Warning: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Who episode 8, ‘Empire of Death’…
Since we met Doctor Who companion Ruby Sunday (played by the brilliant Millie Gibson), one big question has remained: who is her biological mother? It’s a theme that has come up again and again throughout this season, becoming more critical with each passing episode. Why is it snowing around Ruby? Why is her mother apparently pointing at the Doctor? Why is the villain Sutekh also so interested in discovering her identity?
Finally, after months of speculation, everything was revealed during the epic season finale, ‘Empire of Death’, when the UNIT team managed to track down Ruby’s DNA. But we don’t encounter images of River Song, Rose Tyler, The Trickster or even Davros (yes, that was a fan theory too); Instead, a face we had never seen before appeared on the screen. Ruby’s mother was revealed to be an ordinary woman named Louise Alison Miller.
It’s a reveal no one saw coming and one that has left fans divided, with many criticizing it for being disappointing and anticlimactic. However, for me it was perfection, bringing Ruby’s story to an emotional conclusion while also conveying a beautiful message to the audience.
‘The chosen one’
The idea of ”the chosen one,” of course, is nothing new in the world of television, as it’s a long-standing trope that we’ve seen countless times before in various media. Luke Skywalker, Neo, Frodo, John Connor, Harry Potter – the list is truly endless and Ruby Sunday is the latest name to join. But here showrunner Russell T Davies cleverly turns the usual narrative on its head to remarkable effect.
Ruby is not a daughter of gods. She is not the daughter of one of the Doctor’s many enemies. She is also not the daughter of one of his friends. She was not created by someone to lure him into a trap. In fact, she has no previous connections to the Doctor’s world. Instead, she is simply the daughter of a scared 15-year-old who didn’t want to raise her baby in an abusive home. And while that is indeed very “ordinary,” as Ruby herself comments, it in no way diminishes how extraordinary she is.
Here the show celebrates how the ordinary is Extraordinary. It is not your background, your ancestry or your heritage that defines who you are, but the actions you take. Ruby may be an ordinary person, but what she does is extraordinary. She is able to save the world not because she has secret superpowers, but because she is incredibly brave, bold and benevolent.
His desire to do good in this turbulent world and his belief in the role he plays in saving it is so strong that it has become almost magical, hence mysterious things happen, like falling snow. Ruby’s arc serves as a reminder that normal people are capable of amazing things: you just have to believe.
A galaxy far, far away…
As I watched Ruby’s story unfold, another beloved science fiction series came to mind: Star Wars. To me, this reveal is also the perfect antithesis to one of that franchise’s biggest mistakes. After The Last Jedi established that Daisy Ridley’s Rey was a Jedi with no exceptional background, sequel The Rise of Skywalker backtracked completely by revealing that she was Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter. The decision was met with much dismay from fans, including myself, who were disappointed that the filmmakers changed Rey’s story from being an ordinary person with the Force to the descendant of the most dangerous villain in the galaxy.
Rey simply being Rey (and being awesome about it) was apparently no longer enough, so she became part of a lasting legacy because of her bloodline, reserving power in the galaxy far, far away for only a few. That poignant final image in The Last Jedi of a stable boy swinging a broom with the Force, well, this change of heart drastically reduced the power he had, and the series now enforces the idea that you have to be extraordinary to do extraordinary things. .
How refreshing is it then to see Doctor Who do the opposite with this wonderful Ruby Sunday reveal? It’s actually no surprise to see that the infamous Star Wars retcon was also on Davies’ mind when it comes to this story, revealing that it was born in part out of her frustration with it. As she explained in the BBC iPlayer commentary for the final episode: “This is my reaction to… the Star Wars films… There was nothing special about her ancestry. That she just got the Force… she was an ordinary person with the Force. Then they changed it all so that she was the Emperor’s daughter. I really loved the version where she wasn’t special.” I feel you Russell, I really do.
Connecting the dots
Importantly, this reveal also doesn’t diminish the fun fans have had uncovering clues and looking at the show’s history to come up with theories about who Ruby’s mother was. While the answer itself probably wasn’t what you expected, that doesn’t take away from the validity that these theories had at the time, yes, even the wildest ones.
And there’s nothing stopping fans from coming up with even stranger ideas in the future. In fact, it’s something the show actively encourages with provocations like Mrs. Flood’s direct speech to the camera. Like many of you, at the end of that conclusion I immediately went on Reddit trying to connect the dots. As with Ruby Sunday’s identity, my thoughts on this are probably wrong, but that’s more than okay: it was nice to be a part of that conversation.
So, yes, the reveal of Ruby’s mother’s identity may not be what you theorized or wanted, but it’s the perfect ending to her story, a reminder of how extraordinary the ordinary is. Damn RTD, I’m crying again…
For more information, check out our guide to the new 2024 TV shows coming up.
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