The Church on Ruby Road Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christmas

"Church on Ruby Road", Ncuti Gatwa's first full episode as the Doctor, is a Christmas Episode. The decorations and music are a dead giveaway, even if you didn't read the subtitles setting the date in late December 2023.

Christmas specials were a tradition under Russell T Davies, so it's no surprise he decided to launch Gatwa with a Christmas show.

Answer: A bar

The Doctor first sees Ruby when she is performing in a bar on December 22. Ruby meets the Doctor at a bar the next night. The first time she sees him, the Doctor is dancing. He jokes about being "health and safety," a reference several past Doctors have used.

A little later, the Doctor saves Ruby from being crushed by a giant snowman.

Answer: Goblins

Goblins are nasty creatures which thrive on malicious mischief. They attempt to kill Ruby on several occasions. The goblins also kidnap baby Lulu Belle with hopes of eating her.

Goblins have a taste for human flesh, especially babies. The Doctor has to rescue the infant Ruby from the goblins and does it a spectacular manner, crashing their flying pirate ship onto the church spire.

Answer: Davina McCall

Davina McCall, MBE, has been working in British television since 1994. She hosted the British version of "Big Brother" from 2001 to 2010. McCall has also hosted several game shows.

Since 2011, McCall has hosted "Long Lost Family" which seeks to help people searching for family members. In Ruby's case she was looking for her birth mother.

Answer: Lulu Belle

The baby was named Lulu Belle. She is kidnapped by the goblins and Ruby teams up with the Doctor to rescue the baby. They manage to get onto the Goblin ship and are captured, but use Houdini tricks to escape and escape with Lulu.

Answer: Christmas tree

Davina McCall comes within seconds of being crushed by a Christmas tree. Fortunately, the Doctor intervenes at the last minute.

Christmas trees originated in Germany and date back to a 16th century tradition of Adam and Eve trees. The tradition came to England in the 1840s, promoted by Prince Albert, a native of Germany.

Russell Davies first pointed out the danger of Christmas trees in "The Christmas Invasion" (2005), in which a killer tree attacked Rose and the Tenth Doctor.

Answer: Carla

Carla Sunday is Ruby's adoptive Mom. She has been a foster parent for many years. Carla was played by Michelle Greenridge.

While Greenridge has done a few films, most of her work has been on television since she began acting in 1994. Her credits include "It's a Sin", the 2021 miniseries about AIDS patients during the 1980s.

Jackie was Rose Tyler's mother, Francine was Martha Jones' mom and Ellie was Clara Oswald's mother.

Answer: Carol of the Bells

The Doctor saves infant Ruby from a nasty group of goblins by destroying their ship on the spire of the church. The Goblin King looked like Jabba the Hutt. The Doctor catches a falling Ruby and leaves her at the title church.

"Carol of the Bells" (1936) is playing in the background. The music is actually a Ukrainian tune written in 1916 that has nothing to do with Christmas. The English lyrics were written in 1936 and the song has been covered by many bands since then.

Ruby sings "Winter Wonderland" when the Doctor first sees her. And "Merry Christmas Everybody" by Slade is the default Christmas song in England; it has been used on several Christmas episodes of "Doctor Who".

Answer: False

Davina McCall runs a DNA test for Ruby, but the results are negative. Whoever Ruby's mother is, she is not in the database.

Later on, The Doctor will tell Ruby that he can never take her to the night she was left at the church. This is reminiscent of Rose being unable to save Pete in "Father's Day" (2005).

Answer: Russell T Davies

Russell T Davies brought "Doctor Who" back to television in 2005, and ran the show through the end of 2010, Davies returned to the helm in October 2022, taking over from Chris Chibnall. Davies produced four specials which aired in 2023, with David Tennant as the 14th Doctor.

Ncuti Gatwa is the Fifteenth Doctor. His family fled the Rwandan genocide when he was 2 and Ncuti grew up in Scotland. He won several awards for his work on "Sexual Education".

Mark Tonderai directed "Church on Ruby Road". While this was his first work on "Doctor Who" he has worked on several science fiction shows since 2012.

Murray Gold returns to "Doctor Who" as the composer. Between 2005 and 2017, he composed incredible themes for both the Doctors and their companions.