Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who
Fictional character
Ruby Sunday is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, created by Russell T Davies and portrayed by Millie Gibson. In the show's fourteenth series, starting with the Christmas special, Ruby serves as the companion to the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), an incarnation of the alien time traveller known as the Doctor.
Appearances
Television
Ruby Sunday is introduced in the 2023 Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road". Ruby was born on Christmas Eve 2004. Her birth mother abandoned her on the outside of the titular Ruby Road church. She was then fostered and adopted by Carla Sunday. Nineteen years later, Ruby is trying to find information about her birth parents, to no avail. She is also experiencing unnatural bad luck, attracting the Fifteenth Doctor's interest. When her adoptive mother's new foster baby is kidnapped by human-eater goblins, Ruby boards their flying ship and formally meets the Doctor. After deducing that the goblins feed on coincidence and cause Ruby's bad luck, the Doctor and Ruby save the baby. However, the creatures go back in time to kidnap Ruby on the day of her birth and eat her. The Doctor follows them and saves Ruby. Back in 2023, Ruby understands the Doctor is a time traveller and follows him inside the TARDIS.[1]
Other media
In January 2024, a Series 14 tie-in comic strip featuring Ruby Sunday with the Fifteenth Doctor was published in Doctor Who Magazine #599.[2]
Casting and development
Auditions for the Fifteenth Doctor's companion took place on 24 September 2022.[3] On 18 November 2022, during Children in Need, Millie Gibson was announced as the new companion Ruby Sunday.[4]
In November 2023, it was reported that Gibson would stay for the fifteenth series.[5] In January 2024, it was confirmed that Gibson would be leaving the show during Series 15. She will be replaced by Varada Sethu as the Fifteenth Doctor's main companion.[6]
Reception
Following her introduction, Ruby Sunday was positively received by critics. Empire's Jordan King praised the character's dynamics with Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and commented that "there's more than enough in Gibson's performance to suggest far greater depths yet for her to explore with the character."[7] Ed Power from The Independent mentioned that Gibson's performance made her "immediately likeable", calling Ruby "a wonderful new companion".[8]
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