‘ROGUE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Rogue and the Chuldur family with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby
We now come to the sixth episode in Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’ called ‘Rogue’ by writing duo – and new to the new TV series – Kate Herron and Briony Redman. I knew about Kate Herron, as she was the director of Season 1 of ‘Loki’ in the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’.
Actually, there’s a funny story behind how this episode came to be. You see, when Season 1 of ‘Loki’ was released on Disney+ from June to July 2021, Russell T. Davies criticised the ‘Loki’ series in the media when it had the title character briefly mentioning his bisexuality.
He called it a ‘feeble gesture’ to feature queer representation. I do recall RTD making criticisms about ‘Loki’ when I saw Season 1 on Disney+ back in 2021. Honestly, I enjoyed Season 1 of ‘Loki’. I can’t claim it’s flawless, but overall, I found it an entertaining ‘MCU’ series.
I did think that RTD might have been harsh to criticise Season 1 of ‘Loki’ back then. But as it turned out, RTD thought the same and he reached out to Kate Herron to apologise for what he said about ‘Loki’. 🙂 That contact led to them being good friends over the years.
Well, it’s good there were no hard feelings. 😀 Because RTD and Kate Herron formed their friendship from that, he soon asked her if she would like to write a ‘Doctor Who’ episode. Kate Herron said “Yes, please,” and introduced RTD to her writing partner Briony Redman.
I’m not familiar with Briony Redman as a writer compared to Kate Herron, but, apparently, the two worked together on a range of projects. This includes the 2017 short film called ‘Smear’, which Kate Herron directed and she and Briony Redman wrote the film together.
Kate Herron has also directed episodes of ‘Sex Education’ with Ncuti Gatwa. Kate must have had Ncuti’s voice inside her head when she and Briony Redman wrote scenes featuring the Doctor. Surely, they knew Ncuti was the Doctor when they wrote the script.
When asked what episode they would like to write for the series, Kate Herron and Briony Redman said they wanted to write a queer love story. RTD approved of this and agreed to let them write it. Of course, the question is, what time period should this take place in?
Apparently, according to RTD, he, Kate and Briony discussed possibilities, including a 1920s setting. I’m all for the 1920s and I’m sure Millie Gibson would’ve loved that, since she has said herself in interviews she would’ve liked to have done a 1920s flappers story.
In the end, however, it was decided to do a ‘Doctor Who’ story set in Regency times. Now I don’t mind this, as I’ve enjoyed various TV and film adaptations of Jane Austen stories. which are set around the Regency era in the UK. I was looking forward to seeing this story.
It’s a shame the 1920s story idea never happened, as I would’ve liked to have seen how the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby fared in a 1920s setting. Maybe I might write the story someday and perhaps dedicate to Millie. I’ll have to brush up my knowledge on flappers though. 😀
I hoped that ‘Rogue’ as a ‘Doctor Who’ episode would meet my expectations on what a Regency period style of a story should be about. I was hoping for this to be a pleasant romantic style of episode, even when the aliens got involved. It did seem to have promise.
The final product however, well… Let’s just say that this wasn’t exactly the Jane Austen-type of story I was hoping for it to be. In fact, this ‘Doctor Who’ episode has more in common with ‘Bridgerton’, which I consider to be a problem, frankly. I’ll explain why later.
Let’s talk about the episode itself. The episode begins with:
Bath, huh? You don’t say. (sighs) Yeah, immediately, we have the first problem that I have with this episode. You see, for the entire episode, it takes place inside a mansion, and it’s in the evening. Quite frankly, you can set this episode in any place in England in 1813. 😐
You might be confused by that statement, but you see, I’ve been to Bath lots of times. In fact, I’ve written a ‘Doctor Who’ story called ‘The Austen Code’, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy, where they visit Bath in three time zones and they meet Jane Austen too.
I’ve shared the story on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ in January 2017, years before ‘Rogue’ came along. Big Finish have also done a ‘Doctor Who’ audio story called ‘The Behemoth’ where the Sixth Doctor, Constance and Flip visit Bath. And that story is also set in Bristol and it’s 1756.
The point I’m trying to make is, if you want to convince audiences that ‘Rogue’ takes place in Bath, then you should at least let us see some of Bath in order for us to be convinced by that fact. Because, as it looks, the mansion in this story doesn’t look recognisably Bath.
In fact, why set this story in a mansion? If you want us to be in Bath, then have it set in the Assembly Rooms. They were there at the time in 1813, surely. The Assembly Rooms would suit the ball setting for this episode fine instead of having it being set in a mansion.
I’m sure it’d be argued that the mansion could’ve easily been situated on the outskirts of Bath, but it reinforces my point that this episode can be set anywhere. You could easily set the episode in Bristol for all I know. Heck, one of the filming locations is Leigh Court in Bristol.
The other filming locations for ‘Rogue’ include Tredegar House in Newport and Margam Park Orangery in Swansea. Incidentally, Tredegar House has been used as a ‘Doctor Who’ filming location before, including for the story ‘The End of Time’ in RTD’s original TV era. 🙂
It frustrates me that this episode claims to be set in Bath and we don’t get to see more of the city beyond this mansion where a ball is taking place. I would’ve liked to have seen the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby exploring Bath before they get to arrive at the Duchess’ ball. 🙂
Sadly, it didn’t happen. Maybe the Target novelization will make up for this. In my quick reactions video for ‘The Robot Revolution’ in April 2025, I visited Bath on the day that episode was released. I got to showcase some of Bath in my introduction for the video. 🙂
That was me showing more of Bath than ‘Rogue’ ever did. Heck, the 1995 and 2007 TV versions of ‘Persuasion’ showcased more of Bath than ‘Rogue’. The 2007 TV version of ‘Northanger Abbey’ wasn’t filmed in Bath, but it tried to give the impression the story took place there.
Bath isn’t far away from Cardiff to do some filming there. You can get to Bath from Cardiff within an hour and a half via car, and you can get to Bath from Cardiff within an hour and twenty minutes via train. Trust me, I’ve done both routes for me to get to Bath from Cardiff!
If you can do a filming location in Bristol – Granted, it was probably a last-minute location shoot to film a ‘wedding’ scene where a staircase is required? – why can’t you do a little bit of filming in Bath to give the impression that we’re in the city? 😐 Is it really that hard to do?
I’m pleased when I saw Millie Gibson at ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ back in October 2025, she shared with me that Leigh Court in Bristol was used again for ‘The Forsytes’ TV series she stars in. It was nice to know that information when chatting to her in Cardiff. 🙂
Anyway, back to the episode. We begin with the ball being underway at this mansion in ‘Bath’ in the evening and two men walking in the gardens outside. There’s Maxim Ays as Lord Galpin and Paul Forman as Lord Barton. Lord Galpin is pretty angry with Lord Barton.
Apparently, Lord Barton has tarnished his sister’s reputation. This happened ‘in the kitchen’, in Lord Galpin’s study and ‘in the stables’. I assume this is at the mansion we’re at or else this scandal took place at Lord Galpin’s home. It’s never established, frankly. 😐
Lord Galpin insists that Lord Barton marry his sister, but Lord Barton claims he’ll ‘do no such thing’. Barton mocks Galpin by remarking that he should challenge him to a duel instead of talking. He’s also convinced that he would shoot Galpin very easily on the spot.
Galpin, instead of being offended by what Barton has said, is actually rather impressed. He claims he finds Barton to be an exciting man, full of scandal and affairs. He compares himself to Barton by saying that he’s all noble and serious, and considers himself ‘so dull’.
Galpin claims that he wants to be him. Confused, Barton is caught off guard when Galpin grabs him, lifts him off his feet and suddenly electrocutes him. In a flash, Barton ends up being a corpse whilst Galpin ends up transformed into a copy of Barton. (gasps) Shocking! 😮
And yes, I just realised I used the word ‘Shocking’ after describing Barton being electrocuted. 😀 It’s clear Galpin is a shapeshifter, and he leaves the corpse of Barton behind. Wow, he doesn’t even bother to hide the evidence. Surely, somebody will notice.
After the opening credits, we cut to inside the ballroom where we see the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby dancing together among the other guests. There’s no scene showing how they got there nor why they’ve come. 😐 They’re just in the ballroom and are already dancing. 😐
And they’re wearing their Regency outfits. I must say, Millie Gibson looks amazing as Ruby Sunday in her gold Regency outfit. According to Millie, she said she felt the ‘prettiest’ she ever felt in that Regency outfit, and I agree. 🙂 She looks lovely when I see her in that outfit.
Apparently, that outfit was originally going to be blue. Not that blue would have been bad, as blue is my favourite colour. But the costume designer Pam Downe suggested gold instead, as ‘yellow always works with blondes’ and Millie agreed. Can’t argue with that. 🙂
In some respects, I wish we saw more of Ruby getting a focus in the episode compared to the Doctor, especially as coming to Regency times at this mansion is a dream for her. I do feel that Ruby is overshadowed in this episode compared to the Doctor and his story. 😐
Regarding the Doctor and his outfit, Ncuti Gatwa fares well in his Regency get-up. There are echoes of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor in Ncuti Gatwa’s Regency outfit, which I quite like and is a nice nod to the TV show’s past. Once again, Ncuti has a different hairstyle in this story.
Yeah, Millie has her hair done up in Regency style too and had gypsophila (a kind of flower) in her hair, apparently. But Ncuti wore a wig for this episode, as he has a ponytail for his Regency look. I assume the Doctor has wigs in the TARDIS in case he wants to wear them.
Including both ‘The Devil’s Chord’ and ‘Rogue’, it says something when the Fifteenth Doctor is trying to blend into his surroundings with the clothes he wears and the hairstyles he has, especially for visiting Earth’s past, compared to the previous Doctors. 🙂
As the Doctor and Ruby dance together in the ballroom, they’re able to dance in perfect synchronisation with the other guests. This is thanks to the psychic earring that the Doctor gave Ruby, which also includes a hidden battle mode. I’m slightly dubious about this. 😐
Not with the hidden battle mode, no. I mean, I’m dubious about whether Ruby needed psychic earring to match with the other dancers in the ballroom. Surely, the Doctor and Ruby could easily get into the spirit of things whilst dancing and in Regency style in the ballroom.
Nyssa, Tegan and Adric danced fine in ‘Black Orchid’ and I’ve had Nyssa and Billy dancing in stories like ‘The Austen Code’ and ‘Romance and the Cow Creamer’. If the Fifteenth Doctor taught Ruby a few moves on how to dance Regency style beforehand, it’d be okay.
Then again, this is Regency England and perhaps the Doctor and Ruby’s attempt to dance without the earring might be frowned upon. Thinking about it, do the psychic earring send messages to Ruby’s brain when she dances in Regency style? Lucky it worked, right?
Oh, and incidentally, what’s Ruby’s first line in the episode?
Ruby: Oh, my Bridgerton! This is my actual dream!
Yeah, let’s talk about this ‘Bridgerton’ issue I have. You see, when RTD, Kate Herron and Briony Redman decided to do a Regency episode, it was suggested that they do a ‘Doctor Who’ meets ‘Bridgerton’ story. And they clearly took this on board when doing the episode.
This is clearly shown in terms of the episode’s production design, costumes, music, and choreography matching ‘Bridgerton’. For those who don’t know, ‘Bridgerton’ is a Regency romance/alternative history Netflix series based upon a series of books by Julia Quinn. 😐
Now, I didn’t know about anything about ‘Bridgerton’ before seeing ‘Rogue’, and yet the episode is expecting me to know about ‘Bridgerton’ already and appreciate it being a homage to that. Not that’s a bad thing, as I’m sure audiences saw ‘Bridgerton’ afterwards.
But, as for me, I didn’t immediately go and check out ‘Bridgerton’ once I saw this ‘Doctor Who’ episode. I’m sure the series is very good, as it currently has four seasons so far. Maybe there will come a time where I will watch ‘Bridgerton’, since I have access to Netflix.
And I do like to see period dramas now and again, particularly if they’re film or TV adaptations of famous works by authors like Jane Austen. But judging from what I’ve seen of ‘Rogue’, I’m not entirely sure if watching ‘Bridgerton’ will be a worthwhile experience for me.
This is especially when the series is about alternative history instead of being accurate to the Regency period it comes from. I might be wrong on that and I’ll have to see the series to be sure, but the episode shouldn’t keep telling us that this story is ‘Bridgerton’-driven.
It needs to be subtle. With a ‘Doctor Who’ story like ‘The Androids of Tara’ being a homage to ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ (both book and the 1937 film, I believe), the Fourth Doctor didn’t keep on saying, “This is just like ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’.” In fact, ‘Prisoner of Zenda’ isn’t said at all!
I’m sure for modern viewers and Netflix subscribers, they’d be excited that ‘Rogue’ is a homage to ‘Bridgerton’, but not everyone will have seen the series. Not everyone will have access to Netflix, Russell. 😐 You need to consider those that can’t afford to subscribe to Netflix.
Incidentally, ‘Bridgerton’ is said four times in the episode! 😀
And I noticed in the fourth instance where the Doctor says, “…it’s ‘Bridgerton’” to Rogue in their dance scene later on in the episode, he says it with their backs to us. Did Ncuti Gatwa dub that line in post-production? Surely, saying ‘Bridgerton’ three times was enough!
Once their dance is over, the Doctor and Ruby meet up with Indira Varma as the Duchess of Pemberton, who congratulates them. And if Indira Varma is a name you recognise, that’s because she’s been in the ‘Doctor Who’ universe before. 🙂 Both TV and on audio. 🙂
Indira Varma is well-known for playing Suzie Costello in ‘Torchwood’, both in the TV series and the Big Finish audios. It’s nice to see Indira in this episode. I’m glad she got to play a ‘Doctor Who’ role outside of ‘Torchwood’. RTD asked Indira Varma to be in this story.
I do wonder though if the Duchess is Suzie Costello’s ancestor. You know, like how Caecilius in ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ was the ancestor of John Frobisher in the ‘Torchwood’ story ‘Children of Earth’, as both were played by Peter Capaldi. 🙂 A possibility, wouldn’t you say?
I’ve also seen Indira Varma in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One’ and she’s been in the ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as well as the Disney+ film ‘The One and Only Ivan’. She’s been in shows like ‘Games of Thrones’ and ‘Luther’, which I haven’t seen. 😀
The Duchess asks Ruby to come and meet the suitors rather than remain with the Doctor. Ruby is willing to do so and lets herself be led by the Duchess before she gets feedback in her ear from the psychic earring she’s wearing. I knew the earring wasn’t a good idea. 😀
I also find it funny that Ruby passes herself off as ‘Lady Ruby Sunday’ when introducing herself to the Duchess. Honestly, if I was in that ballroom and I met up with Ruby and asked her for a dance, I’d be convinced she was ‘Lady Ruby Sunday’ in Regency times. 😀
The Doctor reassures Ruby that he’ll attend to the feedback she’s receiving in her psychic earring, urging her to go with the Duchess. She advises her not to cause someone to invent tarmac before its time. Don’t know why he’d think she’d cause someone to do that.
Also, the Doctor advises Ruby to ‘try and not get engaged’. Fair enough. I mean, dating wasn’t the same in 1813 compared to 2024. Though honestly, I think Ruby having her own romance in ‘Rogue’ as well as the Doctor would’ve been very welcome to see in this story.
Once Ruby has gone with the Duchess, the Doctor takes out his sonic screwdriver and scans the area for any alien technology. He then notices a well-dressed and handsome man brooding atop a balcony. The man is observing rather than participating in the event.
Intrigued, the Doctor leaves the ballroom. Incidentally, in revisiting the episode, especially on BBC iPlayer, I noticed that the sonic screwdriver has a pink-purple casing to it. Shouldn’t it be blue? 😐 Or does he have a variety of casings for his sonic screwdriver?
Elsewhere, Ruby mingles with the Duchess until they’re met by Lord Barton. That’s the Lord Barton copy, not the real one, as the real one got killed off by the shapeshifter now posing as him. 😐 The meeting between ‘Lord Barton copy’ and Ruby is…well…it’s quite something. 😀
Yeah, ‘Lord Barton copy’ was initially doing well when he called Ruby an ‘absolute delight’. Perhaps he needed to work on the ‘hair like golden strands, spun in the rays of the evening sun’ part. Maybe he should’ve said, she had a ‘sunny presence’. It could have been better.
But then he had to say, “My dear, you should learn to be admired in silence” and I’m like, “Ooh, you’re in trouble now.” I wouldn’t have talked to Ruby like that. I would’ve liked to have made her laugh with some cheerful conversation instead of telling her to keep quiet.
Thank goodness I’ve been able to have some lovely cheerful conversations with Millie Gibson at conventions compared to what ‘Lord Stilton’ said to Ruby. And yes, Ruby called the Lord Barton copy ‘Lord Stilton’ when she pushed past him, which shocks the man. 😀
Barton: Stilton?
Duchess: It’s a very difficult cheese.
It’s also the name of one of Bertie Wooster’s friends in Series 4 of ‘Jeeves & Wooster’. And trust me, you’d better not cross paths with Stilton. Especially when he thinks you’re trying to steal his fiancée, and he confronts you about it as soon as you’ve returned home.
Stilton: I want a word with you, Wooster!!!
After Ruby escapes ‘Lord Stilton’, she sees a portrait of an old woman on a wall. The old woman’s face is familiar. Ruby recognises her as the Villengard Ambulance’s hologram from ‘Boom’, Penny Pepper-Bean from ‘Dot and Bubble’ and others played by Susan Twist.
Yep, this is another Susan Twist cameo in Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’, even though she’s not in this story. Ruby asks the Duchess who the woman in the portrait is, and the Duchess explains she was the Duke’s late mother. Even the Duchess finds her disturbing.
As the Duchess expresses to Ruby how impressed she is by the way she handled Lord Barton, they soon notice that he’s attempting to flirt with Camilla Aiko as Miss Emily Beckett. It doesn’t go well, since Miss Beckett storms out with Lord Barton following her.
Whilst the Duchess goes off to pursue another guest called Lady Wallace, who’s seemingly leaving, Ruby chooses to follow Emily Beckett and Lord Barton. And she takes a glass of wine from a tray along the way! Saw that! And it wasn’t even a glass of Coke. 😀
Meanwhile, the Doctor meets up with the man standing on the balcony. As the Doctor jokes with him about his brooding nature, he learns his name, which happens to be Rogue. Rogue is played by Jonathan Groff, who also voiced Kristoff in the ‘Frozen’ films! 🙂
I suppose because of the BBC/Disney deal happening at the time with Ncuti Gatwa’s seasons of ‘Doctor Who’, the ‘Doctor Who’ production team were able to get Jonathan Groff to be in this episode. RTD had the script sent to him, not expecting him to say “Yes”.
Apparently, Jonathan Groff was unfamiliar with ‘Doctor Who’ as a TV series when he was cast. RTD gave him a selection of episodes to watch, after which he became passionate about it. I wonder though if that selection of episodes had Captain Jack Harkness in them.
I say that because, again, we have another instance of RTD repeating something from his original TV era in his new TV era. We have the introduction of a new ‘rogue’ character (no pun intended) bearing distinctive similarities to Captain Jack, played by John Barrowman.
For one thing, Jonathan Groff is American and he came all the way from Los Angeles to be in this episode. For another, we discover that Rogue has a spaceship which bears many similarities to the ship that Jack Harkness had in ‘The Empty Child’/’The Doctor Dances’.
You could say Rogue’s spaceship is similar to one Skagra had in ‘Shada’ (both of them), but that’s beside the point. There’s also the music, the flirting and ‘the psychic paper user finding the other user attractive due to being distracted’ elements from ‘The Empty Child’.
That happens in the confrontation between the Doctor and Rogue in the latter’s ship and it bears many similarities to when Rose Tyler met Captain Jack in ‘The Empty Child’. I mean, did we really need to have another Captain Jack in the TV show, except it’s not him?
With that said, it’s nice to see Jonathan Groff in the flesh for a change compared to hearing his voice as Kristoff in the ‘Frozen’ films. I didn’t think Jonathan Groff had dark hair compared to Kristoff, who has blonde hair. 😀 That was a pretty fascinating revelation for me.
After exchanging names and after the Doctor asks Rogue whether he expects trouble, Rogue smiles and asks the Doctor to follow him outside. The Doctor is surprised by this, calling him a ‘fast mover’ before following Rogue outside. What did the Doctor think then?
Did he think Rogue was going to make out with him at that point? I mean, Rogue could have easily punched the Doctor in the face and knocked him out once they got outside. It didn’t happen like that, of course, but perhaps the Doctor should’ve been more cautious.
Back with the Duchess, after dealing with Lady Wallace by accusing her she’s wearing a similar gown to one she wore ‘last season’ – this is where we see a nasty side to the Duchess, as she is rude to one of her guests – she spots one of her housekeepers nearby.
The housekeeper is played by Debra Baker, though we don’t see much of her in this story. Outraged a woman of low social standing would dare to stay near the house during her party, the Duchess approaches and lambasts the woman, stating she’ll have her sacked.
However, the housekeeper isn’t afraid by the Duchess’ threats, as she says she hates being staff and wants to be the Duchess instead. She grabs the Duchess, lifts her off her feet, lightning flashes and soon becomes a copy of the Duchess by killing her on the spot.
So, we have another shapeshifter like Galpin who became Barton. We can also see what the housekeeper’s true form looks like, especially as her nose looks like a beak of a bird. Like the Barton copy, the housekeeper leaves the poor Duchess’ corpse out in the garden.
Okay, these shapeshifters need to cover their tracks. I mean, they’re clearly careless when they don’t hide the evidence of the victims they’ve killed. Or maybe they don’t really care about things like that, particularly when desiring to take on the forms of other people.
I also can’t be sure if that’s Debra Baker in the bird-like make-up or Indira Varma. I assume it’s Indira Varma since she’d be the one wearing the bird-like make-up when she’s the shapeshifter posing as the Duchess. It does look like Indira once you see that one shot. 🙂
Back inside the mansion, Ruby hides behind a bookshelf in the library, as she watches Lord Barton and Emily Beckett argue with each other. In their argument, Barton reveals that he cannot marry Emily due to his position, despite the fact Emily has feelings for him.
Barton then claims that he’s still tempted by her and just as the pair come together for an embrace and possibly a kiss, I believe, Ruby ends up knocking a book over, causing them to notice her. Yeah, well done, Ruby! You interrupted getting us to the really saucy bits! 😀
Excusing himself, Barton leaves. Emily becomes upset as she claims her reputation is now ruined since Ruby caught them about to have an affair out of wedlock. Ruby however says, “Oh, this is so Bridgerton”, rather impressed to find herself witnessing this scenario.
I like that Ruby gets to comfort Emily when she’s upset, as they chat for a bit whilst in the library. Emily is intrigued by Ruby and her behaviour, especially when she says “Okay” and certain phrases that are considered anachronistic in Regency times. Whoops, dear Ruby!
Maybe the Doctor should have warned you about particular words you’d better not use when in Regency times. 😀 Eventually, Ruby convinces Emily not to dwell too much on the situation she finds herself in, and she suggests that they should dance in the ballroom. 🙂
I wish we could have seen that scene where Ruby and Emily return to the ballroom and they’re being invited to dance by certain male dance partners. Sadly, there aren’t any ‘deleted scenes’ to be found for ‘Rogue’ in the Series 14/Season One Deleted Scenes video on YouTube.
Also, considering that there’s a same-sex romance for the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue in the episode, I’m surprised Kate Herron and Briony Redman didn’t do a same-sex romance for Ruby and Emily. I mean, they could have done it for them if they really wanted to, right?
In the gardens with the Doctor and Rogue, the Doctor chats about the constellations in the night sky and how they’ve been given names in the Regency era such as the Bear and the Ram. Rogue doesn’t seem impressed with the Doctor’s level of conversation though.
Eventually, the Doctor notices one of the Duchess’ shoes and her corpse nearby. You see what I mean, shapeshifting aliens? Someone’s going to notice the mess you’ve left behind. Would it have hurt to try covering up the evidence and not leave it out in the open?
Assessing that the Duchess died via alien intervention, the Doctor notices that Rogue is unsurprised by this. The pair quickly exchange remarks, confirming they’re both not from Earth nor this time period. 😐 They also insist the other was the one that killed the Duchess.
I found it very funny when they were speaking at the same time, saying “You killed her”. Though, why would Rogue assume the Doctor would kill the Duchess when he saw him looking concerned about her corpse? Maybe he thought the Doctor was putting on an act.
Pulling out a gun, Rogue holds the Doctor at gunpoint, forcing him to march to the outskirts of the garden. As they walk, Rogue reveals that he believes the Doctor to be one of the Chuldur – a shapeshifting species – that’s murdering guests at the party to be them.
Ah, so that’s what they’re called. Thank goodness I can call them that now instead of referring to them as ‘shapeshifting aliens’. 😀 Rogue also reveals that he’s been paid to assassinate the Chuldur. The Doctor tries to convince him otherwise, but Rogue doesn’t listen to him.
Rogue: Drop the act, Doc. There’s a Chuldur at work on this planet and I’ve been paid good money to find you.
Doctor: Okay, firstly, ‘Doc’? No, thank you, sir. Please.
Doctor: And kindly refrain from addressing me as ‘Doc’!
Doctor: Secondly, you are a bounty hunter? That is so… cool. Catching monsters, getting into scrapes. Meeting handsome strangers.
Rogue: I’m here for the money, nothing more.
Eventually, Rogue reveals his cloaked ship, which is parked a few steps away from the Doctor’s TARDIS. Rogue is clearly unimpressed that the TARDIS is the Doctor’s ship, as he calls it ‘a shed’. 😐 And he’s clearly showing off in revealing his spaceship in the garden.
Inside his spaceship, Rogue has the Doctor contained in a triform – a kind of prison, which is about to have him incinerated once Rogue charges up things before he can press the button. The Doctor tries to use his sonic screwdriver in an attempt to reverse the process.
Unfortunately, it’s deadlocked. Aww, nuts! Why does that happen? 😀 In trying to persuade Rogue to see sense, the Doctor deduces that Rogue’s name is an alias, taken from the game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, as evidenced by the dices on the main console unit.
Now, I can’t claim to know this, as I’ve never played the game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. I’ve seen two movies based on the game, but that’s about it. I think Rogue is a term for a character class in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ game instead of it being an actual character.
Incidentally, I’ve noticed in revisiting the episode that there’s a teddy bear aboard Rogue’s spaceship. You might not notice it initially, as the spaceship interior has a darker lighting. My parents spotted it when we were revisiting the episode and I’m astounded it’s there. 🙂
One can assume it’s Rogue’s teddy bear, though it could easily belong to someone else that Rogue knew. It’d make sense since Rogue didn’t always travel alone, as established later in the episode. Don’t know if the teddy bear was in the script, but it’s a nice touch. 🙂
As Rogue works on charging up the triform to incinerate the Doctor, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to play the Kylie Minogue song ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ via the ship’s sound speaker. Annoyed by this, Rogue switches the song off. It doesn’t last long.
The Doctor simply switches it back on, annoying Rogue further. Every time Rogue tries to switch the song off, the Doctor keeps switching it back on with his sonic screwdriver. Ah well, at least it is a Kylie Minogue song that’s being played and not a Brittney Spears song.
It’s so surreal to hear that song, especially with it being sung by Kylie Minogue, as she played Astrid Peth in the 2007 ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special ‘Voyage of the Damned’. And who knew that Rogue was a Kylie Minogue fan? 😀 Is Jonathan Groff a fan of hers too?
Mind you, was ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ originally planned to be in the final edit of ‘Rogue’? I ask that because the song is rather different in the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’ when watching the scenes of Rogue trapping the Doctor in the triform.
At least on the Blu-ray version of the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’. Yeah, when I checked on BBC iPlayer, the ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ song is present in the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’. Initially, I thought I’d been hearing things. 😐
But it turns out I wasn’t, as I checked the Blu-ray disc again and it’s a different song being played in the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’, not the Kylie Minogue song. I don’t understand that. Why is it different in the Blu-ray version compared to BBC iPlayer?
I assumed it was a song meant for the Disney+ version of ‘Rogue’ shown outside the UK, but it turns out the Kylie Minogue song was included in both UK and non-UK versions. So, what is the Blu-ray version of the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode of ‘Rogue’s excuse? 😐
It might be due to music licensing and copyright restrictions that differ between broadcast/streaming and physical media, both the actual episode and the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode, but I don’t know. It’s a very odd thing to happen for a special feature.
And if you’re wondering how I knew about Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ song, Catherine Tate said it when answering a question during a Christmas episode of ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’ with David Tennant and Bernard Cribbins. A lot of fun that!
Despite the Doctor trying to persuade Rogue otherwise from killing him, including using the psychic paper which doesn’t work, Rogue’s scanner confirms that the Doctor is a shapeshifter, as he still intends to kill him. The Doctor thinks fast to come up with an idea.
He soon tosses his psychic paper onto the scanner. This causes it to reveal his numerous incarnations and confirm that he is a Time Lord from Gallifrey, not a Chuldur. This impresses Rogue and he soon lets him go. 🙂 However, there’s an issue I have with this. 😐
In the line-up showing the Doctor’s previous faces when the Fifteenth Doctor had the scanner prove his species, there’s a particular face that’s out-of-place with the rest of the Doctor’s faces. That face happens to belong to…Richard E. Grant! Yeah! Richard E. Grant!
For those who don’t know, Richard E. Grant played two alternative versions of the Doctor in special one-off stories in ‘Doctor Who’. He was an alternative Tenth Doctor in ‘The Curse of Fatal Death’ and he was an alternative Ninth Doctor in ‘Scream of the Shalka’. 😐
In the actual TV series, Richard E. Grant played Dr. Simeon, who turned out to be the Great Intelligence in the episodes ‘The Snowmen’ and ‘The Name of the Doctor’ with Matt Smith. 🙂 And yet, he’s one of the Doctor’s faces in the line-up with Ncuti Gatwa in ‘Rogue’.
Apparently, RTD told the magazine SFX that Richard E. Grant attended a photoshoot to take brand-new images of his face for that line-up scene. And Richard E. Grant was very excited to appear in his cameo for the episode, although it turned out to be last minute. 😐
So, what does this mean? Is Richard E. Grant now one of the prime Doctors in ‘Doctor Who’? And if so, which one? Is it ‘The Curse of the Fatal Death’, the ‘Scream of the Shalka’ or is he be a future incarnation of the Doctor? Presumably, he’s ‘Scream of the Shalka’. 🙂
Paul Cornell, who wrote ‘Scream of the Shalka’, responded to the Richard E. Grant cameo by posting an image of his Doctor and the Master in that story on Instagram, commenting they had entered another dimension by mistake. RTD commented the image was ‘canon’.
So, I guess this is the ‘Scream of the Shalka’ Doctor, but it’s not actually confirmed. Even in later episodes of Ncuti Gatwa’s era, it’s never established whether this is the Shalka Doctor or not. You could say it is, but how come it’s not brought up again in future stories?
I know I’m jumping ahead a bit, but it’s not like RTD and his production team kept reusing Richard E. Grant’s face in future stories containing line-ups of past Doctor before Ncuti. It’s just in this one episode that it happens, and it’s very bizarre for it to be included here at all.
I kept bringing it up in quick reaction videos for ‘Doctor Who’ stories, particularly in Series 15, because I was hoping for there to be a follow-up to establish why Richard E. Grant is in that line-up. But it never happened. It frustrated me every time I saw a Doctors line-up.
How could RTD and his production team include Richard E. Grant in that line-up of the Doctor’s faces in ‘Rogue’ and never do it again afterwards? There’s no point in providing fan service if you’re not going to build it up to establish and expand ‘Doctor Who’s history.
You could easily assume that it’s Dr. Simeon or the Great Intelligence in that line-up and not the Doctor at all, as the Great Intelligence posing as Dr. Simeon did enter the Doctor’s timeline in ‘The Name of the Doctor’. It’s not a great explanation, but it would make sense.
I also joked about the fact that it could’ve been Loki in the Doctor’s faces line-up, since Richard E. Grant played one of the Lokis in Season 1 of ‘Loki’ in the ‘MCU’. And, Kate Herron, co-writer of ‘Rogue’ with Briony Redman, was the director of Season 1 of ‘Loki’! 🙂
It was pointed out to me that maybe this is all part of the Toymaker making a jigsaw of the Doctor’s past, as established in ‘The Giggle’. It would make sense to explain why we’re seeing Richard E. Grant in that line-up of Doctors. I hoped that would be unveiled later. 😐
And it was suggested to me by Wolfie of the Divergent Wordsmiths that the War Doctor didn’t exist until the Eleventh Doctor created him in ‘The Name of the Doctor’, as part of a side-effect of his jumping into his own timestream. I found that a very interesting theory.
Bottom line: Whilst it’s nice to see Richard E. Grant in that line-up of the Doctors in ‘Rogue’, it’s still a fleeting moment that can barely be appreciated by hardcore fans. I wish this had been expanded upon in future stories to appreciate it more, but sadly, it wasn’t.
Incidentally, the Doctors’ faces weren’t in the right order when seeing the holograms floating by Ncuti Gatwa. First, it was David Tennant, then Jodie Whittaker, then William Hartnell, then Richard E. Grant, then Tom Baker, then John Hurt, and the list keeps going.
I suppose you could say it’s to provide variety by having the Doctor’s faces in random order when floating by Ncuti Gatwa, but honestly, it’s very confusing. Wouldn’t it be better to start backwards with David Tennant first, then Jodie Whittaker, then Peter Capaldi, etc?
You can still have the Richard E. Grant cameo. In fact, it’d be a good idea to include it at a certain point as to where it takes place in the Doctor’s timeline. Presumably between Christopher Eccleston and John Hurt? It’d help fans like me to establish the continuity. 😐
(sighs) Anyway, back with Ruby and Emily. After having danced with a couple of suitors in the ballroom, they wander about the mansion until they come across a charred corpse. Ruby and Emily are shocked. It’s later confirmed it was the body of the poor housekeeper.
It also turns out when the Barton copy met up with the Duchess copy in the ballroom, they discussed plans concerning a wedding. The Duchess hoped that royalty would be at the mansion, but settles for Ruby Sunday instead. Ruby’s personality is fascinating to her.
With the Doctor freed, he takes Rogue to his TARDIS. Rogue is unprepared when he steps inside the TARDIS, as he’s clearly amazed when exclaiming inside. And then we have the Doctor singing the song ‘Pure Imagination’ from ‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory’!
Doctor: ♪ Come with me…and you’ll be… in a world of pure imagination… ♫
At this point in time, I’ve recently seen a re-release of ‘Willy Wonka’ at the cinema. 😀 Considering that Ncuti Gatwa wanted to play Willy Wonka as well as the Doctor, I suppose this is as close as we’re ever going to get with Ncuti Gatwa playing Willy Wonka.
I mean, he’s got the look for it with the Jon Pertwee-like burgundy jacket, hasn’t he? All he’s missing is the top hat! 😀 If they ever do a stage production of ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ and Ncuti Gatwa gets to play Willy Wonka, I’d definitely go and see it!
As Rogue looks around the TARDIS, the Doctor uses the console to adapt the triform for it to send the Chuldur to a random, isolated dimension in the universe instead of killing it. It’s good thing that the Doctor came up with that compared to what Rogue had in mind.
Whilst Rogue admires the Doctor’s TARDIS, the Doctor enquires about who he lost.
Doctor: You lost someone.
Rogue: How do you know that?
Doctor: Because I know.
I mean, you could say, Doctor, that you noticed the teddy bear aboard Rogue’s ship. That would have helped to confirm that you knew Rogue didn’t always travel alone rather than just saying, “Because I know”. That statement required for it to be elaborated upon more.
Fortunately, Rogue admits that he did used to travel with someone or some people that he cared for deeply. We don’t get told who that person was or people were, but Rogue says he lost them on a terrible day. 😦 The Doctor emphasises, sharing his own experience.
He remarks how he lost ‘everyone’, but that they must keep going. The Doctor also offers Rogue to travel with him in the TARDIS. I don’t know how that would work with Rogue joining aboard the TARDIS with the Doctor and Ruby, but it’d be very interesting to witness.
It would also mean more appearances for Rogue in ‘Doctor Who’ and perhaps would have extended the relationship between the Doctor and Rogue beyond just one episode. I’m sure fans of the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue would have been happy if that had happened.
Eventually, there’s a moment where the Doctor and Rogue become intimate by moving closer to each other. This is before the TARDIS dings to signal that the triform is ready. Yeah. Maybe it’s just as well the TARDIS interrupted them when they were getting intimate. 😐
I’ll share more on my thoughts about the Doctor and Rogue’s relationship later in the review, but that would have been too soon a moment if they, you know, kissed in the TARDIS. 😐 There’s a time and a place for these things, Doctor, and that wasn’t one of them.
Returning to the ballroom, the Doctor and Rogue meet up with Ruby and Emily. Both groups realise that they’re all caught up about the situation concerning the Chuldur. The Doctor deduces, from Ruby’s remarks, that this scenario happens to be very ‘Bridgerton’.
Again, I wouldn’t know how very ‘Bridgerton’ the scenario is considering I’ve not seen the Netflix series yet. Basically, the Chuldur are taking the forms of people to cosplay as them, inspired by the show’s drama and the scandals within the era it’s loosely based on.
So, essentially, the monsters in this ‘Doctor Who’ episode are alien cosplayers that murder people. Not a bad idea. I mean the Chuldur that feature in this story are more playful than vengeful, which makes them really dangerous when people encounter them.
I don’t think this puts people off doing cosplay when they go to conventions and thankfully, no murders are reported when I go to conventions. 😀 I’m sure ‘Doctor Who’ fans would prefer the more Osgood way of cosplaying than the Chuldur way of doing it. 🙂
To draw the Chuldur out and they assume it’s the Duchess, the Doctor suggests that he and Rogue dance in the ballroom. Rogue is sceptical, even though it’d draw attention, considering same-sex couples weren’t a thing in Regency times. 😐 Yet the Doctor insists.
Rogue: I don’t see how us dancing will create a scene.
Doctor: Then you should have researched this era a little more, because we are scandalous.
You know, I’m surprised the Doctor didn’t go into full song mode again and sang the Prince song ‘Scandalous!’ from the 1989 ‘Batman’ film. I mean, wouldn’t that have been a great song to include in the TV episode’s soundtrack as well as ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’?
Anyway, the Doctor and Rogue dance and everyone in the ballroom notices, including the Chuldur posing as the Duchess and Lord Barton. The patrons watching are shocked when they see the two men dancing together, though the Chuldur are fascinated as they watch.
I’m surprised no-one shouted out to them dancing together and told them to stop it. I mean, wouldn’t that have raised the scandalous effect that the Doctor and Rogue would want in order to draw the Chuldur out. Maybe the patrons watching were left speechless.
Soon, the Doctor and Rogue are left dancing alone together with the patrons leaving the dance floor. And then, the room darkens as they’re dancing together. Um, I don’t know if that’s actually happening in real life or if that’s in their minds as they’re dancing together.
I suppose it’s a rip-off from the scene in the 2005 film ‘Pride & Prejudice’ where Lizzie and Darcy are dancing together, and we cut from a room full of people before we see just them two dancing and then we cut back to the room full of people again. It’s a possibility.
I don’t see why we needed to have the room darkened to showcase the Doctor and Rogue dancing together in the ballroom. Maybe it’s to add dramatic effect, I don’t know. It’s just a little bit over-the-top and I would have done without that whilst watching them dancing.
Eventually, the Doctor breaks up the dance and starts an argument with Rogue, as they try to create a scene resembling them as two lovers. This is so that the Chuldur can be even more fascinated by the scandalous affair that’s happening, especially between two men.
Rogue struggles to play his part, but the Doctor encourages him to say something whilst playing his part in the act. Rogue soon ends up making out he’s proposing marriage to the Doctor by offering him a ring. The Doctor takes the ring before he runs out of the ballroom.
I wonder if the Doctor was thinking that Rogue was actually proposing marriage to him by offering him the ring, as the scene did seem to draw out that moment for a while. This is especially when the Doctor keeps the ring from Rogue by the time we get to the story’s end.
Rogue follows the Doctor, as he runs out of the ballroom, causing the Chuldur to pursue them both. They end up outside. It’s then that the Doctor and Rogue realise it isn’t just one Chuldur they’re dealing with. It’s four, including the Duchess and Barton. 😐 Whoops!
Yeah, it happens to be a Chuldur family. Whoever assigned Rogue the mission to assassinate the Chuldur should have been clear to them that it’s not one Chuldur he’ll be dealing with. Perhaps Rogue should have brought more triform traps to deal with them. 😐
The Chuldur transform into their true forms, and they happen to look like birds. Yeah, it’s interesting that RTD came up with the idea of the Chuldur being avian-like creatures, considering that they’ve done monsters that resemble animals before in ‘Doctor Who’. 😐
This includes the Judoon looking like rhinos, the Sisters of Plenitude looking like cats, and the pig-men in ‘Daleks in Manhattan’/’Evolution of the Daleks’. RTD does seem to be obsessed with using animals as templates for ‘Doctor Who’ monsters in his eras on TV. 🙂
Mind you, it’s not unoriginal, as monsters in ‘Doctor Who’ are often based on animals, such as the Terileptils being based on lizards and the Sea Devils being based on turtles. Admittedly, some are very often based on amphibians and reptiles, but you get the point.
However, I sort-of wish there was something to make the Chuldur more like birds rather than having them be actors in prosthetic make-up to look like birds. Specifically, why can’t they fly? Don’t they have wings? 😐 Clearly not, since they just run about in places. 😐
I appreciate the Chuldur don’t look all the same, as the four actors, including Indira Varma and Paul Forman, are given diverse make-up jobs to have them different from each other. But on first viewing the episode, I didn’t realise the Chuldur were meant to look like birds.
It’s only from checking out the behind-the-scenes extras, including the ‘Behind the Scenes’ featurette and the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’ that I’ve discovered the Chuldur are meant to resemble birds. Why can’t they fly like birds then? 😐
Wouldn’t that make them more threatening, especially when they’re trying to hunt down the Doctor and Rogue, who run away and escape? Again, I appreciate the creativity in making the Chuldur look like birds, but I think more should have been done with that idea.
From listening to the audio episode ‘Circular Time: Spring’, I appreciate the Avian species that the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa met not being able to fly until Cardinal Zero became a Time Lord-Avian hybrid so that he could teach the Avians to eventually find a way to fly. 🙂
Maybe someday we’ll get another ‘Doctor Who’ story featuring the Chuldur. Whether it’s on TV or audio, I don’t know. But as is, the Chuldur are just cosplaying aliens that look like birds and ironically, they don’t have the ability to fly, and it’s never addressed in the story.
As the Chuldur family pursue the Doctor and Rogue, they can’t find them and soon return to the mansion for ‘the wedding’. It turns out the Doctor and Rogue were hiding in a carriage. And in ‘Spider-Man’ style. 🙂 Or ‘Matilda’ style, depending on how you look at it. 🙂
The Doctor and Rogue deduce that the Chuldur intend to cosplay across the English countryside, London and then wage war against the world by becoming royalty and government leaders. Wow! That is a way for an alien invasion to work by doing cosplay. 😐
Duchess: We’re going to cosplay this planet to death!
Thankfully, the Doctor adjusts the triform for it to contain six people instead of one. Granted, it stretches its power and they have only one attempt to catch them all. Gosh, the way I wrote that, it almost makes me want to sing the ‘Pokémon’ theme song, right? 🙂
♪ Gotta catch ’em all! Gotta catch ’em all! Pokémon! ♫
Back in the mansion, Ruby finds Emily in the library after they saw, via the ballroom window, the Chuldur reveal themselves. Ruby attempts to console her, as she sees Emily in shock, especially when she uses her fan to calm down. Ruby soon tells her the truth. 😐
She tells Emily that she comes from the future. Instead of being even more shocked or perhaps sceptical, Emily’s demeanour changes from being sad to confident, as she admires the way Ruby is. 😐 So ‘wild’, ‘brave’ and ‘rude’ compared to her being ‘bookish’. 😐
It’s then that Emily reveals her true colours, as she grabs Ruby’s hand and transforms into a Chuldur. She declares that she wants to be Ruby and we cut to outside the library where lightning flashes, giving the impression that Emily has killed Ruby and taken her form.
I will admit, I did think for a moment that Ruby had been killed off. But then, I thought, “Na, she can’t be dead. She’s meant to be in the two-part finale next”. I wondered, how Ruby would get out of this one. We’ll uncover that shortly as we go further into the review.
Back in the ballroom – Although, this must be where they filmed scenes in Lincoln Court in Bristol, as I can see the stairways that are in the photo that Ruby’s in, which I got signed by Millie Gibson in Cardiff in October 2025 – the Chuldur return, but are still in alien form.
The Chuldur Duchess declares that a wedding is to take place.
Duchess: …now it is time for the season finale!
No, it isn’t! We haven’t finished this episode yet, and you’re not in it, Fake Duchess! 😀
Duchess: And what could be better than… a wedding!
As the guests cower in fear, one of the Chuldur grabs a nearby vicar – David Charles as Mr. Price, I believe – and forcefully kills him before transforming into him to cosplay for this wedding. Gosh, the vicar didn’t deserve to die! The Chuldur could’ve asked nicely. 😀
The Doctor and Rogue watch from the balcony to see what’s happening, and they soon see the Chuldur Barton enter with Ruby by his side. Seeing this, the Doctor makes the assumption that Ruby has been killed by the Chuldur and one of them has taken her form.
Devastated, the Doctor leaves the room. And then, we see him recall a promise he made to Carla, Ruby’s mum, played again by Michelle Greenidge, that he would keep Ruby safe. Presumably, that flashback took place between ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’. 😐
Err, I feel that scene featuring the Doctor and Carla should have been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’. Not in the middle of the season! Why are we seeing this scene now instead of it being at the beginning of the season? Surely, it should’ve been shown earlier.
If the Doctor and Carla scene in ‘Rogue’ had been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’ first, you could’ve easily repeated it as a reminder to audiences that the Doctor should have looked after Ruby when he made that promise. I don’t get why it’s only in this story.
If you had cut the pointless Ruby becoming a lizard scene out from ‘Space Babies’ and included the Doctor and Carla promise scene at the end of that episode, the repeat of the promise scene in ‘Rogue’ would have happened. But they didn’t do that and it’s annoying.
Embittered regarding Ruby’s fate, the Doctor asks Rogue to tell him how long the Chuldur can live for. Rogue answers that they live for six hundred years. Satisfied, the Doctor says, “Good. That’s a long time to suffer” before going to deal with the Chuldur once and for all.
As the cosplay wedding is underway in the ballroom, the Doctor interrupts with the words “I object!” to the proceedings. Hmm, it doesn’t match to how Shrek objected in the first ‘Shrek’ film, but it’ll do. Distracting them, the Doctor reveals he has the Chuldur trapped.
He has setup the triform around the four Chuldur, including the Duchess and Lord Barton. He also has Ruby trapped. The Doctor is convinced that this will be good payback to the Chuldur for killing Ruby. But then Ruby reveals she’s actually Ruby and isn’t a Chuldur. 😮
As it turned out, Ruby used her psychic earrings in battle mode to shield and fight off Emily as a Chuldur. Once that happened and she knocked Emily out, Ruby pretended to be her when taken to be the bride for the wedding. This is confirmed when Emily appears.
By the way, in the fight between Ruby and Emily as a Chuldur, an orchestral cover of the song ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga was played. Earlier, another orchestral cover of the song ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Ellish was played. The Vitamin String Quartet performed those covers.
Apparently, this was something that happened in ‘Bridgerton’ where orchestral covers of contemporary pop songs were performed. Again, having not seen ‘Bridgerton’, I wouldn’t have known that. 😐 Although I did recognise the tune to ‘Poker Face’ as soon as I heard it.
Emily had her nose broken from where Ruby hit her with a book. Good one, Ruby! 😀 And apparently, the Chuldur couldn’t sense Ruby’s human scent since she had the battle mode turned on, thanks to her psychic earrings. The Doctor tells the triform to switch off.
But it won’t comply and the transport gate is charged up, ready to send its victims. Ruby can’t get out of the trap she’s in with her feet stuck, which is very worrying. 😐 Yeah, maybe the Doctor should have checked that Ruby was real and not a Chuldur impersonating her.
The Duchess grants Emily her full permission to become the Doctor. With that, Emily charges at the Doctor before Rogue intervenes and forces her into the triform trap with the others. Hmm, interesting you can get people into the triform but not get people out. 😐
Rogue encourages the Doctor to press the button to send the Chuldur into the dimension they’ll end up in, but the Doctor can’t, as he knows doing so will condemn Ruby to death. Ruby tells him that “It’s fine”, but the Doctor won’t commit, and he breaks down in tears.
Seeing the Doctor’s distress, Rogue moves towards him and comforts him. And thus, we have…the moment! The defining moment that many will remember from seeing this episode. As Rogue comforts the Doctor, he kisses him. Yes! The Doctor and Rogue…kiss.
Okay, um, I’ve had time to think about this. When this happened, there was quite a strong reaction to the Doctor and Rogue kissing. Many, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community, found it a wonderful moment and saying it’s the best thing to have happened.
That this helped to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community. And it is a moment that’s quite significant in ‘Doctor Who’. This is the first time that we see the Doctor kissing a man. I mean, the Doctor as a man, since Jodie Whittaker never kissed anybody in her era.
And we’ve had same-sex kisses happen in spin-off shows like ‘Torchwood’, particularly with Captain Jack and Ianto, as well as in ‘Doctor Who’ with Bill kissing Heather in ‘The Doctor Falls’ as well as Jake and Adam kissing at the end of ‘Praxeus’. It’s not uncommon.
But this is the first time that we see the Doctor as a man kissing another man in Rogue. It hadn’t happened before in ‘Doctor Who’, and I’m sure many were over-the-moon. It’s a fascinating way for it to have been built up with the Doctor and Rogue kissing each other.
With that said, I feel this could have been done differently. You see, I can’t help feel that the kiss wasn’t earned enough to happen, especially as the Doctor and Rogue hadn’t known each other for long. Because…and if I might borrow part of a quote from ‘Frozen’…
Kristoff: …you just met that day?
And it’s not even a day! They just met one evening that led to one night before the story finishes in the morning! Half a day, if you will. The Doctor and Rogue not knowing each other for long didn’t mean they had to kiss, even if it is a kiss to say goodbye to each other.
I mean, Rogue probably wouldn’t get another chance to do it with the Doctor, knowing that he’s going to self-sacrifice himself in the episode. Maybe it was on instinct and impulse it happened, but Rogue kissing the Doctor felt rushed in character development.
Maybe Rogue giving the Doctor a quick kiss would have been better, especially as it would have surprised the Doctor before he realised Rogue did it to take the triform trigger off him. You can still have the same-sex kiss, but just don’t have it be that romantic as it was.
What should’ve happened is that we could have had a trilogy of episodes featuring Rogue spread across three seasons of Ncuti Gatwa’s era of ‘Doctor Who’. That way, you could have developed the romance between the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue beyond one story.
I’m sure many Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue fans would have loved that. It would have justified the romance between the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue happening, even if they were flirting with each other. I just feel the kiss in ‘Rogue’ was very rushed as it was shown.
And whilst I criticise the set-up of Jake and Adam being a same-sex married couple in ‘Praxeus’, at least they established that they were married. The kiss they had at the end of that episode is justified because they had known each other for a very long time to do that.
The irony is that for the next season of Ncuti Gatwa’s era, we have another same-sex male married couple – Mike and Gary – in ‘The Interstellar Song Contest’. And they established early on they were married and we can put together they’ve known each other a long time.
The more I think about the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue being a romantic couple, it makes me lean towards the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz as a romantic couple more, as they’ve known each other a long time, even if Thirteen wasn’t willing to commit to a relationship.
In fact, Fifteen being open about having a romance with Rogue is a contrast to Thirteen, who wasn’t very open about having a romance with Yaz. Or maybe she was, as she tried to do a ‘date’ with Yaz in ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’. Sort-of, since it wasn’t quite a date. 😐
And because Thirteen knew that she was on her way out by the time we got to the end of ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’ leading into ‘The Power of the Doctor’. I’m pleased I got to address that aspect of Thirteen and Yaz’s relationship in my story ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’.
Mind you, I liked it when it was addressed that Thirteen never got to admit to Yaz that she had feelings for her when she met Fifteen in ‘The Reality War’, and the similarities and differences between the two Doctors were established. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The kiss between the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue probably wouldn’t have happened if the Doctor attempted to self-sacrifice himself to save Ruby by stepping into the triform and tossing the trigger to Rogue. Or maybe it would have happened, but with just a small kiss.
In fact, you could’ve had the Fifteenth Doctor attempting to save Ruby by pushing himself into the triform to allow her to escape, before Rogue stopped him, gave him a quick kiss, and snatched the triform off him before taking the Doctor’s place instead. I’m just saying.
Bottom line: Whilst I appreciate the same-sex kiss happening in the episode, I feel things could have been done differently, especially to perhaps expand the romance between Fifteen and Rogue more. Because it felt a bit forced in the short time they got to know each other.
Sadly, it never happened like that, which is a bit of a shame. Because after they kiss and the Doctor realises Rogue took the trigger off him, Rogue leaps onto the triform, pushes Ruby out of it and takes her place, finding himself trapped in the trap with the five Chuldur.
Once Rogue is in the triform with the Doctor, he throws the bouquet of flowers that Ruby held to the Doctor – That’s a nice touch – and presses the button on the trigger remote. The Chuldur end up falling into the unknown dimension before Rogue shortly falls into it.
Before Rogue fell in, he tells the Doctor to find him. Not sure how the Doctor is going to do that, and quite frankly, this is like the only time Rogue appears in ‘Doctor Who’. I mean, I know he appears in the next season for a cameo, but…we’ll get to that when we get to it.
Also, it probably would have meant Jonathan Groff having to come out multiple times from L.A. to Wales to do a few more episodes as Rogue if he was asked to. And it probably would’ve been expensive for the ‘Doctor Who’ production team to do that, which is a pity.
Naturally, the Doctor is shocked and upset once Rogue vanishes after sending himself and the Chuldur into the unknown dimension. He reunites with Ruby, checking she’s okay, before placing the bouquet on the floor. The Doctor and Ruby leave the ballroom. 😦
Outside, it’s now morning. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to send Rogue’s ship in orbit of Earth’s moon. Ruby joins him and suggests they use the TARDIS to save Rogue. But the Doctor states there are endless dimensions and finding Rogue won’t be very easy.
The Doctor attempts to put on a brave face by jumping to his feet and saying they should press on. But Ruby can see the Doctor is still overcome with grief with the loss of Rogue. She gives him a hug to comfort him. 🙂 I like how Ruby comforts the Doctor in that moment.
Allowing himself to mourn the loss of Rogue, the Doctor tells Ruby that he’s glad to have her back. Ruby reciprocates, saying she’s glad too. It’s nice to have the episode end on this note where Ruby and the Doctor are very fond of each other after all that’s happened.
As they depart with Ruby going on ahead to the TARDIS, the episode ends with the Doctor taking out the ring that Rogue had given him earlier. He looks at it and puts it on his one of his pinkie fingers to remember him by. A pity the Doctor didn’t try to go looking for him.
The DVD/Blu-ray special features for ‘Rogue’ are as follows. On Disc 4 of the Series 14/Season One DVD/Blu-ray box set of ‘Doctor Who’, there’s a behind-the-scenes featurette on ‘Rogue’, a scene breakdown on ‘Rogue’ with director Ben Chessell, a ‘Regency Costume Quiz’ with Jonathan Groff, ‘Most Likely To…with Ncuti Gatwa & Millie Gibson’, ‘Video Profile – Rogue’, ‘Get to Know ‘Doctor Who’ – With Jonathan Groff’ and an item on the ‘Rogue’ dance scene between Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff. On Disc 7 of the Series 14/Season One DVD/Blu-ray box set of ‘Doctor Who’, there’s the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Rogue’.
‘Rogue’ is an enjoyable Regency-filled episode in ‘Doctor Who’, although I think it would have worked better if we’d seen more of Bath in order for us to appreciate that this story takes place in Bath. Having been to Bath myself, I’m disappointed we didn’t see any of it.
Also, I think the episode would have worked better if it didn’t rely on audiences to know what ‘Bridgerton’ is. Not everyone will have seen it, me included. I’m sure it’s a nice nod to the series, but I know Jane Austen more than ‘Bridgerton’ regarding the Regency period.
I found Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson enjoyable throughout this episode. I especially enjoyed seeing Millie Gibson as Ruby in her Regency outfit, as she’s lovely when wearing it in the episode. It’s a shame that a romance story wasn’t given to Ruby in the episode. 😦
Also, on reflection, it’s astounding that companions of the new TV series have more costumes compared to the classic TV series. Certain companions were exceptions, including Romana (both of them), who had plenty of outfits for their TARDIS travelling days.
This wasn’t the case for Nyssa and Tegan, who didn’t get to wear a variety of outfits. They did wear fancy dress outfits in ‘Black Orchid’, but mostly stayed in the same costume. Ruby is really honoured to be a ‘Doctor Who’ companion who could wear different outfits.
Whilst I criticise the romance story that went on between Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Jonathan Groff as Rogue, I did enjoy the performances the actors gave as their characters. And it’s nice to see Disney voice actor like Jonathan Groff in the flesh here. 😀
It would’ve been fascinating to see how the romance story between the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue could have extended beyond one episode. I thought that maybe, somehow, Rogue would come back into the TV show – properly, I mean – and reunite with the Doctor.
Surely, that would have given the Fifteenth Doctor the chance to have more exploration of his character in the series. That’s often a thing people criticise about the Fifteenth Doctor era. That Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor didn’t have the chance to develop as a character.
Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way and it’s a shame Russell T. Davies and his production team didn’t consider that when mapping out how Ncuti Gatwa’s era of ‘Doctor Who’ would turn out. This is especially considering Ncuti’s era lasted for about two seasons. 😐
It’s been suggested to me that ‘The Devil’s Chord’ would have worked better after ‘Rogue’, considering there needs to be a balance of comedy and drama throughout a ‘Doctor Who’ season. That makes sense, as the balance of comedy and drama needs to be just right.
So, say you have ‘Space Babies’ first (which is comedic), then ‘Boom’ (which is serious), then ’73 Yards’ (serious), then ‘Dot and Bubble’ (semi-serious), then ‘Rogue’ (semi-serious) and then ‘The Devil’s Chord’ (comedic). 🙂 That would’ve been fine in structure. 🙂
Sadly, that didn’t happen, and it’s often one of the frustrating things about the two seasons of Ncuti Gatwa’s era of ‘Doctor Who’ where not a lot of thought is put in with how the seasons should be structured. But that’s something we’ll address again for next time.
And speaking of next time, I was looking forward to checking out the two-part season finale of ‘Doctor Who’. I hoped that after everything we’d been through with Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby, things would be epic, exciting and satisfying. Would it?
‘Rogue’ rating – 6.5/10
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