The Big Picture

Millie Gibson embraced the challenge of becoming Ruby Sunday by making her a unique character with charisma, positivity, and a mystery to solve.
The found family trope in
Doctor Who
is explored through Ruby’s loving relationship with her adoptive family and her immediate bond with the Doctor.
With guest stars like Jinkx Monsoon and Jonathan Groff, Gibson’s experience on the show has been full of excitement, challenges, and an unexpected amount of singing and dancing.

With three episodes under her belt, Millie Gibson has made quite as splash in the newest season of Doctor Who. Playing new companion Ruby Sunday, Gibson is ushering in a new era of the series alongside her co-star Ncuti Gatwa. In the first three episodes, Ruby and the Doctor (Gatwa) have already faced a horde of goblins, the boogeyman, and a musical trickster god. Up next, they’ll find themselves on a war torn planet where the Doctor finds himself stuck on an active land mine in “Boom” written by former showrunner Steven Moffat.

Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Gibson for an extended chat about what’s on the horizon for Ruby Sunday. During our conversation, Gibson revealed how she got into character for Doctor Who, which episode she’s most proud of, and where she would take her own TARDIS. She also spoke about working on stunts for “The Devil’s Chord,” and working with guest stars like Jinkx Monsoon, Golda Rosheuvel, and Jonathan Groff. She went on to break down the importance of Ruby’s family, and we also dug into the dual mysteries tying Ruby and the Doctor together.

Doctor Who The show follows the adventures of a Time Lord “The Doctor” who is able to regenerate, and the Doctor’s human friends. The Doctor and companion’s journey through time and space in the TARDIS – a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box – saving the universe with a combination of wit, bravery, and kindness.Release Date March 17, 2006 Main Genre Sci-Fi Seasons 14 Studio BBC America Streaming Service(s) Disney+

There are severally ways to be an actor, and just as many ways to approach getting into character. Some people journal, some make playlists, and some like to go more method. For Gibson, it was important that Ruby “be nothing like” the other characters she’s played before. She revealed that, during the audition process, she “made a sort of mind map” for Ruby to sort of “suss her out.” Meanwhile, like many of us watching, Gibson also immediately started attempting to figure out who Ruby’s mother is, and she noted that we eventually will get those answers. “She was a puzzle to me, too,” said Gibson. “I think Murray Gold’s “Ruby” song really rang true in my mind. As soon as I heard that I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Yeah, that’s Ruby as a song.’ It’s also a song that’s equally as filled with love and hope, but also quite heartbreaking. I get that vibe whenever I hear that song from Murray Gold.” Showrunner Russell T. Davies also helped her find her voice as Ruby, Gibson explained.

“I remember getting about three adjectives for my audition, and I think that was, like, “charismatic, bubbly and positive.” Something like that. So, I kind of just went off that, really, and Russell’s script helped bring her to life.” The final piece of the puzzle for Gibson was meeting her co-star. “
As soon as I saw Ncuti, I was like, ‘Okay, I know who Ruby Sunday is.
’”

With this glimpse at her preparation process, I asked Gibson if there was anything she used to fuel her performance that wasn’t necessarily written into the script. She instantly reached for Ruby’s chosen family as a framework for how she approaches every adventure with the Doctor. “I think she’s very much got a mindset of fighting for the underdog and being totally selfless and full of love through all of her actions,” Gibson explained. “It’s what I have in the back of my mind when I’m being her.”

Following in the footsteps of companions like Amy Pond, Donna Noble, and Bill Potts, Ruby joins a long line of some of the best characters in the franchise. And for Gibson what makes her a worthy addition to this treasured line-up all comes back to love. “Her bravery isn’t bravery. It’s more just her love for people,” she explained. Ruby isn’t fearless, she’s just so determined to help others that it overrides her fear. “In terms of what makes a good companion,” she said. “I think it’s humanity and the bond with their specific Doctor.” She went on to describe the unique “platonic twin-flamed, best friends vibe” between Ruby and the 15th Doctor. Because “the companion is exactly the eyes and ears into the Doctor’s universe,” it’s essential for Gibson to make her relatable enough that “the audience can cling onto” her.

Millie Gibson Reveals the Episode of ‘Doctor Who’ That She’s Most Proud Of
Image via Disney+

From night shoots to rainy weather, filming Doctor Who is not always a walk in the park. With that in mind, I asked Gibson about her most challenging experience as an actor while filming Season 1. “Oh my gosh, I went through so many challenges through this season, not as an actress, just as a person, because I was growing and it was a very big job for me,” she explained.

“But I think “73 Yards” is a big milestone for me as a person and as Ruby because you sort of start to see why… I don’t really want to spoil too much, but I think
“73 Yards” was my biggest challenge, [and] the biggest thing I’m proud of.
”

While we’ll have to wait and see what made “73 Yards” so special for Gibson, I had to ask about another unexpected challenge from this season. With sound and song appearing to link each episode together, I asked Gibson if she had any idea how much she would be singing and dancing when she signed up for Doctor Who. “Absolutely not, no! That was not in the audition process,” she laughed. “As soon as I saw it in the script, I was like, “Gosh, am I gonna be singing?” I mean, I didn’t really know what to expect.” For the Christmas special, Gibson expected to record the goblin song after the episode and was thrown for a loop when she and Ncuti were told to sing live on set. Despite the surprises, Gibson said, “but I’m happy with it. I’m proud of it. We had an incredible choreographer called Jack Murphy who taught us how to twist and move in the ‘60s.” And it sounds like we haven’t seen the last of the singing and dancing as she teased, “more to come that you’ll see from Jack Murphy’s beautiful choreography.”

How ‘Doctor Who’ Blended Practical Effects and VFX for That Music Battle in “The Devil’s Chord”

The challenges don’t stop at singing and dancing. In the latest episode, “The Devil’s Chord,” Gibson has a big scene in which she’s suspended mid air, having been taken captive by Maestro in the climax. When asked about working on those stunts, she had high praise for her stunt double Jess Barfoot for the scenes in which Ruby is yanked around the studio, and even tossed inside a cello at one point. For the high wire scene, she had to channel her core strength for balance. “It was weird because it was almost like she’s in a hypnotic state,” she explained. “So I was kind of looking at one point in the room, almost like a ballerina dancer, just to concentrate and zone your body out.” Luckily, safety measures kept her from being suspended for too long. “It was fun also! It was so much fun,” she said in retrospect.

She also revealed that the musical staves around her body were practical, saying “I was tied with all these like rubber staves and musical staves. I think the props team actually told me that the musical staves were the melody to a Beatles song, I wanna say.“ Maybe some Eagle eyed fan can untangle those notes to figure out which song the prop references as rights prices prevented the series from featuring Beatles music in the episode. “The detail that goes into it is just crazy,” she said. “All those staves I’m wrapped in have something to do with a song that’s in that episode […] It was so cool to see the finished product. It was almost like Medusa snakes around me, the staves. It was so cool.”

One of the best parts of “The Devil’s Chord” is Jinkx Monsoon’s incredible new villain Maestro. Everyone has fallen in love with Monsoon’s performance, and the same was true on set as Gibson told me, “Oh my gosh, I absolutely adore Jinkx Monsoon. I’ve been a [RuPaul’s] Drag Race fan since I was little, so to meet her and to work with her was a dream, and just to see her shine.” She went on to say there were moments when she and Ncuti would just marvel at Monsoon’s talent on set. “She came and brought her heart, her mind, and her soul into that performance and no one else could have played Maestro as well as Jinkx. No one.”

Jonathan Groff’s Character Brings Out a Whole New Side of The Doctor in “Rogue,” Says Millie Gibson
Image via BBC

Monsoon isn’t the only guest star Gibson has had the pleasure of working with on Doctor Who. In the previous episode, “Space Babies,” she shares a big emotional scene with Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte star Golda Rosheuvel. “Golda was a breath of fresh air. I admired her,” said Gibson. Queen Charlotte wasn’t released until after they’d already filmed “Space Babies,” and watching it, Gibson recalled, “being such a fangirl, thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’ve worked with her.’ But yeah, Golda was incredible and so professional and so beautiful in the way that she just… Again, everyone just put their mind and their strength and their heart into all these parts, and it was so cool to see. But that scene in particular really, really moved me, and she just switches it on like that. When I’m running in, it really broke my heart. Yeah, Golda is such a beautifully talented actress and I hope I work with her again because she was just so cool.”

Speaking of Bridgerton, the upcoming episode “Rogue” is set in the 1800s and even sees Ruby and the Doctor comparing the experience to an episode of Netflix’s hit romance series. Written by Loki’s Kate Herron and Briony Redman, the episode will have the Doctor clash with an unknown character played by Jonathan Groff. Of working with Groff, Gibson said:

“I love Jonathan Groff with all my heart. I actually saw him last night in Merrily We Roll Along, and he was
incredible
. So, working with him was an absolute dream. I mean, he is the nicest man in the world. He touches everyone with so much personal love, and he has so much time for everyone in such equal measure, so it was so great to work with him. What can I tease about his character? He lets out a whole new side of the Doctor that we’ve never seen before, and the Doctor’s been around for 60 years so that’s pretty impressive.”

Between Bridgerton and the Star Trek reference in “Space Babies,” I had to know if there were any franchises that Gibson would like to see the Ruby and the Doctor crash into. Overwhelmed with the possibilities, Gibson landed on a spooky option. “I don’t know, Harry Potter…” she laughed. “If they landed in the Wizarding World, I think that would be cool.“ As a fellow lover of all kinds of media, I highly recommend following Gibson on the popular movie tracking app Letterboxd. “I’m obsessed with Letterboxd. Oh my god, thank you. Thank you so much,” she laughed when I brought up the app. With her top four picks on display, including hits like La La Land and Little Miss Sunshine, I had to ask what Gibson’s Letterboxd (or Serializd, if you know, you know) top four TV shows would be. The actress answered swiftly, saying: “Okay, Fleabag, Big Little Lies, I wanna say… What else? Dark on Netflix and Baby Reindeer.”

Millie Gibson Discusses Her Future in ‘Doctor Who’
Image via BBC

The idea of traveling to any time and any place in the whole wide universe is one of the things that makes Doctor Who so appealing. After getting the role, Gibson said, “When I got the part, I said to my mum, “I wonder if Russell will write any scripts where we go back in time to the ‘60s or something.” She was like, “Is that where you’d wanna go?” And I was like, “Yeah, the ‘60s or maybe a Bridgerton vibe episode.” So it was like he read my mind, or the universe was looking out for me. So, I’m very much happy that I’ve already been to two periods I was very excited to see.” One option she hasn’t gotten to check off her time travel bucket list however is the 1920s. “I keep saying the ‘20s because the ‘20s just intrigue me,” she noted.

With the second season of Doctor Who nearing the end of production, I had to see if Gibson could share anything about the her future episodes. While she remained tight lipped on most things — including Ruby’s relationship with the new companion played by Varada Sethu — she was able to reveal which episode from Season 2 that she’s most excited to share with the fans. “Four,” she said. “I don’t think I can say absolutely anything, so I’m just gonna say four.”

Gibson was however able to dish on some details from episodes much closer on the horizon — particularly the highly anticipated regency era episode. “We filmed in three manors for the Regency episode, so every single manor we went to, I was pretending I was a princess in every single one,” she laughed. “But one, in particular, had a beautiful garden around it, so I was just living my best Disney Princess life. So yeah, that’s got to be my favorite set for sure.” With plenty of cool gadgets and gizmos on the set of the TARDIS, Gibson confessed that she hasn’t “been as naughty as Ncuti and been, like, stealing everything like he has. I’m too scared.” However, if there was something she’d like to nick from set it would be “the jukebox from the TARDIS.”

While Gibson got some advice from former Doctor Who star Karen Gillan, who played Amy Pond in Series 5-7, she confessed that she tried not draw too much inspiration from previous companions. “I wanted it to be very different to any of the companions, so I kind of erased them from my mind just so I had my own vision of how I wanted it to be,” she explained. However, for Ruby’s comedic timing, she drew upon some of the most popular and critically acclaimed performances for her dry wit and sarcasm. She said:

“Comedy was such a great thing I got to explore whilst being in Season 1 of Ruby, and I think if I had to pick a moment,
I’d probably pick Jennifer Aniston in
Friends

, to be honest. Like that quick comedic timing and then just that sarcasm in a way. But yeah,
if I had to take inspiration, comedy in
Friends
is quite a big one for me, and in
Fleabag
,
as well. I think comedy amongst my favorite actresses is a big thing I pick up on. But with Ruby, I really got to just run free with it.“

Ruby and The Doctor Are Drawn Together by the Found Family Trope in ‘Doctor Who’
Image via Disney+/BBC

While each episode of Doctor Who typically tells a contained story, most installments of the newer era have an overarching throughline that runs through the entire season. For the new Season 1, Davies has set up a mystery intertwining the mysterious origins of both Ruby and the Doctor, neither of whom know who their real parents are. “They’re both lost children and they’re lost souls, and their bond is so immediate from the moment they meet,” Gibson explained. “It’s almost like they don’t even need to introduce themselves to each other, but they’re connected and that’s what you see in the Christmas episode.” She went on to explain the more intricate dynamics of their relationship, saying:

“The Doctor intrigues Ruby, but I think Ruby equally intrigues him. They’re both very curious, and
there’s no damsel in distress in their relationship. They’re both on very equal playing fields
, even when they meet on a ladder and it’s like, “What are you doing?” They both get themselves in situations that only they two could get themselves in, so I think that’s why they connect so beautifully and funnily. But yeah, I think Ruby’s a mystery to the Doctor, which is something he’s not really had before. But like you say, the love and the bond that they have, that grows through the season and they’re very protective of one another. But even as that happens,
Ruby very much looks at the Doctor as a puzzle of her own and vice versa
.”

The found family trope is often linked to queer storylines and with Doctor Who becoming more and more unapologetically queer, seeing Ruby surround herself with lesbians, trans women, and genderfluid aliens is delightful in and of itself. That being said, speculation about Ruby’s romantic interests has been rampant. While it doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing solid confirmation in the series, Gibson is totally open to Ruby being a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself. “That’s a question for Russell. But, yeah, totally! Why not?” She laughed.

While her birth mother remains a mystery, Ruby’s adoptive family are essential fixtures in her life. Because her family chose her, and she them, there’s an extra layer of trust and love that isn’t always present in blood families. “That’s her Carla and her Cherry, and they’re such beautiful characters. So, I think Ruby doesn’t feel the need to hide anything from them,” Gibson explained. “You can’t hide anything from Carla, but I know she’s, above all, my overall protector. So, it’s the Doctor and then it’s Mama Carla, so I can’t hide anything from her. And I think because Carla has taken her in, she can’t just disappear and not tell her why. It would be too cruel. So, yeah, Ruby’s very, very protective of her mom.”

Between her work on the long-running UK soap opera Coronation Street and joining Doctor Who, Gibson is solidifying herself as a superstar of British pop culture. With Doctor Who ushering in this new era and reaching another fever pitch in popularity, given its visibility boost on Disney+, Gibson is incredibly grateful for her turn on Doctor Who.

“I left
Coronation Street
thinking, “Oh, I’ll probably get like a cough and a spit in a drama or something and see what happens, but I was luckily approached by my agent, and they said, “Hey, you got an audition for
Doctor Who
‘s companion. What do you think of that?” And
I was completely bewildered. I thought that’d be the end of that story. I thought I’d just tell people, “Oh, I auditioned for that part.”
I’m glad it’s worked out because when I was making the decision on whether or not to leave
Coronation Street
, my mum and dad were like, “Are you sure? You’ve got a really stable job. It’s going great.” [Laughs] I went back and forth, but in my heart, I knew it was time just because personally I learned everything I needed to from that job. And I loved my experience there, but it was almost like the chapter had ended. I remember my auntie saying, “It’s almost like when your school uniform is too small for you so it’s actually ready to sprout off.” So, yeah, just thank god it paid off because sometimes these things don’t. So, yeah, I’m very, very grateful.”

New episodes of Doctor Who arrive on Disney+ on Fridays at 7 PM ET. Stay tuned at Collider for weekly recaps, interviews, and more!

Watch on Disney+