Back Where It Belongs! - Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road REVIEW

[@CarlB_1962]

I loved the episode. Ncuti ‘s characterisation of the Doctor is pretty much everything I want in the Doctor - authoritative, energetic, emotional, with an infectious sense of fun and curiosity about the universe, and his chemistry with Millie Gibson was amazing. If this episode is a genuine flavour of what the new series is going to be like, May can’t come around soon enough. Doctor Who is fun again!

[@elliotttalksf1825]

I was pleasantly surprised by this Xmas special, Ncuti is great in the role and the story whilst not the best held up and had emotional moments.

[@jhank708]

Very nice review, Elliot. Like you, I also found the special a brilliant way to introduce the 14th Doctor. And, yeah, it is really tough to introduce a new Doctor and companion in a Christmas special. There is a unique quality to the Christmas Specials. They are always over the top, Panto-esque episodes, and therefore more challenging to introduce a new team that way. D Tenant had the luxury of being unconscious for nearly all of his introductory Christmas episode, so we didn't see a huge change his performance from the special to the other episodes. I was a bit nonplussed by a number of decisions with the episode. Now we have random people seeing the Tardis dissappear? Now the Doctors is sexy as hell? Now the sonic is a tv remote and not a screwdriver? I don't let those thoughts spoil the fun, but there are niggling thoughts throughout. Mavity is going to remain a thing? (sorry, but I find that stupid) Bigeneration is now a new thing, R Davis has now stated that all Doctors have bi-generated. I'm sorry, but C Chibnall was shredded by so many fans over the Timeless Child (a concept that I thought brilliant. Finally an avenue to look into the Doctors past with a whole new set of concepts now available.) and now we have Russell T Davies shredding so many long held concepts and I wonder if the blowback will be half of what Chibnall suffered through, all because a segment of the fans freaked out over the Doctor being female. Chuti being black and being gay will probably suffer similar hate (even after that AMAZING performance) but I wonder if it will be close to the misogyny that Jodi and her team suffered through. Also, I know that we all loved the moments where Ruby had disappeared and the change it brought to Cherry and Carl. I felt was homage to It's a Wonderful Life, a classic Christmas tale..Also thought there was reference to Die Hard when Ruby and the Doctor were scurrying about the Goblin ship, like they were in the air ducts equivilaent. We're all waiting to find out if Mrs Flood is an important character, or was that a wink and a nod at the end to remind us that it was, after all, a Christmas special.

[@PerovNigma]

I'm really happy that a sound technician picked up on the goblins. I assumed Ruby would notice and question it, but no-one else would be able to hear it, and I was bracing myself for second-hand embarrassment.

[@timetraveller07]

There won't be reactions anymore? I like your reactions with your partner.

[@venom4597]

It got 4.7 million views in 2023… while Christmas episodes back in the early 2000s were getting 13 million views… that should tell you how successful it really isn’t

[@NoButIGotCheezWhiz]

It was literally the number one drama of the day by a significant margin It came third overall Not even the king breaks 10 mil anymore The tv landscape has changed so much. No shit were not getting 13 million, that’d be absurd.

[@venom4597]

@@NoButIGotCheezWhiz tv has changed. Imagine how many fans you’d get if you didn’t preach to them about PC crap. At least it was only the 2nd worst Doctor Who debut congrats 🎉