Post regeneration are always hard episodes to pull of as the show has to do something new and yet feel so familiar as well. Well now we have another post regeneration episode with us this one also being a Christmas special and well in a year were we've had now four Doctor Who special all in the space of a month I think it's fair to say that we've had a good decent amount of Doctor Who related content all in the space just around a months time and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the episode that not only introduces a new Doctor but also a new companion as well with the episode in question being called simply just "The Church On Ruby Road" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is Ruby is tasked by her adoptive mother to look after her new foster daughter but when the baby gets kidnapped by Goblins she meets a mysterious alien who is always willing to help out in times of need. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty pretty weak with the episodes plot being very thin at best which is fine as it's a Christmas special after all but at the same time it doesn't really get you hooked which is something that alot of the other Doctor Who Christmas specials did do despite also having fairly weak plots as well with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor , Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday and TV legend Davina McCall as Herself , Bobby Bradley as Denzel , Eastenders star and legend Anita Dobson as Mrs. Flood , Mary Malone as Trudy , Belinda Owusu as Woman With Pram , Barney Wilkinson as Policeman , Hemi Yeroham as Abdul , Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday , Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday , Gemma Arrowsmith as Ruth Lyons and singer Christina Rotondo as The Voice Of Janis Goblin.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episodes acting being alot better then what it really had any right to be as the plot of this episode doesn't really require good acting to pull it off and yet that's exactly what we get good acting from all of this episodes various cast members with the acting in this episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode was really good with the script giving the actors quite alot to work with interms of what there respective characters personalities are meant to be.
Doing the CGI for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Automatik VFX and Real SFX. Now then in terms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with the episode having some really good looking CGI effects which is really nothing new as the past three specials have all had some really good looking CGI effects in them which is mainly due to the team that's doing the effects on the show now but there not the only ones that need praise as alot of the good CGI also comes from Disney giving the show a really bigger budget and a bigger effects budget then it's ever had before now and let us hope that this trend does continue for the series moving forward.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!
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Not only do we get a new Doctor in this episode but we also get a new companion as well with this episode being there first adventure together. Interms of other companions Ruby Sunday does seem like a really fun characters altho we don't get to really find that much about her character which does make sense as she's meant to be staying with the show until at the very least series 15 but at the same time we should have been given something about her like what are her likes and dislikes things like that but we don't get any of that which is a shame because she is acted really well and she and The Doctor do have some really fun scenes together but we don't really get to see why The Doctor has chosen her to be his next companion with her just joining him for no reason which is something that all companions should have.
The Doctor does fair a little bit better in this regards as he is basically a child in a grown man's body which is something that does make sense as for all intense and purposes this new Doctor has just been born. Altho we don't get to see The Doctor choose his outfit which is a small issue but we do usually get alot of fun scenes during those types of scenes and to see that kind of scene missing from this episode just felt weird and while yes the ninth doctor didn't have that type of scene either but by that point he had already been the doctor for sometime and had already had his outfit for sometime and seeing The Doctor choose his outfit you get a chance to show us just what type of character this new Doctor is and that is something that is missing from this episode but by not having that scene in this episode it does allow for more scene with The Doctor and Ruby together which is where the episode is most fun and let's be honest when it comes to Christmas time TV all you really want is for what your watching to be fun and really nothing more then that.
There have been many controversial things in Doctor Who in the past but what got a lot of people weirdly upset was the fact that this episode was going to feature a musical number which is called "The Goblin Song" which is written by the episodes writer and the show current showrunner and executive producer Russell T Davies. What makes this episodes song stand out is the fact that both Ncuti and Millie get to sing in the song and they don't have bad singing voices but the issue is tho is that when you think of Doctor Who you don't think of musical numbers and in that regards the song in this episode does stick out like a sore thumb as it's just something that isn't needed in the episode as all that the song is meant to get across of a baby slowly going to be eaten is the same thing that's put across in the scenes visuals but at the same time this song is a genuinely really good and fun song that is really well sung.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty five minuets and thirteen seconds. Which is a solid running time for this episode but at the same time tho this episode really didn't need to be that long as there's nothing about this episode that screams that it needs to have an extra long running time as you very easily could have told the plot of this episode in forty five minuets and all that you'd need to cut out is the song and alot of the pointless scenes with Ruby and her friends and cut down on The Doctor's and Ruby's time on the Goblin ship and that's really it with none of those having a major effect on the episodes which means that you'd loose absolutely nothing that's actually important to the overall plot of the episode but I will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that means that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With this episode not really having a focus on action with the episode instead having more of a focus on comedy which does make sense for a Christmas special and what little action we do get in the episode was really well done and was really fun and exciting to see with Ncuti looking really comfortable in the action scenes which is something that does work well for this incarnation as this version of The doctor does seem alot more like Jon Pertwee's Doctor in that just like the third doctor this new doctor is an action man type of hero and will be willing to get into fights in order to defend himself in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!
Overall this episode was a fairly weak episode to start of this new Doctor's run on the show but at the same time it gives you all of the things that you'd expect from a Doctor Who christmas special as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode really does earn itself a grad old score of exactly a 5.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episode that I used in this very review being the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page simply just due to the fact that alot of the images that are on the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being really fairly freaking high in definition.