...and new beginnings
The Church on Ruby Road certainly presented itself as a fresh start. Not only did it focus heavily on their new companion Ruby, her history, and her family. But with the episode’s enemy being space goblins who liked to sing, it also felt like a clear shift in genre, too. Everything about the episode felt like the start of a new era. More than that, it felt like an accessible beginning for those who’ve never watched Doctor Who before.
Of course, old fans and new viewers alike had to wait several months before finding out how the story of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby continued. So for a while, Church felt like a brief glimpse of Disney+ Who.
But when Season One began in May, it was clear that the style presented in the Christmas special would continue. Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord were in some ways very different stories, but they still had the lightness and fantasy aspect introduced in Church, too.