Review: 'Doctor Who: The Church On Ruby Road'

(Yes, spoilers are included in this review!)

Doctor Who — you’ve done it again. I thought the three specials with Tennant and Tate were good but I have high hopes for your franchise now. Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor has new skills, a new home, and a new sonic screwdriver. Notice, I didn’t mention wardrobe? I’m not sure exactly yet what this Doctor Who’s style will be. It’s going to be interesting, especially since we’ve seen a kilt. Maybe Gatwa’s character will have multiple outfits.

I’m going to start with the “big bad” for this episode – the Goblin King and his minions. Look, I’m a David Bowie fan. I loved his movie, Labyrinth. 

Thus I’m not a big fan of these Doctor Who goblins’ plans and their cute look. They “eat” children. They actually look like they’re kin to the Star Beast! What is scary is this king and goblins are much worse than the Goblin King and goblins that existed in Labyrinth. At least, the worst that Bowie’s King did was turn the babies into goblins. Yet, I must say that once again Davies is echoing the world and times we live in. Well, I won’t go there but need to ask: Does Davies have a TARDIS?

Now on to the Goblin King creature himself. I loved Bowie in his flamboyant shirts in Labyrinth. Of course, with the Muppet creatures, he needed to be able to move and due to his songs perform. Did anyone get a sense of the Jabba the Hutt here from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? It is a fit because Jabba liked to send people to a holding cell at the bottom of his ship. And both ships looked like pirate vessels. Hutt’s ship was a step above this one. But more on that in a minute because its construction led to its downfall.

Let’s get to the rest of the story and The Doctor’s development. We’re seeing new skills with this incarnation of the Doctor. He has a sense of the magic surrounding him. First, we see him figuring out the goblins before anyone else. He’s got their number and knows that they like to cause mischief. Did anyone see that our “bad luck” could be coming from those little imps? I know I always heard “The goblins will get you if you don’t watch out.” I attributed that to the myth of our past when our parents tried to scare us. For Ruby and other orphans, it is a given. This ability to see the situation makes this Doctor interesting (and slightly more fun as he figures things out).

Now, we all know that some people can “trace” problems with electricity. Our power company basically knows where the power failure happens after the second or third call. But tracing ropes through the knots? How ingenious! And interesting because it adds another dimension to the Doctor’s skills and where he could be going. Reading the rope, I’ll call it, and tracing the origin of the problem usually isn’t this easy. I’m sure it won’t be this simple in the future, but it added a touch of fun to an otherwise tense scene.

I found it interesting that he did guess that all could be tied to Ruby. Could Ruby have been an orphan they wanted originally who got saved too quickly? That might count toward the mishaps that she inadvertently caused others. Then why is the focus of the story on Ruby, and why was the Church a focus? Yes, I know that’s where the “mom” abandoned Ruby but it’s also served as the place for the Doctor to destroy the Goblins and save baby Ruby. Will future ties to this play out? Also, applause to Davies for using the Hindenburg imagery. Loved it.

I loved the music. The only thing that I didn’t like was “The Goblin’s Song.” Yes, it was cute and memorable. The music and singer of the lyrics were fantastic but as I said earlier, it’s too much in this history that we are seeing now. I know that no one knew of what we’ve seen playing out this year, but it just shows how much television can reflect the world around us. 

One other question for the fans: Did any of you get the “what’s happening” when the crack appeared in the walls when the goblins came for the baby the second time? To me, it echoed back to Smith’s regeneration and how he met Amy Pond. Remember the crack in her wall which led to a different dimension (wasn’t it)? I guess I need to go back and rewatch that!

We can’t leave this review until we address the big question left at the end. Just who is Mrs. Flood? I’ve been tagged asking my opinion based on Dr. Who lore. Well, it’s hard for me to say as I missed one recent Doctor completely and only caught a few of Jodie’s episodes. Also, we’re not sure how this bi-generation works or whether it is an older Doctor that we have never seen. I speculate that it could be Amy Pond but he’s visited her grave. Could it be Ruby’s mom? It’s possible but is a little far-fetched as to how would she know about a TARDIS? The Master? Please, Davies said not this season. Do I believe him? NO! So we will see how it plays out.

I think I will stick around and see how I like Gatwa’s portrayal of the Doctor when his season begins in May 2024. Some friends have already tuned, out but I will give him a chance. I wasn’t a big Smith fan when he joined the franchise, but he grew on me. I’ve also had issues with Davies’s Torchwood. I’ll give it a chance and see where it goes.