SUMMARY
- Doctor Who episode satirizes Bridgerton’s historical inaccuracies by taking Ruby to a posh ball in Bath, not 19th-century London.
- “Rogue” story mocks Bridgerton’s soap opera drama and filming location, while highlighting an urgent alien threat in Bath setting.
- Bath setting in “Rogue” serves a bigger purpose by allowing the Doctor to stop shapeshifting aliens from cosplaying in London, avoiding historical impact.
A recent episode of Doctor Who poked fun at Bridgerton‘s claim that it’s set in 19th-century London. Bridgerton’s premise is that it takes place in an alternative history, not the real Britain of the 1800s, thus allowing it to get away with a lot of historical inaccuracies. This American series is popular enough worldwide that it made sense for Ruby (Millie Gibson) to be so enamored with it that she asked the Doctor to take her to a similar setting. Additionally, many Bridgerton actors have also appeared in Doctor Who, making Ruby’s desire to visit Bridgerton an inside joke.
The newest season has often delivered biting satire, leading to debates about whether these stories belong on the list of the best Doctor Who episodes. Episode 5’s “Dot and Bubbles,” for example, offered scathing criticism of modern, technology-obsessed society. Episode 6 followed suit with a story set in a Bridgerton-like setting involving aliens whose desire to cosplay as Royals turned murderous. The story is memorable for the romance between Doctor Who’s titular character and Rogue (Jonathan Groff), but it also satirized Bridgerton in one specific manner.
The Sci-Fi Series Poked Fun At Bridgerton’s London Claims With This Setting
“Rogue” saw the Doctor and Ruby visit a posh ball in Bath to fulfill Ruby’s desire to visit a real-life Bridgerton setting. Ruby spent the first portion of the episode gushing over how similar it was to her favorite television series, while the Doctor attempted to deal with an extraterrestrial presence. The illusion of living in a royal utopia was shattered when several people turned up dead, leading to an alien threat against Ruby that she wasn’t aware of until it was almost too late.
Ruby’s supposed death created the type of high dramas that shows like Bridgerton specialize in, adding to the satirical element of the episode.
The episode satirized the soap opera-like drama of the Bridgerton series, but it also mocked the pseudo-historical show in another way. Bridgerton is filmed in Bath but claims to be set in London. So, since Ruby wanted to experience being in a similar setting to Bridgerton, the Doctor took her to a royal ball in Bath rather than a historically accurate ball in 19th-century London. The Doctor associating Bridgerton with Bath made fun of Bridgerton‘s choice to shoot the series in a setting that is very different from the one it claims to take place in.
Why Doctor Who’s “Rogue” Setting Is Actually Crucial For The Episode’s Story
It Had a Bigger Purpose Than Spoofing Another Popular Series
Although “Rogue” could be viewed simply as an elaborate spoof of Bridgerton, the Bath setting serves another, more important purpose. The main storyline revolved around the Chuldur, a race of shapeshifting aliens that were so addicted to high drama that they were killing participants in the ball and taking over their lives. Since the story was set in Bath, the aliens first had to take over the pseudo-royalty there before they could move onto London, where they planned to do greater damage in the name of cosplaying. This plan made it urgent for the Doctor to stop them in their tracks without the pressure of trying to stop the Chuldur from seriously impacting historical events.
“Rogue” would have been quite a different story if the Doctor had had to race against time to stop the Chuldur from changing history or put things to rights after they’d killed and taken over important figures of the time.
“Rogue” was an important story that alluded to the same Doctor Who villain the Meep did, thus setting up an important plot point ahead of the series finale. However, it would have been quite a different story if the Doctor had had to race against time to stop the Chuldur from changing history or put things to rights after they’d killed and taken over important figures of the time. By setting the story in Bath with a bunch of unknowns acting like royalty, Doctor Who avoided this high-pressure storyline while also poking fun at Bridgerton.
Doctor Who season 14 streams on Disney+
