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Why Doctor Who’s 2006 Villains Were Cut From Season 14 Finale Explained By Showrunner RTD
The article contains spoilers for Doctor Who season 14, episode 8, “Empire of Death.”
Summary
Doctor Whoshowrunner Russell T. Davies reveals howStar Warsinspired the final reveal of Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) mother. In the season 14 finale, the sci-fi show finally confirms the true identity of Ruby’s birth mother. For the entire season, her mother was the central mystery who confounded the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and even the god Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) by concealing her identity in ways that seemed almost supernatural. IntheDoctor Whoseason 14 ending, it is revealed that her mother is Louise Miller (Faye McKeever) and that she’s just an ordinary human with no Time Lord or godly ties.
InDoctor Who: Video Commentariesfor the final episode, Davies explained how theStar Warssequel trilogy inspired Ruby’s mother reveal. Davies explained thathe liked it when Star Wars initially claimed there was nothing special about Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) parentageand that she was just an ordinary human with special Force abilities. When the trilogy suddenly revealed she actually was the granddaughter of Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), the showrunner realized he liked the other version better. Hence,Davies decided tomake Louise an ordinary human who did the extraordinary. Check out his statement below:
This is kind of my reaction to – bear with me now – the Star Wars films. I can’t remember their titles, but in the last trilogy. In the last trilogy, the second film said that Daisy Ridley was nothing special, there was nothing special about her parentage. That she just got the Force. She was just ordinary. An ordinary person with the Force - and then the next one, they changed it all so that she was the child of the Emperor, and they made her…. She was, like, cosmic and had godlike powers – And I really loved the version where she wasn’t special. When she’s ordinary. So this is my reaction to that. 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 home, abusive home, and left her child on the doorstep. And that’s my… That’s my reaction to it. Because I think it’s a better story.
Why Ruby Sunday’s Mom Reveal Works So Well In Doctor Who
The lack of a DNA sample and the hiding of the face only ever confirmed that Louise didn’t want to be found.
It’s ultimately up to the viewers to decide whetherStar WarsorDoctor Whohandled the parentage reveal better. However, there is no denying that the latter’s reveal was actually quite clever. In season 14,viewers and the characters are led to believe that Louise must be a Time Lord or have some supernatural ties. After all,theDoctor Whocharactersomehow escapes identification from Sutekh and manages to inexplicably obscure her face when the Doctor and Ruby revisit the night she gave Ruby away through a Time Window.
At the same time,Doctor Whodid include subtle hints that she wasn’t what viewers thought she was. The Doctor conducted a scan of Ruby and found that she was, indeed, human. Her mother couldn’t have been a Time Lord without the Doctor’s scan picking up on that. Additionally, it was confirmed that the power of Ruby’s memory and not some superhuman abilities passed down from her mother caused strange occurrences like snow.The lack of a DNA sample and the hiding of the face only ever confirmedthat Louise didn’t want to be found.
Is Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday Returning In Doctor Who Season 15
Millie Gibson’s future as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who season 15 was already confusing, but becomes even more so after season 14’s final episode.
The most clever aspect ofDoctor Who’s reveal is that the viewers prove the phenomenon described in the show. The Doctor explains that Louise’s existence became powerful because so many people believed she was important, and this imbued her with significance. It’s interesting because viewers did the same thing as the characters. As seen in the numerous theories and discussions,viewers invested so much thought into her character because they believed she was important, even without substantial evidence. Ultimately,Doctor Who’s parental reveal tackles a fascinating concept about belief’s role in who or what is important.
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Doctor Who: Released on August 20, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
