Doctor Who fans are convinced Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday has exited the British sci-fi series for Season 2 to be replaced with Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra, but the truth may be a little more complicated than that.
After a season-long search for the woman who abandoned her as a baby at the Church on Ruby Road on Christmas Eve, Ruby finally reunited with her birth mother in last year's finale. Despite all the wild theories, it turned out that Ruby's mother was simply a teen mom who gave birth to her daughter at 15 years old and gave her up.
Ruby's decision at the end of Season 1 to give up traveling with the Doctor to be with her family is the narrative reason why Millie Gibson has temporarily left the season, and that has led to Season 2 introducing a new companion - Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra.
Belinda may be the Doctor's primary traveling companion for Season 2, but that doesn't mean Ruby's story has reached its end. When Sethu's casting was announced in April 2024, the official Doctor Who site confirmed the Doctor would have "two companions by his side" in Season 2, namely, Ruby and Belinda.
On the matter of Doctor Who's new companion, showrunner Russell T. Davies recently spoke exclusively to The Direct where he debunked a theory about Belinda's possible connection to another Whoniverse icon.
In an interview with SFX Magazine shortly after, showrunner Russell T. Davies was quick to clear up rumors of Gibson's exit from Doctor Who. He clarified the actress is "not leaving" the show and that her story "literally spans [the] two seasons" that were ordered by the BBC and Disney+:
"Not leaving. Not at all. We were ordered for two years of a series off Disney, and we're delivering two years, and the Ruby Sunday story literally spans those two years."
Davies added that Ruby has "the most magnificent scenes" in the Season 2 finale and went as far as to call it "some of [Gibson's] most challenging material yet:"
"We are planning [to] shoot the [season 2] finale in which Ruby has the most magnificent scenes, and Millie, it's some of your most challenging material yet, isn't it? It will all make sense once you see it play out."
The Mirror was the first to claim in January 2024 that Gibson had been "dropped" from Doctor Who and would only have a "handful of appearances" in Season 2, while since-debunked rumors branded her a diva on set.
During his chat with SFX Magazine, Davies called it "very unfortunate" that this type of news makes the newspapers because "you can't answer rumor" and fans online will quickly "misinterpret" the situation:
"It's very unfortunate that these things make the papers. We're in a very difficult position because you can't answer rumor, you can't speak to rumor, we can't try and pin it down because the internet will just run away and will either misinterpret or will decide that the Princess of Wales has been replaced by four cats in a wig. So, it's that you cannot begin to answer this sort of stuff."
Here's What Doctor Who Season 2 Has In Store for Ruby Sunday
Ruby Sunday will next appear this year in Episode 4 ("Lucky Day") - a Doctor-lite story set on Earth in which she will lead alongside members of UNIT. She is also expected to return for Episodes 7 and 8 ("Wish World" and "The Reality War") to join the 15th Doctor and Belinda Chandra in another crazy two-part season finale.
"Lucky Day" won't be Ruby's first Doctor-lite sci-fi adventure, as she previously shined with minimal support from Ncuti Gatwa in Season 1, Episode 4, which featured plenty of confusing time travel shenanigans and a twist ending in "73 Yards."
Along with Ruby taking on an alien threat with UNIT in "Lucky Day," the upcoming episode will introduce The Little Mermaid actor Jonah Hauer-King as Conrad Clark - who has been theorized to be her boyfriend who may have a sinister side.
It's too soon to tell how Ruby plays into "Wish World" and "The Reality War," but perhaps her work with UNIT drags her into the fray. The covert alien-hunting group were collecting former companions for work and are expected to return in the Season 2 finale, so it's easy to see Ruby working for Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.
Hearing Russell T. Davies promise that Ruby's story spans both seasons and her upcoming appearances contain "magnificent scenes" will be promising to fans of the show and her character in particular. One has to wonder if the Doctor Who showrunner may even be hinting her mystery isn't quite unraveled yet.
New episodes of Doctor Who release every Saturday on Disney+ (BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K. & Ireland). "Lucky Day" is schedule to premiere and bring back Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday on Saturday, May 3.
