How Ruby Sunday Keeps Poppy’s Memory Alive When Everyone Else Forgets

by

In the latest episode 8 of Doctor Who’s Season 15, titled “The Reality War,” we saw the fulfillment of Conrad Clark’s (Jonah Hauer-King) wish and a brief disappearance of Poppy (Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps) from the timeline. However, an intriguing aspect that remains unexplained is why only Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) seems to remember Belinda Chandra’s daughter, Poppy. While the reason behind this isn’t explicitly stated, I’ve come up with a few compelling theories regarding how Ruby managed to retain her memories of Poppy. Notably, my primary theory is rooted in Millie Gibson’s role in Doctor Who’s Season 14.

In “The Reality War,” Ncuti Gatwa’s regeneration scene with Billie Piper is the most discussed topic, yet the question of whether Poppy is the Fifteenth Doctor’s daughter persists throughout his farewell episode. Despite her restoration through the Doctor’s selfless plan, I’m still left wondering if Poppy isn’t actually the Doctor’s child. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Ruby’s extraordinary ability to recall Poppy, the Doctor wouldn’t have stood a chance to save Mavanga-Phipps’ character at all.

Ruby Sunday’s Experience In “73 Yards” Gave Her A Different Perspective Of Time

Millie Gibson’s Doctor Who character had already seen 2025 before the season 15 two-part finale

In “Doctor Who” season 14, episode 4 titled “73 Yards,” Ruby encountered an alternate timeline. This let her glimpse decades ahead, but following the departure of Gatwa’s character. Essentially, Ruby had already lived a full version of 2025 in “73 Yards,” which is hinted at in the second-to-last episode of “Doctor Who,” named “Wish World.” This means that alongside the main timeline of “Doctor Who,” Conrad’s Wish World represents the third instance of 2025 that Ruby has been part of, while others have only experienced two different variations of 2025.

I’ve encountered a person known as the Doctor, and there seems to be some mysterious link between us. It’s as if I’ve experienced these events before, even though I know that can’t be true. I’ve glimpsed the year 2025, but it was unlike any version of that time I remember.

– Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who season 15, episode 7, “Wish World.”

It seems that Ruby’s time in “73 Yards” may have deeply rooted her and heightened her perception of the disparities between realities. If this is true, it might be plausible that Ruby could maintain the recollection of Poppy, whether she was genuinely existent or merely a product of the Wish. In essence, the memory of Poppy could be considered an anomaly, unlike other anomalies, which were just minor alterations in the world post-Wish.

In a heartfelt manner, Ruby stood firm in expressing her strong support for Poppy, refusing to be swayed by the Doctor and others who suggested she was still clinging to misleading memories. Given her own past experience of being erased from the timeline, as depicted in her first appearance in 2023’s “The Church on Ruby Road,” Ruby identified with Poppy and believed deeply that the Doctor should exhaust all his abilities to perform for Poppy what he had done for Ruby: restore Belinda’s daughters to existence.

The Other Reason Ruby Might Be Able To Remember Poppy In Doctor Who

Ruby was the one who ended the Wish itself

Though it’s plausible that Ruby’s memory of Poppy is due to Gibson’s character’s experiences in “73 Yards,” I also propose a different scenario. In the story, Ruby Sunday was instrumental in thwarting Conrad’s dream, utilizing a teleporter provided by UNIT – a device that was previously used by Martha Jones during its experimental phase in 2008’s “The Stolen Earth.” Ruby then sneaked into the Bone Palace with this teleporter to prevent Conrad from creating his flawed vision of Earth.

With Desiderium’s abilities, Ruby expresses a desire for Conrad’s well-being and simultaneously cancels the wish he had cast. Initially, it appears that Conrad is on the verge of disappearing from reality, but eventually, he lands a fulfilling role in the hospitality industry and abandons his wicked past. Given that Ruby terminated the wish, she might have been less susceptible than others to the occurrence of forgetting aspects of the illusion, similar to Poppy. However, neither of these speculations align with the established lore in Doctor Who, but they do seem plausible.

Read More

2025-06-05 01:19