'Lucky Day' (Story Code 2.04) by Pete McTighe

“I think I’m in shock. Like… PTSD. Because what happened last year was just not… normal. I mean, I fought gods. Like, actual gods. And I was eaten by a double bass. And kidnapped by goblins. I dangled on a rope ladder above London. And I watched the world turn to dust. And it’s just like… Every day is fight or flight, and I’m just waiting for something to go wrong.” - Ruby Sunday

The TARDIS arrives in London on New Year’s, 2007. After taking a reading on the Vindicator, the Doctor is distracted by a 50p coin on the ground. The duo’s arrival is seen by a young boy named Conrad, so the Doctor offers him the coin as a ‘lucky day’ gift. Snatching the money, Conrad races off to tell his mother what he has seen, but she doesn’t believe his lies, and is more interested in the celebrations going on… Ever since that fateful day, Conrad Clark tries to track down the blue box. Seventeen years later, he is the host of a popular podcast - and his latest guest is Ruby Sunday… Conrad recounts to his listeners how he saw the blue box again last year, standing in an alleyway; but before he could open the box’s doors, he was distracted by a strange roaring coming from a nearby shop. Entering the building, Conrad got slimed by a terrifying monster hiding in the shadows, which was then seen off by two strangers: the Doctor and Ruby. Hiding from sight, Conrad heard the Doctor explain how the creature, a Shreek, used a pheromone to mark its prey; after the Doctor gave Ruby the antidote, the two strangers left in the TARDIS - but not before Conrad took a photo of Ruby… Conrad is pleased that Ruby answered his search for her and agreed to appear on his ‘Lucky Day’ podcast, even though she is evasive about the Doctor and monsters, and about the activities of UNIT. After the show, Conrad takes Ruby out for coffee; she opens up more, and explains how the Shreek live in a pocket dimension, and return once a year to hunt their prey. Luckily for Conrad, UNIT captured the creature, otherwise he would be its next victim; but just in case, Ruby gives Conrad the antidote. After showing Ruby the 50p hanging on a chain around his next, Conrad explains how she and the Doctor inspired his podcast; he then offers to take Ruby out for dinner - a date that ends in a kiss… After five dates, Conrad takes Ruby to the remote village of Colson to meet his friends. As they both step off the bus, Ruby notices the electronic sign flickering strangely, as sign that the Shreek could be near. The same electrical interference affects the local pub, while Ruby enjoys drinks with Conrad and his mates. Ruby checks in with UNIT, but Kate Lethbridge-Stewart assures her that there is no quantum activity in the area, and that the Shreek is safely locked up in a containment cell. Returning inside the pub, Ruby worries that her experiences with the Doctor have affected her more than she lets on. Conrad tries reassuring Ruby - but then the pub’s lights go out, Conrad’s friend Sparky disappears, and two Shreek appear in the night shadows outside. Learning that Conrad chose not to take the antidote so that he could be brave like the Doctor, Ruby becomes angry that he has put everyone in jeopardy, and she calls in UNIT for help. Kate, Colonel Ibrahim and Shirley mobilise their troops to Colson village, taking analyst Jordan Lang along with them for assistance. Back in the pub, Ruby quickly takes charge: she orders everyone to stay inside while she ventures outside, armed with a fire-iron; however, Conrad still joins her, armed with a cricket bat. The duo soon finds the remains of Sparky’s hat and boot, just as the two Shreek appear and chase them back to the pub. UNIT soon arrives en masse, and as armed soldiers begin searching the village, Kate and her colleagues join Ruby and Conrad. But then things take a strange turn: the two Shreek are revealed to be Sparky and his friend, who are posing as monsters for their boss, Conrad. The whole situation has been orchestrated by Conrad and his mates, a group of self-styled truth-seekers who call themselves ‘’, dedicated to exposing the lies they believe UNIT has perpetrated to control the population in a state of fear. As a devastated Ruby looks on, Conrad’s gang of trolls use their phones to broadcast fake news to their thousands of followers across the world. Kate is furious, and orders Conrad’s arrest; unfortunately it isn’t long before the podcaster’s many followers protest at his supposedly wrongful arrest and news reports blindly take up his story, resulting in Conrad’s release the next day. Through his subsequent appearances across the media, Conrad turns the public against UNIT; even Parliament is swayed, resulting in an enquiry into the organisation’s operations and funding. Ruby is escorted to the UNIT Tower, where she learns that Kate once turned down an application from Conrad for a job with the taskforce, astutely believing him to be untrustworthy. But Shirley believes Conrad’s actions are not due to a grudge; instead, he is deliberately inciting distrust to make a fortune from his many thousands of paid subscribers. Kate is concerned over the risks that making UNIT information and technology public will bring; even more so when Conrad reveals he is about to publish a list of all UNIT staff. Suspecting a traitor in UNIT, Kate orders a security check - unaware that Lang is busy using his access to help Conrad access the building. The Vlinx conducts a security search that shows Lang has been accessing disinformation sites; but he is too late: Lang has tasered a guard and let Conrad inside. Conrad takes the unconscious guard’s gun; Lang objects, and is accidentally shot in the resulting struggle. When Conrad takes the elevator to the command room, Ibraham asks Kate to order a building lockdown; but Kate has had enough, and she allows the opportunistic podcaster to enter so that she can confront him. Conrad is grandstanding to a camera strapped to his chest, and he continues to perpetuate his egotistical story that he is exposing the lies UNIT has been peddling. However, Conrad goes too far when he disrespects Kate’s father, the Brigadier - and to Ruby and Shirley’s horror, a furious Kate opens the containment cube imprisoning the Shreek, allowing it to begin stalking Conrad. Kate turns the podcaster’s lies against him, challenging Conrad to ignore what he has debunked as special effects; a terrified Conrad bolts for the elevator, but the creature closes in on him. Kate finally gives the order to lockdown the building, and to broadcast UNIT’s cameras into Conrad’s live feed. As Kate looks on impassively, Conrad opens fire at the Shreek, but it bears down on him, forcing him to cower in abject fear. Realising that Kate has been pushed too far, Ruby steps in and tasers the Shreek; but even this act of compassion is ignored by Conrad, who tries to pass off events as special effects - until the Shreek clamps its teeth around his arm…

Later, Ruby watches the sun rise over the UNIT Tower, while Colonel Ibrahim reports to Kate on the recaptured Shreek, and that Conrad and Lang are recovering in hospital. Shirley is happy that public opinion has now turned back in UNIT’s favour. Ruby decides to leave UNIT for a while to process everything she has experienced, which Kate endorses with a supportive hug. Recovering in his cell, Conrad hears the TARDIS, which materialises around him. An angry Doctor confronts Conrad over his manipulation of the public in a bid to monetise their belief in his lies. But Conrad doesn’t care about the Doctor’s opinion, or about hurting Ruby; instead, he tries to deflect the Doctor’s accusations with the mention of Belinda, a friend whom the Time Lord has yet to meet. When the Doctor tells Conrad that he will die alone and bitter in his cell, the egomaniac rejects his story, and tells the Doctor to get off his planet. The Doctor turns away and clicks his fingers - and Conrad is back in his cell, alone once again - until he receives a visit from the prison governor, Mrs Flood, who promptly releases him…

Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor), Varada Sethu (Belinda Chandra), Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), Benjamin Chivers (Young Conrad), Kirsty Hoyles (Moira Clark), Jonah Hauer-King (Conrad Clark), Gethin Alderman (The Shreek), Kareem Alexander (Jordan Lang), Michelle Greenidge (Carla Sunday), Angela Wynter (Cherry Sunday), Faye McKeever (Louise Miller), Madison Stock (Elsa), Paddy Stafford (Sparky), Blake Anderson (Jack), Aoife Gaston (Michelle), Paul Jerricho (Alfie), Michael Woodford (Derek), Jemma Redgrave (Kate Lethbridge-Stewart), Alexander Devrient (Colonel Christofer Ibrahim), Tina Gray (Audrey), Ruth Madeley (Shirley Anne Bingham), Lachelle Carl (Trinity Wells), Reeta Chakrabarti (Herself), Joe Dommett (Himself), Alex Jones (Herself), Calypso Cragg (Influencer 1), James Craven (Influencer 2), Selorm Adonu (Influencer 3), Aidan Cook (The Vlinx), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Vlinx), Anita Dobson (Mrs Flood)

Directed by Peter Hoar

Produced by Vicki Delow
Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins and Phil Collinson
A Bad Wolf / BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
3rd May 2025 @ 7.10 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Fifteenth Doctor, Belinda, Ruby, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT

*Time-placing: The flashback with the Doctor and Ruby takes place immediately after ‘The Devil’s Chord’; the Doctor confronts Conrad prior to ‘The Robot Revolution’

*This episode premiered in the UK on the BBC's iPlayer in Ultra-High Definition (UHD) at 08.00 on the morning of 3rd May 2025, and was simultaneously streamed on Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland

*Working title: ‘Meanwhile’