{"id":42510,"date":"2023-12-25T19:50:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T18:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1950000"},"modified":"2023-12-25T20:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T19:58:43","slug":"doctor-who-christmas-special-includes-nod-to-timeless-child-reveal","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-christmas-special-includes-nod-to-timeless-child-reveal\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who Christmas special includes nod to Timeless Child reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The references continue! <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 25 December 2023 at 18:50 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Who\u2019s Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road ahead!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Ncuti Gatwa<\/a>\u2018s Fifteenth Doctor officially takes over the keys to the TARDIS<\/a> in Doctor Who<\/a>, the show has paid homage to its past era, with another reference to the Timeless Child<\/a> reveal.<\/p>\n

During Chris Chibnall<\/a>\u2018s time as showrunner, the Timeless Child arc revealed the Doctor\u00a0is not a Time Lord at all, but the Timeless Child, a being of unknown origins, upending everything we thought we knew about them and their past regenerations.<\/p>\n

The 2023 Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road<\/a>, reveals that Ruby, played by Millie Gibson<\/a>, was adopted by mum Carla (Michelle Greenidge<\/a>) after she fostered her when she was left outside the church on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

The Doctor says: \u201cI\u2019m adopted. Yeah, I only found out recently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ncuti\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in the Doctor Who Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios 2023,Lara Cornell<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Carla asks, \u201cThat\u2019s a coincidence! Do you know who your parents are?\u201d with the Doctor responding, \u201c<\/span>No, I was abandoned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh you\u2019re a foundling, just like Ruby!\u201d Carla responds, with Ruby nervously asking her to stop talking about coincidences.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Timeless Child was also referenced in the 60th anniversary special Wild Blue Yonder, with returning showrunner Russell T Davies making it clear that he wasn\u2019t planning on \u201cunwriting\u201d Chibnall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking about his work being referenced, Chibnall previously told RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201c[Russell] had told me that there was a reference to Flux.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s really beautiful when things like that happen, definitely. It was one of the things we talked about, Steven [Moffat], Russell and I, when we met up, and it was a thing Steven was saying, you don\u2019t feel like the work you\u2019ve done on the show is Doctor Who, because that\u2019s the work you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s like, all of the episodes he\u2019s written, all the episodes he\u2019s showrun, it\u2019s like everything else is Doctor Who and then his bit is just the thing he did, and it doesn\u2019t feel legitimately part of Doctor Who, and it\u2019s really weird.<\/p>\n