Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 5, “Dot and Bubble.”

Doctor Who season 14, episode 5, “Dot and Bubble,” includes a story point that ties into every installment of Gatwa’s run so far, creating a strong theme that relates to Ruby Sunday’s enigmatic origin. During his return to the showrunner’s chair, Russell T Davies has spent time embedding several mysteries in the first season to be co-produced by Disney+. While the meaning behind some of these hidden storylines have yet to become clear, the clues that lead to certain revelations are becoming increasingly hard to miss, with “Dot and Bubble” serving as the most prominent example to date.

Millie Gibson is arguably the most important member of the Doctor Who season 14 cast, with Ruby Sunday receiving much more of the focus than Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor. Although Doctor Who‘s Disney era started before Millie Gibson was introduced, since she’s stepped in as the Doctor’s companion, Davies has been leaving a trail of figurative breadcrumbs to lead fans to the truth about Ruby’s identity. The result has been a string of clues that have become progressively less subtle.

The Destruction Of The Homeworld In “Dot & Bubble” Continues Doctor Who Season 14’s Story Trend

Every resident of Finetime is orphaned in Doctor Who season 14, episode 5

Ruby’s search to discover the identity of her birth parents has been a part of the Doctor Who story since her debut in the 2023 Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road.” Since then, every following episode has focused on the theme of absent parents in one way or another. For example, Doctor Who season 14, episode 1, “Space Babies,” is a very strong reference to Ruby being unaware of who birthed her. By the time of “Dot and Bubble,” the show has returned to this clear and obvious formula by wiping out the entire population of the Homeworld, orphaning every inhabitant of Finetime.

There’s no guarantee Ruby’s parents are dead, but the connection is impossible to ignore. While the theme isn’t quite so prevalent in the episodes that separate “Space Babies” and “Dot and Bubble,” it is still there. In “The Devil’s Chord,” Maestro is revealed to be the child of the Toymaker – who the Doctor banished in “The Giggle.” Splice loses her father in “Boom,” and Ruby’s adoptive mother shuts her out in “73 Yards.” So, these are quite clearly intentionally connected moments from Russell T Davies.

“Dot & Bubble” Reinforces The Theory That Ruby Sunday Is Controlling The TARDIS

Millie Gibson’s Doctor Who character may have some influence over the TARDIS’ destinations

Even before “Dot and Bubble” aired, there was a working hypothesis that Millie Gibson’s Doctor Who character had some kind of subliminal control over where the TARDIS was landing. While this theory hasn’t yet been confirmed as accurate, it’s certainly strengthened by the fact that “Dot and Bubble” once again retreads the same narrative ground regarding absent parents. Ruby may not be consciously aware of her influence over the Doctor’s time and space machine, but that doesn’t mean she’s not unknowingly guiding the TARDIS to characters in situations similar to her.

The TARDIS is a sentient ship, and it has been proven before to have a psychic connection with certain organic beings. For instance, in Doctor Who season 6, episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife,” Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor has the chance to speak with the TARDIS in human form. When he complains that the TARDIS often didn’t take him where he wanted to go, the TARDIS replies, “No, but I always took you where you needed to go.”

This exchange with Eleven proves that the TARDIS has some say in where it lands, and that decision can at least be partially influenced by its passengers’ subconscious minds. So, it would make sense that Ruby’s ruminations would lead the TARDIS to the no-parent scenarios that have been present throughout Doctor Who season 14. Otherwise, the string of landing places are far too much of a coincidence.

Doctor Who Season 14’s “No Parents” Stories May Be Connected To Susan Twist’s Character

Twist has been directly related to the theme of parenthood more than once

Susan Twist has been present in every Ruby episode of Doctor Who so far, even if it hasn’t yet been revealed who Twist is really playing. So, while her presence alone isn’t necessarily a connection to the parental theme of Doctor Who season 14, “Dot and Bubble” isn’t the first time a Susan Twist character has directly collided with Ruby’s ongoing search for her birth mother. The episode marks the first Twist persona to play a parent herself, after only being nearby in previous parent stories. Seeing as Susan Twist plays Lindy Pepper-Bean’s mother, it creates a more solid connection.

Another Susan Twist scenario that tied her into Ruby’s quest to find her parents came in Doctor Who season 14, episode 3, “Boom.” During this episode, Twist played the Villengard ambulance AI. When treating Ruby, Twist’s ambulance sounds as though its about to declare Ruby’s next of kin – more accurately, who her mother is. The information seems to be unavailable, or perhaps it’s intentionally held back. Either way, it’s difficult to deny the possibility that Susan Twist’s Doctor Who characters know something about Ruby Sunday’s lineage.