The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)

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The Church on Ruby Road was the 2023 Christmas Special[4] and opening episode of season one of Doctor Who[5] broadcast on 25 December 2023.[4][5]

It was the first full episode to feature the Fifteenth Doctor, as played by Ncuti Gatwa, and introduce audiences[6] to Ruby Sunday, the new companion, played by Millie Gibson,[7] concluding the sixtieth anniversary year with the start of a brand new era, officialising the reboot of the series number.[5]

This is the second time since the 2005 relaunch of Doctor Who that a Doctor's first full post-regeneration story was a Christmas Special, following the Tenth Doctor in that year's The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"].

The story marked the return of the Christmas Specials to televised Doctor Who, having been absent since 2017's Twice Upon a Time [+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"].

Synopsis

Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps the secret of her birth...[7][5]

Plot

to be added

Cast

more to be added

Uncredited cast

to be added

Crew

Worldbuilding

Ruby Sunday

Notes

"Season's Streamings" promo image providing the story's title.[4]
  • The title of the story was officially announced by the official Disney+ Twitter account in a "Season's Streamings" promotional image on 6 November 2023,[4] ahead of any BBC announcements.
    • This marks the return of the Christmas Specials; in the installment of Russell T Davies's column Letter from the Showrunner printed in DWM 585, Davies had stated that a "Christmas Special" would be returning as the format of the first full episode of the Fifteenth Doctor's tenure, although clarifying that he considered the term to be synonymous with the Festive Specials. The Disney+ announcement clarified that The Church on Ruby Road will be a traditional Christmas Special.
    • The first BBC acknowledgement of the title came in a press release on doctorwho.tv on 30 November 2023, revealing minor plot and casting details.[7]
  • The preview of this episode released in DWM 598 revealed a teaser of the plot and a snippet of dialogue between the Doctor and Ruby.[3]
  • Parts of the script of this episode were used in auditions for Ruby Sunday; the script for self-tapes from potential actors were truncated from the scripts of this episode and the next, and the longer script for in-person auditions[12] in London[13] was adapted solely from this episode.[12]
  • The non-fiction feature The Next Doctor [+]Loading...["The Next Doctor (feature)"] — published in Doctor Who The Official Annual 2024 on 7 September 2023 — teased the casting of Dobson and Greenidge; the feature also hinted that the doors in the promotional images may have significance.
  • The Church on Ruby Road will be the first time in the revived series that a Doctor's first Christmas special does not include "Christmas" in the title, following The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"], A Christmas Carol [+]Loading...["A Christmas Carol (TV story)"], and Last Christmas [+]Loading...["Last Christmas (TV story)"].
  • At sixteen days, The Church on Ruby Road will mark the third shortest gap between a regeneration story and its followup, behind The Power of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Power of the Daleks (TV story)"] at seven days and The Twin Dilemma [+]Loading...["The Twin Dilemma (TV story)"] at six days.
  • "The Goblin Song" is an original song for this episode. It was released ahead of the episode on 11 December 2023 with proceeds going to Children in Need.[14]
  • Davies felt inspired by the door opened by the inclusion of the Toymaker in the preceding episode The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"] — as he deemed the Toymaker to be a fantasy character — so decided to include goblins, a traditional element of fantasy stories. He also sent the script to former showrunner Steven Moffat, who had a surprised realisation about the unused potential of the species within Doctor Who.[3]

Myths

to be added

Filming locations

Ratings

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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 Sunday was first mentioned in the short story First Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["First Day of the Doctor (short story)"], a story which contained a tantalisingly obscured snippet of the Fifteenth Doctor's diary.
  • This is not the first story to depict a companion written by Russell T Davies being part of a band; Mickey Smith was part of the band No Hot Ashes, as revealed in his novelisation [+]Loading...{"noital":"1","1":"Rose (novelisation)","2":"novelisation"} of Rose [+]Loading...["Rose (TV story)"], although this connection was not present in the original episode.
  • Minto Road isn't original to this episode, as it was first mentioned by Mickey Smith in 2005's The Parting of the Ways [+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"]. The pizza place mentioned by Mickey in that episode is even indirectly seen, as Cherry has a flyer for it on her fridge.
  • The Doctor still uses his Psychic paper and has a new Sonic screwdriver.
  • The Doctor mentions recently learning he was abandoned and adopted, as shown in TV:The Timeless Children [+]Loading...["The Timeless Children (TV story)"].

Home media releases

to be added

Gallery

Main article: The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)/Gallery

External links

Footnotes