I haven’t got round to fully watching the 3rd Doctor’s era yet, so I’m not super familiar with UNIT in the classic series. Thanks for the context 
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“This episode felt out of place. I was just getting into Belinda’s character and story arc, and then this comes along, which barely has the Doctor and focuses on a past companion, and it killed the momentum of the series for me.”
Hard agree. This episode ground the momentum to a halt, which considering it appears to be meant as the midseason plot driver, is a bad sign.
I also hate to say it, but Millie Gibson is a problem. There’s already so much CBBC style “tell not show” in this script, and she just isn’t able to make it stand believably. Her infodump about her PTSD was simply that, an infodump, and apart from literally reusing the set from 73 Yards (I know writers who use subtlety etc etc) there were no attempts to tell us how she has been affected in an organic, naturalistic way. It’s just lines and lines of dialog and no reason to engage. Now, the script also wants to make Belinda into a “omg travelling with you is so mad Doctor” character but Varatha Sedhu, for some reason, can make these lines sing a little better. Belinda is a character. Ruby, unfortunately, is and always has been a flat cypher. demonstrated again where this episode isn’t really about her at all.
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Well I liked it.
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Any theories as to why the Castellan is now running a pub ?
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I also liked it! All the stuff with Ruby was amazing and really showed how hard it is to return to normal life after travelling with the Doctor. This is not something we have seen on TV before!
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Not sure. But I do know he serves a really strong local ale on cask called Mind Probe 
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I agree with this too! I thought the concept was interesting, and it was (mostly) executed well, I just think it was in the wrong place in this season
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While I do agree that bits of Ruby talking about her trauma felt a bit rehearsed, it’s actually precisely that which sold me on it. It seems to me like that may have been a conversation she’s wanted to have for a while, one she’d practiced inside her head. That made it feel very true to me
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The thing is that I don’t think that there are a right place in the season when the seasons are this short. It was my main problem with the last season as well. Eight episodes are too short especially when you have Doctor Lite episodes in them.
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Good point. I honestly think that Doctor-Lite episodes aren’t really a good idea when the season is this short. I want as much 15 as possible!
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In the best of worlds, we would have 13-episode seasons again, and then it would fit. Otherwise, I think that I would have preferred if this was an episode of TWBTLATS with Ruby as a guest cast.
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It is a shame that it is like this because I think that all three Doctor Lite episodes of this era have been really good.
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Yes then I wouldn’t have to watch it 
But seriously, I think showing something like this could be good but not sure it fits in the main show. Needs more time to explore as part of a Whoniverse spin-off.
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I didn’t feel this at all. I don’t think Ruby is ever going to be high up my list of favourite companions (Belinda is already more appealing to me than her) but I’ve always credited Millie Gibson with the ability to make her extremely likeable and really did some good work over the course of Season 1. I thought she was excellent in 73 Yards, lots of fun in Rogue and really good in Lucky Day, especially when confronted by the truth about Conrad.
Also, what ‘tell not show’ scripting was there? (And why is that a CBBC thing. I’ve seen plenty of that sort of writing in plenty of adult dramas. I always get rankled when people use CBBC as a pejorative. There’s a huge amount of good quality programming from CBBC (and a lot of other children’s TV).
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It wasnt bad. I enjoyed seeing a darker side to kate and the scene with the doctor at the end was great. Ncuti has a really good Dark doctor
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Dammit - I knew I recognised him!!
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Finally got to watch it. Really liked this one:
Was nice to catch up with Ruby. This episode dealt with post doctor life really well.
I also enjoyed seeing a slightly darker side of UNIT and Kate. Feeling more interested in the spin off after this.
It would’ve been cool if one of the times Conrad saw the Doctor it was not 15. Appreciate this would’ve been hard logistically but would’ve sold the timey-wimey ness of it all.
Rubys mum is also a bit of a nothing character.
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I might have conflated a couple of things here, so forgive me for that. Millie Gibson just doesn’t work for me personally as a performer, in much the same way that the combination of her and Ncuti in Season 1 didn’t work. The relationship doesn’t feel organic, so all of the enthusiasm in their relationship seems forced and artificial to me. There’s a lot of disconnect between what I feel the show wants me to think about their relationship and the things being done to deliver that message. I agree there’s a lot of good quality writing on CBBC. I also remember, as a child of that generation, a lot of very high-energy delivery from morning presenters hoping (and often rightly) that energy would carry over some quite stilted dialog. That’s how I feel about Ruby as a character - she has some of the worst dialog, and yes, perhaps Millie has made her believable, but she’s done that for me by over-acting. The moments of depth afforded to her by this story are a world away from what she was able to achieve in 73 Yards.
I think the failure of this episode for me is that it’s doing nothing but retreading old ground with worse dialog and a ropier plot. Varatha Sedhu just got a better deal as a companion because her relationship with The Doctor happens in real time and feels like it makes sense within the world of the show. We aren’t being asked to make leaps and actors aren’t being asked to help us paste over those gaps. I feel bad that it’s a knock on Millie Gibson, but I stand by it. It’s the same reason I think Toisin Cole, despite doing his best in the performance, drags down a lot of Chibnall era stories. Yknow, it’s Adric.
Millie is not that bad, of course, but I think that she is doing the best with some difficult material and it’s unfortunate that her comeback was written by Pete McTighe and not Russell who appeared to be on a strong run of form. If anything, this is the episode he absolutely needed to write because it appears there’s a decent amount of the rest of the plot hinging off of it. Instead we got to go on Pete’s Wild Ride and I was left feeling thoroughly confused.
It’s nice for a season to be this divisive, frankly. I’d much rather take a season with some of the best and some of the worst (which I think is probably something that’s been part of the show since the Classic era) than playing it safe and ending up with a bunch of average nothing episodes.
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I appreciate the response even if I can’t agree with much of what you write. For starters I don’t think McTighe is anywhere near as bad a writer as fans make out.
And yes, Doctor Who always has the best and the worst rubbing shoulders but which is which is different for each and every fan. But I think an average episode is just fine - as long as it entertains me I’m not going to worry too much about the politics or the consistency or how it may be viewed via a real world lense. That’s not what Doctor Who is there for me and, if I’m honest, I think so fans put too much stall in every episode being the best EVA and lose sight of just having a bit of fun for 45 minutes. Even my least favourite episodes can still entertain me on some level.
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There’s every chance I’ll be kinder to this on a revisit. I didn’t loathe Orphan or Kerblam! nearly as much as I disliked this, and I think it’s in part because I really liked Lux and The Well and I’m growing weary of Doctor-lites in general more than anything.
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