Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Doctor Who season finale and mentions of parental abuse of children.
The Big Picture
Ruby Sunday’s identity as a normal human girl in
Doctor Who
‘s Season 1 finale subverts expectations.
Showrunner Russell T Davies created Ruby and her human mother, Louise Miller, in response to Rey’s role in the
Star Wars
prequel trilogy.
Millie Gibson is returning for Season 2 despite Ruby’s heartfelt departure, which diminishes the finale’s emotional impact.
After one season and a Christmas special’s worth of intrigue, Doctor Who’s season finale, “Empire of Death,” delivers on its central mystery: why is Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) birth mother so important? A series known for its consistent mystery box format, Russell T Davies pulls the wool over our eyes by turning history, and fan expectations, on their ears. Ruby’s mom, Louise Miller (Faye McKeever), is as normal as could be: a human girl. Not only that, but a vulnerable, frightened 15-year-old giving up her newborn daughter to protect her. Louise’s courage transforms her into a legend, in turn making Ruby more than the sum of her enigmatic parts. Although a deceptively simple resolution, this central idea is more inherently Doctor Who than any over-complicated puzzle could be.
Doctor Who
The show follows the adventures of a Time Lord, “The Doctor,” who is able to regenerate, and the Doctor’s human friends. The Doctor and his companions journey through time and space in the TARDIS – a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box – saving the universe with a combination of wit, bravery, and kindness.
Release Date March 17, 2006
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Seasons 14
Studio BBC America
Streaming Service(s) Disney+
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Ruby Sunday’s Origins Subvert ’Doctor Who’s Normal Plot Twists
At this point, it’s common procedure for Doctor Who viewers to cautiously approach new characters. When Davies rebooted the eponymous series in 2005, he folded an overarching mystery into Christopher Eccleston’s 13-episode run and bound the riddle’s resolution to companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), effectively giving her a cosmic legacy. Season 4 companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) briefly absorbs half of the Doctor’s unique Time Lord intellect. Amy Pond’s (Karen Gillan) childhood ties into a season-long conundrum about a crack in space-time, and her daughter turns out to be the Doctor’s elusive time-traveling wife, River Song (Alex Kingston). To keep a vengeful enemy from undoing all the Doctor’s victories, Season 7 companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) sends a copy of herself to every vulnerable moment of his life. Davies and his fellow showrunners have also teased upcoming villains with recurring Easter Eggs. Theory-loving audiences are used to the process, and they expect enormous answers.
For Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the titular Time Lord, Davies subverts the pattern he established. An old hand at structuring what looks like an intricate puzzle from the outside, he intentionally introduces Ruby as a 19-year-old whose origins are cloaked in mystery. Yet Ruby’s heritage couldn’t be more normal (on her mother’s side, at least). Because Ruby deeply longs to meet her birth mother, time and space warps to grant Louise Miller a profundity beyond herself — even though her actions are already profoundly courageous. Time is malleable and memory is potent. Does the answer make logical sense? Not completely. Does it match Doctor Who’s reputation? Absolutely. It’s a quintessential culmination, a bit of “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” handwaving, especially since Davies injects fantasy genre elements into Gatwa’s Season 1.
The Doctor and Ruby Sunday Are Both Adopted
Image via Disney+
The Doctor’s fascination with Ruby’s heritage adds an extra punch to that fateful night she was born. Considering previous storylines, it’s logical to assume — but not explicitly corroborated by the text — the Doctor relates to Ruby. Season 12 rewrites six decades of canon by revealing the Doctor wasn’t born a Time Lord like they spent a millennium believing. They are a foundling called the Timeless Child, an ageless member of an unnamed species that can regenerate into a new body. A scientist extracted the regeneration ability from the Timeless Child and grafted it onto their species’ DNA. Gifted with nigh-immortality, these people renamed themselves the Time Lords and erased the Child’s memories of their previous lives.
In essence, the Doctor and Ruby are both adopted children. For Ruby, finding Louise is about closure, and that’s potent enough. The Doctor has yet to pursue his origins, but gaining the attention of an ancient being who constantly traverses time and space? That conceals Louise with enough dramatic intensity that not even Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) can find her — and that egotistical focus on a single figure becomes the villain’s downfall.
‘The Last Jedi’ Inspired ’Doctor Who’s Ruby Sunday
Russell T Davies told Doctor Who: Video Commentaries that he created Ruby as a “reaction to” Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Davies mimicked The Last Jedi’s answer to Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) backstory — another young woman with a cryptic identity — because Rise of Palpatine undid its predecessor’s decisive declaration that anyone, even a “nobody” without an important surname, could be a hero. Davies explained:
“The second film said that Daisy Ridley was […] an ordinary person with the Force. And then in the next one, they changed it all so that she was the child of the Emperor, and they made her…she was, like, cosmic, and had godlike powers.
And I really loved the version where she wasn’t special
, when she’s ordinary. [… Ruby isn’t] the daughter of Sutekh. She’s not the daughter of the Time Lords or Rassilon or something like that. Her mum is Louise Miller, who was 15 years old and pregnant, from a dangerous home, abusive home, and left her child on the doorstep. And that’s my reaction to it. Because I think it’s a better story.”
Louise’s story underscores Doctor Who’s optimistic connective narrative tissue: despite all the horrors humanity commits, their individual selflessness makes them remarkable. That’s why the Doctor claims humans as his favorite species no matter how often they obliterate the Earth. The Doctor and his companions model kindness, altruism, and gritty bravery to one another despite their flaws. The companions save the galaxy as frequently as the Doctor, and sometimes with just their unimpeachable integrity or the literal power of love. When someone belittles themselves in front of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), he responds with, “900 years of time and space, and I’ve never met someone who wasn’t important.” And defines bravery more than a defenseless teenage girl?
Related ‘Doctor Who’s New “Season 1” Is Just a Copy of the First
For all Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson try, they’re merely a pale comparison to the last time the show rebooted itself.
Louise Miller isn’t important because she gives birth to Ruby; an earlier season might have resolved Ruby’s arc with her as a Chosen One destined to defend the universe. This time, however, Louise is important because she’s pregnant and living in an abusive home. She has no financial or legal independence. She can’t defend herself from her father or protect Ruby from him, either. Leaving her newborn daughter at a church gives Ruby a far better chance at safety than a terrified adolescent from an overlooked demographic can provide. Louise’s “ordinary” act of defiant love becomes imbued with retroactive attention thanks to the Doctor’s influence and Ruby’s own love. Moreover, Louise survives her father; she earns a nursing degree and lives comfortably, happily. That combination makes her more spectacular, and more innately human, than a plot twisting itself into muddled spirals.
Ruby Sunday’s Season 2 Return Diminishes Her Goodbye
Image via Disney+
“Empire of Death” concludes with Ruby deciding to leave the TARDIS after meeting Louise and reuniting with her lifelong adoptive mother Carla (Michelle Greenidge) and grandmother Cherry (Angela Wynter). Despite their mutual heartbreak, Ruby and the Doctor agree that her real journey is just beginning; it’s time for her adventures with her human family. Except, Ruby will return after the 2024 Christmas special, as will “Boom” guest star Varada Sethu. Gatwa and Gibson’s phenomenal chemistry has been Season 1’s selling point from start to finish, but bringing Ruby back undermines both her choice and the characters’ heartfelt parting. While Ruby’s dearest friend, the Doctor isn’t her end-all, be-all scenario. While the Doctor’s dearest friend, Ruby still isn’t enough for him to approach anything resembling intimacy. Nevertheless, she heals his broken hearts. Thanks to Ruby Sunday being purely Ruby Sunday, he might finally gather enough courage to visit his abandoned granddaughter.
“Empire of Death” is also one of the few times a companion has willingly and safely left the TARDIS, a tragic pattern the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) mocks — complete with puppets — during “The Giggle.” Davies started this habit too; although few fans could complain about seeing Rose Tyler again, her Season 4 return diminishes her emotional separation from the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) two seasons earlier. Donna Noble co-leading the 60th anniversary specials narrowly avoids a similar fate, albeit via an easy narrative fix. Ruby’s continued presence necessitates character work, which runs the risk of retroactively complicating her satisfying denouement. For better or worse, the legend of Ruby Sunday is ongoing. Let’s hope she keeps subverting expectations by not becoming special for special’s sake — or a Greek tragedy.
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