Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Who season 14's finale.

Summary

• Doctor Who season 14 reveals Ruby Sunday's mother as just an ordinary woman, disappointing fans.
• Ruby Sunday's mother gave her away because of her age and her troubled home life.
• Ruby Sunday's biological mother's importance was based on beliefs, not supernatural powers.

Doctor Who season 14 explores the mystery of Ruby Sunday’s mother, providing an explanation for her background and motivations at the last moment. The debut season of Ncuti Gatwa took the Doctor and Ruby Sunday on thrilling adventures through time and space. During their escapades, many mysteries came up, like The One Who Waits, the reason Susan Twist’s character kept appearing, and the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother.

While all these mysteries were important, the narrative and the advertising for the show promoted the mystery of Ruby Sunday’s biological mother as central to the entire season. The ending of Doctor Who season 14 finally provided the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother in a lackluster and divisive reveal that left many fans on social media underwhelmed and annoyed. The finale episode explored the character’s identity, motivations, and what exactly makes her special.

Ruby's Mother In Doctor Who Was An Ordinary Person

Ruby And The Doctor Found Ruby's Mother In The Doctor Who Season 14 Finale

Although the whole season built up to a major reveal about Ruby’s mother, Doctor Who season 14’s ending revealed that Ruby’s mother was simply a normal human woman named Louise Alison Miller. She has no remarkable supernatural powers that explain the odd things about Ruby. Louise Miller worked as a nurse – an irable profession. After she and Ruby had an emotional reunion, Louise told her biological daughter that every Christmas she thought about going to see her. The two seemed to have a positive connection in the last scene when Louise came over to look at photos of Ruby.

promising “shocking answers” for Ruby Sunday’s parents.

Louise Miller still could’ve been Ruby’s mother, and it would have worked well if it weren’t the central mystery in the season.

Unfortunately, this left Doctor Who fans feeling underwhelmed and believing the finale didn’t live up to the promises made. Doctor Who would’ve been better off making this mystery less of a focus. Louise Miller still could’ve been Ruby’s mother, and it would have worked well if it weren’t the central mystery in the season.

Why Ruby's Mother Left Her Baby & What Really Happened On Christmas Eve 2004

Ruby's Mother Had A Teen Pregnancy

In addition to the identity of Ruby Sunday’s mother, another big question throughout Doctor Who season 14 is why she left Ruby on the steps of the church. This choice caused abandonment trauma for Ruby but also allowed her to find her beautiful family with her mom, Carla Sunday, and her gran, Cherry Sunday. During the Doctor Who finale, Ruby finally learned that her biological mother gave her away for a very normal reason. Louise believed that she couldn’t give Ruby the life that she deserved, and she wanted better for her child.

Louise Miller and William Benjamin Garnet were both 15 years old when they conceived Ruby, making them unequipped to raise a child. Ruby’s biological mother had a dangerous home life where she was abused by her stepfather. To keep Ruby safe, she kept her pregnancy secret from everybody, including William Garnet. Then, she left Ruby on the steps of the church, pointing to the street sign to give the baby her name. The knowledge that her biological mother wanted the best for her seems to bring Ruby peace at the end of Doctor Who season 14.

Why Everyone In Doctor Who Season 14 Thought Ruby's Mother Was Important

Ruby's Mother Only Had Power Because People Believed In Her

Within the narrative of Doctor Who, Ruby’s biological mother is important to Ruby, Ruby’s mom, The Doctor, UNIT, and Sutekh. However, she ended up just being an ordinary human woman. This means her importance and influence came not from some supernatural power but due to mass belief. History has already proven that people will go to great lengths due to human-created ideas like religion, borders, money, and nationality. This is exactly what happened with Ruby’s biological mother.

Sutekh took over Mel’s mind and used his harbingers to bring the Doctor and Ruby back to him just so he could know the identity of Ruby’s mom.

The Doctor did tests on Ruby’s DNA without her knowledge because of her missing lineage. UNIT and the Doctor used the time window even though there were major risks involved. Sutekh took over Mel’s mind and used his harbingers to bring the Doctor and Ruby back to him just so he could know the identity of Ruby’s mom. She was important because everyone said and believed to their core that she was important.

In the real world, both Russell T Davies and the Doctor Who marketing made Ruby Sunday out to be extremely narratively important in Doctor Who season 14, much more so than past companions. Based on interviews with RTD, Ruby Sunday’s lineage was supposed to be theories about the identity of Ruby’s mom in Doctor Who vigorously. While theories would have naturally come up, either way, the team behind Doctor Who intentionally created the hype that unfortunately resulted in a letdown.

Why Ruby's Memories Kept Making It Snow In Doctor Who

Doctor Who Never Directly Explained Ruby's Snow

The reveal of Ruby Sunday’s mom raises many questions that don’t have clear answers. One of the biggest examples is how Ruby’s memory kept making it snow in Doctor Who. Based on Doctor Who season 14’s focus on the power of belief, the show would likely say Ruby’s ability comes from the people who believe the memory of that night is important. They could also point to the strength of Ruby’s memory. A more probable explanation for Ruby making it snow in Doctor Who would be a strong psychic connection to the TARDIS, which is hinted at in “73 Yards.”

The box has multiple abilities that occur outside the actual machine. The TARDIS can translate languages, make invisible air bubbles, create bridge tunnels, sense danger, change shape and size (when the chameleon circuit isn’t broken), and make itself unnoticeable to everyone. Inside the time and space machine, a enger could likely make it snow. Perhaps Ruby’s psychic connection with the TARDIS in Doctor Who was strong enough to extend the matter-changing abilities to the outside of the box.

How Was Ruby's Mother Manipulating Time Before Doctor Who's Big Reveal?

Doctor Who Doesn't Explain The Time Manipulation

In "Space Babies," the Doctor's memory of Ruby's mother changed, seemingly by supernatural means. Then, in the Time Window, the projection was able to avoid being identified despite having multiple people watching from different angles. Unfortunately, while there is a semi-probable answer to the snow Doctor Who, the show doesn’t offer hints at a good explanation for Ruby’s biological mother manipulating time. She was a human with no powers and no connection to the TARDIS. Instead, Doctor Who always has the deus ex machina of time on the show being “a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.”