wild guess : Ruby's mom is CLARA OSWALD... yep. So much phenotypes in their visage alone

That would be brilliant :D

So the exact same theory than with the 9th doctor, lmao

This is the kind of comment RTD was hoping someone would write, so he could get ideas 😂

Love that theory, it's a very Doctor thing to do

Pond, River, Flood. She's River Song

exactly what I instantly thought

Interestingly I had a different take away from that scene. To me, it felt less like him deciding not to play with time, and more like him realising that he’s not sure if *he* wants to know the truth of his own parentage. It felt like this moment of him seeing that he could solve this mystery for his companion, then realising that, if the tables were turned, he wouldn’t want someone to tell him where he’s from. I don’t know, that’s just my interpretation, and whatever the truth ends up being, I still really liked the moment.

Also the moment from The Pilot where Capaldi goes back in time to get Bill some pictures of her Mother. He's done things like that before, but it's far more bittersweet to see him make an internal judgement and be responsible in the way that 15 was in this episode.

Same here, I definitely think he was contemplating going after her, and if that was a younger version of himself there like 10 or 11 he probably would have. But it was clear to me in that moment he’s obviously learnt his lesson and is now more stricter with himself on things like that

I actually read it as him deciding that neither him nor Ruby needs to know who their parents are. They are who they are without needing to know that.

the doctors been hanging and climbing stuff for YEARS so obviously he would do something to make it easier

I don’t mind the hanging-on aspect of the gloves at all, personally. It’s the reverse setting that doesn’t really work for me.

@@coruscantaok but he completely burnt the shit out of them when using that setting. They spark and crackle. I would not be surprised if we don’t see them for a while - or ever - because he fucked them up as soon as they were introduced. A very doctor thing imo - invent gadget for specific purpose, gadget is overpowered, overuse gadget, break gadget irreparably.

Also… the gloves are a part of his cleverness and ingenuity… he INVENTED them

@@charlielangford8062 I absolutely love when the doctor makes some device out of garbage and toothpaste for one specific scenario. I really don’t like how this is supposed to be a sci-fi show, but the doctor can’t have or use specific gadgets other than the sonic(unless it’s completely useless or extremely underpowered).

I took it as the Doctor respecting the choice of the mother to stay anonymous despite wanting to help Ruby.

it truly shows his growth as a being as well! in the past, i could picture 9, 10, 11, and even 12 to immediately interact with ruby’s mother! but due to his experiences that have happened between 13 and 14(ESPECIALLY), he has finally realized and understood that, yes he is very powerful but instead of acting on a whim and using said power, sometimes he must take a step back.

I was just going to post this conjecture, @KAIJUCHOMPS, but you've beaten me to it, and expressed it better than I probably would have done.

I immediatly thought that it was a fixed point in time and the doctor could feel it

I am positive we are eventually going to find out who Ruby's mother is. My first thought is Mrs. Flood, but that might be too convenient.

And on the note of the gloves. Kinda think they may be a one-off? They seemed to be shorting out when The Doctor seemingly pushed them to the limit at the end there (He did say only 3% power left after they fled the Goblin Ship). So, he probably burnt them out by using them to pull the Goblin Ship down on the Church. But Davies could prove me wrong there and have them show up again/him getting a new pair/fixing them.

That's my reading as well. The Goblins are more akin to the role of Weevil's from Torchwood, which in Everything Changes also written by Russell T. Davies are used to demonstrate how aliens are traveling through space-time through the rift ending up in Cardiff. Now it's creatures of myth and legend manifesting in reality itself cause the barriers of the universe's rules have been lifted, which in a way functions as the new rift for this era on a grander scale that'll be the running theme that binds the spin-offs same way as the rift binded Torchwood to Doctor Who as well as Sarah Jane Adventures. Goblins aren't really schemers of anything they've just been washed up into this reality for whatever reason. The plot of Church on Ruby Road is the coincidences surrounding Ruby and The Doctor which have arisen as a result of myth in addition to magic becoming intertwined. With The Doctor having to relearn what he thought he knew regards to logic or physics in combination with him no longer knowing where he's actually from - having that shared aspect of being an orphan with Ruby Sunday. Also coincidentally Ruby's not the only orphan who'll hang around this incarnation of The Doctor we've seen him with Mel too, so on top of everything else we appear to have a running theme of orphans finding company among each-other.

Plus, it’s entirely possible the Doctor was just trying to destroy the ship, not impale the Goblin King on the tip of the church l

@@jacobunderwood5206 Probably yet another coincidence. Also curious that the ship itself completely vanishes into thin air after that as if it never actually existed.

It was just a bad muppets episode

i thought the same thing!! with beings such as the goblins who rely on coincidences and luck, singing could possibly throw them off.

Also they’re pirates. pirates song on their ships all the time.

*Very* Good Point! 🌟

Yet Ruby had no comment on it afterwards?

@@Mark73 she didn't really have much to say about the anti gravity gloves or the very existence of goblins, either. The writers didn't exactly bog down the pace with much exposition, once the action started.

I think that's the case too, just a one off gadget

YESSS that was my first thought, I love the wacky weirdo inventions.

i thought this too yeah

it's a machine that goes ding!

@@Poyni I tend to stay away from hens, it’s not pretty when they blow.

or the "it goes ding when there's stuff" from Blink the 50th was "ding...its a machine that goes...ding"

That was evident by the shot of him waiting silently at the entrance looking in.

The goblins were at the club, and it's obvious he was undercover there like 9 does in the epsiode 'Rose'.

Why not both?

@@keelanbarron928 exactly, he was there to keep an eye on her but also vibin

They have higher quality CGI in Nigerian B movies.

@@JockBlock-vd2ep Maybe, but I'm not talking about CGI.

If he'd known about that, he would have made mention of it. Probably with the implication that the Doctor learned about it during a long cold winter with Socrates.

Ohhhhh. I didn’t even know that. See that bumps the episode up for me

It’s best forgotten.

Agree.. I didn't feel ever that there was any sense of real danger

This is a real thing in people with ADHD. When presented with a chaotic and stressful situation, we tend to switch into a very matter-of-fact and calm mode. It’s why a lot of careers recommended for people with ADHD are in the emergency services, disaster planning, or troubleshooting. Not saying she has ADHD by the way. Just that it isn’t as uncommon a way for people to react to situations like that as you’d expect.

She goes along with the doctors plan and shes able to use that to keep the baby away. The lyrics she sings are obviously panicked. Rhyming "you" with "you" 3 seperate times. She doesnt have the same charisma as the doctor, she's obviously trying desperately to play along.

@@mudawott wouldn't you be panicking if you were told to sing in front of big blue scarry thing? Which is why Millie nails Ruby Sunday.

@@Bman-dr8hx one hundred percent shes doing a fantastic job at the part. Her panicking and fear come through even during absurdity. That was my point. Her singing doesnt diminish the fear her character is clearly feeling as she tries to keep these goblins entertained

Same here, if he found out who she is just to give the info to Ruby he would be invading her privacy, I find it very kind of him to not follow her

@@zoezerbrasilio2419 You can see he wanted to, he looked heartbroken that this happens, but he decides not to, she has made her choice and he can't interfere in it, let alone change it.

Yeah, it shows maturity. I think 9 and 10 would've run straight up to them, but 15 is (so far) much more cautious about messing with time

I think most people did surely.

Not to mention, he was in the room when Ruby talked about it with her mom and saw the moment they had. Ruby's real mother was right there already, she didn't need to know some random stranger from 19 years ago.

last nail in coffin....he's totally wrong for role. you need a serious masculine actor, not a stereotype

The Doctor has never been a "serious masculine" character though so, no.@@davedisanti1298

​@@davedisanti1298go away. He's masculine looking

No, he’s poncing around..can’t he at least act like a man

@@edwardvincentlaybournwalle4991 no they probably think its wrong bringing in a queer actor. 'the doctor, dancing in a kilt??? so stereotypically gay omg.' personally i think its the most doctor-y thing ive ever heard based off the 13 previous seasons but to each their own i guess

I actually think this is not far off. I wouldn't be surprised if she is seen in the season finale

Should have just not bothered with the Tennant stuff at all in my opinion - I really didn't feel like it added much in hindsight. Could have easily been a Gatwa episode with multi-Doctor elements by having 10 there, and made a proper 3 parter around the Toymaker rather than the disjointed mess of 3 distinct episodes like we got!

@@FrayRS Wholeheartedly agree!

Right. Getting on track with a gay black guy, having sex with other men. Right.

I think bringing back tennant helped bring back lapsed fans who haven't watched since Chibnall, like myself. I do agree though that I would have just preferred 4 specials with Gatwa honestly, but I understand the decision.

@@ChickenNugNugz2 aggregate viewing figures seem to imply that the viewing figures were pretty weak, so I don't think as many fans came back as they were hoping, unfortunately!

absolutely. i think it has to do with trust (particularly the lack of trust after the chibnall era) that christmas specials can be goofy af because of the show being somewhat grounded otherwise but we haven't gotten to see that yet. might age poorly if disney makes the rest as goofy as this, which would be awful, but i have enough trust in the writers not to do that until ive seen it myself

I loved the goblin song, and why wouldn’t the doctor sing in that situation? It distracted the goblin king long enough to save the baby

Yes to all of these comments!

It was also released before the special itself as a charity song for Children in Need, all profits the song generated went to CiN.

I loved the goblin song, especially when the Doctor and Ruby started singing.

Well he said the doctor should use "his intelligence save the day" so I'm guessing that maybe he just wants every episode to be resolved with a big speech!🤷 Since apparently it doesn't take intelligence to make these gadgets...

@@BEE-oz7yd Despite the fact big speeches have solved it in the past, it doesn't always happen but it does, some enemies can't be defeated with a speech. The Goblins wouldn't be beaten by words, they simply don't care.

while i dont hate them, and i think they make sense considering how many times the doctor has had to hold on for his life, i can sorta get why here. they just look cheap, without looking like an actual gizmo but just wool gloves with led lights underneath. its nice, its easy to cosplay, especially for kids which i think is extra nice. but visual-wise its just gloves, and its reasonable that not everyone would like that. compare that to some of the stuff 10 was whipping up, or 12 with his 2Dis. and to add onto that, those gizmos were devices specifically created for the current adventure/mission they were on. ie. im seeing people using the thing that goes ding as an example, but even in the context of that special it was specifically created to detect zygons, which was 10's current adventure, and also why it was a one-time thing. and while he did mention the psychic paper, i feel like that worked better as it isn't just a one-off for a general specific situation, but a tool that was like the sonic that was both supposed to intentionally blend in normally and is extremely useful for tons of situations, like infiltrating, keeping a low-profile, or receiving distress calls. it's like a detective-tool, though it is still admittedly a very huge exception. so im guessing that people want gizmo-looking-gizmo's that were built to benefit the current adventure overall rather than cheap props that benefit a general situation. which i'd like to see as well, but im not bothered by the lack of it.

​@@BEE-oz7yd well when he says he wants to use his intelligence to save the day, im *guessing* he means being in-the-moment problem solving or crafty, something we can see on-camera rather than using something that was pre-made off-camera? like 12's 2dis, or 10's management in voyage of the damned. even in rose where this exact thing happened (anti-plastic, although that was a thing he got specifically for this situation), we still saw the doctor's intelligence with him using the plastic head, or just investigating the autons in general. or in the empty child two-parter, we see him doing lots of detective-work (albeit intentionally shabby-work) with him solving the chula ship & the nanogenes, while also solving the case of who the empty child's mother was, which in result also displays him using his intelligence to save the day. although it is a strange thing for him to say when the doctor has used a gadget to solve things plenty of times pre-gatwa, in the context he's talking about. but to reply to your comment, it's less that making gizmo's doesn't show off his intelligence but speeches do, but moreso in-the-moment problem-solving that displays the doctor's intelligence. anyone can write a character who can whip up a gadget, but it doesn't make us buy that they're smart. them being smart and clever, active problem-solving, makes them feel smart, y'know?

@@tobitobi2003 but he is using delimited tools are available to him? The psychic lost with barely any charge on them and the ladder! He thinks fast and improvises! I think that's pretty smart!

Not only is the King's Speech broadcast on three channels (arguably, we should divide the viewing figure by 3 to get a level playing-field) but, as it only lasts 10 minutes, it's not worth changing channels. So, it's less a case of people avidly tuning in, than one of the Speech just happening to be on the TV by default. I'll bet that many will have taken the opportunity to have toilet/tea-break while the King was on; that's certainly what we did in hour household.

Performed poorly in the overnights relative to the other new episodes, lower than Star Beast and WBY (The Tennant centric episodes), only higher than the Giggle (which is the other episode that featured the new shitter). People dipped when they realized a gay black dude would be playing the doctor lmao

@@YTACCification To say that it "performed poorly" is utter nonsense, and it did fine by modern TV standards. Whatever, you seem to be little more than a bigoted ignoramus by ANY standards.

@@YTACCification Actually, it's come out that the specials have done better than expected. Star Beast for instance beat out the ratings from Capaldi's christmas specials over the 28 day period which BBC monitors more than 7 days or even day 1 viewers. And viewers for this special beat out nearly everything except the Kings Speech and Strictly and Doctor Who never beats out Strictly anyway, older people love the Dancing so it's always going to be more popular.

I don't think so. The beginning of the episode, Mrs Flood seems like quite a different person than the one at the end of it, suggesting that either she was replaced or at least something major having happened in-between. Someone theorised that Mrs Flood and the Doctor went on an adventure in the time it took Ruby to come down from the flat, which I think would be absolutely hilarious. That said, I would not mind Romana returning but I don't believe that will ever happen.

I agree @@rkah6187 to me she just broke the 4th wall and it was hilarious and clever tbh

​@@zoezerbrasilio2419 According to RTD she is quite important.

My issue is that she didn’t recognize the tardis at first. I never watched the classic series, but from what I do know she would probably recognize the blue police box tardis. She only recognized it as a tardis after it dematerized. Which would make sense if she was a different timelord.

@@eye-chan1711 I can understand that. From what I've heard of her, Romana does seem like the kind of person to play up a role, especially if it's related to the Doctor. Imagine, if the Doctor can be attracted to Ruby by a string of coincidences and bad luck, then why couldn't _another_ Time Lord be drawn to her as well? Maybe she sets herself up as "that weird old lady next-door" to watch over Ruby and keep an eye out for the Doctor in case he comes along and occasionally entertains herself by needling her neighbours and stirring up drama. Whilst I'm not saying it's at all _likely,_ it allow for the Doctor, in the wake of Gallifrey's destruction and the revelation of the Timeless Child, to have a Time Lord he can reconnect with and confide in. Because the Master killed everyone on Gallifrey, the Doctor hasn't had the chance to get some closure, similar to what the 11th Doctor wanted with the Time Lords he thought were on House in 'The Doctor's Wife'. I think he needs someone that's _truly_ his equal to talk things through with, and Romana would be the perfect candidate.

It's sad to see everyone so divided and having the past being thrown in the trash for this new type of doctor.

Wordle of Warcraft has goblin flying ships too, though those are lighter-than-air craft with a zeppelin-type balloon. The crew have something of a pirate style, but they don't sing!

So do I

Jodie Whittaker didn’t stand a chance , not with those scripts 🤢

Actually, even Jodie is better than this idiot

@@_MyNameIsAJ_ I am 5... times wiser than both RTD2 and Chibnall combined

Agreed

To be honest. I think re-treading the old is better than more Chibnal Era new. I hope RTD can be original in this era, but even if he's not, it'll at least be mediocre.

He explains why he doesn't consider them time travelers. Within that explanation, there's no contradiction.

@@karlrovey if they can go back in time, they're time travellers. Either the Doctor is just wrong in his assessment, or the writers wrote themselves into a corner and decided to change it. Maybe the Doctor is wrong, but in recent years the writing has been sloppy, so....

@@gabriel38g He doesn't consider them time travelers even though they move through time. This is because they more or less just drift through time relying on something (coincidence, bad luck) to pull them in. He didn't deny that they "time travel" in that sense. He just thinks that isn't worthy of being considered a time traveler.

@@karlrovey They should hire you on the show to just explain all their "loopholes". 😄

Yeah I really disliked this episode, hope future episodes are better

Also I think it's pretty fun that the doctor relies more on gadgets than just the sonic screwdriver!

well we know he was going to succeed, they weren't going to kill off the main companion they made a million teasers for before the season actually began. it was anti-climactic in that it didn't feel like believable stakes, nor did they take the time for us to actually believe this could be a possibility (which is what great doctor who stories have done previously, ie at the top of my head. dalek, father's day, the series 1 finale), it was instead stakes that we were supposed to buy for the sake of the story, style over substance stuff. so (for me at least) it was moreso the ending was anti-climactic because the stakes felt artificial, if that makes sense. entertaining, but hollow.

for me, the ending being anticlimactic was more to do with the Goblins not being as much of a threat as they were made out to be in the teasers *and* in those final moments. throughout the episode they were mostly minor nuisances with a few moments of genuine danger, so the doctor seemingly thinking there was no possible way to save ruby at that moment just seemed... off. if the goblins had been more of a serious threat throughout the episode, then i'd agree that the ending was stressful in the best way

Isn’t this the same universe that has seen multiple alien invasions by this point?

you're genuinely the first person online who seems to share any of my disappointment with the new companion. I'm sorry to say that I was so annoyed by her that I lost the will to continue with the series....

@@Gamelover254 this is a reboot - akin to rose, which is why I made the comparison.

@@clownbaby89 What I loved about the original RTD run was how realistic and down to earth the characters/companions were. This is what I was really looking forward to.. so I was terribly disappointed with ruby.

It's not a reboot, they just rebrand it for season 1 so It's easier to get general audiences onboard.@@roro-mm7cc

Very much...a coincidence.

@@chazo1367 holy shit

Same worry here.

i'm also worried that that's why ruby went with him - because we saw in the episode that she only joined him after making that connection - but rose herself said that her saving her dad was a spur-of-the-moment decision with no planning. still a bad decision, but not pre-planned. i am worried that ruby's planning something like that though.

It was more Christmasy than a lot of previous Christmas specials

@@ThetaSigma-vu1sk Really? Such as?

@@blueknight07 What's Christmasy about the Runaway Bride? Or the Voyage of the Damned? The Husbands of River Song? The Return of Doctor Mysterio? Twice Upon a Time?

@@ThetaSigma-vu1sk I'd argue Runaway Bride was a lot more christmssy

50.99*

Glad I'm not the only one not into the Goblin Song. My wife and I were seriously cringing the whole time (she even wanted to just fast forward through it, but we watched it all since we were worried we might miss an important plot point. But we didn't. We should've just skipped the song).

I through the song was catchy, agreed with the voices not sounding like they came from the Goblins tho. Also I think The Doctor singing fit really well because he was using the song as a distraction to create an escape route which is a very Doctor thing to do

Yeah, RTD said that this is the exact reason he went with simple woollen gloves. Originally, he was going to have something much more sci fi

@@ThetaSigma-vu1sk Also the reason Capaldi got the Sonic Sunglasses and less expensive looking outfit stuff like the hoodie, it's all cheaper and poorer kids can easily dress as him without needing to get a suit made for them or paying money for a Sonic Screwdriver toy when a pair of black sunglasses are like £2 or £3.

Agreed. If she'd have second guessed her plans to abandon her baby, it would have changed the future. That's not something he can just do without Ruby's permission. And he literally just saw how it affected her adopted mother to have her gone.

Yeah I’m worried that now that they’ve gotten rid of his grief and trauma that he won’t have the opportunity to really show off the darker side of the Doctor that a lot of us have become accustomed to.

Maybe we'll focus on more sci-fi techy stuff and be done with the soap drama . I'm glad whichever direction it takes

RTD confirmed a while ago that the Doctor having no baggage won't last long. He's going about it differently. With the 9th Doctor, we had the aftermath of his trauma and watched him get better. I think with the 15th Doctor, we're going to witness the trauma happening to him.