Love, death, and ballrooms — just another Tuesday.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and Ruby crash a Regency ball, uncover alien killers in disguise, and the Doctor falls for a mysterious bounty hunter with cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass.
Extended Storyline
The Doctor, in a particularly flouncy mood, whisks Ruby off to Bath, 1813 — smack dab in the middle of the Regency era. Cue the wigs, gowns, waltzes, and an excuse for Ruby to look stunning in period costume while the Doctor shows off just how well he can rock a tailcoat. It’s all powdered elegance until the corpses show up. Because of course they do.
Enter the Chuldur — shapeshifting aliens who murder people and then cosplay as them, like a particularly violent form of immersive theatre. Their latest playground is this Regency society ball, which they’re treating like their own private LARP. Humans are dying, and the Chuldur are happily dancing in their skins. Think Pride and Prejudice meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Into this chaos strides Rogue. A dashing intergalactic bounty hunter with a fabulous coat, a sardonic smirk, and the air of someone who’s very good at breaking hearts. Played by Jonathan Groff, Rogue is charismatic, dangerous, and immediately sets the Doctor’s hearts racing. Their banter crackles, somewhere between flirty fencing match and full-on romcom meet-cute — only with more references to planetary genocide.
While Ruby does the companion legwork (snooping, looking radiant, saving innocent partygoers from being eaten), the Doctor and Rogue get tangled in a cat-and-mouse game. Rogue thinks the Doctor might be one of the shapeshifters. The Doctor thinks Rogue might be trouble. Both are right, and both are far too busy enjoying the chemistry to care.
Eventually, the Chuldur plan is revealed: they’re not just dabbling in high society cosplay — they’re rewriting history for their own amusement, turning Earth into a stage set. The Doctor and Rogue team up to stop them, cueing fights in ballrooms, sci-fi gadgetry under chandeliers, and Ruby trying to dance her way out of danger.
The climax? Rogue activates his trap to banish the Chuldur — but it requires a sacrifice. Someone has to go with them. He steps forward, the Doctor begs him not to, and for a moment we see something rare: the Doctor, absolutely heartsick. Their bond, forged in a single adventure, feels more genuine than some companions get in whole seasons. Rogue kisses the Doctor (yes, properly, canonically), says goodbye with a smirk, and is swallowed up into the void with the Chuldur.
Ruby, watching her Doctor left shattered by the loss of someone he barely knew but clearly felt, realizes how much love and loneliness burns inside him. It’s a powerful, aching end to an otherwise flamboyant romp.