New information about the eight episodes in the Doctor Who 2024 series is revealed in SFX magazine 378. We’ve included contextual information from what we know from other sources and filming reports.
Space Babies
This episode picks up from the events that happen at the end of The Church on Ruby Road with Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) entering the TARDIS for the first time. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby land on a spaceship occupied by babies who are very talkative for their age, a scary slimy monster called the Bogeyman (Robert Strange) — and no adults to be found. Space Babies introduces the series story arc of both the Doctor and Ruby’s foundling mystery.
The Devil’s Chord
Ncuti Gatwa describes Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) as “Such a delicious villain.” The Doctor and Ruby meet and chat with The Beatles in this episode set in 1963. Both Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson will sing in the story. The large recording room at Abbey Road Studios was recreated as a set at Wolf Studios Wales.
Boom
The Doctor and Ruby travel in the TARDIS to Ruby’s first alien planet — a war-torn world. The episode, written by Steven Moffat and described as “intense”, was filmed in chronological order with Ncuti Gatwa receiving praise for his performance from director Julie Anne Robinson.
73 Yards
The TARDIS lands on the Welsh coast and Ruby must solve a mystery involving a Welsh horror folktale legend. The TARDIS scenes were genuinely filmed on the Welsh Cost in Pembrokeshire. Dame Siân Phillips co-stars with Aneurin Barnard and Jemma Redgrave. Filming reports reveal that Barnard plays a Welsh candidate named Roger Ap Gwilliam.
Dot and Bubble
Gatwa and Gibson filmed their first Doctor Who scenes together on a pontoon inside entrance locks in Cardiff Bay Barrage for Dot and Bubble. The setting for Dot and Bubble is a colony with an out-of-control dangerous situation on an alien planet. Callie Cooke plays an influential person in the colony. The episode is described as very Black Mirror and touches on a real-world problem which will likely cause a good deal of discussion after the episode airs.
Rogue
This episode was co-written Kate Herron and Briony Redman. Set in the Regency Era in 1813, Rogue, described by Davies as “a proper Bridgerton episode with dances and waltzes”, was filmed in three different manor houses. Psychic earrings allow the Doctor and Ruby to period dance with skill. Jonathan Groff and Indira Varma co-star. Varma plays the villainous Duchess of Pemberton — who is not what she seems.
The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death
These episodes, set on Earth, feature UNIT headquarters populated by Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford), Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney), scientific advisor Morris (Lenny Rush) and Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient). Russell T Davies calls this episode “shocking” and “The Most Devastating Finale.”
Doctor Who, starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson returns on 11 May 2024 midnight, 00:00 BST (10 May 7:00pm ET) streaming on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ with Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord. Both episodes will broadcast on BBC One in the UK and Ireland on 11 May immediately before Eurovision. The remaining six episodes will stream at 00:00 BST on the six subsequent Saturdays.
SFX Magazine 378 is available at newsstands and by digital issue on 17 April, 2024.