‘Lucky Day’ opens with The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) landing in 2007 London. She still can’t get back to May 2025 with the timeline being blocked to the Time Lord and his companion. During this trip, he meets a little boy, whom he gives loose change to and promises it’s his “Lucky Day.”

This little boy grows up to be Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King), a podcaster obsessed with all things The Doctor. Conrad is desperate to land a ticket to the TARDIS, but the closest he can currently get is to have Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) on his podcast.

Ruby Sunday is struggling with life on Earth after The Doctor. It’s a topic explored throughout the seasons of the science fiction show. How do you go back to normal life after travelling the universe? Luckily, Ruby has UNIT, which keeps Earth safe when The Doctor is away (who acts like the equivalent of SHIELD in the Whoniverse).

Welcome Back, Ruby Sunday

The first 15 minutes or so are a meet cute between Conrad and Ruby. Hauer-King is the perfect casting as this doe-eyed, slightly dopey lover boy. It’s obvious from the start that as much as he likes Ruby, it’s nowhere near his obsession with The Doctor. He’s perfectly cast as the meek fanboy with the dark undercurrent. It’s all just too good to be true, as the show skips through their first dates.

It’s not just nice to see Ruby Sunday again, it’s nice to spend some time with her family. Faye McKeever, Michelle Greenidge, and Angela Wynter all return as Ruby’s family. There isn’t necessarily a purpose to their inclusion; it just adds to the world-building that Doctor Who does so well.

This episode shares significant DNA with last season’s ’73 Yards’, another Ruby-centric Doctor light episode that takes place on Earth. Both play around with the audience’s perception of the show and genre, and both happen to take place in the pub. The Doctor isn’t missed, which isn’t a judgement of Ncuti Gatwa but a credit to the writing (Pete McTighe, who also penned ‘Keblam’ and ‘Praexus’) and the characters.

The episode continues to explore an Earth that is aware of The Doctor and aliens. After all that happened and all the threats, the planet can’t rely on one man and his misbehaving spaceship to keep them safe. UNIT is a fantastic addition to the universe, creating a lore that feels very real and tangible. It’s always a joy to visit Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and co in the UNIT tower, watching over Earth.

The first 15 minutes seem like quite a poor Earth-set Doctor Who story. It’s working at a level much beneath the writing we currently expect from the series. Ruby and Conrad make a sweet duo, but not enough to keep you engaged for a full-length episode. Luckily, this rebooted Doctor Who is so much smarter than this. All is not as it seems.

Slight spoilers incoming for the bulk of the episode (and is truly better when left unspoilt).

Nothing Is Scarier Than Humanity With A Grudge

It turns out it’s all a ruse, and everything you’ve just seen is not necessarily the reality of the situation. UNIT is called out and ends up caught in a trap set up by conspiracy theorists. ‘Lucky Day’ smartly taps into the current culture of disbelieving the media and creating your own reality.

The second and third acts of ‘Lucky Day’ is a slice of delicious satire that could have come from the mind of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror. It sends up the ridiculous and dangerous notion of groups of men choosing to ignore the facts, it explores the world of right-wing podcasts, and the way the news latches onto these characters who say things just to rile up the general public.

You only have to be half switched into the news to understand what Doctor Who is trying to say here. It’s horribly realistic that UNIT and The Doctor would build up an online group of men who criticize and query the validity of their adventures. Nothing on show here feels unbelievable and exaggerated, and that in itself is scarier than any Cyberman. Anyone who criticizes this episode for being too politically motivated needs to understand that science fiction is at its best when it’s acknowledging the real world around it. With so many terrifying real-world threats bombarding us every day, it’s hard to think of anything scarier than humanity with a grudge at the moment.

Some people may be slightly disappointed that this episode goes off-narrative. The story of Belinda being unable to go home is briefly mentioned but never explored. Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) is still around, making herself known through time and space. There is still no hint of who or what she is or why she appears in every episode. There is a slight concern that showrunner Russell T Davies isn’t just going to reuse the Susan Twist plot from the previous series. The longer it takes to resolve this mystery, the harder it is to care.

‘Lucky Day’ has everything you could want from an episode of Doctor Who. It’s funny, it’s action-packed, it’s unexpected, it has great monsters, and fantastic leading ladies. The only thing it’s missing is The Doctor himself. Strangely, his final act scene feels shoehorned into the narrative. Gatwa knows how to deliver an emotional monologue, but it feels preachy in an episode that managed to skip being sanctimonious.

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