ncuti gatwa as the doctor in the club

The Doctor Dancing Out His Feelings Is a Mood on ‘Doctor Who’

The return of Doctor Who has been a gift for fans. So many of us have been excited by the new era of the show, particularly with Ncuti Gatwa taking over as the fifteenth Doctor. And his first full episode as the Doctor, “The Church on Ruby Road,” brought us some wonderfully beautiful moments.

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One of those moments came from a highly relatable moment when the Doctor first gets to meet with Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) in a club. Ruby is out with her friends as a series of mishaps continue to happen to her, including tripping and falling or dropping glasses. When she is about to drop a glass at the club, she meets the Doctor for the first time.

Before we see all of that, we get to see the Doctor on the dance floor having his own bit of fun in the midst of the crowd, and it is truly fun to see the Doctor embracing life in this way because it has been a while since the Doctor has been this carefree. Sure, we’ve seen the Doctor dancing before (remember when the Doctor danced at Amy Pond’s wedding?) but going to the club and dancing in a kilt? That one is a bit on the newer side, and I love it.

We saw the Doctor on the dance floor in the trailer but seeing the Doctor truly just embrace the music and feel the joy of letting go as he does in this scene is truly something we haven’t seen in so long, and it is nice to see the Doctor so open with his joy for once—especially with how lonely and sad we’ve seen the Doctor recently.

Sometimes, you just have to spin it out

the doctor spinning around while dancing
(Disney+)

It is one thing to see the Doctor dancing to hide or even because he is trying to trick some alien in some way. But this just seems like the Doctor is there having fun. He doesn’t seem to be there really to meet Ruby, even. He’s just dancing and enjoying himself and having fun in a way that is why so many of us like going dancing in the first place.

If this is the energy that Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor is going to continue to bring to the show, I’m extremely excited because it is very much the youthful and fun energy that I wanted from a new Doctor. That’s the joy of experiencing a new actor taking on the role. We get to explore how they’ll take on the duties of the Doctor and what they’ll bring to the role, and if Gatwa is bringing scenes like this, just having fun for a moment? I’m fully and completely in love with everything that Gatwa is bringing to the role already.

Plus, who doesn’t want to just spin around and have fun in the club every once in a while to let go? It’s not surprising that the Doctor likes to unwind that way, too.

(featured image: Disney+)


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Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.