Specials, Episode 1 | 1 part | First broadcast: 25 December 2023 | Writer: Russell T Davies | Director: Mark Tonderai
Cast
- Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor
- Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday
- Davina McCall as herself
- Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood
- Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday
- Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday
Summary
Ruby Sunday, an orphan abandoned as a baby at a church on Ruby Road, is interviewed by Davina McCall for a television genealogy show when she and the newly regenerated Doctor find themselves plagued by supernatural bad luck caused by goblins who feed on coincidence and hunt through time for babies to eat, forcing the Doctor to travel back to the night Ruby was abandoned to defeat the Goblin King and ensure history unfolds as it should, after which Ruby chooses to join him in the TARDIS.
Interesting Facts
- This was the first full episode to star Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and introduced Millie Gibson as new companion Ruby Sunday, and was the first Christmas special since 2017’s “Twice Upon a Time.”
- Mrs Flood, played by Anita Dobson, breaks the fourth wall in the episode’s closing moments, seeding a mystery later revealed to be the return of the Rani.
- The episode received a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 28 critics and drew 7.49 million consolidated viewers.
- Susan Twist appears uncredited as a heckler, marking the start of a season-long arc in which she plays a recurring, disparate string of characters.
- Disney reportedly requested an additional early scene so the Doctor would appear sooner in the episode, which was filmed months after principal photography wrapped.
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