 "The Church on Ruby Road" is the 2023 Christmas Special and opening story of Season Forty One (New Series 14) that was broadcast on the 25th December 2023.
This is the first Christmas Special since the 2017 Twelfth Doctor story "Twice Upon a Time". Ncuti Gatwa stars in his first regular appearance as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as his new companion Ruby Sunday.
This story was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Mark Tonderai. Mark Tonderai previously directed the 2018 Thirteenth Doctor stories "The Ghost Monument" and "Rosa".
In November 2022, Russell T Davies was quoted in the Doctor Who Magazine as having written a further special story in addition to the three 60th Anniversary Specials.
The BBC initially stated that Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor would regenerate into the Fourteenth Doctor as portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa. Later clarification announced that Ncuti Gatwa would actually portray the Fifteenth Doctor, with the Fourteenth Doctor actually portrayed by David Tennant for the 2023 60th Anniversary Specials.
This is the first story that does not credit a white male performer as a regular cast member (Although William Hartnell was absent from the 1965 story "Mission to the Unknown", he still received credit for contractual reasons).
Auditions for The Doctor’s new companion took place on the 24th September 2022. On the 18th November 2022, during Children in Need, Millie Gibson was announced as the new companion Ruby Sunday.
The non-fiction feature ‘The Next Doctor’, in Doctor Who The Official Annual 2024 that was published on the 7th September 2023, teased the casting of Anita Dobson (as Mrs Flood) and Michelle Greenidge (as Carla Sunday).
On the 30th November 2023, it was announced that Davina McCall would be cast as herself in the special, and that Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, and Anita Dobson had been cast as Carla (Ruby's mother), Cherry (Ruby's grandmother) and Mrs Flood (Ruby’s neighbour) respectively.
The scene involving The Doctor rescuing Ruby, from the giant snowman that falls from a building followed by him telling a policeman that his girlfriend will say ‘yes’ to his proposal, was the last scene to be added. When Disney viewed this story Russell T Davies was advised to add an extra scene in the beginning so that The Doctor could be introduced sooner.
It has been revealed that parts of the script for this story were used in the auditions for Ruby Sunday; the script for self-tapes from potential actors were truncated from the scripts of this story and the next, and the longer script for in-person auditions were adapted solely from this story.
The Doctor uses ‘Intelligent Gloves’, which he claims to have invented because he spends a lot of time hanging off things. He claims that he created them to transfer his mass into the glove to prevent friction on his hands that was caused by ‘mavitational pull’ when dangling in the air. Rose Tyler was a prime example of this occurring, with her hands suffering severe friction burns when suspended above London during the Blitz during World War II in the 2005 story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances".
The Doctor quickly learns the language of the Goblins, and he reveals that he already knows how to ‘speak’ rope language.
The Doctor once again mentions meeting Harry Houdini, having spent a ‘long, hot summer’ with him and being taught how to untie himself. The Doctor has previously claimed to have met and learned escapology from Harry Houdini before in "The Highlanders", "Planet of the Spiders", "Revenge of the Cybermen", "Planet of the Ood" and "The Witchfinders". Harry Houdini has helped The Doctor escape from places before, as seen in in the audio stories "Harry Houdini's War" and "Smoke and Mirrors".
The Doctor is again seen using his psychic paper, which debuted in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World", and a new sonic screwdriver, which debuted in "The World Tree" (a special free release in the Short Trips audio range from Big Finish Productions that is notable for being one of the first works of fiction featuring the Fifteenth Doctor).
The Doctor has visited a nightclub before. This occurred in the 1966 First Doctor story "The War Machines" - all-be-it to collect Dodo. In this story Ruby witnesses the Fifteenth Doctor dancing and also wearing a kilt.
Ruby remarks that The Doctor appears to move so fast that must have teleported. The Twelfth Doctor similarly displayed a seemingly magical ability to ‘teleport’, as seen in the 2014 story "Listen".
This story marks the first time the Fifteenth Doctor is seen wearing his new clothes, as he only wore part of the Fourteenth Doctor's clothing earlier when first seen in "The Giggle".
The Doctor recalls how he is still learning the ‘new science’ that Ruby claims is magic, recalling how the Fourteenth Doctor accidentally made previously mythical occurrences and creatures, like the goblin's existence and ability to time travel, possible when he casts a superstition at the edge of the universe during the events of "Wild Blue Yonder".
This is not the first time The Doctor states that what another person perceives as magic is in fact science. This was previously seen in the 1971 Third Doctor story "The Dæmons" and the 1977 Fourth Doctor story "Horror of Fang Rock".
After Ruby is erased from reality, The Doctor displays an ability to remember her despite others seemingly forgetting her. The Eleventh Doctor displayed this ability when Rory Williams was erased from existence in "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood". He once remarked this was because he was a complicated space time event that granted him unique immunity to such effects so long as it did not affect his own timeline (see "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone").
Companion Ruby Sunday was first mentioned in the short story "First Day of The Doctor", a story which contained a tantalisingly obscured snippet of the Fifteenth Doctor's diary.
The preview of this story, released in issue 598 of the Doctor Who Magazine, revealed a teaser of the plot and a snippet of dialogue between The Doctor and Ruby. This preview also revealed that Ruby would be part of a band.
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 Russell T Davies’ novelisation of the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose", although this connection was not present in the original television story.
In an interview with Michelle Greenidge and Angela Wynter, published in issue 598 of the Doctor Who Magazine, further details were revealed about Ruby Sunday. Namely that: she is a keyboardist; she is homesick for Manchester, having recently moved into a flat in Notting Hill with her mother Carla; and that she was a day old when she was abandoned on Christmas Eve.
Ruby lives in a flat with her adoptive mother, Carla (who has fostered 33 children); and Carla's elderly mother, Cherry. Ruby has a good relationship with the mysterious Mrs Flood.
Upon Ruby revealing she was abandoned as a baby, therefore not knowing her biological parents, The Doctor mentions about learning he was abandoned (see "Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children").
Ruby is erased from reality shortly after cracks form in her family's apartment. Cracks have previously been a sign of a person’s erasure from history, as seen in "The Eleventh Hour", "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" and "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang".
Carla is visibly upset when The Doctor tries to make her remember Ruby. This is similar to when Amy Pond, after forgetting Rory, also had a residual awareness of him that caused her to cry (see "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang").
Russell T Davies felt inspired by the door opened by the inclusion of The Toymaker in the preceding story "The Giggle" - as he deemed The Toymaker to be a fantasy character - so decided to include goblins in this story as they are a traditional element of fantasy stories.
Ruby is seen walking around the exterior of the TARDIS after seeing it is bigger on the inside. This is a similar reaction seen by Rose Tyler in "Rose", Donna Noble in "The Runaway Bride" and Clara Oswald in "The Snowmen".
‘The Goblin Song’ heard in this story is an original song. It was released ahead of the broadcast of this story, on the 11th December 2023, with proceeds going to Children in Need. It reached number one on the UK iTunes Singles Chart but it did not make it onto the Official Singles Chart Top 40.
The short story A Message from Janis Goblin, that was exclusively published on the official Doctor Who Twitter account on the 13th December 2023 by BBC Studios, was to celebrate the success of this song in the charts. This short story also revealed the name of the singing goblin as Janis Goblin, a play on Janis Joplin.
Russell T Davies clarified on Instagram that the goblin was named ‘Janice’ by The Doctor as she resembles a character with the same name in The Muppet Show.
This story contains a rendition of ‘Carol of the Bells’ - a popular Christmas carol, which is based on the Ukrainian New Year's song ‘Shchedryk’.
While other original songs have been released with actors in character as The Doctor (like the 1972 ‘Who is The Doctor’ sung by Jon Pertwee), this story marks the first time both an incarnation of The Doctor and a companion have performed a musical number onscreen.
Ruby and her family (along with their neighbour Mrs Flood) live on Minto Road - this street is in the W11 postcode district. Minto Road is not original to this story, as it was first mentioned by Mickey Smith in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways". The pizza place mentioned by Mickey in that story is indirectly seen in this story, as Carla has a flyer for it on her fridge, which names it Minto Pizza Alla Palla.
On Carla’s fridge there is also a business card for Crossgate Cabs. This fictional taxi service was first seen in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords".
Although unremarked upon in this story, the television series Davina McCall hosts is seemingly Long Lost Family, a television series that the real Davina McCall hosts. It has been reported that the Long Lost Family production team assisted in its depiction in this story.
The name of the department store that the giant snowman is attached to is called James Howell & Co. Ltd. While not confirmed to be the same filming location this building was also seen in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose" as Henrik's department store.
This story continues the usage of ‘mavity’, the new name for gravity after time was inadvertently altered in the pre-titles scene in "Wild Blue Yonder".
At the end of this story, as the TARDIS dematerialises, Ruby's neighbour, Mrs Flood, faces the camera and asks the audience; "Never seen a TARDIS before?" before winking. It is very rare for an actor to break the fourth wall. This first occurred in the show, in "The Feast of Steven" (episode seven of "The Daleks' Master Plan", when the First Doctor turned to the camera and saluted the audience, immediately preceded the closing credits, with: ‘Incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home’.
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The letters of the names in the title sequence for both Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson do not render behind the TARDIS as it spins past, and instead appear to pop up after the TARDIS has passed. In the case of Millie Gibson's credit, this issue only affects her last name; When Ruby turns and sees the TARDIS for the first time, the stone street sign next to her head reads Frederick Place, the real-world street where the outdoor scenes were filmed. Like other signage it should have read Minto Road - which is the name of the street in this story; When Ruby enters the TARDIS for the second time, and turns around to see The Doctor, the set clearly changes to the TARDIS interior set.
The title of the story was officially announced by the official Disney+ Twitter account in a Season's Streamings promotional image in early November 2023. This was ahead of any BBC announcements. The first BBC acknowledgement of the title came in a press release on the 30th November 2023, revealing minor plot and casting details.
This story marks the return of the Christmas Specials; in the instalment of Russell T Davies's column Letter from the Showrunner printed in issue 585 of the Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T Davies had stated that a Christmas Special would be returning as the format of the first full story 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 this story would be a traditional Christmas Special.
This is the second time, since the 2005 relaunch of Doctor Who, that this would be The Doctor's first full post-regeneration story was a Christmas Special, following the Tenth Doctor in the 2005 story "The Christmas Invasion".
This would be the first time, in the revived series, that The Doctor's first Christmas special does not include the word ‘Christmas’ in its title, following "The Christmas Invasion" (Tenth Doctor), "A Christmas Carol" (Eleventh Doctor) and "Last Christmas" (Twelfth Doctor).
At sixteen days, this story marks the third shortest gap between a regeneration story and its follow-up, behind "The Power of the Daleks" at seven days and "The Twin Dilemma" at six days.
This is the first story, since the 2021 Thirteenth Doctor story "Flux Chapter 4 - Village of the Angels", to include a mid-credits scene, and the first Christmas Special, since the 2014 Twelfth Doctor story "Last Christmas", to include one too.
There are slight differences between the version broadcast on BBC One and the one shown on Disney+:
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This story received overnight ratings of 4.73 million viewers, the third highest for Christmas Day 2023, behind King Charles III's annual Christmas speech and Strictly Come Dancing - so making it the most watched drama programme of the day. The consolidated ratings figures for this story was 7.5 million viewers.
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The Firsts:
Ncuti Gatwa’s first full story as the Fifteenth Doctor.
Millie Gibson's first appearance as companion Ruby Sunday.
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