Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road (2023 Christmas Special)

Ahhh welcome Ncuti Gatwa to the role!!

Cons:

I'm not sure if I want to call this a "con" or not, more just something I noticed. We saw Ruby's life with her mom and grandma as being pretty perfect in terms of emotional fulfillment. Yes, they're poor and just barely scraping by, but it's the cheerful kind of poverty where the warmth of their connection sees them through and the house is full of love. We then see the version where Ruby was never taken in by her mom or adopted, and was instead captured by the goblins, and in that version, her foster mother is unhappy and kind of unfeeling, only taking in an occasional foster kid when she needs the extra money. So I guess my issue is more something I wish they could have done to add a bit of nuance. What if we saw some real hardship, some emotional friction, between Ruby and her family, instead of just good nature and teasing and joy? And what if the Ruby-less life was a little less 100% depressing? Like, maybe the foster mother does take in fewer kids, but she still puts them up on the fridge and has a connection to them? What if the lesson is that Ruby finding that family made things better, but not necessarily this enormous shift from totally depressing to totally wonderful? I like the idea that Ruby finding this family was the right thing for her and for her mom, but there's something a little over the top about her presence being that dramatic of a shift.

The one little bit of business with the Doctor's character that I didn't enjoy? His weird Sherlock Holmes moment where he deduced that the random cop was going to propose to his girlfriend. It felt like something out of BBC's Sherlock only this time the detecting is done benevolently instead of cruelly? The moment seemed to be in there just to help establish the character of this new Doctor, but I'm not sure it added anything that we needed, and it felt very strange and random to include.

Pros:

Okay, let's get into it: the main thing I wanted to get out of this episode was, am I going to like this Doctor, and am I going to like Ruby Sunday? And the answer is... yes! Absolutely! I loved them both, I found their performances so genuinely charming and cute, and they immediately sparkled with chemistry that makes me want to watch them together more. I haven't felt this way about the natural affinity between a Doctor and companion in a very long time, and I loved it so, so much.

Gatwa's version of the Doctor is so... charming and funny and confident, I feel like the appeal of Ten and Eleven was very much "this is a lovable nerd" and Gatwa brings a bit of that nerd energy to him but he's also legitimately suave, in a way that feels very fun and sexy to me. I love that instant connection between him and Ruby, I honestly hope they go a romance route with them a little bit. I know it's tired and played out for the Doctor to have a romance with his companion, but after Thirteen deprived us of anything real in that arena, I honestly wouldn't mind adding that element back in. These two were so cute.

I also love that we're getting that darkness of the Doctor's past in here early. He remarks that he's also adopted and was abandoned by his people, and that he "has no one". These heartbreaking words are interspersed with typical Doctor-esque whimsy and high energy and saving the day, but these moments of gravity (or should I say mavity), really grounded the performance and the character from the get-go.

The main conflict in this one is that a bunch of goblins want to eat an innocent baby, simply because of the power of coincidence/luck. We're given to understand that there might be more behind this than we've been told so far, and I love the idea of exploring these themes of fate and destiny vs. random chance, as the season progresses.

I also really loved the musical number. It was silly and indulgent and darkly hilarious in the way this show can be when it really leans into its more fun and family-oriented side. I loved the incongruity of the music, and when the Doctor and Ruby started singing as a form of distraction, I was smiling so big. Also, just all the banter during their rescue mission of the baby, was really great. I particularly enjoyed "I am learning the language of rope!"

The Doctor being able to rescue Ruby with time travel was very sweet, and the moment when he saw a woman, ostensibly Ruby's mother, walking away, and chose not to follow... that was powerful. It's not his place to discover, and it's something that Ruby will likely have to confront later on, now that she's made friends with a time traveler. I did love that Ruby put the pieces together on her own and went running after the Doctor, and that he was waiting for her, having realized that she might be a good friend to have around for a while.

I'll leave it there for now. We have a wonderful introduction to our new leads, a fun story, and some emotionally resonant plot hooks left dangling. Ruby and the Doctor, two orphans abandoned by their original people. And the additional dangling hook of Ruby's neighbor Mrs. Flood, who seems to know a lot more than you might think. "Never seen a TARDIS before," she says, and this sinister and intriguing line is how we close off our Christmas Special!

I'm so excited for more Ncuti Gatwa in the Spring!

9/10