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Ruby Tuesday has been having a lot of bad luck, and that luck is getting worse, fortunately The Doctor is on hand to offer a helping hand.

Typical Christmas nonsense, it seemed to fit the bill for silly season, I just loved Ncuti and Ruby, he instantly won me over, I think he's going to be a great Doctor.

So this episode is mainly dedicated to introducing us to Ruby. Millie Gibson is going to be great, I'm sure we have lots to learn about her as the season progresses.

On the plus side, the acting was excellent, credit to all involved. The production values were excellent, and I'm getting vibes that Anita Dobson is going to play a part going forward, surely a villain in the making.

On the debit side, I wasn't crazy about the storyline, and I'm not sure the goblins worked. The goblin song, that was shocking, sorry Russell it was cringe, on par with The Toymaker's dance. Too many cheesy smiles, please can those be toned down a little.

It's going to get flack for ticking all of the boxes, but it is The BBC and Disney, that's not going to change anytime soon.

7/10.

I just wanted to preface this by saying: I actually like Jodie. I think she's a great actor, but was let down by terrible writing, boring stories and most of all awful direction.

From the first scene Ncuti commands the screen. He's charismatic, cool, funny and fun. The spotlight is on him, because he IS the Doctor. I never bought Jodie as the Doctor. Ncuti, it was instant.

Between the barmy story and the brilliant acting on show from Ncuti, Millie and the rest, this is honestly off to a fantastic start.

It's been so long since I've been genuinely excited for the next episode of Doctor Who to come out.

RTD is back and Doctor Who is campy and fun again!

Having decided to review these episodes of the quasi-rebooted "Doctor Who" as they air, I realised I needed to jump back an episode to review the Christmas special, which was the full debut of Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor. So, last night, I rewatched it - the night after watching the "Space Babies" episode. It feels quite similar, in that I like the character and the overall arc building but am a little less enamoured with the creature element.

Beset by a run of bad luck, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) attracts the attention of The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa). Ruby is the adopted daughter of Carla (Michelle Greenridge) who has fostered dozens of other children and receives another baby on Christmas Eve 2023. Ruby is in charge of the baby for only a few minutes before she's kidnapped by Goblins, who intend to eat her. Ruby engages in a rooftop pursuit, where she's joined by The Doctor and they climb aboard the Goblin ship.

As with the next episode I like the mythology building that Russel T Davies was always so good at. We establish the mystery of who is Ruby's mother, when she is left on a church doorstep on Christmas Eve. The adopted daughter angle plays alongside The Doctor still coming to terms with the fact he was also adopted by Gallifrey (Interesting that Davies intends to keep that bit of lore and work with it, rather than ignore that controversial Chibnall idea).

The Goblin's themselves weren't a bad effect, as much as an uninteresting design. Everything about them felt a bit haphazard though, for example, they're feeding the baby to the Goblin King, but he's so unfeasibly large the Baby wouldn't even make a snack for him. Why does the female Goblin have a perfect human singing voice whereas none of the rest do? Everything to do with tying Ruby into the days with the accidents and co-incidences didn't really make much logically sense either. (The less said about the song the better).

As with the episode that follows, the good news is that I like the continuing elements, though felt underwhelmed by the episodic elements. Hopefully the series will get those right soon too.

Nothing against the choice of actors.

It could have been great... but it was thoroughly disappointing.

Boring, non-engaging and uninspired writing created a boring cheap rip off of gremlins, they did not introduce characters properly including the doctor himself...

No real villain to set the tone of the new season and the special effects were sub-par to say they least leaving a bitter, cheap post 2000s George Lucas taste.

The story did not take flight and we did not get a taste of what the new doctor will be like. In fact, he was completely wasted but it still contains potential!

Hoping for better things to come.

I am a big "DW" fan. I originally saw some of the 4th, 6th, & 7th Doctor serials as a child in the U. S. on PBS. And then when the new series started, RTD made me fall in love with the show all over again. However, I was not a fan of the 14th Doctor's run. Not because of Whittaker, but because I am not a fan of Chris Chibnall's writing for the show & since he was announced I thought he was a poor choice for showrunner. And... it seems he was. The poor writing that plagued Capaldi's last 2 seasons returned. And then... RTD came back! I missed the first 3 specials but caught this one. I had only seen clips of Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor. And the reviews on YouTube weren't kind. I have no idea why because this special was INCREDIBLE!!! Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor is amazing. He's... the Doctor! I don't know a better compliment than that! I think his Doctor will be remembered as one of the greats by the end of his run if they keep up this level of writing & production. I had not seen Millie Gibson before but I'm excited to have her as a companion! Her, Michelle Green, and Angela Wynter were excellent in the episode! I really liked their characters & family dynamic. I hope we see them again! The special is another great "DW" episode. The antagonists were interesting & I don't believe we've seen them before. But I do hope we see them again! There's a musical portion of the special I got ready to cringe when it started. Turned out to be one if my favorite parts of the episode! "Who" is BACK!!!! Thank you RTD & thank you especially to Mr. Gatwa who gets the character! I'm excited to see what's next for the 15th Doctor & you should be also!

I feel like Russell T. Davies is weaving an ingeniously inventive tapestry of fascinating tales that are being adapted to the screen by a bunch of people who (frustratingly) just continuously don't seem to understand the complexity of the narrative he's already established, after only four episodes?

In 'Wild Blue Yonder', our protagonist (the Doctor) thoughtlessly invoked a superstition at the edge of creation where the barrier between worlds was thin; lines firmly establishing reality from fiction were therefore blurred & consequently, what shouldn't have been theoretically possible before (in this universe) suddenly became increasingly likely (intentionally pushing the boundaries of sci-fi until one could reasonably describe it as fantasy - blending the two genres); bi-regeneration (acknowledged previously as a myth) inexplicably occurred for the first time in the show's 60+ year history, 'The Toymaker' (a godlike being whose very existence challenges our own sense of coherent logic) broke through in to this plane & there, he playfully exacerbated the problem by "toying with supernovas, turning galaxies in to spinning tops" etc. He even "gambled with god & made him a jack-in-the-box, made a jigsaw out of (the Doctor's) history" (additionally explaining the convoluted 'Timeless Child' arc - made possible by a plausible ripple of his tampering in this current plotline, reverberating back through the Time Lord's own linear chronology) & "sealed the Master for all eternity inside his golden tooth". What I'm trying to articulate is everything we're seeing now is arguably a direct ramification of that fleeting encounter on the ominously vacant ship Tennant & Catherine Tate's characters found themselves stranded on (after she carelessly dropped coffee on the TARDIS console); not only is everything we've witnessed an expansion of that founding idea, but the showrunner continues to mine the brilliant concept for all it's worth by realising more of the resultant potential here, in his latest Christmas Special, 'The Church on Ruby Road'.

How?

Well, in short... Goblins. Magical creatures the show never previously featured (for good reason - it would've been silly) demonstrably inhabit the realm of "Who" in the same way "the Daleks" do, from 2023 onwards (like it or not, it's a bold creative decision - making a swift divergence from everything we're accustomed to since the identity of the programme has evolved in to something recognisable, though distinctively unlike any predecessors). There, these pesky monsters manifestly ride the waves of time aboard a wonderfully nonsensical vessel (held together by the "language of rope" - another new thought - defying scientific law - we've to rapidly acquaint ourselves with), weaponising chance retrospectively to embed themselves in events - enough to form a strong, tangible connection & eventually steal people's babies - so their "King" can gluttonously feast upon them whilst his minions simultaneously sing camp songs about their endeavours... I know, absurd (intentionally).

What makes this really interesting is - as acknowledged in a small line of dialogue spoken by Ncuti Gatwa - all the bad luck his soon-to-be companion suffers (at the hands of life-forms who plague her recent days) is furthermore because of him; her trials & tribulations occur from intentional coincidence, made possible with hindsight - culminating to deliberately form these orchestrated circumstances... Coincidentally, only due to his prior actions (with another face) - conducted with no foresight (permitting the implausible to coincide with the comprehensible). Now, if one is to perhaps be tediously philosophical, you could actually argue the retrospectively manufactured coincidence could have subsequently been responsible for the installation of itself (a self perpetuating causal loop / predestination paradox, accountable for its former origins), rationalising the Doctor's behaviours (everything he's coincidentally done is in service of their artificial construction of aforementioned coincidence; binding him & Millie Gibson's "Ruby" together like magnetism - changing the rules for the specific purpose of piecing them in the same space)... However, I feel that robs him of necessary autonomy & renders him a rather passive bystander in his own emotional journey - yet there's so much nuance to be had & outstandingly unique stuff to be realised (addressing this mind-bending whimsicality) which isn't being acknowledged in the context of the installments... And for me, that's a shame.

Don't get me wrong, the outing's good... The realisation merely gives the inaccurate impression of simplicity when beneath the surface, there's anything but.

Don't know if it's Mark Tonderai's poor direction (repeatedly capturing sequences in a consecutive series of claustrophobic close-up / handheld shots, failing to visualise vital information or convey it concisely; scenes seldom have a sense of geography & Ruby's room isn't depicted, preceding her sudden disappearance for instance - reaffirming the noticeable shift in her absence. Plus, verbose editing, needlessly showing her dragging a ladder after spotting it when we could've just quickly cut to her reaching the roof, inferring her response to seeing the solution to her problem - maintaining a more satisfying momentum), the restrictive run-time or Russell's reliable tendency to approach an introductory script with tentative caution (he normally takes a while to get to properly know the characters he's created - hence, I've found the latter half of his seasons are always stronger, simply because he's closer to being certain of who they are & can lean more heavily upon assured foundations, once they've set) or a culmination of all these issues... But despite the adequacy, it could've been better.

My Dr was Jon Pertwee (child of the sixties blah, blah, blah) but I've been a huge fan of David Tenant as he IS the epitome of what the Dr. Is about, but now we have a seemingly fitting new doctor.

Ncuti has shown some great chops so far, he sings, he's theatrical and like DT has bags of charisma mixed with a serious sense of humour. And he's Scottish "ahm the Doctor" he states.

The new companion chemistry with Millie is bang on and this looks like another great feisty companion. I feel certain that now the correct show runner is back in place with a far superior writing style that actually gets the Doctor the series will get back on track. The last Dr suffered from poor story telling and correctness gone wild (IMO) not Jody's fault as she is a fine actor.

Great production values, story-telling and acting. Roll on May 2024.

Not a huge fan of this episode. A lack of coherent plot and the cringey song were big issues for me- HOWEVER I loved the characters, especially Ncuti Gatwa's version of the Doctor (it reminded me a little of the lighter side of Ten's personality but felt very fresh and positive). I do trust Russell T Davies to pull this off more than anyone, I just hope that Doctor Who doesn't lose its essence and become another awful Disney show! It has too much history and individuality.

Having said that, wow, you can see the difference in budget. I have just finished rewatching the early revival episodes and this is barely recognisable!

A Christmas episode that may get you thinking, as themes and images seem to have lots of linking, to films of the past, it may make you laugh, or leave you annoyed, dizzy, and inwardly shrieking; as the split generation may just have gone a bit too far, and your demographic outlook might just see the bizarre, but you need to embrace, the Doctor's brand new face, and open the door, and not leave it ajar; now the new companion is an absolute delight, she will be fantastic and put up a great fight, with a story unknown, just from where she was grown, the future is Ruby, and the tunnel has some light.

Let's start with the positive: Gatwa is an incredibly characteristic Doctor. He instantly had his own flare and made his mark as the Fifteenth Doctor and really demonstrated his acting abilities in the minute details. The set design, practical effects, VFX, and costuming was stunning! The treatment plan for the episode was brilliant, the concepts were there, the basic ideas of the characters were so promising. The villains were so much fun!

And after the return of RTD and especially the last few 60th anniversary special episodes that promised the return of a Doctor Who that treated its audience seriously, without taking itself too seriously and embracing the campy fun, this could have been a fantastic episode.

Unfortunately the promise was not fulfilled. None of the support cast or Ruby Sunday were believable in the slightest. They were playing caricatures, not characters. Even some actors who were clearly trying their best came across as flat. The best example was Ruby's mum. Clearly a good actor given bad direction.

The acting was so appalling across the board that it simply isn't possible that it was the individual actor's fault. This is a problem with directing and show running. Where is the complexity? Where is the real emotion? Where is the showing rather than the telling?

More time was needed in the writing room. And more effort was needed by RTD. You've still got a lot to prove, and this episode ultimately suggested laziness.

Whilst I really like the new doctor and Ruby this episode just felt off. I respect big creative swings which this episode is but it's largely a miss- so much happens but nothing happens? It just felt messy the musical elements were nice but detracted from the episode. The directing at point felt very amateur and cheap it definitely feels like this episode had a much smaller budget than the past three. On the grounds it's a campy Xmas special I'm more forgiving for this episodes downfalls but I will not revisit it any time soon and I desperately hope this isn't a forecast of what's to come and is more of a misguided accident.

Welcome back Russel T. Davis oh how we've missed you. Back with a bang for the Christmas special. Great storyline. Great line up of supporting cast and we just loved the segment when the Doctor burst into song. Ncuti seems like a natural in the role. Can't believe we now have to wait until May 2024 to see the new series. This had just the right edge of scariness and I can imagine a few young ones hiding behind sofas which has become a right of passage for all us old Dr. Who fans. Ruby and the Doctor are going to be a great partnership and we even got Rose and her mum vibes at one point. A fantastic episode.

A good starter episode for the new era, introduces the characters well (reintroducing for the Doctor) and the style and scale of what the new increased budget and RTDs return can provide. Not a classic but for a starter Christmas episode it ticked all the right boxes.

Following The Giggle and David Tennant's second incarnation was always going to be a tough act to follow but Ncuti delivers as the Doctor.

There are some cringe moments but nothing especially jarring or wince worthy, the goblins play second fiddle as antagonists to the development of the Doctor and Ruby's developing relationship but that's expected in a soft reboot designed to set the tone for the upcoming series in May.

7/10.

After a few years of enjoyable however increasing complicated storylines this was a breath of fresh air.

Fast paced, over the top, ridiculous and entertaining. I feel like the Doctor is back and more accessible to all. This is not just for die hard fans who can refer back to every episode over the past 60 years.

I look forward to the next series and hope for a similar tone. May the fun continue...

If you've never watched Doctor Who before however want to jump in, this appears to be a good starting point. You will always get the die hard fans who hate anything new. Ignore and just give it a try.

Doctor Who is back on Christmas Day. RTD writes his first festive episode since 2009 and once again there is simplicity in his wiring in Ncuti Gatwa's first adventure.

The 15th Doctor meets Ruby Sunday. A child abandoned on Christmas Eve. Now a teenager Ruby has been suddenly plagued with bad luck.

A new baby fostered by her mother has attracted the attention of evil goblins. They certainly are making a song and dance about their Christmas dinner, a freshly seasoned baby.

RTD has gone for fantasy to complement the last adventure with the Toymaker. Gatwa gets to show off his singing skills.

All of a sudden there is a switch to coldness when Ruby disappears. Her foster mother living a life of misery, only fostering a few kids here and there for the money. The warmth the Doctor encountered earlier has vanished.

It is an adventure aimed for all the family on the festive day. Although the Goblin song that is all about eating a baby is darkly comic. It was sung by Janis Goblin with help from Gob Dylan.

On the upside, the new Doctor seems like he has the chops. Brought fun and a little darkness to his first episode. The new companion is cute and did not immediately know everything. The pairing may be fun in the new season.

As to the Christmas episode itself, it was OK. Not great. Not bad. In the tradition on several Christmas episodes, which were just OK. The antagonist was unexpected and magically based, not a choice I would have made but maybe it resonated better with other watchers.

I worry about a silly season long story about Ruby. Again, that is just me. Let's see how it goes. The team would have to work hard not to be an improvement over the last two years.

Loved this as a preview of what's to come with some clever ideas emerging. As a Christmas special this delivers in a tongue-in-cheek non-draggy way with great lightheartedness and theatrics. Look up an MTG card called Battle Squadron, a Zelda creature called the Goron and the movie called Labyrinth and you will perhaps see where the inspiration for this episode had come from but all in all an strong introduction for our new Doctor whom I am already starting to love. Yes he dances and cries and shows emotion but the Dr has always loved life and people, don't forget he has shed all his former burdens having settled down with Donna in his last incarnation.

Disney has a reputation for being the 'kiss of death' when they become involved with a show. If this is the calibre that we are expecting from Doctor Who, then it is dead.

I was hoping for so much better. The story did not start until about 20 minutes in. It was crass, it had no tension, and the goblins had absolutely no character or credible part, or goal in the story. They were not even villains. A boat in the sky is more gaming CGI not science fiction. There was nothing scary or villainous about the goblins, like there was with the faeries in 'Small Worlds' Torchwood. What a waste of space the goblin song was. I'm sure 'Unleashed' will tell us how amazing it was.

The actual church in Ruby Road had no real significance in the story. The CGI of the church and its surrounding area was second-rate and had no resemblance to any real church but was more like a Christmas card picture. It was pathetic.

The story showed signs of picking up about two-thirds of the way through, then it fell apart.

Doctor Who is supposedly science fiction. This is not science fiction. I'm sure that the actors did the best they could with the script they were given, but the script was an insult to their talents.

I was not a fan of Jodie Whittaker, who was also let down by the script. She is great outside Doctor Who, and when I watched this, I preferred her. This new Doctor seemed currently confused and too busy being camp to provide any intelligence to the story, living by his wits rather than his knowledge, this Doctor Who (at least in this story) had very little intelligence. The sonic screwdriver is being used as a 'get out of jail free' card so that script writers don't have to create imaginative plots. Earlier Doctors rarely used the sonic screwdriver, which is the way it needs to be.

If Doctor Who is to survive, it needs to return to being science fiction. It needs to be scary again, and we need to be on the edge of our seats wondering what is doing to happen next.

Doctor Who has fallen a long way from the show it once was. It needs to stop relying on CGI to create unconvincing goblins, or other cuddly fiendish creatures and give us something that we are on the edge of our seats where we actually identify with the predicament of the Doctor and the other characters, not merely going with the flow till the credits roll.

In a nutshell this is NOT a Doctor Who story. It is a story where anyone could have been used, and Doctor Who happened to be available.

The Church on Ruby Road properly ushers in this new era of Doctor Who. Taking its time to introduce the new characters and offering a really wacky adventure that's really fun despite being about Goblins that eat babies. It's so nice to have Doctor Who specials at Christmas again after the misguided pivot to New Year's Day.

Ncuti Gatwa comes into his own already. He nails everything that comes with most Doctors, the movement, the charm and the sadness whilst also bringing something completely new. Millie Gibson is a wonderful companion already. Beaming with positivity and already getting along with Ncuti to an infectious level.

Mark Tonderai takes a break from his usual work for something that remains a lighthearted romp despite the darker elements of the story. The back to back musical numbers are amazing. Murray Gold never misses with his Who scores and this is just magic. A constant presence throughout the episode and it's always on point.

As this Christmas special begins a new-born baby girl is abandoned outside a church on Christmas Eve. Her parents are never found and she is first fostered then adopted. She is named Ruby Sunday after the street and day she was found. Now grown up she is trying to find her parents again. On another Christmas Eve her mother takes in another baby; it is abducted by goblins! As she tries to get her back she meets The Doctor. Her life is about to change forever. Their first adventure together will see them confront baby eating goblins who have time travelling abilities.

First off I must say that on the strength of this we might just have another great Doctor and Companion. We had a brief introduction to Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor in the previous episode, where he got off to a good start, here he gets a chance to really establish his version of the character... it looks as though he will be a lot of fun in the role. The best Doctors tend to have the best companions and Millie Gibson's Ruby seems just the sort required. The central story isn't one of the best; it is okay but could have been better; the song and dance number with the goblins felt a bit silly but I guess it served to tone down the scariness for younger viewers. Overall a decent enough Christmas episode that left be looking forward to this pairings future adventures in time and space.

Watching the Christmas special was a big disappointment. The music was obnoxiously present and distracting, nostalgic cinematic musical influence for nothing overly exciting.

The CGI has been better previous series too so this felt like a CBeebies spin off rather than the main event.

The non realisation of WHO he is by characters was bizarre while not questioning why he was there felt like scenes were cut or abandoned for timings.

I hope this doesn't set the tone for the rest of the series and was just a farcical over the top Christmas episode for some, literally, very silly festive fun as it could be great with Ncuti, he's a very charismatic and dynamic actor.