Rogue

"This is so Bridgerton."

Writers: Kate Herron & Briony Redman

Format: TV

Broadcast: 8 June 2024

Series: 14.06

Featuring: Fifteenth Doctor, Ruby

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ruby land in 1813, where guests at a duchess's party are being murdered, and a mysterious bounty hunter called Rogue is about to change the Doctor's life forever.

Verdict

Rogue was a great episode to continue the ongoing series for the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby! There was no messing around in getting our TARDIS duo into the thick of the action in this one as we see them all dressed up at a nineteenth century party. The regalia on show here was top notch and I loved the addition of establishing the setting as specifically Bath, even though the location really wasn't important. It's a city that is fond to me as the place I went to university for my undergraduate and I absolutely fell in love with the place. It's also where I met my love so it's an important place in my life so having Doctor Who go there and dabble in its history was magnificent. This one is a rather simple story at heart which is refreshing but there's still enough time to get the Susan Twist character arc in with her being featured as a portrait. I felt sure she would just be a party goer but this was a nice way to keep it going and for Ruby to recognise the face once again. Just who is she? Well, it's not long before we find out which is so awfully exciting. Of course, the threats in this episode are the Chulder shapeshifting family and they bring a nice little twist to that kind of creature. The little neck crank and just their eyes gave them a strong sense of evil. It was nicely done. Their whole orchestration of the party and their roles was very interesting and it's quite barmy but also really great that they were cosplayers. Incorporating a cosplay group of villains into an episode that is so obviously based upon Bridgerton is a lot of fun. The Netflix series itself is referenced on numerous occasions in the story and I think it definitely will just go down as 'the Bridgerton episode' which is absolutely fine. I'm not a fan of that kind of period drama but I can appreciate it and it works well for a Doctor Who setting. The Doctor himself is right at home and this story really does become all about his relationship with the titular character. Rogue is a modern day Captain Jack if there ever was one, except whereas it was the Ninth Doctor meeting him in The Empty Child, we have a much more flamboyant incarnation here. Right from the off the chemistry between the Doctor and Rogue is off the charts. They try to one up the other and they're so similar. The different reactions to their respective ships was really well done and I liked how Rogue initially took the Doctor as the Chuldur shapeshifter he was hired to kill. The Doctor being somewhat rationale about his profession was unexpected but it just worked to have them with different morals and philosophies. They were contrasting figures for the most part and that helped make them work. The scene where the Doctor tries to prove he isn't who Rogue is looking for and shows his past faces was incredible and it was lovely to acknowledge all of that history, even in a show that is trying to pass off as a Season 1 when it absolutely isn't. One certain element that was acknowledged was the existence of Richard E. Grant's alternative ninth incarnation from Scream of the Shalka! That's a lot of fun and canonising that as the Doctor's past is tremendous. Big Finish will be licking their lips! It's harmless and cheeky and just works to set fandom alight. I'm all for it. Ruby tricking the Chuldur into thinking she had become one of them was a great twist, especially when the Doctor trapped her with the rest of the family on a dimensional trap door to who knows where. Rogue and the Doctor sharing a kiss was a powerful moment after the earlier tease and he knew how much Ruby meant to the Doctor so he took her place in a selfless sacrifice. It was a little sudden and certainly unexpected, but the line at the end of 'find me' certainly makes me think he'll be back at some point. It would be a shame if he wasn't! I thought the design of the Chuldur out of their disguise was a little silly and a struggle to take seriously, but the method of how they took the form of those they cosplayed was brutally horrifying. The state of those corpses! Overall, a strong episode with a main plot that got overshadowed to be honest! 

Rating: 8/10