Rogue

Oh my Bridgerton!

Ruby Sunday

Warning: This review contains spoilers for Rogue. For my spoiler-free review, click here.

This review was posted shortly after the passing of William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton from An Unearthly Child to The Chase, as well as reprising the role for Big Finish and The Power of the Doctor. Rest in Peace.

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.

Review

Rogue is a bit of a calm before-the-storm episode, contributing little to the arc of this series, save for brief glimpses of the mysterious woman played by Susan Twist and hints that Ruby is a bit different, but is a lot of fun. This feels a bit more like a standard monster of the week story that we had back in the first Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat eras after a couple of episodes that have felt a little bit experimental.

Kate Herron and Briony Redman have taken the hallmarks of Bridgerton and transcribed it across to Doctor Who. I will be honest and state that I have never seen a full episode of Bridgerton, although I have seen snippets of it as my wife watches it and the elements that this story borrows are certainly recognisable, albeit they are not exclusive to the Netflix hit, as they will be familiar to anyone who has read any Jane Austen, for instance. The writers have compared the experience of writing this story to fanfiction, and the story centres on another mainstay of modern fandom, cosplaying, with the aliens ‘cosplaying’ with fatal consequences as they find new bodies that they want to play as. There are plot conveniences in here, like the psychic earrings, which I was not a fan of but feel in keeping for Doctor Who, but the ending feels particularly predictable, from the Doctor extending the trap to cover six people, and it all feels particularly easy for Rogue to replace Ruby in the trap. Herron and Redman do competently create a really fun story though and the dialogue is really sharp and smart.

Why isn’t it cloaked?

It’s behind a tree!

Rogue and the Fifteenth Doctor

The Chuldur are an interesting, if slightly underdeveloped adversary for the Doctor, Rogue and Ruby to go up against, with their desire to cosplay their way through society. From the moment they were seen in the trailers, I was certainly intrigued by the visual design and the fact that, whilst they are a family, each member of the Chuldur are visually distinct. As an audience, we are so used to Doctor Who aliens looking the same, whether Judoon, Sontarans or Slitheen, so the differences between each of them felt really refreshing. I was rather fond of the one who looked a little bit like Sam the Eagle from The Muppets, who takes the form of the vicar in the wedding. The Chuldur are drawn to drama, and seem to have designs on taking over England, and eventually the world, which is where they ultimately fell down for me, and this development felt rather rushed. I think that Indira Varma puts in a good performance as the Duchess, and is suitably villainous for Doctor Who after she gets taken over by the Chuldur.

The titular character is one that generated a lot of speculation about his identity before broadcast, with a lot of this discourse being that he would be a recast Captain Jack Harkness, presumably because Groff and the fictional Captain are American. Whilst there are certainly similarities between Harkness and Rogue, these mostly work to the story’s credit. Groff is certainly more subtle of an actor that John Barrowman, which is no slight, as I do like Jack but they are certainly not the same character. Jack would have taken a lot more of this episode in his stride, for instance, when he and the Doctor need to create drama to get the attention of the Chuldur, where Rogue’s uncertainty leads to a proposal following him not being able to come up with anything else to say. It is certainly a good idea to have Rogue be suspicious of the Doctor, as regeneration is another form of shapeshifting, and in a story that features villainous This, of course, leads to both Rogue and the audience being shown all the previous incarnations of the Doctor, including the Shalka Doctor, which might be the biggest flex this new era has taken at showing the depths of the show’s history. The chemistry between Groff and Gatwa is a highlight that keeps the episode going through its rockier moments. I’m sure that we will see Groff and Rogue again.

After a couple of weeks of being in a reduced role, Ncuti Gatwa gets a chance to return to lead the episode and it certainly feels as though this story makes an effort to put him front and centre, featuring in the vast majority of the story. This story does give him an opportunity to show more facets of this relatively new Doctor. Gatwa’s Doctor has been flirtatious in previous stories, but here this behaviour is challenged by an equally flirty Rogue, played by Jonathan Groff, and Gatwa captures the Doctor’s uncertainty as to how to proceed really well. I really enjoyed how awkward he was when trying to mirror Rogue’s body language when the characters first meet on the balcony, along with his glee at trying to strip the gruff exterior of Rogue using Can’t Get You Out of my Head. There are other elements of his performance that I really liked, like his jealousy at Rogue’s ship and his bristling at being called ‘Doc’ – the Doctor has changed his face multiple times, but still won’t tolerate that. Equally, I enjoyed the Doctor’s steelier side when he reflects that Rogue’s trap will keep the Chuldur alive and suffering for six hundred years. That felt particularly like how the Doctor treats the Family of Blood.

Gatwa taking centre stage means that Ruby’s role is reduced, but that does not stop Gibson from putting in a good performance in her B plot with Emily Beckett, played by Camilla Aiko, as she also investigates the mysteries behind the ball, and gets the chance to show off her increasing confidence and competence. The scene that the Doctor and Ruby share at the end of the episode where the Doctor attempts to move on quickly but she will not let him is really powerful. These are moments that I don’t feel like we’ve seen enough of this series and the hug feels powerful. Being told earlier in the story that the Doctor and Ruby are best friends falls a bit flat, however, the scene at the end shows their strengths of their relationship.

Verdict: Rogue is a lot of fun, which makes up for some deficiencies in the story and the villains’ motivations. 7/10

Cast: Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor), Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), Jonathan Groff (Rogue), Indira Varma (Duchess of Pemberton), Paul Forman (Lord Barton), Camilla Aiko (Emily Beckett), Michelle Greenidge (Carla Sunday), Maxim Ays (Lord Galpin), Susan Twist (The Portrait), Debra Baker (Housekeeper), Ashley Campbell (Butler), Nancy Brabin-Platt (Miss Talbot) & David Charles (Mr Price).

Writers: Kate Herron and Briony Redman

Director: Ben Chessell

Producer: Vicki Delow

Composer: Murray Gold

Original UK Broadcast Date: 8 June 2024

Behind the Scenes

• This story came to be known as Regency due to remarks made by Ncuti Gatwa, and this name was also used by Russell T Davies in Doctor Who Magazine.
• This is the first story since the 2005 revival credited to multiple writers not to be written by a showrunner. It is also the first since The Haunting of Villa Diodati not to be written by a previous writer of Doctor Who.
• The depiction of previous Doctors includes the Shalka Doctor, as played by Richard E Grant. The photograph included in the story was specially taken for this story, and marks a further collaboration between Kate Herron and Grant, who also appeared in Loki.

Cast Notes

• Indira Varma played Suzie Costello in the first series of Torchwood.

Best Moment

I really liked the scenes between Groff and Gatwa onboard Rogue’s ship, especially when the Doctor is playing with the music as Rogue attempts to switch it off.

A definite honourable mention goes to the dance scene between Rogue and the Doctor, combined with some lovely direction by Ben Chessell.

Best Quote

Previous Fifteenth Doctor review: Dot and Bubble

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