Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies revealed that the foundling stories of both the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) will come together in an astonishing way for the two-part 2024 series finale with the episodes The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death.

“[The Doctor] left his family behind in 1963 and practically never mentioned it again. That’s a man who doesn’t know his family, and that is fascinating. So as his mind is focusing on that, Ruby’s mind is focusing on her family. Those two stories come together in possibly the greatest finale ever committed to film, except we don’t actually use film anymore! But it really is an astonishing climax.”

“You could watch every single episode separately without bogging yourself down with continuity. But as we saw at Christmas, there is obviously a mystery to Ruby’s birth family. She was a foundling left at a church. It is a fairy tale like story, but it keeps following her. That story is not finished. Who is her mother? How can they possibly find out what went on? The way the Doctor ties into this is fascinating. This emotional man I’ve been talking about opens up about his family in a way that he’s never done before.”

Ncuti Gatwa described family as the overarching theme in the 2024 series.

“Yes – It’s to do with family. The mystery of Ruby Sunday is the overriding theme of this season. We saw in the Christmas special that the Doctor and Ruby bond over the fact that they both orphans, they are foundlings.”

Millie Gibson echoed this orphan theme.

“It always relates back to the theme of being abandoned because the Doctor and Ruby are both foundlings. When it’s over, I think people will just be calling and wanting a hug from their mum, or calling up their best friend and asking to hang out.”

Gatwa emphasised family connections as part of the viewer experience.

“One thing that sticks out in my mind is when I hear people talk about how they share Doctor Who with multiple generations. You often hear people say, ‘I watched the show with my dad or with my grandma,’ or some other member of the family has introduced them to the show. That is really nice because it’s a family show. I guess the show is like a member of our family. We all grew up with it.”

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 with Space Babies at 6:20pm and The Devil’s Chord at 7:05pm. The remaining six episodes will stream on iPlayer and Disney+ at 00:00 BST and will broadcast in the evening on BBC One on the six subsequent Saturdays.