According to ComicbookTV, Doctor Who’s showrunner Russel T. Davies (Casanova, Torthwood) announced in a video message to The Official Doctor Who Podcast that Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson (Butterfly, Coronation Street), companion to Ncuti Gatwa’s (Sex Education, Stonemouth) Doctor, will return in the show’s next season. Davies teased that there was far more to her story.
“I absolutely can tell you that Ruby Sunday has not finished her story,” Davies said. “Millie Gibson’s coming back. That’s not a spoiler, it’s an absolute fact. We’re very excited.”
In the series finale of Doctor Who’s 14th season, watchers learned that Ruby had no spectacular or fantastic childhood. She grew up in an abusive household as the result of a teen pregnancy from a nurse. According to Davies, this decision was inspired by a similar revelation made by the Jedi Ray in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
“This is kind of my reaction to [that film],” Davies revealed. “The second film said that [Rey] was nothing special, there was nothing special about her parentage… She was just… an ordinary person with the Force. I really loved the version where she wasn’t special. When she’s ordinary. She’s not the daughter of Sutekh. She’s not the daughter of the Time Lords or Rassilon or something like that. Her mum is Louise Miller, who was 15 years old and pregnant, from a dangerous, abusive home, and left her child on the doorstep. Because I think it’s a better story.”
Whatever the revelations may be, viewers can expect the series to return with a 2024 Christmas special. According to ComicbookTV, The next season has already completed development. However, no release date has been set.
“It feels so much fun now,” Gatwa said about portraying The Doctor. “I’ve relaxed and [the Doctor] seems to have sunk down a little bit deeper, from my chest into my gut.”