attacking him, but Rogue picks her up and places her in the triform. Rogue insists that he press the button, sending them to the barren dimension. But the Doctor refuses, he won't abandon Ruby. Ruby says it's fine. Rogue insists. But the Doctor is unable. Rogue kisses the Doctor, steals the trigger, and dives into the triform, shoving Ruby out. He tells the Doctor to find him, pressing the button, and the six vanish.

As the sky brightens from the dawn, the Doctor sends Rogue's ship into orbit around the Moon. When Ruby asks if they can use the TARDIS to find him, the Doctor opines that there are countless dimensions to search, and he doesn't even know Rogue's real name. When Ruby moves to comfort him, he jumps into action, ready to move on, but Ruby stops him and hugs him. As she leaves, he pulls the ring Rogue offered in the mock proposal from his pocket, and slips it onto his pinkie finger.

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

Post-Cast

• Dancers - Andrew Ashton, Bex Leung, Charlotte Bazeley, Chloe Gatward, Christopher Jeffers, Ciro Meulens, Emmanuel Kome, Honor Roche, Jack William Parry, James Davies-Williams, Jamie Body, Jenny Wickham, Katie Webb, Lana Williams, Nicole Alphonce, Oliver Wheeler, Pia Driver, Roseanna Bell, Stan West, Tia Anderson and Trezel Sergeant

Uncredited

• Lady Emerson - Jennifer Castillo
• Opera Singer - Aubrey Parsons
• The Portrait - Susan Twist
• Voice of Rogue's ship computer - TBA
• The Doctor - Richard E Grant

Crew

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter with Joel Collins and Phil Collinson

Series Producer   Vicki Delow

Written by Kate Herron & Briony Redman	Produced by Chris May	Directed by Ben Chessell	Director of Photography Jamie Cairney BSC	Production Designer Phil Sims	Visual Effects Windmill Lane
Make-up Designer Claire Williams	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG/CSA	Hairdresser Stuart Cheadle	Music Murray Gold	Costume Designer Pam Downe	Edited by Chris Roebuck BFE	Special Effects Real SFX
Original theme music by Ron Grainer  •  Title sequence by Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation  Music conducted by Alastair King  •  Music performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

General production staff Executive Producer for the BBC - Rebecca Ferguson Production Executive - Steffan Morris Co-producer - Ellen Marsh Line Producer - Mark Devlin Production Manager - Adrian Devane Supervising Location Manager - Iwan Roberts Location Manager - Baljinder Sidhu Assistant Location Manager - Alex Moore Location Assistant - Robyn Selby Unit Manager - Kyle Yates Production Co-ordinator - Sandra Cosfeld Assistant Production Co-ordinator - Liam Hobbs Production Assistant - Juanee Scott Production Secretaries - Florence Trott, Chris Harkus Production Office Runners - Danilo Van-Der Nguyen, Lisa Elena Williams 1st Assistant Accountant - Greg Robinson Script department Script Editor - Scott Handcock Assistant Script Editor - Rasheed Bello Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Christopher J. Thomas 2nd Assistant Director - Lauren Pate 3rd Assistant Director - Jennifer Day Floor Runners - Jac Lewis, Devante Fleming, Emmy Williams Script Supervisor - Nicki Coles Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Camera Trainees - Kudzai Dzokamushure, Chai Lee Tan Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Steve Rees Key Grip - Bobby Williams Grip - Ken Hodgson Clapper Loaders - Sarah Macleod, Evangeline Davies Gaffer - Pete Chester Rigging Gaffer - Chris Kiley Best Boy - Sion Davies Electricians - Andy Green, Joe Jennings, Jon Down	Art department Supervising Art Director - Robyn Paiba Art Directors - Jon Horsham, Kartik Kundan Nagar Assistant Art Director - Eleri Lloyd Art Department Assistant - Ilee Khezrzadeh Art Department Co-ordinator - Jason Davies-Redgrave Production Buyer - Helen O'Leary Assistant Buyer - Taymar Lee Petty Cash Buyer - Charlie Shelley Set Decorator - Adrian Anscombe Set Dresser - Vicki Male Action Props Buyer - Tara Lily Johnston Storyboard Artist - Michael Collins Concept Artist - Nandor Moldovan Graphic Designer - Stephen Fielding Standby Props - Phill Bull, Jonathan Barclay Standby Carpenter - Morien Vernon-Jones Prop Hands - Declan Petryna, Atiff Tahir, John Thomas, Ingo Hans, Joseph Craig, Jason White, Matt Shrimpton Standby Art Director - Ifan Lewis Lewis Rigging - Shadow Rigging Standby Rigger - Nigel Owen Standby Painter - Jessie Thomas Storeman - Charlie Malik Prop Master - Nick Thomas Props Chargehand - Stuart Rankmore Construction Manager - Rhys Griffiths Construction Coordinator - Ffion Roberts Plasterer - Spencer Rowlands Practical Electrician - Phillip Jones Scenic Artist - Sam Johnson Draughtsperson - David Merryweather Carpenters - Christopher Hawksworth, David Martynski, Dean Page, Gareth Jones, Harriet Jones, Huw Morgan, Jason Thomas, Jonathan Tylke, Mark Borde, Patrick Watts, Richard Griffiths, Sam Burridge Costume department Costume Supervisor - Laura Baker Assistant Costume Designer - Raïssa Hans	Make-up and prosthetics Movement Stunt Co-ordinators - Derek Lea, Andy Godbold Stunt Performers - Jessica Barfoot, Richard Townsend, Stevie Parker Choreographer - Jack Murphy Casting Casting Associate - Becky Rossmaur Casting Assistant - Kristian Wall General post-production staff Post-production Producer - Ceres Doyle Post-production Supervisor - Liv Duffin Post-production Co-ordinator - Lauren Pate On-line Editor - Christine Kelly Assistant On-line Editor - Luke Stanbury Special and visual effects Additional VFX - BBC Wales Graphics VFX Producer - Will Cohen VFX Editor - Matt Nathan VFX Co-ordinators - Siân Reynish, Livvy Edwards VFX Assistant - Sarah-Hoor Aboubakar Colourist - Gareth Spensley Sound Sound Recordist - Alex Thompson Re-recording Mixer - Paul McFadden Audio Post-production - Bang Post Production

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland.

Worldbuilding

Language

• It initially appears that Ruby has inadvertently introduced the word "OK" anachronistically, but this is later revealed to have been to a Chuldur family member.

Technology

• The Fifteenth Doctor gives Ruby psychic earrings that beam dance moves and fighting skills directly into her head, the latter through "battle mode".
• Rogue has a triform transporter which he uses to send his targets to the incinerator. The Doctor reconfigures it to a new destination, a "barren dimension", and later gives it the ability to carry a maximum of six people but with the limit that it will only be able to work once.
• The deep scanner on Rogue's ship has records of the Tenth, Thirteenth, First, "Aristocrat" Ninth, Fourth, War, Twelfth, Ninth, Eleventh, Fugitive, Fourteenth, Third, Sixth, Fifth, Eighth, Second, and Seventh Doctors.

Popular culture

• Ruby says the ball and the drama taking place therein is just like Bridgerton.
• Rogue took his alias from Dungeons & Dragons, and has a set of gaming dice on his ship.
• The Doctor sings a verse of the song "Pure Imagination" to himself as Rogue experiences the TARDIS' dimensional transcendentalism for the first time.
• "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue played in Rogue's Asteroid Hopper.

Notes

Dedication to William Russell.

• The BBC version of this episode was dedicated to William Russell, the actor who played original First Doctor companion, Ian Chesterton, following his death five days earlier. The international version on Disney+, & the home media releases omit this dedication.
• 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.
• The episode's official title was first revealed on the official Doctor Who Twitter account on 31 March 2024.
• 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!"
• Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson considered it their favourite episode of the season.
• 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 and the first to be co-written by two women.
• Susan Twist was included in the pre-released cast list, but is not included in the episode's credits, as she only appears as a portrait of a dead woman.
• This episode, like Bridgerton, contains covers of pop songs by the Vitamin String Quartet – Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" when the Doctor and Rogue first meet, and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" when Ruby overpowers and impersonates the Chuldur. Additionally, the string orchestra at the ball plays Astor Piazzolla's Libertango (composed in 1974) and Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
  • In addition, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue can be heard on Rogue's ship. Minogue previously played Astrid Peth in Voyage of the Damned ^[+]Loading...["Voyage of the Damned (TV story)"].
• According to VFX coordinator Livvy Edwards, the photograph of Richard E. Grant during the scanner sequence was taken especially for this episode.
• This episode marks the first time since Dark Water ^[+]Loading...["Dark Water (TV story)"], with Missy and the Twelfth Doctor, nearly ten years earlier that the Doctor has kissed or been kissed by another character directly. Although an unconscious Thirteenth Doctor did receive a kiss on the cheek by Yasmin Khan in her final story The Power of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"]
• Herron told Collider that the psychic earrings were Russell T Davies' idea, and she and Redman incorporated them into the episode at his suggestion.
• After the episode's release, many newspapers erroneously described the Doctor's and Rogue's kiss as the first ever same-sex kiss in the series; in fact, the Ninth Doctor and Jack Harkness shared a kiss in TV: The Parting of the Ways ^[+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"], the Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams shared a kiss, albeit in humorous circumstances, in TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"], Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint shared a kiss in Deep Breath ^[+]Loading...["Deep Breath (TV story)"], Bill Potts and Heather shared a kiss in TV: The Doctor Falls ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor Falls (TV story)"] and Jake Willis and Adam Lang shared a kiss in TV: Praxeus ^[+]Loading...["Praxeus (TV story)"].

Myths

• Jonathan Groff could be a recast of Captain Jack Harkness, replacing John Barrowman. (This turned out to be false.)
• Rogue could have been a pre-River Song incarnation of Melody Pond. (This was also proven false.)

Filming locations

• Tredegar House, Newport

Ratings

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity

• Ruby finds a painting of the same woman she and the Doctor have encountered in various forms in their previous adventures, though in this case she has already died.
• The Fifteenth Doctor once more uses his psychic paper, last seen in TV: The Church on Ruby Road ^[+]Loading...["The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)"].
• The Doctor recalls a conversation with Carla Sunday about promising to keep Ruby safe, echoing similar conversations that the Ninth Doctor had with Jackie Tyler about her daughter Rose's safety while traveling with the Doctor in TV: Aliens of London ^[+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"] and World War Three ^[+]Loading...["World War Three (TV story)"].
• The Doctor says he encountered shapeshifters before. Those include his First incarnation encountering the Shape Thief in AUDIO: Mother Russia ^[+]Loading...["Mother Russia (audio story)"], his Ninth incarnation encountering Raxacoricofallapatorians in TV: Aliens of London ^[+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"], and his Tenth incarnation encountering the Plasmavore in TV: Smith and Jones ^[+]Loading...["Smith and Jones (TV story)"].
• Rogue wrongly mistakes the Doctor as the enemy he has been paid to kill because of his alien DNA revealing he can shape shift; the Tenth Doctor was similarly misidentified as the wrong target because of his alien origin by the Judoon in TV: Smith and Jones ^[+]Loading...["Smith and Jones (TV story)"].
• Rogue mentions that he has “a new boss”; this could be a reference to the same “boss” referred to by the Meep in TV: The Star Beast ^[+]Loading...["The Star Beast (TV story)"].
• Rogue's scan reveals a number of incarnations of the Doctor; including the Fourteenth Doctor, introduced in TV: The Power of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"], 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 TV: The Lazarus Experiment ^[+]Loading...["The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)"].
• Rogue notes that Gallifrey is considered a long lost world in his time period, recalling remarks made by Jack Harkness on the matter of its destruction in the Last Great Time War in TV: The Parting of the Ways ^[+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"] and, more recently, its destruction in TV: The Timeless Children ^[+]Loading...["The Timeless Children (TV story)"].
• The Doctor kisses Rogue, something his ninth incarnation did with Jack Harkness in TV: The Parting of the Ways ^[+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"] and his eleventh incarnation did to Rory Williams in TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"].
• Ruby recalls to the Doctor that she met space babies in TV: Space Babies ^[+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"], that her mother is Carla Sunday, as established in TV: The Church on Ruby Road ^[+]Loading...["The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)"] and her ability to generate snow, as demonstrated in TV: The Devil's Chord ^[+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"] and Boom ^[+]Loading...["Boom (TV story)"].
• The Eighth Doctor in 1812 attended a ball which was similarly interrupted by aliens, in that case the Devouring who were after his soon-to-be companion Lady Audacity Montague in AUDIO: The Devouring ^[+]Loading...["The Devouring (audio story)"].
• The Chuldur family inserts itself into history and tries to play a different outcome. The Players did a similar thing. (PROSE: Players, Endgame, World Game)

Home media releases

to be added

Gallery

Main article: Rogue (TV story)/Gallery

External links

• Official Rogue page on doctorwho.tv

Footnotes