Doctor Who Lucky Day | Cast and Creatives
Doctor Who series 15 episode 4 sees Ruby Sunday facing life back on earth without the Doctor. But when a dangerous new threat emerges, can Ruby and UNIT save her new boyfriend, Conrad, from the terrifying Shreek?
Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday)
How does it feel to be back in the Whoniverse?
It feels like returning home after a long day. It’s so nice to be back playing Ruby Sunday in a whole new light. As Ruby grows up, so do I. In series 15, you see more of a mature and stronger version of Ruby. She’s recovering from her series 14 adventures, and you see her learn to deal with that a bit. I’m really excited to be back, it was a fun few episodes to read for Ruby.
What can you tell us about Ruby, and what she’s been up to since we last saw her?
You saw her look out the window in Joy to The World written by Steven Moffat, and I think she is waiting for the Doctor. She’s waiting for an adventure, but she’s also getting back to her life with her family, her new dad, her new mum, and Carla and her Gran. It’s still as bonkers as ever in the Sunday household! [Laughs].
Ruby is going back to her life and pretending everything’s back to normal, but she can’t really get her head around all the things she saw while travelling with the Doctor. So, she’s just waiting around and trying to process all of that.
What can audiences expect from this episode?
UNIT are back, and Ruby gets her chance to shine with UNIT, which is lovely, because I absolutely love working with Jemma Redgrave and our beautiful Ruth Madeley. Honestly, those two women are just incredible to work with. They’re like Ruby’s third and fourth mothers. There is even a line in the episode where Ruth’s character, Shirley, makes a joke about it. So, UNIT are back, and we are uncovering a new monster called the Shreek, and that is the big creature in the episode. It’s a fabulous episode!
Is there anything you can tease about Conrad, played by Jonah Hauer-King?
Oh My God, I absolutely love Jonah! He was just a burst of energy. It’s not every day you get told your boyfriend is going to be played by Prince Eric [laughs]. I was really, really chuffed. He is such a professional, and he’s such a giving actor. I know a lot of people say that, but I really mean it with Jonah.
I’m excited for people to see what’s in store for Ruby’s first love interest. Jonah plays him exceptionally and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing him.
What is the dynamic like between Ruby and Conrad?
I think he gives off the energy that he wants to match to the Doctor. It’s one of them where your new boyfriend wants to be better than your ex, however he is just so sweet and so clumsy. He has these really cute characteristics and attributes where he’s just a little bit of a clown, and it’s a lovable energy.
Ruby loves being able to talk about her adventures with someone that is genuinely interested. She doesn’t feel like a strange outsider in her own world anymore, which is a really beautiful thing.
Do you have any standout memories from set filming this episode?
Oh, so many, so many. I love working with Peter Hoar. He was such a cool director, and he gave me so much new light into Ruby’s character. He really wanted to explore this new side to the companion. You rarely see the companion after the events because they either die or you just don’t see them again.
There’s a scene where Ruby talks about all her experiences in series 14, and I love a specific line that Pete McTighe wrote for Ruby. She’s opening up to Conrad about her PTSD from her travels with the Doctor. It was a really strong speech that was also kind of humorous, because it’s so bonkers what she’s experienced.
Ruby is going back to this normal life after traveling the universe. It’s a really cool concept, because how does someone deal with that?
What was it like acting alongside the monster The Shreek in this episode?
Gethin Alderman who played The Shreek was the loveliest person ever, but terrifying. There is a scene in a cafe where Ruby is telling Conrad about The Shreek. Peter Hoar does a really cool kind of nightmare story where what she’s telling him actually happens. It’s all kind of melted into one another to make this horror story aspect come to life. Gethin was honestly terrifying and we were scared for our lives [laughs], but he played it so well.
This episode reunites Ruby with UNIT, along with Ruth Madeley who returns in this episode. How was it working with her?
I had never worked with Ruth before so that was really exciting. As the season goes on, you see Ruby’s and Shirley’s relationship develop a lot more. And yes, she’s her third mother. I feel like her and Ruby have a northern sense of humour that they can relate with. Ruth lives in Manchester, so when we met, we were like, ‘Oh, you’ve been to this pub’, so that was always great! It was a breath of fresh air working with Ruth and developing that relationship with Shirley.
Ruby has a signature style, what will we see her wearing in this season?
It’s a bit more grown up, but it’s still cool. She’s kind of packed away the tweed vibes, I’d say.
My favourite outfit is towards the end of the episode, I genuinely thought they dressed me like David Tennant! [Laughs]. I had a pinstripe waistcoat and pinstripe pants and then a white shirt, I was literally just like David Tennant.
Pam Downe, our costume designer, has a really subtle way of illustrating that these are what these characters would wear when they get older. The colour scheme is a lot of plums, a lot of dark greens and a lot of dark blues, it’s just more mature colours.
If you could travel in the TARDIS to any time and place in the universe, where would you go and why?
The 1800s. I love the corsets and the costumes. And we should bring balls back. They should be a thing like the episode Rogue in series 14. I was just living my dream filming that. So, yeah, I think somewhere with the era of ball gowns and big party events and people courting one another.
If you had to describe the episode in one word or phrase, what would it be?
Haunting and revealing…
Jonah Hauer-King (Conrad)
How does it feel to be joining the Whoniverse?
It feels amazing. It’s a very, very iconic TV show that’s been on our screens for decades. I feel like it’s a big honour because it’s sort of a rite of passage. I went to the screening for the first episode, and at the beginning they did a showreel of Doctor Who over the last twenty years. Not only did it include the iconic Doctors and companions we’ve had, but it was also a reminder of how many incredible actors have popped up over the years in roles and big and small. There’s been so many incredible actors in the show, and it feels like a massive privilege to now be part of that universe.
How did the role come about?
I had an email from my agent saying that Russell (T Davies) had been in touch to ask if I was interested in doing it. The answer was yes, so he sent me a script to look at. I read it and it felt really exciting.
It has a lot of what we have come to expect from Doctor Who with the heart and the soul and the monsters and the scares. But, I think there’s something particularly grounded and unique about this episode. I really liked it and told him I would love to do it. I’ve been a big fan of Russell’s work in and outside of Doctor Who, so any chance to work with him was very appealing. It was great that it happened to be on Doctor Who.
Were you a fan of the show before you joined?
Yes, I was a fan of the show, but in a way that I think lots of people are. It’s so present in our minds, certainly for the British audience and I’m sure that extends all around the world. It’s so part of our TV history and our popular culture. It’s so immersed in our consciousness.
This episode sees the return of Ruby Sunday, how was it working with Millie Gibson?
Millie is fantastic. I hadn’t seen her work in Doctor Who when I did this episode as the show hadn’t come out yet, but I was immediately struck by her talent and warmth. We had such a giggle on set.
Without giving too much away, the episode is very much about their dynamic and relationship. We were on set together all day every day for a few weeks. We got on so well and had so much fun working together and being in Cardiff. When her episodes came out for series 14, it was such a joy to watch her, because I saw the character that she had been bringing to life before my eyes.
How was it to be on the Doctor Who set and see the scale of the show?
The sets are very unique, they have amazing scale. Doctor Who prides itself on doing things practically as much as they can. They built so much of it. They found some fantastic locations and built some amazing things at the studios in Cardiff. It’s just really fun to see, and it does help you as an actor because everything is there, and it’s tactile. It’s right in front of you. You can just be present, there’s less imagination needed, it’s all right in front of you. Your surroundings really inform your performance, so having the sets there is a great help.
Is there anything you can tell us about your character Conrad?
Conrad meets the Doctor when he is a young boy. From that point, he’s obsessed with him. He’s desperate to meet him and idolises him on some level. He’s dedicated a lot of his life to finding out about him and trying to meet him. When we meet Conrad, he’s running a podcast which at least in part, focusses on sightings of the Doctor. He’s a superfan.
Do you have a highlight from your experience on the show?
There are quite a few. Working with Millie was brilliant, and working with Peter Hoar, our director. I also had a fantastic scene with Ncuti. It was the first time that we had really worked together with this really long brilliant scene written by Pete McTighe. It was cool to see Ncuti work in the flesh. He’s every bit as charismatic as you would imagine and he has this amazing energy. It was a really well written duologue between the two of them.
What can viewers expect from the episode?
There’s a lot in it. It has everything you want. It has monsters, it has twists, it has scares, it has love, romance, a bit of friendship, a bit of good vs evil, it’s the whole shebang.
If you could travel anywhere in time and space, where would you go?
I know it’s an obvious one, but I would quite like to see the dinosaurs. I’d like to see what the world looked like, I bet it was ridiculously beautiful. I don’t think I’d last more than an hour at best, but if I had the TARDIS to make a quick exit before getting eaten, I’d love to see the dinosaurs in all their magnificence.
Can you sum up your episode in one word or phrase?
Edge of your seat.
Pete McTighe (Writer)
Welcome back to the Whoniverse! What is it like writing for Doctor Who?
Doctor Who is the reason I’m a writer, the reason I work in TV. It’s my favourite thing in the world. So, it feels like coming home. This was *my* lucky day! Working with Russell T Davies and the Bad Wolf team is always such a brilliant experience. I’ve created and showrun my own shows and written hundreds of hours of TV, but nothing beats Doctor Who – I’ve literally had the best couple of years of my career, working with Russell on Tales of the TARDIS, Lucky Day and The War Between The Land And The Sea. It’s been a total joy.
What can you tell us about this episode?
What I loved about writing this episode was being able to explore what happens when the Doctor isn’t around, when he’s off saving other planets. Instantly, without the Doctor, there’s more jeopardy for the human characters, the stakes are higher, and they’re pushed to places they wouldn’t necessarily have to go if he was there to save the day. Of course, the Doctor *is* in the episode, in a very significant way, but really Lucky Day is Ruby’s story. I love what Millie Gibson did in her first season, so being able to come in and develop her character even further was really exciting.
Throughout all of Doctor Who – with the exception of Sarah-Jane Smith – we’ve never really explored what happens to someone after they stop travelling with the Doctor, and how those adventures impacted them. I loved being able to delve into that aspect of the character. I also enjoyed developing Jonah Hauer-King’s character, Conrad, Ruby’s new boyfriend. He’s someone who adores Ruby and wants to be as brave and heroic as the Doctor, but in doing so he puts himself and Ruby in terrible danger.
We’ve got a great new monster in this episode as well, it’s savage and terrifying and cannot be reasoned with. It was also a massive treat to be able to write for UNIT; for Kate, Shirley and Colonel Ibrahim, who swoop in to help Ruby and Conrad from the horrors that have been unleashed. Oh, for classic series fans we also have Paul Jericho in the episode – he played The Castellan, an officious, shady Time Lord during Peter Davison’s era. He’s playing a new character now, publican Alfie. Or is he? Maybe the Castellan wasn’t killed in ‘The Five Doctors’ (1983), escaped the destruction of Gallifrey and ended up running a pub in an English village? Much better, let’s go with that.
If you could travel in the TARDIS to any time and place in the universe, where would you go?
I would park myself on a comfy sofa in cold November 1963, and spend the next six years watching (and recording, to share with you guys) all the missing episodes of Doctor Who!
If you had to describe the episode in one word or phrase, what would it be?
Thrilling. Which is a good word for this whole season actually.
Peter Hoar (Director)
You directed an episode of Doctor Who in 2011. What was it like to return?
It was fantastic. I had my good friends around me and a very positive, exciting new world to discover. I have also changed as a director, and I felt so much more confident. But my love for the show has never diminished.
What can audiences expect from this episode?
The episode is quite a journey from its unassuming beginning to high octane sci-fi thrill ride. We had many references for this episode from all kinds of cinema and TV including Devils End from The Daemons to Aliens.
This episode has lots of familiar faces including the UNIT team. What was it like working with them?
It was a joy! They are all superb without question. Watching them face such an extreme foe as this, then working as a team, being pushed to the edge, seeing their humanity tested to its limits… I hope will make a great episode. The cast worked so hard to bring this to life and deserve huge praise. I particularly like one shot where the three women of UNIT stand shoulder to shoulder.
This episode sees the return of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), and Jonah Hauer-King joins the cast as Conrad, what can you tease about the dynamic between the pair?
Jonah and Millie were a great duo. Jonah fitted so smoothly into the family, and it was exciting to watch a new fresh dynamic emerge. Ruby needs a new hero and Conrad thinks he’s all that, but we discover quickly that it’s Ruby who’s better in a dangerous situation…
We know that this episode takes us back to the UNIT Tower. What is it like being on that set?
It’s a huge place with a lot of visual promise. It led me to make a new pitch for the end sequence that we had a lot of fun shooting. We threw everything at them. Literally
There is a terrifying monster in this episode, what was it like bringing it to life on camera?
Would it be Doctor Who without a monster? This one is genuinely scary. And we leant right in to it – one scene in particular we went full gothic horror.
If you could travel in the TARDIS to any time and place in the universe, where would you go?
The distant future as far away as possible
How would you sum up this episode?
Scary, surprising and romantic.