2nd Opinion, Take 2 “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” – A Playbook RTD Doctor Who Finale, for Better or Worse

J.C. reviews the seventh episode of Series 14.

Despite the patchiness of Russell T Davies’ new era so far (to put it mildly), I held some confidence that he would deliver with the first half of Doctor Who’s Series 14 finale. RTD has always excelled at crafting an exciting opening to his finales, whether it was the Daleks’ return in Series 1, the Cybermen and Daleks in Series 2, the Master in Series 3, or Davros in Series 4. So, did he deliver after all this time? To a degree. While “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” was a playbook RTD finale, for better or worse, it genuinely piqued my interest for next week—something this run hadn’t achieved until now.

But before we get into the big reveal, which will ultimately be what the episode is most remembered for, let’s rewind. Frankly, I felt like “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” struggled to find its footing early on. The first act was burdened with the task of introducing numerous new characters, reintroducing old ones, and catching viewers up on the ongoing mysteries. The result was an opening bogged down by lots of exposition and hugs. The way RTD addressed the major mysteries felt rather inorganic to the story. It was mechanically ‘right, let’s try and solve mystery one’ (who is the mysterious recurring lady?), followed shortly by ‘and let’s also try and solve mystery two’ (Who is Ruby’s mother?).

The newcomers at UNIT ranged from baffling to forgettable. On the baffling side, Shirley Bingham has been replaced by “child genius” Morris. Having never seen actor Lenny Rush in anything prior, I had no expectations, but I found his presence in scenes tended to diminish the gravity of the situations. For some reason, we also saw the return of Rose Noble instead of Donna, the actual person we last saw negotiating a salary for a job at UNIT (presumably, Catherine Tate was too costly or otherwise engaged). But since when did UNIT start hiring children for its workforce? Are they exempt from child labour laws?

Among the forgettable, Colonel Chidozie seemed destined to die a horrible death from the moment he was introduced. Then there’s Harriet Arbinger, who initially came across as another unnecessary and bland addition, until the last-minute reveal allowed her to showcase a malevolent side. Oh, and the Vlinx. Well, at least he didn’t look quite so CBBC this time. On the brighter side, the returns of Kate and Mel were highlights. Jemma Redgrave delivered her usual dependable performance, but the real standout, and the one that most surprised me, was Mel. It was very satisfying (and humorous) watching her telling Fifteen to get his act together.

Which brings me to my next point. As I’m sure many Doctor Who fans did after the episode, I went back and re-watched Pyramids of Mars. Viewing it again right alongside this new series was a real eye-opener. The difference between Tom Baker’s portrayal and Ncuti Gatwa’s is massive. The thing is, I don’t think Gatwa did a bad job acting-wise in this episode, it’s just that I’m finding it even harder to see him playing the same Time Lord. After 7 episodes, his Doctor is more often than not an emotional wreck with no answers, no plans, who scares easily, gives up too quickly, and lets others save the day. This is the polar opposite of the character we know. Will he finally get a heroic moment next week? Or will someone else step in while he’s sitting and crying in the corner? I can only hope it’s the former (but the trailer makes it look like the latter).

Anyway, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” started to capture my interest much more after the first 20 minutes, as the narrative finally allowed a little progress on the mysteries to unfold as the Doctor and team entered the Time Window. I liked this concept, even if it was clear that it was done so that the TARDIS could be kept at UNIT HQ for the final scene. Utilizing grainy VHS footage is always effective in crafting a creepy ambiance. The use of the dark hooded figure, who may or may not be Ruby’s mother, gave me Ring vibes. It’s unfortunate that they didn’t lean even more into this eerie element. One other thing that tarnished this part was there was again the cast explaining what the audience can already see: ‘she’s pointing at you’, ‘she’s walking away’, which harmed some of the building tension. Was Chibnall called in for this? Ultimately, we ended up with no real answers for the Ruby mystery, so let’s hope RTD delivers next week.

On the other hand, we learned a bit more about Susan Triad, though many questions still remain. This part of story initially angered me, as I hated the thought that RTD might have regenerated Susan Foreman like that. Recasting Carole Ann Ford after all the teasing would be heresy, so I was so glad this turned out to be a troll (for now). I have to give credit to Susan Twist (surely that’s not her real name?) for a solid performance across this series. Although often given a short screen time, she did a good job portraying this many characters and making them feel unique in their own way. This was her best role yet.

So I’ve saved the best for last—Sutekh is back. Diehard Doctor Who fans are always going to be excited about a classic villain’s return, but I was just glad it wasn’t one we were expecting like Davros, Daleks, Cybermen or the Master (again). At this point, that would be predictable and anti-climactic. There were some rumours/speculation about Sutekh, but I felt that as much as fans love him, it has been almost 50 years and I assumed RTD wouldn’t want to confuse his under-30s audience. But I guess not! I was so glad Gabriel Woolf returned, as his voice is just too iconic. It’s even more impressive when you consider he is 91 now. My only concern is I really don’t want Sutekh to be limited to the CGI doggy version. I would much prefer an updated version of his Pyramids’ costume that he has become synonymous with (when he was imprisoned). Time will tell on that one…

In summation, after a cumbersome start filled with too much exposition, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” gained momentum, setting up a potentially explosive conclusion with the reveal of Sutekh’s return. Whether this series will culminate in a second half that does justice to the build up and answers the mysteries remains to be seen. But for now, RTD has at least managed to stir the pot of excitement and speculation (and made me quickly forget “Rogue“).

Asides

• “Can you imagine the Fourth Doctor shouting, ‘Give me the loving!’? Well, most of the Doctors…
• Actually, it’s odd seeing Rose act this close to Fifteen already. The audience has not seen this growth on screen. It would make more sense with the 14th Doctor (assuming they’ve had adventures off-screen), but for 15 and Rose are we to assume they have seen each other too? But in that case, Fifteen somehow doesn’t know how “uncle” 14 is?
• Speaking of, I love how quickly the question of the 14th Doctor was glossed over. Suppose he’s still chilling in the garden whilst all this is going on.
• New drinking game for this finale: take a shot anytime someone is given positive affirmation.
• Millie Gibson had a couple of great moments as Ruby (mainly in the Time Window scenes), but with a script needing to serve so many other characters, she was left a bit wanting.
• ‘You mean you can have a granddaughter before a daughter?’ – Please don’t tell me this is leading up to RTD canonising how Time Lords reproduce. Just leave it alone. It’s too dumb to contemplate.
• I liked Mrs Flood’s scene, but at the same time, it feels like one mystery too many in this episode.
• Michelle Greenidge’s acting as Carla was a bit iffy in this one.
• I couldn’t help but crack up when the Doctor asked Susan with all sincerity, ‘Do you dream about being an ambulance?’ Only in Doctor Who would that make any sort of sense.
• The makeup on the Sutekh harbingers was fantastically horrifying. Can we have more monsters like this, and fewer snot monsters and bird people?
• Seriously, no one at UNIT picked up on Harriet Arbinger?!
• ‘It was the wrong anagram!’ – ‘Sue Tech’ is not an anagram, so shouldn’t the line be “It wasn’t an anagram”?