History Recap / DoctorWho2023CSTheChurchOnRubyRoad

*** Or, more famously, the ending of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", where a Dalek '''boasts''' down the camera about how the total victory of their species in its ambition of universal conquest is an unavoidable inevitability.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Murray Gold's Themes for Fifteen and Ruby Sunday debut and are expanded upon in this episode, irrespectively. The main melody in "The Goblin Song" also crops up in the horns as Ruby encounters the goblins for the first time.

!!Tropes:

[[WillReturnCaption SPRING 2024]]''']]

** The fourth-wall break at the end may remind people of a much, much older Christmas episode from the Classic Series, "The Feast of Steven" (which was part of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]"), which also ended with an old person talking to the fourth wall.

Also the one with singing... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E8TheGunfighters waaaaaait haven't we done this before?]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Mrs. Flood seems like just a normal old woman -- but she not only knows what a TARDIS is, and actively used to them, but she is a FourthWallObserver.

* ActuallyQuiteCatchy: On both sides -- the Doctor is clearly impressed by the Goblin's song about how they plan to eat babies, and the Goblins happily dance along to Ruby and the Doctor's song about how they're going to stop them eat them babies.

!!Tropes featured in ''The Church on Ruby Road'' include:

* AmbiguousSituation: The mystery of Ruby's birth parents. When we see her mother dropping baby Ruby off at the church, they're only seen completely shrouded in a cloak, no element of their body visible. Davina [=McCall=] later calls Ruby and tells her they could find absolutely no traces of her birth parents. After rescuing baby Ruby from the goblins in the past, the Doctor sees the shrouded figure walking off in the distance, and, for one reason or another, decides not to approach or figure out their identity[[note]]contrasting the last time he heard a companion [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E1ThePilot wanting to know more about their birth parent]] and went out of his way to document them[[/note]], only silently departing in the [=TARDIS=].

* AwesomeMcCoolname: The Doctor considers Lulubelle to be one, in contrast to [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude everyone else's opinion]]. He's also fascinated by Ruby's grandmother's name, ''Cherry'' Sunday.

* BearHug: When the Doctor returns from fixing the past he's so happy to see that Ruby has been restored to the timeline that he pulls her into one of these.

* BiggerOnTheInside: Ruby had to walk around the TARDIS to understand its size, similar to [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride Donna Noble]] and [[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen Clara Oswald]] before her.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: At the very end of the episode, Ruby's neighbour Mrs. Flood turns to face the camera and asks, "Haven't you ever seen a TARDIS before?", as she winks at the audience.

** The fourth-wall break at the end may remind people of a much, much older Christmas episode from the Classic Series, "The Feast of Steven" (which was part of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]]), which also ended with an old person talking to the fourth wall.
** Once again, a companion gets roasted for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild grabbing a ladder that was just hanging in mid-air]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor After a person is erased from existence, their loved ones are left to mourn without knowing why.]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour A crack appears in the wall before history is erased or changed due to an outside factor.]]
** The Doctor again uses the psychic paper to pass himself off as [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime "Health and Safety"]].

* ChristmasEpisode: ''Who'''s Christmas Special for 2023 (and the show's first one since [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]] in 2017).

** The Doctor mentions that, like Ruby, he [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren was a foundling who doesn't know where he comes from]].

-->''We've got a baby, we can feast! / We can dine three days at least!''

* EmbarrassingFirstName: It's a running gag throughout the first half of the episode that no one thinks Lulubelle is a good name, with Carla even noting that Lulu by itself is a vastly superior name. This gag ends as soon as the Doctor hears the name and thinks it's brilliant, to the point of wishing that his name was Lulubelle.
* EverybodyLives: The Doctor manages to pull through the crisis with zero friendly casualties, even going as far as to go back in time to save Davina from being killed by the goblins.

** ''Film/DieHard'' - The Doctor is crawling around in ventilation shafts at Christmas.
** ''Literature/{{It}}'' and ''Literature/HarryPotter'' are both mentioned by elements of their lore in the Goblin Song.

** Film/ItsAWonderfulLife - The Doctor discovers how the absence of someone in the lives of people who care for them changes them for the worse.

* HypocriticalHumor: The Doctor sasses out Ruby for jumping aboard the Goblin Ship's Sky Ladder without ''any'' thought or plan of action...while simultaneously chasing the same ladder across the rooftops and also jumping aboard it moments later.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The Goblins "seasoning" their victims with bad luck and coincidence sounds very similar to how {{Literature/It}} seasons the children he feeds on with fear. He's later alluded to in the Goblin King's VillainSong.

* MoralityPet: Ruby was apparently this to Carla -- when she's erased from time, Carla's a much colder, more selfish woman then the warm-hearted mother she is in the real timeline.

--> "He's the Goblin King! Yes, the Goblin King! He's not a myth, he's an actual thing!"

** Ruby Sunday's outfit gets a lot of ... upward shots showing her legs and her skirt when she's chasing down the Goblins and Lulubelle, and her outfit is quite complimenting.
** Fifteen in a tank top isn't exactly rough on the eyes, either.

-->''"You wait long enough, they get fashionable again."''

-->''"Oh, pssht! They are not time travellers! Excuse me? Time travellers are great. Like, the best. Like, wow. This lot just bimble."''

** The identity of Ruby's mother is still unrevealed, and ''something'' odd seems to be going on with her, given that- as Ruby herself points out- it's a little strange that literally ''no'' trace of her or a father exists in any system.

--->'''The Doctor''': What the hell are you doing?!\\
'''Ruby''': I'm...just...there's--!\\
'''The Doctor''': But what did you do that for?! Who sees a ladder and just pops on?! A ladder in the sky, and you thought, 'Yeah, I'll give that a go babes!'\\
'''Ruby''': THEY'VE GOT THE ''BABY''!

--->'''The Doctor''': A pram? At midnight?!

** The novelisation has the Doctor theorize the Goblins are part of the Toymaker's legions, considering them his legacy. This explains why they seem to operate outside the normal laws of physics.

[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The one with]] the goblins.

'''Series 14:''' '''CS''' | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E1 1]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E2TheDevilsChord 2]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E3 3]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E4 4]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E5 5]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E6 6]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E7 7]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E8 8]]\\

[[header:[[center:[-'''''Series/DoctorWho'' -- [[Recap/DoctorWho Series 14]]'''\\
'''CS''' | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8\\
'''[[Recap/DoctorWho2023CiNSDoctorWhoChildrenInNeed <<< 60th Anniversary Specials]]'''-]]]]]

->'''Written by:''' Creator/RussellTDavies\\
'''Directed by:''' Mark Tonderai\\
'''Air date:''' 25 December, 2023

* AllThereInTheManual: Tie-in posters name the members of the Goblin band as [[Music/JanisJoplin Janis Goblin]], [[Music/BobDylan Gob Dylan]], Brian Fairy, Ralph [=McTelf=] and [[Music/PixieLott Pixy Not]].

* GoodIsNotSoft: Fifteen is considerably nicer than some of the previous ones, and doesn't get obviously angry, but he still pulls the goblin ship out of the sky when they kidnap baby Ruby, destroying the ship and violently killing the Goblin King.

* CastingGag: Mrs. Flood is played by Anita Dobson, who was prominently featured in one of ''Series/{{Eastenders}}''' most infamous {{Christmas Episode}}s. When this episode first aired, the BBC continuity announcer lampshaded the timing of her appearance by joking about her ''not'' being served divorce papers this time.