The article contains spoilers for Doctor Who season 14, episode 8, “Empire of Death.”
Summary
Russell T Davies confirms Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday will return alongside her growing family inDoctor Whoseason 15, explaining her potential departure in the season 14 finale. Gibson made her debut in 2023’s seasonal special “The Church on Ruby Road,” where her companion searched for the mother who left her on a church doorstep on Christmas Eve in 2005. Despite facing the gods of death, Ruby and Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor discover her true parentage in thefinalDoctor Whoseason 14 episode, leading to an emotional reunion.
With season 14 coming to a close, Davies explained Ruby’s choice toDoctor Who: Unleashed. While it felt natural to have Ruby prioritize her newly found, growing family over her time with the Doctor at that moment, the showrunner confirmedshe would be part of season 15 alongside her family. Check out Davies' response below:
“This is a pause, I genuinely thought Ruby’s story paused there. She couldn’t get all that information about her family, and all that emotion overload, and run off in the TARDIS. It pauses there, she’s coming back. A new companion is coming in, but you’ll see the three of them together. Three people in this TARDIS fighting evil. There’s good stuff to come, there’s really crucial stories for Ruby to come, and her family! The story of that family hasn’t finished yet, that will all make sense when you see it, so… More to come!”
How Ruby Sunday’s Season 14 Ending Will Carry Over IntoDoctor WhoSeason 15
The Doctor & Ruby’s Relationship Looks To Be Strained In Early Parts Of Season 15.
But with Davies emphasizing the emotional importance of Ruby finding this new family, perhaps these revelations will spell a slower end to her time in the TARDIS.
While Davies teased an emotionalending forDoctor Whoseason 14, the final moments of “Empire of Death” perhaps delivered a far different heartbreak than viewers may have imagined. With the universe teeming with life once more, Sutekh rendered into dust, and friends restored, the Doctor and Ruby’s farewell insteadfocuses on whether the two could travel again. Ruby has her birth mother Louise (Faye McKeever) back in her life and is reaching out to her father, but the Doctor is only at the start of a longer journey where he questions his impact on those around him.
Is Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday Returning In Doctor Who Season 15
Millie Gibson’s future as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who season 15 was already confusing, but becomes even more so after season 14’s final episode.
Furthermore, while Gibson is confirmed to join Gatwa and companion newcomer Varada Sethu,filming forDoctor Whoseason 15has implied that thesituation between Ruby and the Doctor may still be somewhat strained. While Gatwa and Sethu were filming sequences together, Gibson had been absent for a significant portion of filming at that time, later rejoining the production alongside Jemma Redgrave and Ruth Madeley, as well as newcomer Jonah Hauer-King. As such, with her new life at home, Ruby may spend a significant period grounded on Earth in season 15, only for UNIT to bring her in for assistance.
Though Ruby may have found the life she desired, it is clear that this is setting up an entirely different arc for her inDoctor Whoseason 15. Free of the mystery that surrounded her birth parents, Ruby’s season 15 conflict is seemingly set to return to the relatable, more domestic stories of Davies' earlier eras. But with Davies emphasizing the emotional importance of Ruby finding this new family, perhaps these revelations will spell a slower end to her time in the TARDIS.
Doctor WhoSeason 14 is available on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer and will return with a new seasonal special in December.
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Doctor Who: Released on August 22, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
