Across the Universe
- Publication: TV & Satellite Week
- Date: 2024-05-01
- Author: Steven Perkins
- Page: 4
- Language: English
The TARDIS lands in the Swinging Sixties as the Doctor and Ruby meet The Beatles in the thrilling new series
NEW SCI-FI Doctor Who
Saturday, 6.20pm & 7.05pm, BBC1
Intergalactic infants and a monstrous musician await the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) as Doctor Who returns this weekend with a double bill to kick off its first full series since 2021. Two new episodes will be available from midnight on Friday 10 May on BBC iPlayer before their broadcast premiere on BBC1 on Saturday evening, with the opener transporting the Doctor and Ruby to a distant future where a fearsome creature is lurking in the bowels of a space station staffed by babies. Then, in the second instalment, the Doctor takes Ruby to recording studio Abbey Road in the 1960s to fulfil her dream of meeting The Beatles.
For Gatwa, 31, and Gibson, 19, who had their first on-screen adventure in the 2023 Christmas special, it's been a long wait for their first series to be released.
As TV&Satellite Week joins the stars in a London hotel for an exclusive interview, they reveal why they're excited for fans to finally see the new episodes...
How did it feel to have your first adventure together on Christmas Day last year?
Gibson It was crazy. I just had close family with me, and I kept counting down the time until it came on air. It was on my mind constantly, but it was a lovely day, and one that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Gatwa It feels good to have a series out there now - some anxiety has been alleviated. It's been such a build-up for the pair of us - from getting cast to starting filming.
What can we expect from the Doctor and Ruby's relationship over the course of this series?
Gatwa They love getting up to mischief together! They're both up for an adventure, and they're causing trouble wherever they go.
Gibson Viewers have already seen how much chemistry and love they have for one another. They grow a lot closer on the adventures that they have - they meet people, they lose people, and they stay together throughout it all.
This is a new era for Doctor Who under returning showrunner Russell T. Davies. Are you excited to be at the centre of it?
Gatwa What Russell has created is so cinematic and beautiful. There's nowhere else on British TV you get stories like these - how exciting for the audience to go on a mad adventure ever week. We've poured our blood, sweat and tears into it, and I can't wait for everyone to see it.
Every Doctor Who adventure has its own unique setting. Is that challenging as an actor?
Gatwa There's not a job after this we won't be prepared for now - whatever genre or era you want, we've got a showreel for you! You're constantly learning and being challenged in a good way. It pushes you artistically and creatively.
Did it help that you were both newcomers, going through this experience together?
Gatwa It was essentially just the two of us for nine months, which was incredible but challenging. During filming, you're hanging off wires in the middle of the night and you've got to keep each other going.
It sounds like you've had fun filming. Was there a lot of laughter on set?
Gibson There was a really sad scene in the Regency episode, but we both couldn't stop laughing. And when we were on wires, we couldn't take each other seriously.
Gatwa The crew despaired because we were going, 'Wheeeee!' all the time. The funniest thing is when you watch scenes back after they come out of the edit, and you're like, 'Wow, that monster looks terrifying' -but, on the day, you were actually acting with a tennis ball on a stick!
The Bogeyman
EPISODE ONE: SPACE BABIES
The series opener sees the Doctor and Ruby land in the distant future on a space station that turns out to be a baby farm which is also staffed by babies. The lone adult on board, Jocelyn (played by Bridgerton's Golda Rosheuvel), joins the Doctor and Ruby in a bid to protect the babies from the terrifying Bogeyman that is stalking the Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro ship's lower corridors.
'Ruby was abandoned as a baby, and so was the Doctor -they're two foundlings together,' says showrunner Russell T. Davies. 'Here, the question is, why are these babies alone on this space station? Something has gone wrong, and it makes the Doctor and Ruby reflect about their past...'
EPISODE TWO: THE DEVIL'S CHORD
When Ruby requests to meet The Beatles in the second episode, the Doctor obliges by transporting her to Abbey Road in the 1960s. But the Fab Four aren't quite what she's expecting, and the duo discover that the villainous Maestro (RuPaul's Drag Race star Jinkx Monsoon) is changing the course of musical history...
'Every single episode feels like a mini-movie, and they're all very different,' says Gibson. 'I was so excited to work with Jinkx, and I got the biggest goosebumps reading the script for The Devil's Chord. Pam Downe, our costume designer, let me pick the colours for my outfit, and the beehive just made it extra sassy. It was so cool!'
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Caption: Ruby and the Doctor head to Abbey Road
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- APA 6th ed.: Perkins, Steven (2024-05-01). Across the Universe. TV & Satellite Week p. 4.
- MLA 7th ed.: Perkins, Steven. "Across the Universe." TV & Satellite Week [add city] 2024-05-01, 4. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Perkins, Steven. "Across the Universe." TV & Satellite Week, edition, sec., 2024-05-01
- Turabian: Perkins, Steven. "Across the Universe." TV & Satellite Week, 2024-05-01, section, 4 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Across the Universe | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Across_the_Universe | work=TV & Satellite Week | pages=4 | date=2024-05-01 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Across the Universe | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Across_the_Universe | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025}}</ref>
