Doctor Who: Lucky Day

"Biscuit got the fright of his life!"

Where to even begin talking about this one?

Seriously. I have no idea where to even start to discuss this one. Because the most important thing to discuss about it is also the thing that you should most avoid spoiling for yourself before you see the episode.

And so, in that light, I think I'll take a moment to waffle on about a couple of minor points in order to fill a little space in the hope that it will prevent accidental spoilage for anyone who's inadvertently come this far. Because, as much as I'd like things to be otherwise, you can't fall back on a picture of a manatee every week.

First bit of waffle: I adored getting to see Carla and Cherry again. They're just so much fun to be around – particularly Cherry. The gag about her being nervous for Ruby to go to a small village because she'd just watched The Wicker Man is not only a nice little bit of foreshadowing, but it's also just a lovely moment. And for the record, we're all clear that she watched the 1973 version with Christopher Lee that's actually good, right?

Second bit of waffle: I have mixed feelings about Louise still hanging around. But I suppose it's emotionally healthy for her and Ruby to have developed a good relationship, so fine. I can live with it.

Third bit of waffle: I liked that the dog's name was Biscuit. That's a good dog name.

Okay, we've filled enough space to get down to brass tacks, so let's talk about it.

We need to talk about Conrad.

More accurately, we need to talk about how they used Conrad to format this episode as a non-traditional two act structure.

Well, okay, we don't need to exclusively talk about that, but it is an odd choice.

Here's the deal. Generally, with this kind of story reveal, you get an episode that's neatly broken out into thirds. For the first third of the story, we'd see our primary character (Ruby) meet a character that we might refer to as the 'X' factor. The essential underpinning of this part of the script would be the fact that our main character doesn't know if they can trust them.

Then, after a seemingly definitive 'proof' that they're on 'our side' at the end of act one, act two would show the two characters working together toward whatever the main thrust of the plot was and would end with the abrupt and unexpected reveal that the X Factor character was a bad guy all along. Then the third act would reveal what the X-Factor's character's actual agenda was and wrap everything up.

If you need a textbook example of this structure, you can find it with the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 'Lie to Me.' In their simplest terms, the three acts could be titled, 'Is he bad?,' 'No, he isn't,' and 'Oh wait, he actually is.'

But that's not how this script handles things. It's split more or less exactly evenly around the pivot from 'Conrad is sweet and awesome' and 'Conrad is the worst person ever and should be beaten with sticks.' Which is a much less comfortable viewing experience. Is that a better or worse way to handle this kind of reveal? Ultimately the answer to that question is 'no.' But it is worth mentioning how much less satisfying it is to watch this one multiple times. Conrad doesn't have a revealed character arc, he just has a reveal. So, on repeat viewings the first half of the episode becomes kind of excruciating.

Not that it isn't worth appreciating the craftsmanship that went into creating that disconnect. The opening scenes give just enough homage to both 'Love and Monsters' and 'Rose' that we can't help but be primed to be on Conrad's side. The style of his self-narrating is so reminiscent of Elton and the visuals of the mannequins are so evocative of 'Rose' that we're totally primed to be 'Team-Conrad.' Which really works when we find out that Conrad's team totally sucks.

Okay, I'll get into the weeds a bit on why Conrad's plan doesn't really track in the next section, but there's one more thing we need to talk about at this stage. Now, a lot of the time I'll casually mention here that I suspect a lot of the internet is complaining about a thing and then talk about why I don't think that what they're complaining about is valid. (Yes, that is kind of the definition of a straw man. You got me.)

This time I have to agree with the complaint that I suspect is floating around out there. Am I the straw man now? It's entirely possible.

For a lot of the last season there was a longstanding complaint that so many of the stories which heavily featured Ruby Sunday had hardly any Doctor in them. This, in turn, damaged the possibility of developing their relationship, since he was so often not around to have it developed. Now, I personally feel like there's some nuance to be had in that discussion. Also, Ncuti Gatwa had a lot of other commitments at the time, so a lot of Doctor-Lite stories were unavoidable. Also, I get that they filmed both last season and this one more or less at the same time, so maybe the aforementioned scheduling issues were still a thing.

But for the love of God (and I'm trying to be as understanding as I can here) you bring Millie Gibson back for her first story of this season, AND YOU MAKE IT YET ANOTHER DOCTOR-LITE STORY WHERE IT'S JUST RUBY ON HER OWN???

Are you in any way kidding me here, show?

To be fair, I think it's pretty clear what the syllogism is that led to this.

1: The entire structure of this season is that the Doctor and Belinda can't get back to the present day until the finale for plot-related reasons.

2: Ruby Sunday is currently in the present day, and so any story about her has to be set there.

Therefore: Any story with Ruby Sunday that is not the finale cannot include much if any of the Doctor.

Logically, I get that. But logic can stand down while I call bullshit. Both Millie and Ruby deserved better than having YET another story in which her relationship with the Doctor is just disregarded. Not to mention the fact that if 2025 is currently decimated, having a Doctor who is hanging out in 2025 just because that plot point hasn't arisen yet is kind of cheating. It's still the same time. It either exists or it doesn't.

That said, I do appreciate the cleverness of how it's handled that the Doctor goes to find Belinda Chandra in 'The Robot Revolution' because Conrad meets Belinda in the beginning of this episode and then tells the Doctor her name later in his timestream and earlier in the Doctor's. If that's indeed what happens here, they're a little oblique about it.

Bits and Pieces:

— As cruel as Conrad's speech to Ruby is after the 'Big Reveal,' I felt so much worse for Ruby about Conrad's friend Michelle pretending to be Ruby's friend, only to turn on her like that.

— So, does Conrad know that UNIT is telling the truth or not? Because they're trying to have it both ways. Specifically, why doesn't Conrad take the Shreek antidote? Admittedly, he doesn't definitively see the actual Shreek back in 2007, but he does see Ruby accept the antidote without question. And even if he assumes that she's just accepting what she's told, he also saw the TARDIS disappear. twice. And he applied for a job at UNIT, which kind of implies that he believes that what they say they're doing is what they're actually doing. And yet at other times he seems to genuinely believe that UNIT is a pack of lies and he's exposing them.

— So why in the name of all that's sweet and glittery doesn't he take the antidote??? (The real-world reason of course is that they need him to still be a target for the Shreek when Kate revenge-releases it on him, but it's not like he knows that.) It's basically Pascal's wager with gloopy alien carnivores. There's no downside to him taking it, no matter what he believes the situation to be.

— For the love of God, how many times does humanity in the Whoniverse need to be presented with definitive proof that aliens exist? Because I think we're up to like 304 times at this stage.

— It's hard to read the Doctor's speech to Conrad in the TARDIS at the end as anything other than the show giving a much-needed kick in the nuts to right wing trolls.

— There's so much Russell T. Davies backstory to this script that it's a surprise to remember that he didn't write it.

— Does the UK not have laws against doxxing?

— While in prison (and briefly thereafter in the TARDIS), Conrad is wearing grey sweatpants. Now, I don't mean to be indiscreet, but you might want to google VPL at this juncture.

— Also, thank you, program.

— Is the implication of the metal armband that the Shreek ripped Conrad's arm off and UNIT re-attached it? If so, that's more than he deserved.

— It's hard not to see Conrad, Ruby, and Mrs. Flood being put into position in this episode for events that will take place in the finale.

Quotes:

Ruby: "Please tell me I wasn’t just peed on."
The Doctor: "No. It’s more like vomit."

Conrad: "Is... Is he your boyfriend?"
Ruby: "God, no. If he was here he’d be flirting with you."

Conrad: "Nothing’s going wrong while I’m here."

Ruby: "You’re so lucky he’s not here."
Kate: "She’s telling the truth. And actually, I’m glad he’s not here. Because he would have stopped me."

And last and best:

Kate: "You should be very careful what you say about my father."

This was an incredibly frustrating episode. Because they created such an incredibly hateful villain in Conrad. I honestly can't imagine myself ever revisiting this one again, because his sneering, unrepentant face is just so ready for punching right to the end. The twist made it totally worth watching once and made it unwatchable ever again.

Is that a success?

Seven out of Fifteen wasted appearances of Ruby Sunday.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, retired firefighter, and roughly 78% water. You can find more of his work at the 42nd Vizsla. If you'd like to see his raw notes for this and other reviews, you can find them at What Was Mikey Thinking.

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