Showrunner, Russell T Davies, has explained the inspiration for Ruby Sunday’s parentage in Doctor Who.

Ruby’s mother was the source of much debate during Series 14, but Empire of Death, the season finale, revealed that her mum is Louise Miller, who was 15 years old when she fell pregnant. Davies said Miller was “from a dangerous home, abusive home, and left her child on the doorstep”, and went on:

“This is kind of my reaction to – bear with me now – the Star Wars films. I can’t remember their titles, but in the last trilogy, the second film [The Last Jedi] said that Daisy Ridley was nothing special, there was nothing special about her parentage. That she just got the Force. She was just ordinary.

“An ordinary person with the Force – and then [in The Rise of Skywalker], they changed it all so that she was the child of the Emperor… She was, like, cosmic and had godlike powers. And I really loved the version where she wasn’t special. When she’s ordinary.”

As with The Last Jedi, however, Ruby’s parentage wasn’t typically met with a positive reaction; arguably, that’s because the mystery didn’t make too much sense — nothing wrong with her jus being “ordinary”, but audience’s are bound to feel deflated when you build up such an enigma then give an unsatisfying answer, one that also flies in the face of some of the previous clues.

So yep, this wasn’t the big hit that Davies had hoped for. Then again, we don’t know who Ruby’s father is, so maybe if that is ever unpicked, more will be explained. We doubt it though.