Doctor Who's Lucky Day robs fans of a key moment – and it sums up the biggest Ruby Sunday issue

Lucky Day, a companion-led or 'Doctor-lite' episode, follows Ruby as she attempts to get to grips with life after the Doctor. It sees her meeting and falling for Conrad (played by Jonah Hauer-King), who met the Doctor as a young child and quickly became obsessed with him (hard relate).

Contrary to his harmlessly bumbling guise, though, Conrad is actually the leader of an organisation hell-bent on exposing UNIT's so-called "lies" to the public, using Ruby along the way for her connections to the group, before unceremoniously discarding her and becoming quite the pantomime villain by the end of the episode.

Afterwards, Ruby admits to Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) that she's not OK, and needs to take some time for herself to fully recover from everything she's been through.

After this moment, I was left waiting for a scene that never came - for the Doctor to pop in and give the woman who's supposed to be his best friend a big hug. In fact, present-day Ruby sees neither hide nor hair of the Doctor in the new episode, which strikes me as simply cruel.

Of course, there are moments of Ruby and the Doctor interacting in Lucky Day, as early scenes in the episode show them encountering the Shreek for the first time. But that scene, which is largely told from Conrad's perspective, feels like it's placed there solely to tell his story and to explain why the Shreek would be hunting him, rather than to give us any further insight into the Doctor and Ruby's relationship.

While it's also clear that the Doctor is still looking out for Ruby, as he angrily confronts Conrad at the end of the episode, it seems incredibly odd to me that the Doctor wouldn't check in on her after all of this.

I can certainly see the reasons for this omission from showrunner Russell T Davies and writer Pete McTighe's point of view. There's the argument that if Ruby's trying to move on from the Doctor, then maybe the last thing she needs is a visit from him - perhaps it would move her straight back to square one.

But I just don't believe that. Ruby clearly expresses a need to talk about her experiences with someone who could understand. Kate might be an adequate substitute for the Doctor in that case. So might the companion support group, introduced in Jodie Whittaker's era of the show.

But, more than anything, a few words of love and support from the Doctor could have provided Ruby with the closure she needed to move on with her life.

Unfortunately, the omission of this scene is characteristic of the Doctor's relationship with Ruby as a whole. Throughout season 14, many fans noticed that we weren't given many scenes of them just hanging out in the TARDIS, which, over the years, have proved crucial to the development of the Doctor and companion's relationship.

While Gatwa and Gibson had fabulous chemistry in season 14, there just wasn't the screen time for us to enjoy it, like there was, for instance, with Billie Piper's Rose Tyler or Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. While it was likely unavoidable due to Gatwa's schedule, that was only exacerbated by the structure of the season, which involved two Doctor-lite episodes in 73 Yards and Dot and Bubble.

Had Lucky Day included a small reunion for the pair of them, it could have remedied that somewhat. At the very least, it would have given them a bit more time. After all, the moments when the Doctor has reunited with a past companion have been powerful, moving, and have only enriched their relationships.

We saw it in School Reunion, when David Tennant's Tenth Doctor can't believe his luck as he spots Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith for the first time in years.

In Journey's End, the Doctor finally reunites with Billie Piper's Rose Tyler, in a moment that will still move any fan to tears. In The Sontaran Stratagem, the Doctor once again teams up with past companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman). In The Giggle, he sees Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford) for the first time in years. And there are plenty more moments like these.

Each of them is beautiful, memorable, and deepens their relationship in some way. It's a shame Ruby hasn't been given that in Lucky Day.

None of this is to diminish Millie Gibson's performance in any way. She's brought Ruby Sunday to life with bucketloads of charisma and flair, nailing the comedy beats as well as the emotional moments. But, in an episode that should have enriched the Doctor and Ruby's relationship, the pair felt like strangers.

Thankfully, this isn't the last we're going to see of Ruby Sunday. We know that she's set to return for the season finale and, with any hope, I'll get that reunion I've been waiting for. Better late than never!

Doctor Who season 15 continues on 10th May 2025, coming to BBC iPlayer at 8am and airing later that day on BBC One.

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