Not a Great Start... | Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road Christmas Special 2023 Review
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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2023
- Prepare for spoilers, hot takes, and a healthy dose of festive cheer as we unpack the good, the bad, and the regenerating bits of "The Church on Ruby Road." Is this a triumphant start to a new era, or a Dalek-sized disappointment? #doctorwho #ncutigatwa #rubyroad
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Is Ruby Sunday going to be remembered as the "New Rose", or is she falling flat for you?
I think its fair to say we need more time 🙂
I am worried honestly. Even if it's just the first episode, it's a hint of what more of Ruby's gonna be
Despite the deliberate casting to try and make Ruby look like Rose, she lacks the wit and energy and brashness that helped carry the Christopher Eccleston series to such success.
It doesn’t help the show to bring back a lookalike of Rose when they have written the character to be so stupid that she spends an hour on screen, following a man (who speaks alien languages, routinely, outlines complex, alien plots, possesses other worldly technology, and learns to speak “rope” as if that is a language of some kind, and describes events from a century ago from a first hand view) without ever suspecting that there’s anything strange going on.
In montage of obvious clues, at the very very end, she is finally able to link all the dots… dots the size of manhole covers… and begins to suspect there’s something that’s possibly “odd“ about all the aliens and bizarre technology and so forth. If she was any thicker, she’d be the door to the Tardis.
@@rhys-michaelsilverlocke3085 I really didn't see Ruby as a Rose look-alike, more a blonde Clara. As an actor from NW England, Millie Gibson is also a bit of a Jenna Coleman sound-alike, and I find their matter-of-fact acting styles rather similar, too.
@@ftumschk understood. I was going by Hollywood insiders report that she was chosen deliberately because she bears a physical resemblance to the original Rose character. I don’t see it either, personally, but apparently the executives in charge thought it was the case.
Why's the Goblin kinda hot tho....
I'm unsure why you don't have that many subscribers. Your production values are those of a channel with 50,000 plus. You've one more for now at least
Thanks for joining us! We are still relatively new but hopefully the 50k+ happens eventually haha
@@burgunbeerd You'll get there, Im sure. Great content!
The essential thing is that RTD doesn't want to write Sci Fi any more, but wanted the money. It's a huge middle finger to the genre.
This is an interesting take actually. Idunno if it was for money or the alternative was Doctor Who getting cancelled again but him wanting to move away from Sci-Fi would make sense of the interviews where he's constantly talking about how there's more supernatural elements now. Almost like he's trying to justify why he's chosen to do things
Source?
I think his ending of Torchwood was his middle finger to the genre, this is him bored and willing to do whatever the BBC/Disney wants in exchange for an extra paycheck. "Magic, goblins, underdeveloped characters, shoehorned politics and trans propaganda aimed at children? Sure, whatever, I wanted a new house anyway."
@@MGB_2024 OP's asshole.
@@MGB_2024 RTD is the arrow that points to itself.
The one thing we know for sure about Ruby is she isn't an orphan. She's a foundling.
You are correct. Functionally the same i guess but yeah the mum's definitley gonna rock up in the season 1 finale
I like how Ruby accepted things as they were happening, and even realized the Doctor was a time traveler by herself. It's a great contrast to almost every other companion (I can only think of Barbara quickly accepting the TARDIS could travel through time and space), specially in a world with such invasions. Like bloody hell, we just had a Sontaran occupation, and it's great a companion didn't go 'there's not such thing as aliens', because that was a terrible part of Chibnall era. Ruby just feels open-minded and intelligent, like a good old Ravenclaw. She's gonna be a great addition to the cannon.
18:14 Ruby may or may not turn out to be a changeling, but all the episode told us was that she was a foundling. Different things.
I liked it. It was wild and different. If you were writing Doctor Who how would you keep coming up with new and different. Loved the ship. How did he know Janice's name? Ruby is bold and rescued a baby. Ncuti felt like the Doctor. Loosen up people, there's always bumps getting used to a new regeneration.
Two things here. Yes at first it was Matt Smith’s old sonic but the Tardis interior was designed for Capaldi’s Doctor. It was only used for 6 episodes at most by Matt Smith. His Tardis interior prior to that was his Doctor’s real interior. It was just changed early to reflect how he was isolating himself in a smaller control room.
Capaldi’s Tardis interior and exterior is the best the show has ever done btw. I also like his final screwdriver too.
The whole concept of the boglins feeding off of the forces of chance was an interesting concept, but the fact that they made a whole song about eating an infant child just made me want to crawl up and die
Fr bro shits weird asf
@@thesilentskylar mate I watched that episode with my family and we all were just weirded out by the whole thing, some of them camera angles on those goblins were very... questionable to say the least
He means sexy camera angles
@@burgunbeerd no I mean the camera angles of them drooling...just idk man made me feel quite uneasy and everyone else I was watching it with felt that way too
Obviously when you're talking about baby-eating monsters they are going to be taking some sort of sadistic pleasure from the act of baby-eating, they aren't just doing it cos they're peckish. They do it with a sick relish. It's supposed to play on dark ancient fears which is why the trope has historically been wheeled out for antisemitic purposes.
The issue with the show for me was that this didn't 'feel' like Dr Who at all. The Doctor didn't seem to be challenged by anything and knew the answers to everything.
I can see what you mean. Christmas specials have usually had much higher stakes like the Titanic wrecking London. Whereas this was a baby that they did rescue almost immediatley and its hard to take the threat seriously with Janis Goblin singing and dancing and the Doctor himself staying rather aloof. BUUUUUUUUT it is the Christmas Special so some magic and whimsy should be expected i guess. Definitley adds to why it didnt work for us though!
@@burgunbeerd Yes, I am looking forward to the new season!
Well you cast musicle actors you better let them sing
It actually did feel like Doctor Who. It felt like Chibnall era Who to me. But given I wasn't a very big fan of his era means I didn't really find this compelling.
Though in terms of story it did feel like RTD, just one of his lesser stories. I do agree about the Doctor knowing everything. That's a trope I'm not particularly fond of. Both RTD and Moffat used it heavily.
what do you guys think about "Ruby" getting fired/quit? shes gona be one season? or 2?
Unless she comes forward in future with more real information we don't think it really matters. Russell usually only uses a companion for 1 season anyway since it's a nice way to keep a Doctor feeling fresh and moving forward. I'd probably rather this than have us run into the same issue Eleven faced where he was so tied to the Ponds that once they left, his final season was much worse for it
I do agree that they change it up regularly. this time however, its been leaked/released that she is leaving before the first season begins. that is what's different here. and to hear the doctor himself talk about wanting to go back to theater even though he would make less money but warm at night, again all said before the first episode plays. @@burgunbeerd
Guys. RTD does great mystery arcs. This episode had a lot to do. Introductions and backstory. You do not know what RUby is.....or who her mother is.... or how she relates to the doctor. The number three had some references. The doctor wore a piece of celery for decades.....he is not fashion forward. Just admit is was a fun episode.... and it was done well. Was it perfect..... nothing is. But it has all the elements of Doctor Who that I have missed since 2010. You guys need to be a bit more okay with not knowing everything all at once. You can neg on it because the mystery is not spoonfed to you. The MYSTERY must be respected. RTD will blow you away with his plot arc. I have full faith in him.
I actually don't think RTD does great mystery arcs. They're not even mysteries. They have decent conclusions but he usually he just drops a name or hint then hammers it the whole series.
Fantastic
I thought the song part felt very disneyfied which is a shame because Ncuti really does have great potential
Nothing to do with Disney, that was RTD through and through. He did that sort of thing with villains before.
18:12.... well frag. changelings were said to be really good at music including the piano. well guess her plot has solved right there.
I really didn't like that the doctor went back in time to save davina mcall, just felt off to me that he would go back to save her
Why? The doctor saves people. Her death isn’t exactly a fixed point since those goblins messed with things, so he gets to save everyone for a change, how long has it been since “everybody lives!” For him?
I agree with most of the points in this, however, I think its a bit harsh to call Jodie's doctor a "nothing". I didnt watch her final season and the first two felt very safe and average episodes but Jodie's doctor felt different. It was similar to Smith's were she was weird but also in a strange roundabout way relatable. She was smart she thought, and spoke fast while also seeming strange but fun. While the episodes werent great, Jodie definetly justified her getting her own term as the doctor.
Jodie was great. The writing failed her. The Power of the Doctor, one of her better written episodes, is hands down one of my favorite episodes of Who.
If anything, this episode reminded me of Chibnall Who. I feel like the writing is letting the characters down. It makes me wonder if the show runners have as much control over the episodes as people think.
@@agenerichuman That's what I'm trying to convey. Jodie as a doctor was spectacular. She felt like a being who's lived lots and has a real love for adventure and new sights. Even something as simple as her new Tardis deploying a custard cream biscuit made her happy. The doctor shouldn't always be miserable, and she gave a real depth to who the doctor really is.
Capaldi is another amazing example of an actor who played the role fantastically but who's poorly written episodes ruined his rein. Zygon invasion duology and the Face the Raven/Heaven Sent/Hell Bent Trilogy had decent writing and allowed for Capaldi and Coleman's acting to truly shine. Those two/three parters are some of my favourite storylines bcs of how magnificent the acting and writing conveys the emotion and characterised spirit of the doctor. Had their writing been as strong as Tennant's both would be instant classics like Tennant and Smith.
Did we really just see the 15th doctor (A 1000+ year old man) ketted up at a rave in a kilt?????
Due to the timeless child BS. The doctor is technically tens of billions of years old. Thanks Chibnall 🤬
Yeah? What’s wrong with that exactly? Shows that he is able to move on from the trauma and be happy again.
I enjoyed it was a lot of sun. Loved Ncuti straight away and loved the chemistry between them. This is a Christmas episode at the end of the day they have never been great just silly fun. In regard to ruby and the doctor we have only just been introduced to them and I’m guessing they will be more fleshed out in season 1. People are just too quick to judge nowadays and like to moan about everything without getting the full picture.
Thankyou for repeating everything we say in the first 30 seconds and agreeing with us
@@burgunbeerd oh no my bad if it came across I was having ago at you guys I wasn’t I mean all the people complaining for the sake of it. Just because they vowed so never watch the show again after chinball almost destroyed it.
@@bradleylea8460 haha oh my bad. Classic text based communications. I'm just so used to people commenting before watching the video
@@burgunbeerd Oh no fair enough I should have clarified just a lot of people complaining and wanting the show cancelled. Why if you don’t like it don’t watch why are you going out your way to shit on something people are still enjoying. You don’t like it stop watching and stop complaining.
Its russell copying Moffett tropes
I’ve watched all of your doctor who videos they’re great! hard to find people who are kind of neutral about the new era like me. You have the super fans who accept anything as perfect, and then the people who hate it and don’t give it a chance. I’m kinda in the middle, I personally watched until Jodie season 2 where I finally gave up after a couple of episodes. I did find these four episodes of the new era decent but definitely disappointing all things considered. Nothing as exciting as the best of Moffat or old RTD… Hopefully it will improve but i’ll keep watching this channel along the way regardless.
Let's not forget that the best of RTD was often Moffat and other writers :) As an RTD Christmas Special, this wasn't too bad IMHO - on a par with The Christmas Invasion, I'd say, if not slightly better.
None of it reminded me of the Doctor. It's a completely new character
it was a great start, the show has been weak for 6-7 years, this episode is at least top ten of the last 7 years
The latest Doctor Who Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” may be the worst thing ever filmed.
The new Doctor Who “The Church on Ruby Road“ somehow manages to make “Man Gets Hit in Genitals With Football” seem nuanced and well-plotted. The cliches and property theft are beyond belief and may actually stray into lawsuit territory. What little actual original story is included misses the mark entirely and falls flat on its face.
This episode of the long-beloved series just aired and this latest “Christmas Special” contains little joy. Russell T. Davies has been brought back to the show in order to rescue it from its fading profitability- and re-inject the series with new vigour. But instead, he spends the majority of his new episodes pointlessly pushing a woke “message” and is more focussed on depicting strong diverse women in all supporting and background scenes- and occasionally gay men dancing in skirts.
First of all… Joe Dante should sue these people immediately; So should Milton Bradley. The writers of this episode spend the first 20 minutes engaged in complete theft from his 1984 movie “Gremlins”. The end result is just not actually suspenseful or even half as well executed as the Joe Dante film.
We, as the audience, are treated to a series of quickly executed movements of green claws attached to furtive off-screen creatures. There is cackling, and the sound of voices speaking in a strange language, and giggling… as the creatures chitter and chatter to each other. It is basically “Gremlins” for 20 minutes in the before-the-reveal-of-the-actual-creature stage of the film.
And so these claws continue to reach out unseen and create improbable and deadly accidents based on near-“Mousetrap” levels of dubious and impossible-to-calculate coincidences. As an illustration, these gremlins will disconnect a power cord which leads to someone tripping, which leads to a door opening, which leads to a plate falling, which leads to… and so on.
It all continues until a Christmas tree falls on someone and the pointy star ends up killing them so the audience will know it’s really serious and the stakes are high. I mean… a whole person could die. But don’t worry, the victim is female so you can count on Doctor Who going back in time to save her later.
It’s really ridiculous, and outright intellectual property theft from the original “Gremlins” movie and the Milton Bradley “Mousetrap” boardgame.
The gremlins in this movie are finally revealed, and we are informed that they are called “goblins”. When they’re not causing accidents (and giggling and cackling to each other) they’re literally stealing babies in their bassinets by pulling them up with a rope into a flying pirate ship. At one point it seems like like we may be treated to an homage to or adaptation of Jennifer Connelly‘s “Labyrinth”.
But there is nothing quite so sublime going on here. There isn’t even a “Dance, baby dance…” David Bowie track to get us through the boredom.
We eventually find out the purpose of all this nonsense and mayhem when the goblins finally make their physical appearance and launch into a song (looking much like the alien cantina-scene in “Star Wars”) and the lyrics begin explaining that the goblins plan to eat the baby.
There are hundreds of the relic little creatures on screen, and only one tiny baby. So they’re not going to get much of a lunch. Now that we know what their goal is, it’s never explained why the little green men cause accidents, or how those deaths benefit them in any way or help keep them fed. Apparently, all that skulduggery was simply a lure to capture our attention and just an excuse to introduce them.
It’s not like causing accidents seasons or tenderizes the meat. And they don’t get at those people they kill anyway. So I wonder where their major food source actually is. Especially since mid-song a conveyor belt is revealed showing an immense goblin (who is the king) and the song lyrics begins to explain will be the ONLY diner at the feast.
If all of this isn’t stupid enough… shortly afterwards, the Doctor and foundling Ruby (who has led him to unravel the entire plot because she is “unlucky”) improvise a song of their own (supposedly) and now we’re in a 1980’s MTV video.
The writers go out of their way to try and include every obvious trend of any era. Which is why the episode commences in 2023 with the Doctor dancing (in a gender-fluid club) wearing a skirt.
They really go out of their way to try and include everything, and I mean everything into this special. It’s multiracial. It’s diverse. It features adoption. It contains representations of the handicapped and disabled. Other than the alien monsters, it’s peopled almost entirely with women.
There is even a crabby old white neighbor who is obviously presented as a Karen- she spends her short time on screen pointlessly arguing with the only male in the show (besides Gatwa) who appears to be a vaguely Saudi or Pakistani, or possibly Muslim… but the one thing we’re sure of is he’s wearing an immense earring to show that he is socially diverse too. They wouldn’t want us missing that.
And even though Ruby is supposed to be clever and empowered… when they talk about her, it’s about how pretty she is (like they did in the first of the three 60th anniversary specials with Donna Noble’s “daughter“) and don’t refer to her skills or intellect.
The writers do their best to make sure Ruby is so stupid that she never notices there’s anything odd about the Doctor mentioning events from over 100 years ago as seen from a firsthand viewpoint (or his having alien devices) nor does she even question his knowledge of the future and the past or his facility speaking alien languages.
Ruby gets through the whole episode at the Doctor’s side, and watches him do his bit where he launches into casual explanation of extremely alien plots (and even observes as he learns how to speak “rope” as if that’s a type of language) and somehow she questions none of it.
In an abrupt flash at the very, very end she just magically puts all the inconsistencies together at last. Somehow, in a sudden revelatory montage, she connects all the unbelievably obvious dots (so… dots the size of manhole covers) and realises something odd has been going on for the last solid hour of runtime.
The episode finally culminates as we knew it would from the start… with Ruby discovering the Doctor’s timeship and realising that the Tardis is larger on the inside than on the outside. And she spends only a moment freaking out about it… before bravely and nobly striding inside like she’s been invited.
After Ruby managing to process dimensional transcendentalism, we find that the Doctor is inside the machine and has been waiting for her all along. So she is our new companion.
The casting department went out of her way to make Ruby as physically similar to the original Rose as possible- and surrounds her with a supporting cast of family-members who are just as distinctly annoying (but race-swapped) as Rose’s supporting cast.
Ruby may be portrayed by an actress that physically resembles the original Rose from the 1995 Christopher Eccleston series but that is where the similarities end. Ruby lacks Rose’s wit and energy and brashness. She is an empty skin-suit trailing behind the events of her own life like a spaniel on a leash for the main part.
Given this beginning as the opening “first adventure“ for the new Doctor and his new companion… I don’t have much hope for the show- after 60 years of loyal watching. I think it’s a good thing that the writers left the David Tennant version of the Doctor alive and running around free (along with Donna Noble, who shares his Timeord knowledge) as well as Clara and “Me” and their Tardis as well.
Because it appears as though Ncuti Gatwa is going to need all the help he can get- and the studio appears to be aware of this as well by giving him all that support.
Apparently just being gay, and showing off his well-shaved and tweezed (highly-lotioned) legs in every episode isn’t going to be enough to endear him to the fans of the project.
As for the huge safety-net of support they’ve crafted to save this new Doctor… everyone involved in the project (including Gatwa) acts like they’re aware of it and can see it visibly floating over their heads like the “Sword of Damocles” waiting to fall on them all and finally put an end to this multi-decade colossus of a television show.
As many fans are suggesting, this may very well be RIP for the Doctor and his adventures. After Sylvester McCoy wrapped up his short run, miscast as the doctor, the show was forced into a 15 year hiatus. I have a terrible suspicion that the Gatwa Run of the show may not even last that long… and may lead to another lengthy hiatus before the BBC attempts to re-launch this show yet again.
It’s a pity. A wonderful 60-year ride is suddenly over. Without a bang without a whimper, and without even a nod to the long and storied history of this once-amazing show.
TL;DR. In short, a typically verbose, nit-picking polemic by a fully paid-up member of the anti-woke brigade.
Oh, and BTW, gremlins were invented by RAF airmen in the 1930s as a whimsical explanation for mishaps with their planes and other equipment. They literally conceived of them as a kind of goblin which caused mishaps to happen. Goblins have a folkloric history, long pre-dating modern movies, as mischievous sprites who caused accidents to happen.
@@ftumschk I am aware of that. I meant their first appearance in film- other than one Bugs Bunny episode which featured a gremlin. And in that cartoon, they do mention the history and origin of gremlins.
@@rhys-michaelsilverlocke3085 The world extends beyond films and cartoons, at least for old farts like me.
@@ftumschk hell yea. That’s why I got rid of my telly in 1982 when Ronald Reagan was president. I didn’t like the whole idea of it. Having worked so long in PR, I know the television is about “programming” and I have no desire to be programmed.
And I want to see a movie or something I downloaded off the torrent site and then I delete it when I’m done. no commercials, no sponsored content, I’m not interested in being programmed and it sounds like you’re not either.
They should have had a male company for some sweet bl moments.
Male Doctor with a male companion is always such an interesting dynamic imo
Wait for ruby boyfriend:)
The Christmas episode had highs and lows - the musical bit threw me out of the story - but I am excited to see what Season 1 has to offer and overall I think there will be better writing and chemistry compared to the last few seasons of the franchise. I think part of the goal was to in some ways reboot the series for those who have never seen Doctor Who since the series will be on Disney +.