While Ruby’s motivation this season will be to keep the connection to her family going, some of the Fifteenth Doctor’s anxiety is based on his growing bond with Ruby. “He’s scared of Ruby,” says Gatwa. “I think he’s nervous about letting people into his life, who are the people that can challenge him. She might not scare him, but certainly he’s like, ‘I can’t mess around with you’ sort-of-thing.”
The Doctor’s attitudes towards platonic, familial, professional, and in some cases romantic bonds with companions vary widely. The Thirteenth Doctor in her early episodes tried to keep her fam Yaz, Ryan, and Graham (Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh) at a distance emotionally out of fear of losing them, but failed.
Catherine Tate’s Donna was quick to call out when the Tenth Doctor either underestimated her or the complexity of the villain of the week. Ruby is younger than Donna but she has the potential throughout the new season to point the Doctor in a different direction or offer a second pair of hands to solve the problem.
Fifteen’s hesitation to let Ruby in at first doesn’t at all signal the end of their characters’ development. The Doctor and Ruby as the season progresses will develop “a beautiful, platonic relationship,” Gatwa said. “They’re two best friends, that are both curious, and also have a cheeky streak in them. They’re the two kids that try to help or push the button when there’s a button that says ‘Do not press.’ and they’re like ‘we just have to do it.” They both have that energy to them. They just can’t help themselves but get into trouble, but they’ve got hearts of gold.”
There is another kind of fear altogether that the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby’s adventures may inspire in some sections of fandom: the fear of change, despite some elements remaining the same. Russell T. Davies is returning as showrunner and yet Disney+ is now in charge of international promotion and distribution. Fans have already seen Jo Martin officially play the first canonically Black Doctor and now Ncuti Gatwa will be the first ever Black male Doctor.
The series 12 tagline was “Space, For Everyone” and series 14 builds on that theme both in front of and behind the camera. “I certainly wanted to see a lot more diversity in the crew, when I arrived, and so I think we as a production tried to make that happen,” Gatwa said. “This initiative has allowed for new people to enter into the industry which can be a very closed-off place for new people to break into. A lot of this initiative is also coming from Russell in the show and, everyone on the crew wants to take it on. And so you know if you’re going to be in that sphere, that Doctor Who is going to be pushing things forward.”
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.