Holistic Review: It's silly bordering on ridiculous, but the script is pretty tight, and Ncuti Gatwa immediately makes his mark on the series with one of the strongest débuts of any Doctor ever.
As almost every Doctor Who Christmas special has, The Church on Ruby Road fails my litmus test for what a Christmas special should ideally be: focused not on the trappings of Christmas, but on the seasonal messages of hope, love, and peace. It shouldn't be hard to build a Doctor Who story around one of those messages — the thirteenth Doctor did it with some regularity, and in fact Demons of the Punjab would've made a perfect holiday special in many respects — yet these themes never seem to align with the Christmas specials.
But, putting aside my apparently misguided belief about what should constitute a Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road is a pretty typical middle-of-the-road RTD story: an over-the-top spectacle that's bouncy, fun, and illogical, with finger-on-the-nose dialogue. Having said that, the script is pretty tight and, yet again (thank goodness), not freewheeling, so I say "middle of the road" as a relatively positive attribute.
One element of the story leaps out as... well, even the phrase "a resounding success" seems like damning with faint praise, because it fails to fully capture how Ncuti Gatwa blazes across the screen with charisma, exuberance, and youthful energy. I don't think we've had a Doctor so immediately well characterized since Colin Baker; granted, the sixth Doctor went through some character changes and maybe the fifteenth will too, but regardless, Gatwa makes his mark strongly, right out of the gate. Here again we have an actor for whom I'm going to be constantly using the phrase "every line delivery is worthy of praise", but this week I'll single out "Oh, they'll eat us too.", "Oh, that was just fun.", and "I am learning the vocabulary of rope!"
In many ways, Gatwa embodies the standard set of Doctorish characteristics: his fifteenth Doctor is clever, inventive, brave, funny, cheeky, can fixate on you like you're the most important person in the world, and doesn't suffer fools gladly. But within that template, Gatwa puts such a novel spin on the character. Balancing out his irrepressible zeal for life, he's quick to become annoyed or impatient. Fittingly for a Doctor who seems to serve as an explicit surrogate for the LGBT audience, the fifteenth Doctor has a mouth on him. He's snarky and sassy, sharp-tongued, and quick with a witty comeback. This is a Doctor who, I suspect, will turn out to be an expert-level dealer of shade, easily capable of winning a verbal battle against the withering repartée of the Rani, Cassandra, Count Scarlioni, and Count Grendel combined.
The one aspect of the fifteenth Doctor's personality that I'm finding a bit confusing, though, is the rapid about-face from "I'm fine because you fixed yourself." to suddenly being all angst-ridden again. For starters, when Ruby asks after the Doctor's family, I was surprised to see that his answer was a wounded-sounding "Er, I've got no-one." Not exactly the response I was expecting from this new emotionally-lightened Doctor. He's got everyone! In fact, just last episode, 14 literally said "Who'd have thought? I ended up with a family." and 15 ought to be able to remember that even though they're currently living parallel lives. Later, just as the Doctor appeared to be supremely happy and satisfied with himself for having saved Ruby from being wiped out of existence, Mrs Flood observes from out of nowhere that "You look like you've lost a pound and found a sixpence." and suddenly that one line makes the Doctor decide that perhaps he's been a negative influence on Ruby's life ("Just wondering. Maybe I'm the bad luck.") and she'd be better off without him. What?! Seriously??? I was expecting more self-confidence and less self-doubt. But that's really my only criticism of the way his character is written.
I like that the fifteenth Doctor already has his own idiosyncratic gadget — the intelligent gloves — though I wonder how often they'll come in handy, especially since the best time to put on gloves is before you're dangling from the edge of a skyscraper rooftop (or from your umbrella halfway down an ice cliff). But the idea that they operate on the principle of superkinetic transfer of mass is a very cool one, and it reinforces the idea that the Doctor is essentially a scientist and inventor at heart. Plus, I love the way they light up when they're in use.
Though I guess, technically, the intelligent gloves aren't his only idiosyncratic gadget: he also has a dramatically redesigned sonic screwdriver. Over the years, the sonic screwdriver has generally hewed to the same basic template — a long handle with a business end which sometimes bobbles and sometimes lights up — but this version is flat and round, more like a swanky remote control or an oversized key fob than anything remotely resembling a screwdriver. It's quite a bold departure from the norm, and while I'm not sure I'd want to see this style of sonic screwdriver stick around long-term, as a one-off I love it. And it's sweet that they've inscribed it with a Rwandan proverb in Gallifreyan text.
Ever since the promo pics started coming out, I've been excited to see that Ncuti Gatwa is our first-ever fashion-plate Doctor, and the first fashion-plate regular since Romana. I absolutely love it; it's about time we had another character who loves to play dress-up — my fingers are crossed that the TARDIS wardrobe room finally, and deservedly, becomes a regular fixture moving forward — and it's way past time we toyed with moving beyond the JNT 'every character must have a recognizable costume' perspective, and embraced the merchandising (and cosplay) potential of a Doctor with dozens of recognizable costumes. What's great, though, is that they're not veering too far from the template yet: in this story, the Doctor sports four distinct outfits — his classic promo-photo outfit (1) of camel checked jacket and trousers with a bright orange jumper (and a hat); a sleeveless T-shirt and plaid kilt (2) for clubbing, accessorized with a fashionable leather jacket; a gorgeous vertically-striped zip-up orange jumper with blue trousers and his already-iconic brown leather duster (3); and a variation of outfit 3 with a horizontally-striped light-blue zip-up jumper and dark trousers (4) — but they're all tied together by a brown-and-orange color scheme, which should feel 70s but instead really pops against Gatwa's skin. I honestly love every single one of these costumes, but the one that made my eyes light up with the most excitement was his tweed utilikilt, a gorgeous gender-neutral garment that swirls around him as he dances. He also strikes a dashing figure in a shot at the start of the previous scene, wearing outfit 1, silhouetted against a green window as per the dramatic promo photo that was released earlier this year. I'm really, really excited to see what watercooler fashion moments Gatwa brings to the series.
This brings up another point of interest about the fifteenth Doctor: can you imagine any other Doctor going clubbing? Sure, the eleventh Doctor can tear up a dance floor, but... not like this. What a brilliant setup for the meet-cute between the Doctor and Ruby, and what a(nother) fantastic way to immediately distinguish this Doctor from his predecessors. He's already shaping up to be such a fascinating character.
But we've met the fifteenth Doctor already; the real newcomer this week is Ruby Sunday, played with infectious enthusiasm (almost equal to Gatwa's) by Millie Gibson. While I enjoy Gibson's endearing performance — as on "So, yeah, that's been tricky, and expensive!", "Anything else?", "I'm sorry," and "No, that's fine." — my jury is still out on Ruby; thus far, as a character, she seems a bit dull. I have to confess that I wasn't immediately won over by Gibson's publicity interviews; my worry was, and in some ways still is, that Ruby is basically RTD having a do-over of Rose, at least in that both are petite, perky blonde white English girls. Obviously there are character and backstory differences, but at this point I don't feel like RTD is giving Ruby enough distinguishing characteristics.
For starters, I have to play my same old tune: Ruby is, at least, a keyboard player in a band (and we learn that she has some singing talent as well), but I'm not sure that counts as a specialist skill of the sort I'm eager for companions to possess. How is "keyboard proficiency" likely to positively impact any future plots? (Well, I take that back slightly. It may very well come in handy against Jinkx Monsoon's villain, who is literally wearing a costume of piano keys, plus if the series ever gets around to doing that oft-rumored musical episode — assuming that Jinkx's episode doesn't turn out to be that very thing — a proposition which, now that I've seen Gatwa's vocal chops, seems a bit more likely. But it's a very specific technical skillset that isn't likely to have applications as broad as, say, a scientist, or a jungle huntress, or an explosives hobbyist, or an archaeologist.)
It doesn't help that much of what we do learn about Ruby is, like the Doctor's emotional well-being, a bit muddled. Her occupational backstory is a case in point. On one hand, Ruby seems to be famous enough that Davina McCall is interested in featuring her on her genealogical-discovery TV show (unless Davina is just grabbing random foundlings to interview, which is certainly possible). On the other, in one and only one shot of her band performing, they seem to be playing some random pub; not even a concert venue, much less packing-out-the-arenas famous. Similarly, Ruby assures the Doctor that she's habitually clumsy, but the Doctor in turn assures her that she's suffering from a much deeper issue (ie, goblin attacks). But immediately thereafter, Ruby does just drop the glass that she's holding (for literally zero reason), which suggests that she is in fact genuinely, absurdly clumsy. (Unless the gremlins have also moved the table without us noticing; but even still, who lets their glass drop onto the table?) So which is it? Is she famous, or not? Is she clumsy, or not?
Her personality is a good start, but I hope it finds some depth. What I love is that Ruby is one of the most optimistic companions we've had since Mel. Absolutely nothing seems to get her down, and she's so upbeat that she even handles her most crushing disappointments with the utmost grace ("Sorry, I get it, I'm sorry. And it's really very kind of you to let me know yourself."). This also evidently makes her, like Mel, a very bad liar. (I have the feeling that the two of them will hit it off.) On the downside, this does result in her grinning from ear to ear at times when you feel like perhaps she ought to be grappling with other emotions, so maybe Gibson's performance feels a wee bit unrealistic now and then. (I can't decide if I love her line "Did you just hiss at me?! Was that a hiss?!", or if I find it slightly stilted.) But I certainly can't bring myself to fault a character for being too sunny! (On reflection, I suspect that Gibson's having a little too much fun in the part, rather than delivering her lines with utmost sincerity — which is what one really needs to do in Doctor Who — so that's easily fixed.) Still, aside from occasionally being mildly lippy, so far enthusiasm and optimism is all there is to Ruby, which is making her character feel a bit one-note and Gibson's acting feel a bit artificial. As more facets of her character develop, giving Gibson a chance to stretch her range, I think I'll warm to Ruby more. And hopefully she'll unveil some specialist skills too.
Now, I really love the detail that Ruby was left on the doorstep of a church when she was a baby. Making Ruby an adopted foundling is a perfect detail for this Doctor, who's only recently discovered that he was an adopted foundling himself, and it's sweet that they bond over this commonality. Way to go, RTD, for digging more deeply into this character detail rather than pretending it never happened. I'm excited to see how this develops.
I would, however, be more intrigued by the mystery of Ruby's past and parentage if I hadn't already seen "companion with a tantalizingly mysterious backstory" backfire so spectacularly with River, Clara, and especially Amy. But I do, amazingly, have more faith in RTD to pay it off more rewardingly.
I may not have made up my mind yet about Ruby, but there's no question that I'm madly in love with her whole family. Michelle Greenidge has such a warm, vivacious maternal presence as Carla, and Greenidge does a superb job of drawing a distinct contrast between Carla's love for Ruby and her alt-universe self, all bitter and sad and constantly calling people stupid, a change that begins the moment Ruby disappears (even though the world around Carla hasn't altered yet). I absolutely loved Greenidge's delivery of "What a terrible name!" and this scene, which has rightfully received lots of praise, both for the writing and for the actors' performances:
And then there's Angela Wynter as Ruby's grandmother Cherry. The very moment she sucked her teeth on the line "Not moving.", I knew immediately that she and the Doctor were going to get on like a house on fire. (And sure enough, I was right: she immediately starts teasing him with lines like "Last time I saw a doctor, he tried to murder me, so you stay away!") I, too, was immediately won over by Wynter's dramatic, put-upon performance as Cherry. I loved her weary delivery of lines like "I've given up on that cuppa and opted for a life of abstinence." and "Can't get a cup of tea around here for love nor money." Lots more of both these delightful women in future, please.
Their social worker, Ruth Lyons (Gemma Arrowsmith), seems like a well-meaning sort, more than a bit disorganized, but earnest and genuine. Arrowsmith gives her a bold, fun personality like you'd expect from a saleswoman rather than a bureaucrat, which is nice; it shows that Lyons truly does derive enjoyment from her career. Loved her delivery of "Happy birthday — Carla said, what a day!"
I have to give RTD like 90% credit for the goblins, too. I was thinking recently that there are two things I've regularly bemoaned about modern Doctor Who: its reluctance to deviate from a fairly narrow template for the companions, and a dearth of new monsters (and villains) with recurring potential. But, to my great surprise, all 4 specials this year have been impressive hits in that regard. Granted, two don't really count — both the Toymaker and the Meep were pre-existing villains who have already successfully recurred in the spinoff media — but the not-things and the goblins are both worthy of rematches with the Doctor, too.
What I appreciate about the goblins is that they're another great example of a race of Doctor Who aliens — like the Sycorax, the Gods of Ragnarok, and the clockwork droids — who are compelling in part because of their inherent contrasts. In the case of the goblins, they embody not one but three separate contrasts. First, they're creatures of legend who turn out to be very much real. Second, while they're bound by scientific principles, their form of science is totally alien to ours, based on luck and coincidence. Third, they live a low-tech existence — a rare thing for a Doctor Who monster — on rickety wooden ships built with rope and knots, but this traditional craftsmanship belies their sophisticated technological abilities. The goblins can use coincidence as energy, fuelling their ship to surf the timelines, and — when they create coincidence themselves, by weaving people into the web of causality through chains of bad luck — to target individuals as richer feasts, fattening them up like pigs for slaughter. The fact that they can exploit time in order to do this, riding the temporal wave backwards to retroactively bind their chosen victims even more deeply, makes them particularly menacing; how do you stop an enemy who can claim you for their own by altering your past? The goblins' characterization as mischievous tricksters plays into these details well, especially since their prank-playing furthers their agenda of weaving their victims into causality. So they have an interesting modus operandi, and most of all, I appreciate that the goblins pose a clear threat: they want to eat you. Well, ideally babies, but also you. They will drink your blood, caramelize your eyes, grind your bones into dough for scones, all that good stuff.
They also sing, which is... unexpected. The Church on Ruby Road is not billed as a musical, nor does it have any "Once More, With Feeling"-style contrivance which compels the characters to burst into song... yet burst into song they do. (RTD's take on this, which isn't in the script but has been revealed in interviews, is that the Toymaker's state of play still lingers in our universe. Honestly, just one line to that effect would've been helpful! See below, re: Janis, for a further example of these unexplained script surprises.)
I wasn't even slightly inclined to watch "The Goblin Song" ahead of its official airing, partly because I was really worried about how cheesy it might turn out to be, and partly because I didn't want to be exposed to even a wisp of a spoiler. On the second point, this turns out to have been a good idea, because the video is literally a full clip from the episode as aired. But on the first point, my fears were overblown. It's actually quite a catchy song, and Christina Rotondo absolutely rocks the vocals. (My favorite part of the song: "Baby so soft, carried aloft / Big brown eyes, caramelized!")
And then the Doctor starts singing, to which I have a wide range of simultaneous reactions.
I had absolutely no clue that Gatwa possessed such a glorious set of pipes. Not only does he have the vocal chops, he's so great at singing and acting simultaneously that he doesn't sound like he's putting on a fake voice ("if I have understood that rope").
Still, the scene could've used some work. The lyrics include some nonsensical filler that isn't going to be winning any awards: "We love the King / we sing ding-a-ling" is one example; even worse is Ruby's irrelevant triple repetition in "It's good to meet you, good to greet you / Good to say how diddly-deet-you." What?! (Ruby, we do not sing about diddling the Goblin King's ding-a-ling on children's TV.) There's also a weird moment at the start of the Doctor's verse, wherein he introduces Ruby to the Goblin King mere seconds before unnecessarily re-introducing her almost verbatim in song. Why not just cut the first (spoken) introduction?
Where I'm less fond of the goblins is in their rather cartoonish nature. In some ways, they do a fantastic job of straddling the line between "cutely childlike" and "terrifyingly creepy"; as they play pranks on people, they're having so much fun that they can't help but giggle and coo to themselves, and yet those adorable mouths are full of sharp fangs eager to tear you apart. But they're maybe a little too cute. (The line "He makes me swoon!" is quite disturbing coming from these babylike kawaii fanged faces.) I think they might've played better onscreen if they were full-on terrifying. Plus, the goblin effects aren't that great; I think maybe the masks are a little too rigid, because in some scenes they look more like dolls than people wearing prosthetics. However, I will give kudos to the horrible shot of the goblin drooling over baby Ruby.
The Goblin King exemplifies these issues, both good and bad. I'm so glad he was created as a physical effect rather than CGI, but he doesn't look at all realistic. If you'd told me the BBC had reused a prop from a 1980s kids' movie, I wouldn't have been surprised. Still, some of the details, like his nasty saliva-dribbling tongue, help to sell the effect.
Turning back to the script, while I appreciate the relatively logical nature of the plot, one thing that did repeatedly annoy me is RTD's tendency to tell, not show, which leads to awfully clunky dialogue. I've griped about this at greater length below, but this tendency crops up repeatedly throughout the episode, with Ruby's interview (aka exposition dump) being one of the worst offenders.
As I mentioned above, RTD continues to enjoy peppering his scripts with so-called jokes, while omitting the backstory that would help the audience understand them. I was all set to criticize the script for the scene in which the Doctor calls out "Rock it, Janis!" despite never having been told the singer's name. However, it transpires that RTD just thought it would be funny for the Doctor to decide that the goblin singer resembled Janice the Muppet. Not only is this not explained in the dialogue, the goblin singer herself bears so very little resemblance to Janice the Muppet that I'd be shocked if any viewers understood the reference.
But I kind of take issue with RTD's humor in general, which tends — with notable exceptions — to be sophomoric and simplistic, often reaching for the very lowest-hanging fruit in ways that can barely elicit a chuckle. Here's a great example:
This is so ridiculous that it ought to be accompanied by a womp-womp horn. It barely even qualifies as a joke, so it's nowhere near funny enough to justify this frankly judgmental comment from the Doctor. (Just a guess, but I have a feeling some people's babies can't sleep after midnight and maybe do require a late-night outing in a pram, much as some parents take their caterwauling infants for a midnight car ride.) And the resolution is ridiculous; as unfairly critical as the Doctor is being, his assumption does make a lot more sense than the actual explanation, that this woman for some reason uses a pram to carry (and conceal) her shopping as she browses whatever stores are open 24 hours at Christmastime. It's a plausible response, but it would've required a lot more setup to be a funny one. As written, it's just perplexing. I get that the scene of the falling inflatable snowman needs a resolution, but this was a first-draft resolution.
But, while I continue to have my minor irritations with RTD's writing style and specifically his sense of humor, his strengths are more than making up for the occasional downsides. In particular, I want to point out how he handles one of the more sensitive punchlines. I'm reminded that I recently tried to watch Only Murders in the Building and was immediately put off by a genuinely cruel 'joke' about ALS patients, which — if I'd been watching it with my mother, who passed from ALS — would've sent her into a spiral of depression. (The character in question was being portrayed as an oblivious idiot, but it's nevertheless played for laughs, and the fact that the character was a jerk wouldn't have made my mom feel any better about the sentiments he expresses.) I told myself at the time that the series was now going to have to work extra-hard to win back my goodwill, and three episodes in it hadn't succeeded, so at that point I gave up and wrote off the series entirely. It's a great (by which I mean horrific and awful) example of a joke that's only funny to people who aren't personally affected, punching down at a community that's already suffering, and potentially causing real emotional harm in service of a mild chuckle. In stark contrast, witness the way RTD handles the joke about Lulubelle's name. Those of us who aren't named Lulubelle can laugh along as Ruby and Carla coo about what a regrettable name it is; but those of us who are named Lulubelle (because I'm sure there's at least one in the audience) get lifted up by the Doctor's pure appreciation (and jealousy!), and as we all know, humans are pudding brains; it's the Doctor's opinion that really counts. So, for all I gripe about RTD, it's a real strength of his that he's sensitive to the audience's feelings. It's not the first time that point has come up this season — viz celebrating Rose as a trans woman, and writing thoughtfully for disabled characters — and I'm quite sure it won't be the last. For this kind of good-hearted writing, I can suffer through a few lame jokes.
Along with the rest of fandom, I have no idea what to make of Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson). I was wondering why a peripheral character was getting so much time with the Doctor, and then suddenly, at the story's end, it became (murkily) clear. Good heavens, the sheer volume of wild theories flying around (she's Susan, the Rani, Missy, River Song, a future Doctor, etc, etc) is exhausting, and also a very good sign for the show's audience engagement. I feel relatively certain that she is not the Rani (alas), but beyond that, who can say. But I'm banking on her being someone we've never met, and most likely a villain, because as a character, while mercurial, I sense that her truest nature is rather unpleasant. Look at how she's introduced to us, practically frothing at the mouth as she rants at Abdul, evidently motivated either by prejudice or conspiracy theories (if not both): "Because you've never liked me! I've seen you, looking."
Similar theories are flying about Susan Twist, whose small role as Mrs Merridew in Wild Blue Yonder has now been followed up by a small uncredited appearance as the hippie-dressing woman who heckles Ruby's band. Perhaps they just liked Twist so much that they wanted to bring her back to fill another supporting role... or perhaps there's a deeper reason for her reappearance? (She's Susan, the Rani, or Missy!) Surely the fact that she asks the band to play Gaudete is a massive clue; I'd never heard of it, but I now know that it's a 16th-century Christmas carol sung in Latin, not at all the sort of thing you'd request from a band in a pub. (However, she also mispronounces the title, as you'd expect more from a modern-day English woman than a woman who had actually lived in those times... I confess, I am intrigued.)
The target of Mrs Flood's vitriol, Abdul (Hemi Yeroham), seems friendly but hapless. It seems a bit odd to give Mrs Flood an antagonist with very little screen time and no payoff, so I assume their adversarial relationship will resurface as a future plot point.
Davina McCall, who was a featured guest star back in the very first season of the revival, makes a delightful return appearance here, and this time in the flesh! Lovely to see her properly in the series, and it's cute that the Doctor gets to save her life this time. Not being a watcher of Big Brother myself, I didn't even recognize her, and would never have guessed that she's primarily famous as a presenter, her acting skills are that good. Her line "I've even been trampled by a moose!" made me LOL; how totally unexpected!
I quickly warmed to Bobby Bradley as excitable young officer Denzel. He gives the most awesome reaction shots and hesitant uncertain noises as he tries to keep up with the Doctor! Frankly, it's an adorable performance in only 8 lines; can I hope that he becomes a recurring character? (I've just realized that the Doctor tweaks his chin, which is rather adorable too.)
We don't get to know the other members of Ruby's band very well, but at least singer Trudy (Mary Malone) has a more prominent (and credited) role in a couple of scenes. She seems a bit snarky, which bounces off Ruby well, so it would be nice to see them paired up a bit more in future.
After several weeks of exceptional scores by Murray Gold, this week we've returned to business as usual. He's scored The Church on Ruby Road with jaunty holiday-style music that is, in typical Murray Gold fashion, a bit overblown. But I enjoyed the music as the Doctor and Ruby jump off the goblin ship, as the Doctor realizes that Ruby has vanished, when the Doctor and Ruby are reunited and the Doctor rushes off to fix the timeline, and as the TARDIS invites Ruby inside.
There are a couple of really impressive effects shots in the episode, notably the scene in which the Doctor dangles from the ladder by one hand in midair. Kudos also to Ncuti Gatwa for doing his own stunts (to whatever degree this qualifies; it was almost certainly filmed on a soundstage) as the Doctor leaps from roof to roof. I also really appreciated the effect of the spire staking the Goblin King like the Great Vampire, and the goblin ship immediately falling apart and disintegrating.
The goblin ship is a super design, very unlike most Doctor Who ships. From the outside, with its tattered cloth sails and its slapdash wooden construction, it looks like it could fall apart at any moment. (But its colorful multi-patterened cloth 'wings' would almost surely meet with the sixth Doctor's approval.) It looks equally rickety from the interior, with gaps in the hull almost big enough for a human being (not to mention a goblin) to fall out of, lashed together haphazardly with ropes, and lit by the warm orange glow of paper lanterns. It really does have a fairytale quality.
The Sundays' flat has a warm, welcoming feel. I absolutely love the avocado walls (my mom would approve) and the hallway strung with fairy lights. Carla's room has lovely wood furnishings, with African patterned cloth and Black artwork that speak to her identity, but it also has a sort of half-finished feel that reflects her busy life. Like Carla's room, the kitchen is a buttery yellow, but the fixtures feel a bit dated, which makes sense if that is one of the only rent-controlled flats left in the area. (But I personally love their bright yellow color and inset chrome handles!) I like the way the set designers decorate the flat differently to reflect the altered timeline, with grey walls instead of yellow, and no fairy lights. It's just a shame we don't get more than a glimpse inside Ruby's room (and earlier than the story's end), both to help establish her personality and to make the "spare room" difference more stark.
While there's a lot I enjoy about Mark Tonderai's direction, I think it does sometimes unfortunately muddle the onscreen action. For me, it took several viewings to realize that the goblins were setting up a Mousetrap-like snare during Ruby's interview, in which coercing one of the crew to take a couple of steps to her left wound up sending a studio light crashing directly onto Ruby's seat. Likewise, if Ruby's table at the club really does go missing between shots, it's not at all obvious nor is it flagged. And I can't figure out why we get a close-up of Gatwa's hand gripping the bannister as the Doctor goes to confirm if Ruby has been restored to the timeline. But there are some wonderful shots throughout: the overhead panning shot through the wires holding up the snowman as Ruby and her bandmates catch a taxi, and another overhead shot of Ruby walking around the TARDIS; the reveal of Mrs Flood dropping her shopping bags in shock as the TARDIS dematerializes; and the gorgeously-lit shots of Ruby and the Doctor on the goblin ship.
Minor points:
Doctor: "Health and safety, gin and tonic division."
Ruby: "I, I'm, I'm just clumsy, haha."
Doctor: "No, no you're not. It's worse than that. Merry Christmas!"
Denzel: "I'm gonna have to report this."
Doctor: "Okay. Name: the Doctor. Occupation: not a doctor."
Doctor: "And I'm guessing that she's a she, because 91% of men wouldn't choose a diamond. Plus Christmas Day, it's obvious."
Denzel: "But how do you know she'll say yes?"
Doctor: "Because the sales start on Tuesday and you just couldn't wait, and that is why she loves you."
Doctor: "All the mass and density and mavity exists in the glove, not in you."
Doctor: "But it's Lulubelle's birthday — that is such a brilliant name. I wish I was called Lulubelle."
Ruby: "How do you know all of this?"
Doctor: "I don't! It's a brand-new science for me, and I love it: the language of luck."
Doctor: "Oh, psshhh! They are not time travellers, excuse me! Time travellers are great. Like, the best, like wow."
Doctor: "I spent a long, hot summer with Harry Houdini."
Doctor: "Even a leaky old goblin ship has the equivalent of..." (He tugs a cord, and a hatch falls open.) "...ventilation shafts!"
Ruby: "Do they cause all accidents?"
Doctor: "...Maybe they do!"
Ruby: "I turned around and you were gone, you were sort of — I dunno, 'cause I was here, but I got a bit lost — but what, what happened?!"
Carla: "What's his name? Doctor what?"
Ruby: "Mrs Flood, did, did you see, there was a man, erm, he was about so high, and amazing, in a big leather coat?"
Mrs Flood: (nods)
Ruby: "What d'you mean?"
Well, THAT'S set the cat among the pigeons.
The Church on Ruby Road could've used a few more drafts for an adult audience, but it's certainly kid-friendly, with a good balance of frights and humor. I must say, I'm encouraged by reports that Disney is using their new powers for good, ie reining in some of RTD's wacker ideas and suggesting alternatives that are genuinely better, like their suggestion this week to write an additional scene that involves Ncuti Gatwa in the storyline earlier. Overall, with a memorable monster, and a truly superb new Doctor, this is a nice wrap-up to the 60th anniversary season and an auspicious start to the Gatwa era.
| posted: | 26 January 2024 |