In which the Doctor and Ruby attend a lavish Regency ball at the home of the Duchess of Pemberton, located in the countryside near Bath. The year is 1813.
Alien technology has been detected here, and as the Doctor looks around he spots a man watching the proceedings from the balcony.
Outside, two of the male guests are arguing. Lord Galpin is accusing Lord Barton of damaging his sister's reputation. Galpin suddenly realises that he envies Barton's reputation as an adventurer and womaniser and tells him that he wishes to be him. He seizes his rival and there is a fierce electrical discharge. Barton lies dead, his body charred beyond recognition - but Galpin now looks exactly like him.
The Doctor and the handsome stranger flirt with each other, by way of trying to work out what each is doing here.
The false Lord Barton returns to the dance and attempts to seduce Ruby but she instantly dislikes him. She spots a portrait of an elderly lady and recognises it as the woman whom she and the Doctor have been seeing a lot of lately - most recently the mother of Lindy Pepper-Bean. The Duchess explains that it is an image of the mother of the Duke who once owned this property.
Barton moves his attentions to another female guest - Lady Emily Beckett - and they withdraw to the library. Wishing to protect her, Ruby decides to follow.
The Doctor has discovered that the man on the balcony is named Rogue, and who invites him outside.
The Duchess is elsewhere in the grounds and comes upon one of her servants. She is annoyed by her presence so close to the house during a function, but the servant tells her that she wants to be her. She seizes hold of the Duchess and soon looks exactly like her - the real Duchess now a charred corpse.
Ruby prevents Barton from seducing Lady Emily when she knocks over a book - alerting him to her presence.
The Doctor finds the body of the Duchess and, noting that this is the work of extra-terrestrial technology, is surprised to see that Rogue agrees. Both reveal to each other that they do not come from Earth - and both try to convince the other that they are not responsible for the death. Rogue explains that this is the work of the Chuldur, who are able to shape-shift - and he believes the Doctor to be one of their number. He has been paid to come here and kill the creature, so draws a gun on the Doctor and marches him to his spaceship, which is cloaked and lies only a short distance from the TARDIS.
Rogue is on the point of incinerating the Doctor using a Triform device when he is able to convince him that he is not a Chuldur but a Time Lord of Gallifrey. Impressed, Rogue releases him.
The copies of the Duchess and Barton meet and discuss their scheme. They had hoped that members of the royal family might have attended the function, but the Duchess says she will make do with Ruby, who intrigues her.
The Doctor takes Rogue to see the TARDIS. They plan to adapt Rogue's Triform to imprison the Chuldur in a pocket dimension, rather than kill them.
Ruby and Lady Emily discover one of the corpses and go in search of the Doctor.
They are reunited in the ballroom where the Doctor has worked out that the Chuldur are social parasites. They take on other forms purely for the thrill of it, likening them to cosplayers. They home in on individuals whom they find exciting and different, and so he and Rogue decide to dance together - such a scandalous act surely tempting them to reveal themselves.
Ruby is comforting Lady Emily, only to discover that she too is a Chuldur.
The Doctor and Rogue then witness the Duchess announcing a wedding - between Lord Barton and Ruby. The Doctor fears that his companion has been killed and copied.
The wedding party at least concentrates all the Chuldur in one place, to be captured by the Triform. Ruby reveals that she hasn't been copied as Lady Emily appears in Chuldur form.
Rogue seizes her and pulls her into the Triform field, which now holds the five Chuldur and he captive - its maximum capacity. He activates the device - even though it will mean his own imprisonment with the creatures. He asks the Doctor to come and find him.
The following morning the Doctor has Rogue's ship placed in a hidden orbit around the Moon. He is heartbroken at having lost Rogue as the pair had fallen in love, and tells Ruby that with multiple dimensions he may never find him again...
Rogue was written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, and was first broadcast on Saturday 8th June 2024.
Herron was best known for directing episodes of Sex Education, which co-starred Ncuti Gatwa, and Marvel / Disney's Loki, though she also wrote. Redman had mainly written shortform films before this, prior to collaborating with Herron on Sex Education.
If there is one obvious inspiration for their story, it is the popular historical drama Bridgerton. This Netflix series, which began at Christmas 2020, is set in the Regency period and follows the romantic adventures of the wealthy Bridgerton siblings. Not only does Ruby specifically state that the ball reminds her of the TV series, but the choreography was arranged by Jack Murphy, who also choreographs Bridgerton, and the music comprises string quartet versions of contemporary pop tunes in both cases.
The other inspiration is cosplay. This phenomena originated with fans of manga, anime and gaming and quickly extended into the realms of general science-fiction and fantasy - beginning with the Star Trek franchise. Once conventions took off, some fans would turn up dressed as their favourite characters.
Cosplayers not only wish to look like their favourites, down to highly detailed costumes, accessories and make-ups, but will often play out their mannerisms and characteristics as well.
The Chuldur like to look like people they are fascinated by and want to become, but in an extreme form as they actually kill the subject of their interest and physically transform into their likeness so that they can enjoy their lifestyle.
They are possibly the most shallow villains the Doctor has ever encountered, so particularly apt for this particular incarnation in my view.
Rogue is also, at heart, a gay romance - but one in which the two protagonists fall in love over surface charm alone. Events take place over the course of a single evening, and the Doctor and Rogue suspect each other of being alien killers for much of the time they are together. Despite this, they flirt, and once they have worked out who each really is they seemingly fall madly in love. Since they can't possibly know each other, it can only be about surface infatuation.
And the romance appears to consist of a single dance, which is actually designed to get the Chuldur to expose themselves. It's a shallow relationship, which is impossible to invest in emotionally.
Rogue is played by musical theatre star Jonathon Groff, who first came to my notice in the TV series Glee and has since gone on to feature in musicals such as Hamilton (playing King George III - whose illness was the very reason for the Regency). He had never seen Doctor Who before, so RTD2 lent him some DVD's, resulting in him becoming a big fan.
A big problem with the character is that he comes across as a surrogate Captain Jack Harkness, and you have to wonder if this wasn't originally intended as a story in which the Fifteenth Doctor and Jack met up. The fact that it is 1813 and Rogue's favourite song is one of Kylie's means that he has to be a time-traveller - and Jack was a Time Agent. Compare also the scene between the Doctor and Rogue in the latter's spaceship with the one between Rose and Jack in The Empty Child.
We have reason to believe that Vinder in Flux was created to fill Captain Jack's role in events, and that's the same feeling here. Even if not intended, this is what it looks like.
The other main guest artist this week is Indira Varma, playing the Duchess and her Chuldur duplicate. Varma had previously played Suzie Costello in two episodes of the first series of Torchwood. Other roles of note include appearances in Rome, Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Night Manager. She also featured in the BBC4 live remake of The Quatermass Experiment as astronaut Victor Carroon's wife Judith.
She's really rather wasted here.
The rakish Lord Barton is Anglo-French actor Paul Forman, sometimes better known for his modelling career, but who recently came to prominence in Emily in Paris. He's very good looking, probably, so why hardly use him and stick him in a mask when you do? Ditto Indira Varma.
The only other actor of note here is Camilla Aiko, who plays Lady Emily. She featured in 2024's Kraven the Hunter.
Susan Twist's appearance this week is confined to the portrait seen by Ruby.
Overall, how much you like this episode depends entirely on how much you buy into the Doctor's romance with Rogue. Personally, I don't at all, so really can't be bothered with this. The idea that the Doctor can fall hopelessly in love with someone he's spent only an hour or two with - half of that thinking he's an alien killer - is unrealistic. Had the relationship been developed properly, over a longer period of time, then we might have invested in it emotionally, but it's all too brief and only roughly sketched in.
Beyond the romance, what does the Doctor actually do in this episode? Nothing at all.
And you can't help but feel that Rogue is simply a Captain Jack clone.
Things you might like to know:
- The UK broadcast had a dedication to William Russell who had died earlier that week.
- RTD had previously complained about Herron's Loki episode as a "feeble gesture" towards queer representation.
- The Doctor works out that "Rogue" is an alias as he spots some dice on his spaceship - deducing that he took his name from the role-playing Dungeons & Dragons game.
- The Regency period describes the years 1811 - 1820. It came about through an act of parliament when King George III was deemed too ill to rule. His eldest son - George, Prince of Wales - acted as Regent in his place. The King had suffered periodic bouts of ill health - the "Madness of King George" - since the late 1780's but the Regency was only formalised with the Act of 1811. The period ended in 1820 with the death of George III and Prince George assuming the throne as King George IV.
- Jonathan Groff filmed his cameo for Wish World during the making of this episode.
- Had Gatwa not jumped ship early, would Rogue have figured more prominently in a later series? Would anyone have actually cared?
- One of the incarnations of the Doctor produced in hologram form by Rogue's computer is the "Shalka Doctor", played by Richard E Grant. This animated on-line series was produced as a means of bringing back the series - only to be scuppered by the 2003 announcement that it was returning to television under RTD. Few regard it as canon, but RTD2 now claims his inclusion here makes it so. Few still regard it as canon...
No comments:
Post a Comment