'Rogue' (Story Code 14.06) by Kate Herron and Briony Redman

“We’re gonna cosplay this planet to death!” - ‘The Dutchess’

At a country manor in Bath, England, in 1813, Lord Galpin accuses Lord Barton of dishonouring his sister. But instead of calling for a duel, Galpin drains the energy from his rival’s body, and takes on Barton’s features for himself… The Doctor and Ruby are also at the manor that night, having great fun dancing at a lavish ball thrown by the Duchess of Pemberton. Ruby knows the complicated steps thanks to some psychic earrings, which provide her with telepathic guidance to achieve an ‘Instant Strictly’. While Lady Ruby Sunday of the Notting Hill Estate is shown around by the Dutchess, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to locate the source of some sonic interference, tracing it to a handsome, brooding man watching from a nearby balcony. Ruby and the Dutchess meet Barton, but are unimpressed by his rudeness; then Ruby sees a portrait of the duke’s late mother - who looks just like the mysterious woman that Ruby and the Doctor have been seeing everywhere. Spotting Lord Barton arguing with a young woman named Emily, Ruby follows them from the ball. The Doctor talks to Rogue, exchanging some witty banter and even a little flirting. The Duchess heads out to the gardens, where she is scandalised to see her housekeeper lurking. Ignoring her mistress’ reprimands, the housekeeper turns into a bird-like humanoid, drains the Dutchess’ life energy, and then takes on her form… In the library, Ruby spies on Lord Barton and Emily as they have a lovers’ tiff and a clinch; when Ruby gives herself away, Emily worries at the scandal of being seen alone with a man. Rogue and the Doctor go outside to the gardens, where they find the desiccated corpse of the Dutchess. Noting that Rogue didn’t flinch at evidence of alien technology, the Doctor accuses him of the murder – just as Rogue pulls out a futuristic gun and accuses the Doctor! Rogue is an alien bounty hunter, and has taken the Doctor for a fugitive Chuldur shapeshifter that is loose on Earth. Rogue de-cloaks his ship: an impressively huge, bird-shaped vessel that dwarfs the TARDIS parked nearby… Back at the manor, Ruby takes Emily dancing to take her mind off her suitor; they are watched by Lord Barton and the Dutchess, who decides she wants to be Ruby next… Inside Rogue’s ship, an old, two-man asteroid hopper, the Doctor comments on the mess and learns that Rogue now travels alone. The bounty-hunter uses a control device to imprison the Doctor in a triform trap, his captive’s feet molecularly bonded to a triangular field. As the transport gate warms up in preparation to teleport the Doctor into the ship’s incinerator, the two men try to out-gadget each other: using his sonic, the Doctor spots a set of gaming dice, and deduces that Rogue has chosen his name from a game of Dungeons and Dragons; he then uses his sonic to activate the ship’s sound system, playing Kylie’s ‘Can't Get You Out of My Head’ again and again, despite Rogue’s best efforts to stop him. After the bounty hunter confiscates his sonic, the Doctor tries using his psychic paper to prove he is not Chuldur - but it just tells Rogue he is hot! Tom complete paperwork for his new box, Rogue scans the Doctor to confirm he is a shape-shifter, then prepares to kill his prisoner. But the Doctor throws his psychic paper and reactivates the scanner, and this time his explanation that he is a Time Lord impresses his captor… In the manor, Emily tells Ruby about a forthcoming wedding, but is interrupted at the discovery of the housekeeper’s corpse… Now free, the Doctor impresses Rogue further by showing him inside the TARDIS. With Rogue now more conducive, the Doctor reprogrammes the bounty hunter’s trap to teleport his target to a random barren dimension instead of killing them. Learning that Rogue lost his partner, the Doctor explains that he lost everyone, apart from his best friend, Ruby; he then offers Rogue the chance to travel in the TARDIS too, but Rogue counter proposes travelling with him. The two men are about to kiss, but are interrupted by an alert from the TARDIS that the trap is ready. Returning to the party, the Doctor and Ruby swap notes about alien shapeshifters and dead bodies, and introduce each other to their new friends. The Doctor realises that the alien fugitive is engaged in cosplay [actually, they’re LARPing!] after seeing Earth’s TV signals of ‘Bridgerton’. Deducing that the Dutchess is the fugitive Chuldur, the Doctor plans to lure her outside using scandal and plot-twists. The Doctor and Rogue dance a Tango together, scandalising the rest of the guests, who stop and stare at their smouldering moves; things heat up further when the Doctor deliberately starts an argument, and Rogue proposes marriage! Taking the proffered ring, the Doctor declines and storms off, with Rogue running after him. Now wanting to wear the duo’s forms, the Dutchess and Lord Barton follow them outside, reverting to their natural bird-like forms along with two more of their kind. Realising the trap device won’t be enough to hold a family of four Chuldurs, Rogue and the Doctor run for their lives. The aliens give chase, but their quarries soon give them the slip, so they decide return to the manor to start the wedding. From their hiding place inside one of the guests’ carriages, the Doctor and Rogue overhear the aliens’ plan to take their game to London, infiltrate Parliament and the royal palace, and cause wars across the planet… Inside the manor, Ruby explains to Emily that she is from the future; in turn, Emily reveals she is an alien bird creature too, and she moves in to take over Ruby’s body… In the ballroom, the dance is interrupted by the arrival of the Chuldurs, their natural bird-forms terrifying the guests. Watching from a balcony as the aliens prepare for their ‘season finale’ wedding, the Doctor is shocked to see another Chuldur join them, wearing the guide of Ruby. The Doctor is devastated at losing his friend, and guilty at breaking his promise to her foster mother keep her safe. The aliens command one of their guests, a vicar, to sanction the wedding of ‘Lord Barton’ and ‘Ruby’; when the man refuses, one of the Chuldur kills him and cosplays instead. But as the wedding begins, the Doctor bursts into the room and objects. To the aliens’ fury the Doctor activates the trap that he has already put in place, the device now split into three to make a triform big enough to hold all the aliens. To the Doctor’s surprise, ‘Ruby’ reveals she is the real Ruby: after overpowering Emily in the library with the aid of her ‘battle-mode’ psychic earrings, Ruby has cosplayed herself! As the real Emily arrives, the Doctor tries in vain to turn off the trap - but the gate is now fully charged. Emily tries to take the Doctor’s form, but Rogue shoves her into the trap’s field too. Rogue urges the Doctor to activate the gate, knowing that if the aliens escape, they will kill everyone around them - but the Doctor cannot bring himself to banish Ruby. Rogue kisses the Doctor, deftly snatching the control device during their clinch. Jumping into the triform and pushing Ruby to safety, Rogue tells the Doctor to find him and then activates the gate. As the Doctor and Ruby look on, Rogue and the aliens vanish drop into oblivion… Later, as a new day dawns, the Doctor sends Rogue’s ship into orbit around the moon to wait for him. The Doctor is saddened by the loss of Rogue, but forces himself to move on with the help of a hug from Ruby. As Ruby heads for the TARDIS, the Doctor takes out Rogue’s ring and puts it on, hoping that he will see the handsome bounty hunter again someday…


Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor), Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), Paul Forman (Lord Barton), Maxim Ays (Lord Galpin), Indira Varma (Duchess of Pemberton), Jonathan Groff (Rogue), Camilla Aiko (Emily Beckett), Debra Baker (Housekeeper), Ashley Campbell (Butler), Nancy Brabin-Platt (Miss Talbot), Michelle Greenidge (Carla Sunday), David Charles (Mr Price), Susan Twist (The Portrait)

Directed by Ben Chessell

Produced by Chris May
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):
8th June 2024 @ 6.45 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby

*This episode is forty-four minutes long

*Amongst the Doctor’s previous incarnations displayed by Rogue’s scanner, which include the Fugitive Doctor, we also see the Doctor as played by Richard E. Grant from ‘Scream of the Shalka’ and Comic Relief’s ‘The Curse of Fatal Death, who shouldn’t be canon…

*There’s Always a Twist at the End: Actress Susan Twist appears again, this time as the Portrait

*Music heard in this story: ‘Can't Get You Out of My Head’ by Kylie Minogue, ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Ellish, a classical version of ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before’ by Grace Jones, and a violin cover of ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga. The Doctor also sings ‘Pure Imagination’ from ‘Willy Wonka’, a role Ncuti Gatwa wanted to play

*The end credits included a dedication to the memory of William Russell, the actor who played the First Doctor's companion Ian Chesterton, and who had died earlier that week

*The episode premiered in the UK on the BBC's iPlayer in Ultra-High Definition (UHD) at midnight on 8th June 2024, and simultaneously streamed on Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland