{"id":53289,"date":"2024-06-15T01:50:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T23:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2057204"},"modified":"2024-06-15T02:28:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T00:28:52","slug":"doctor-who-unmasks-the-one-who-waits-major-twist-explained","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-unmasks-the-one-who-waits-major-twist-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who unmasks The One Who Waits \u2013 major twist explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

The god of all gods has returned. <\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 15 June 2024 at 23:50 PM<\/p>

\n\n

This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who: The Legend of Ruby Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who is the One Who Waits? The Legend of Ruby Sunday \u2013 the first chapter of an epic two-part season finale \u2013 saw\u00a0Doctor Who<\/a> finally answer a question that\u2019s been hanging over the show for six long months\u2026<\/p>\n

If you cast your mind back to\u00a0The Giggle<\/a> \u2013 the third and last of last year\u2019s 60th anniversary specials \u2013 you\u2019ll recall that the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant<\/a>) once again faced off with The Toymaker<\/a> (played by Neil Patrick Harris), a seemingly all-powerful being who nonetheless feared one opponent \u2013 The One Who Waits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one player I didn\u2019t dare face \u2013 The One Who Waits,\u201d the Toymaker confesses. \u201cI saw it, hiding, and I ran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now we know that enigmatic figure\u2019s true identity \u2013 but who are they, and what is their history with the Doctor? Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>\n

Doctor Who: The Legend of Ruby Sunday ending explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Ncuti\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Mel and Susan Twist as Susan Triad in Doctor Who<\/span><\/figcaption> James Pardon\/Bad Wolf\/BBC Studios<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Seeking to solve twin mysteries \u2013 the identity of Ruby\u2019s mother<\/a>, and the secret of a woman (played by Susan Twist<\/a>) who keeps appearing across time and space in different guises \u2013 the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) arrive at UNIT HQ in 2024.<\/p>\n

The pair use UNIT\u2019s time window \u2013 a device that allows you to experience, though not interfere with, moments from the past, \u201clike 3D history\u201d \u2013 to enter a virtual representation of Christmas Eve, 2004, the night an infant Ruby was abandoned outside the church on Ruby Road.<\/p>

Though their efforts to identify Ruby\u2019s birth mother are unsuccessful, something else appears in the projection \u2013 a dark, reddish cloud with malevolent intent that consumes UNIT colonel Chidozie (Tachia Newall). \u201cI am lost,\u201d says a disembodied Chidozie. \u201cI am in hell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s seen me \u2013 it\u2019s seen right into my soul\u2026 and it\u2019s so old. Waiting\u2026 it\u2019s been waiting for so long\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The evil force is revealed at the episode\u2019s climax to be Sutekh, the \u201cgod of all gods\u201d who serves as \u201cmother and father and other\u201d of the Gods of Chaos, a pantheon of supernatural beings.<\/p>\n

Sutekh materialises inside UNIT HQ, promising Kate Stewart<\/a> (Jemma Redgrave) and her assembled forces that \u201call life will perish at my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is Sutekh?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"The\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
The Fourth Doctor faces Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The Legend of Ruby Sunday marks a dramatic return for Sutekh, a character who last appeared in Doctor Who almost 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

In 1975 serial Pyramids of Mars<\/a>, the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) first encountered Sutekh, one of a race of Osirans, beings of God-like power who worshipped by many cultures across the universe, including on Earth in ancient Egypt.<\/p>\n

When the archaeologist Professor Marcus Scarman excavated the inner chamber of the pyramid beneath which Sutekh was imprisoned, it allowed the villain an opportunity to escape \u2013 Sutekh controlled Scarman\u2019s corpse, using it to construct a war missile aimed at the Eye of Horus on Mars, which was beaming a signal to suppress Sutekh\u2019s powers and hold him prisoner.<\/p>\n

The Eye of Horus is destroyed, unleashing Sutekh \u2013 but in a final showdown on Mars, the Doctor is able to extend the terminus of the time tunnel down which Sutekh is travelling into the far future. The end result? Sutekh appears to age rapidly and eventually perish, with the Doctor suggesting that he may have lived for as long as 7000 years before meeting his demise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why was the TARDIS groaning?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Ncuti\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios\/Bad Wolf,Natalie Seery<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Recent episodes of Doctor Who have seen the TARDIS behaving peculiarly, making odd groaning sounds \u2013 in The Devil\u2019s Chord<\/a>, Ruby assumes that the noise is a result of the Doctor freeing his ship from Maestro\u2019s control, but the Time Lord tells her that \u201csomething else\u201d is responsible.<\/p>\n

The Legend of Ruby Sunday reveals the cause of the grumbles \u2013 Sutekh survived his apparent expiration by weaving himself \u201cinto the fabric\u201d of the TARDIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has hidden in the howling void,\u201d explains Sutekh\u2019s harbinger, Harriet (Genesis Lynea). \u201cHe has hidden within the tempest. He\u2019s braved the storm and the darkness and pain and he whispered to the vessel. All this time he whispered and delighted and seduced and the vessel did obey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord of Time was blind and vain and knew nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Sutekh the One Who Waits?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes \u2013 The Legend of Ruby Sunday confirms that Sutekh is the One Who Waits, courtesy of Ruby\u2019s neighbour Mrs. Flood<\/a> (Anita Dobson).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a storm coming in,\u201d says Flood, delivering one of her now-trademark looks to camera. \u201cHe waits no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who exactly Mrs. Flood is, how she apparently has the ability to bend reality, and how she knows about the threat posed by Sutekh, remains unclear.<\/p>\n

Who are the Gods of Chaos?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\"Neil\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker in Doctor Who<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies had previously teased that Ncuti Gatwa\u2019s Doctor\u00a0would be going up against a fantastical \u201cpantheon\u201d of gods<\/a> and later confirmed that, despite appearances, the Toymaker was not \u201cthe supreme being\u201d of the pantheon, known as the Gods of Chaos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, it is Sutekh who commands the collective \u2013 and The Legend of Ruby Sunday also reveals the identities of the rest of the group.<\/p>\n

They are as follows..<\/p>\n