After a truncated but improving season, Doctor Who buckles down for a classic two part finale. Much like the early season, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” looks a lot like previous finales. However, tense finales are something Russell T. Davies does well in Doctor Who. This finale clears that bar with a barn burner of a return, even though getting there is a middling journey.
They did warn us there was a twist at the end!
Up to this point, I hadn’t made note of Susan Twist’s appearances throughout the season. Mostly it was due to not having much to offer. In fact, until “Dot and Bubble” I honestly thought she was a red herring. From a certain point of view, she kind of is! The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) has also noticed her everywhere (including places not shown before) and decides to get to the bottom of it all. It’s an abrupt start after “Rogue” but at least there’s no time wasted on setting up.
If anything, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” is a lot of teasing. The episode highlights many of the theories folks have had all season, almost tauntingly. This is hardly the first time The Doctor’s granddaughter has been mentioned. Doing so now with the context of The Doctor’s “adoption” is new, though. Ncuti Gatwa does a great job depicting a certain longing as he ponders the possibility of Susan being back. Letting him eventually have hope only to take it away is a great taunt in the final moments of the episode.
As for the real Susan Foreman, I’m of two minds. The series has long avoided addressing her directly, leaving the various questions she raises to fans (for my head canon, she’s the mysterious woman in “The End of Time”). That said, it being hard to address how Susan works shouldn’t be a reason to just ignore her importance to The Doctor. For what it’s worth, the one off line implying that Susan was traveling with The Doctor outside of her own timeline is fascinating.
Most of “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” is killing time
Less fascinating is the attempts to tie Susan Triad to the ongoing mystery of Ruby (Millie Gibson). Despite the title, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” doesn’t contribute that much to the real threat of the finale. The Doctor uses the investigation into Ruby’s mother as a distraction from the possibility his granddaughter is up to shenanigans. Going into CCTV footage of Ruby’s birthday does tip off to something being wrong with the TARDIS, at least. Otherwise, Ruby still has a” will be important later” sign around her neck. Bringing her adopted mother Carla (Michelle Greenidge) along also doesn’t move much forward. Honestly it’s more she’s here because Jackie Tyler was for finale episodes back in the day.
Everything in the middle of the episode is wheel spinning, from all the time spent in UNIT’s time window to science advisor Morris’s (Lenny Rush) recurring trap probability joke. Not everything is bad in a bubble — Yasmin Finney’s Rose is back and remains a warm presence. Former companion Mel (Bonnie Langford) is easily the episode MVP for doing legit spy craft — even as I’m realizing her presence is in the same vein as Sarah Jane (the late Elisabeth Sladen) back during the previous RTD era. I know I’m playing the hits myself at this point, but they really are just doing it all again!
Fourth Doctor fans, rejoice!
This includes the reveal of what is really going on. A Davies finale pretty much always brings back a classic Who villain in a modern context. It’s more forgivable to see this trick again though, because it is always exciting. The reveal of Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf, returning to the character) is no exception. Most modern fans were never going to guess the Fourth Doctor antagonist – shoutout to the BBC putting out a truncated version of “Pyramids of Mars” to help. The effect revealing them is excellent, giving us a very striking version of a space god.
Not everything in the lead up works – there isn’t really an acronym to get wrong, Doctor. Even so, the climax is cool and equally tense. It is really neat to see this plotline that started with a deep cut classic baddie climax with another. It’s late into the episode to really get a read on Sutekh’s plans. However, that makes the waiting for the second half all the more exciting.
Even so, there’s a lot of middling nothing to get to the climax. Ruby’s mom likely can see Sutekh attached to the TARDIS, but why that matters to the plot is a mystery. That keeps “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” from being a legendary episode. Despite itself, I can’t wait to see how the first season of the Fifteenth Doctor concludes.
Doctor Who “Season 1” is available on Disney+.
Images courtesy of BBC/Disney
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Doctor Who 1x08 review: "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" - 6/10
6/10
Travis Hymas is a freelance writer and self appointed Pokémon historian out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Known to be regularly obessive over pop culture topics, gaming discourse, and trading card games, he is a published critic featured on sites such as Uppercut and The Young Folks.
