GamesRadar+ Verdict
'Lucky Day' turns the focus on Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday in a Doctor-lite episode with a killer mid-episode twist. Still, we miss Belinda – and what on Earth is the villain trying to achieve here?
Pros
- +
Mille Gibson is back as Ruby
- +
A genuinely surprising mid-episode twist
- +
It's always fun to hang with the U.N.I.T. gang
Cons
- -
The villain's scheme doesn't make a whole lot of sense
- -
We miss Belinda!
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What becomes of a companion when they leave the TARDIS? It's a question that Doctor Who, at least on TV, has touched on surprisingly infrequently. It's also the subject of 'Lucky Day,' an episode that sidelines the Doctor and Belinda in favor of catching up with Ruby Sunday and the UNIT gang.
Doctor-lite episodes are nothing new. Indeed, they've often led to some of the show's best instalments – think 'Blink,' 'Turn Left,' and last year's peerless '73 Yards' to name just a few. 'Lucky Day' is not in the same leagues as those all-timers, but it's still a solidly enjoyable episode, even if it does feel weird only checking in on Belinda's voyage home in the pre-titles sequence.
Spoilers for 'Lucky Day'
For the most part 'Lucky Day' is all about Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, who departed the TARDIS at the end of the previous season. She's still living with Carla and Cherry, still spending time with her newly-found biological mother Louise, and still grappling with the complex emotional aftermath of her adventures with the Doctor.
Also dwelling on his encounters with the Time Lord is handsome podcaster Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King). Conrad met the Doctor and Belinda as a boy and has seemingly based his entire adult life around trying to find him again. Sparks fly between Ruby and Conrad and it's not long before he's whisking her away for a weekend in the country with friends. But then the monsters arrive...
Even for Doctor Who, where tonal shifts are par for the course, there's a certain amount of whiplash in the move from the bleak, borderline nihilistic ending of 'The Well' to the rom-com vibes (and cheesy dialogue) of the first half of 'Lucky Day.' It doesn't help that the monsters of the week, the Shreek, look and move very much like men in rubber suits.
Of course, that's quickly revealed to be precisely what they are. In a bold twist, lovely, sweet Conrad is revealed to be a lying, manipulative POS. He's part of an online organization dedicated to exposing #UNITlies. The Shreek, meanwhile, really are just some of his mates wearing latex monster suits as part of a live streaming stunt.
The second Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, and this season in particular, has woven more serious themes throughout all of its episodes, whether taking pot shots at incel culture, acknowledging the prevalent racism of the 1950s in 'Lux', and ableism in 'The Well.' In 'Lucky Day' writer Pete McTighe takes things a step further. Conrad is revealed to be a fairly broad evocation of a very specific sort of guy: an Alex Jones-style conspiracist* setting out to bring UNIT down out of a mixture of petty revenge and grifting for online cash.
The reveal is a great, genuinely surprising moment and one that upends where you probably thought the episode was going entirely. It's also a real emotional gut-punch for Ruby as she learns that Conrad has been using her. Unfortunately, 'Lucky Day' then fumbles its final act.
* Somewhat confusingly the episode also features a cameo from the other Alex Jones, host of the BBC's ever-perplexing The One Show.
Never trust a podcaster
Conrad breaks into UNIT HQ in order to expose the organization as frauds. He tazers a guard, shoots his accomplice, and proceeds to hold Ruby, Kate Stewart, Colonel Ibrahim, and Shirley Bingham up at gunpoint.
Now, criticising Doctor Who for not making logical sense has always been a mug's game, but what exactly is Conrad trying to achieve here? He says that he wants "a confession" and to expose UNIT as liars to the audience watching on his live stream, but given he's shot a guy and is now pointing an automatic rifle at the UNIT crew then this is only ever going to end up with him either dead or in jail. Where is the upside for him? As a plan, it's sort of nonsensical, and only serves to give Kate a "badass" moment where she lets a real Shreek out of its cage so that it can bite a chunk out of Conrad.
It's pretty clear that 'Lucky Day' exists, in part, to set things up for later in the season. We know that Ruby will return in the two-part finale and that UNIT will feature in the upcoming spin-off show, The War Between the Land and the Sea. Conrad is also bound to come back – the final scene with Mrs Flood sure looks like she's recruiting him to be a part of whatever her evil scheme turns out to be.
As an individual episode, though, 'Lucky Day' is a bit all over the place. The emotional beats mostly land, especially Ruby realizing that she's experiencing some form of PTSD, and it's interesting to see a Doctor Who episode where the villain really is just some tiresome dude who has fallen down too many bad internet rabbit holes. When the Doctor finally reappears, Ncuti Gatwa is on fierce form. His coldly telling Conrad exactly when and how he will die is far more chilling and effective that Kate unleashing the Shreek on him.
But it's also saddled with an incoherent plot, and the knowledge that in an eight episode season, turning the focus away from the Doctor and Belinda's quest is seriously depleting our time with what is shaping up to be a classic TARDIS team.
Doctor Who: 'Lucky Day' is out now on Disney Plus and BBC iPlayer.
Check out our ongoing guide to Doctor Who season 2 Easter eggs (there's a really cool one this week), as well our guide to the best new shows coming your way in 2025.
