The ultimate reveal of Ruby Sunday’s mother on Doctor Who borrowed its thematic inspiration from, of all things, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Last Jedi.
Per Comicbook.com, showrunner Russell T Davies discussed similarities between Doctor Who’s finale “Empire of Death” and how The Last Jedi handled Rey’s parentage via the episode’s BBC iPlayer commentary, emphasizing the meaningfulness of its characters being ordinary amidst their fantastical conflicts. “The second film said that [Rey] was nothing special, there was nothing special about her parentage… She was just… an ordinary person with the Force,” Davies explained, adding that, compared to Star Wars: Episode XI – The Rise of Skywalker’s Palpatine reveal, “I really loved the version where she wasn’t special. When she’s ordinary.” This, in turn, led to him writing Ruby’s mom as a normal human rather than something extraterrestrial, stating, “She’s not the daughter of Sutekh. She’s not the daughter of the Time Lords or Rassilon or something like that. Her mum is Louise Miller, who was 15 years old and pregnant, from a dangerous, abusive home, and left her child on the doorstep. Because I think it’s a better story.”
Throughout “Empire of Death,” the question of who Ruby’s mom is not only drove Ruby and the Doctor, but Sutekh as well, desiring to learn her identity before finishing them both off. The finale marked Sutekh’s (voiced again by Gabriel Woolf) on-screen return for the first time since 1975’s Pyramids of Mars, revealing that he survived his encounter with the Doctor by merging with the TARDIS and gradually spreading his influence every time it visited another world. After defeating the God of Death again, the Doctor and UNIT managed to discern Louise’s identity, with Ruby sharing a heartwarming reunion with her birth mother before parting ways with the Doctor.
Millie Gibson Will Return in the Next Season of Doctor Who
While initial reports suggested Millie Gibson would leaveDoctor Who after this season, Davies eventually clarified that rumor as inaccurate, revealing that Ruby’s story will continue into the next season. She and Ncuti Gatwa will be joined by Varada Sethu — who previously appeared in the Star Wars drama Andor — as a new companion, with behind-the-scenes photos revealing Sethu’s character alongside the Doctor in a 1950s setting. “Empire of Death” also teased Ruby’s neighbor Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) knowing more about the Doctor than she let on, foreshadowing an ominous future for the Time Lord in the episode’s final moments.
As for Rey, Daisy Ridley will return for an upcoming Star Wars film set fifteen years after The Rise of Skywalker, with Lucasfilm reportedly casting the movie’s supporting and villain roles. According to director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the movie will take Rey Skywalker “on an adventure to a Jedi Academy, and sort of creating a world that is a natural dovetail to the story that we’ve seen her go through in the last three episodes.”
Doctor Who is currently streaming on Disney+.