‘Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road’ review: A middling holiday jaunt

The 60ᵗʰ anniversary of Doctor Who has passed, and it’s back to business as usual in more ways than one for the series. “The Church on Ruby Road” is the first outing for Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, but thanks to his surprise arrival in “The Giggle,” the episode is more about introducing his new companion. Unlike Gatwa’s introduction, which was immediately lovable and realized, Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday isn’t quite as instantly impactful; in large part due to Doctor Who‘s insistence on trying to recapture the magic of the 2000’s.

Christmas time is here

Compared to the Christmas specials of that time (The End of Time notwithstanding), “The Church on Ruby Road” is completely serviceable. Plot-wise, the stakes are extremely narrowed, which helps with the saccharine nature of the season. Personally I prefer the Christmas specials that either leverage Christmas or are about Christmas, and as such this should be a good break from the excess of the anniversary episodes. Pacing is all over the place though, escalating only to stop and start over again for little pay off. Even though I’m writing this right after rolling credits, it’s still not clear to me if The Doctor was actively goblin hunting, tracking Ruby Sunday, or if everything happening was just dumb luck.

The baby eating goblins of the episode aren’t anything to write home about, save for the musical number that the BBC couldn’t help but spoil the surprise ahead of time, which I can’t blame them; those goblins must have been expensive. Frankly, they’re not even around for long; it turns out Disney money can only buy so much. That’s okay, the Goblin King doesn’t need an evil plan or a big speech — clearly this is only a threat meant to give the new cast some time to show off.

Meeting the new leads

Unsurprisingly, Ncuti Gatwa’s electric performance from “The Giggle” wasn’t a fluke. Every moment his Doctor is on screen, he’s stealing all the attention. The swashbuckling vibe I was getting seems to be spot on and not just because of the goblin pirate ship. He’s here to have a good time in a way that no modern Doctor has before and it is infectious. Notably,  the Fifteenth is cool — not in a geeky but enduring way or in a wacky and menacing way. He’s actually cool: charismatic, suave, flirty, and more. The scene where he chats with Ruby’s adoptive grandmother will subtly make Gatwa a lot of people’s best Doctors list for years to come — and rightfully so. Subtle moments like those are the revealing moments for a character like this, and I like what I’m seeing.

However, the same cannot be said yet for the newest companion, Ruby Sunday. That’s not really the fault of actress Millie Gibson; she’s definitely game for what Doctor Who is going to throw at her. You only need to see the aforementioned musical number to confirm that. However, she needs to be given something, and this story (another Russell T. Davies joint) doesn’t give her much to work with at all.

Oh, what’s that? A twenty-something young blonde woman living a normal and quiet life with her mother but wishing something exciting would happen? You don’t say! Davies’ stewardship of Doctor Who is what first made me a fan, but if I wanted to watch “Rose,” I’d just watch “Rose.” Ruby is a little less headstrong than Davies’ first companion Rose Tyler, but otherwise their characteristics are indistinguishable. It’s a real blow, because a Doctor’s companion is crucial to the success of the whole series because they serve as The Doctor’s foil and the audience POV; the latter especially with the modern era’s abject refusal to create a companion outside the current year.

“The Church on Ruby Road” is setting up … something?

Credit where it’s due: Ruby does have one interesting angle the season proper could run with. “The Church on Ruby Road” highlights Ruby’s status as an adoptee, which is weighed alongside the relatively unpopular Timeless Child retcon, since it does mean The Doctor too was adopted. The episode doesn’t actually dwell on this similarity; (if anything everything about Ruby’s origin has big ”this will be important later” energy) but it is probably the best way to tackle the elephant in the room.

While I myself am no fan of the retcon of The Doctor’s origins, finding a way to write a better story out of it is preferred to going around it or contorting to undo it. Tying the Doctor’s origins to adoption grounds everything in a much better way for viewers to get into The Doctor’s headspace about this change. Of course, that Ruby’s abandonment is almost certainly going to come back as a plot point could also mean something just as silly is on route. A particularly cynical bone in me wonders if the Rose parallels are more than just Davies playing the hits.

Overall, “The Church on Ruby Road” is perfunctory more than anything else. It’s hardly the worst Christmas special or introduction episode, but at the same time it doesn’t exactly stand out. The villains are vapid, the pacing is off, and there’s clearly a lot of foreshadowing instead of storytelling. With a stronger start for our new companion, the shortcomings wouldn’t matter nearly as much, but all there is is a gap where something interesting should be. Hopefully Ncuti Gatwa has been weight training, because right now he’s going to be carrying the entirety of Doctor Who on his back.

‘Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road’ is available on Disney+.

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Images courtesy ©BBC Studios Worldwide