The Church on Ruby Road

Just wait until he starts singing...

One episode (The Church on Ruby Road)

First broadcast: Dec 25 2023
Audience for story: 7.49m

REGULAR CAST

Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor) Born Oct 15 1992 Click here for Ncuti Gatwa's entry on The Giggle

Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) Born Jun 19 2004

Doctor Who credits

Played: Ruby Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road, Space Babies, The Devil's Chord, Boom, 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble, Rogue, The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2023-24)

Career highlights

Millie debuted in Love, Lies and Records (2017), followed by 16 episodes of Jamie Johnson (2017-18) playing Indira, Butterfly (2018) and more than 170 episodes of soap Coronation Street playing Kelly Neelan (2019-22).

Awards

2022: British Soap Award for Best Young Actor (Coronation Street)

GUEST CAST

Gemma Arrowsmith (Ruth Lyons)

Career highlights

Gemma's earliest credit was as Sex Addict in The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (2007), followed by roles in Home Time (2009), Merlin (2010), Hustle (2011), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2011), The Ministry of Curious Stuff (2012), WPC 56 (2013), Nurse (2015), Upstart Crow (2017), Tracey Breaks the News (2017-18), The Tracey Ullman Show (2017-18), Stath Lets Flats (2018-19), Code 404 (2020), Hitmen (2021) and Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything (2022). Gemma also writes for TV, contributing to Off Their Rockers (2016), Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish (2016), The Amazing World of Gumball (2018-19), Horrible Histories (2019) and Spitting Image (2020).

Bobby Bradley (Denzel)

Career highlights

Scotsman Bobby's other work includes Best Laid Pans (2011), The Bench (2017), Summer of Rockets (2019), A Gift from Bob (2020) and Crime (2022).

Anita Dobson (Mrs Flood) Born Apr 29 1949

Doctor Who credits

Played: Mrs Flood in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), 73 Yards (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Anita's earliest TV credit was in the 1979 TV film Leave Him to Heaven, followed by roles in Nanny (1981), Partners in Crime (1983), Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983-84), Split Ends (1989), Red Dwarf (1993), Rab C Nesbitt (1993), Woof! (1993), Smokescreen (1994), Ghosts (1995), Dangerfield (1995), The Famous Five (1996), Highlander (1997), The Tichborne Claimant (1998), Sunburn (1999), Urban Gothic (2000), Daddyfox (2000), NCS Manhunt (2002), Hotel Babylon (2008), Gigglebiz (2009-11), Sadie J (2012), Pompidou (2015), The Rise of the Krays (2015), The Fall of the Krays (2016), Call the Midwife (2017), The Worst Witch (2018-19), Dodger (2022) and Inside No 9 (2023). Of course, Anita will forever be remembered most for her role as Angie Watts in 274 episodes of the soap EastEnders (1985-88).

Facts

Anita is married to Brian May, legendary guitarist with the rock band Queen. She is the great-granddaughter of Sarah Dearman, one of the leaders of the 1888 Bryant & May matchgirls' strike, which had a lasting impact on gender equality and the trades union movement. In September 1986, Anita reached number 4 in the UK singles chart with a vocal version of the EastEnders theme, entitled Anyone Can Fall in Love.

Michelle Greenidge (Carla) Born Jun 15 1970

Doctor Who credits

Played: Carla Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), Space Babies (2024), 73 Yards (2024), Rogue (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Debuted in the 2009 short Leave, followed by All About the McKenzies (2014), Venus vs Mars (2015), A Lesson Learnt (2015), Intruders (2017), Timewasters (2019), I May Destroy You (2019-20), Small Axe (2020), It's a Sin (2021), Cruella (2021), King Gary (2021), Grantchester (2021), Alex Rider (2021), The Witchfinder (2022) and My Happy Ending (2023). Recurring roles include Lola in Mandy (2020-22), Valerie in After Life (2019-22) and Judith in Code 404 (2020-22).

Davina McCall (Davina McCall) Born Oct 16 1967

Doctor Who credits

Played: Voice of Davinadroid in Bad Wolf (2005)

Played: Davina McCall in The Church on Ruby Road (2023)
Career highlights
Davina is one of the UK's best known TV presenters, best remembered as the host of Big Brother on Channel 4 between 2000-10. Other hosting duties include MTV's Most Wanted (1994), God's Gift (1996), Prickly Heat (1998-99), the Brit Awards (2000/03), Streetmate (1998-2001), Don't Try This at Home! (1998-2001), Pride of Britain Awards (2002), BAFTA Awards (2002/04), The Vault (2002), Popstars: The Rivals (2002), Stars in Their Eyes (2003), Reborn in the USA (2003), Top of the Pops (2004), Davina (2006), The Million Pound Drop (2010-15), Stepping Out (2013), Got to Dance (2009-14), Long Lost Family (2011-23). The £100k Drop (2018-19) and The Masked Singer (2020-21). She has also acted in a handful of shows, such as Sam's Game (2001) and Dead Set (2008, as herself), and has released several keep fit videos and books since 2004.

Awards

2023: Member of the order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to broadcasting
Facts
One of Davina's early career cul-de-sacs was a solo singer, but despite being the girlfriend of the legendary Eric Clapton in the late 1980s, success eluded her. She also ran a restaurant for two years, was a waitress at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, and was a backing dancer for future Doctor Who actress Kylie Minogue (see if you can spot her in the video for 1991's Word is Out).

Mary Malone (Trudy)

Career highlights

Mary's other work includes The Girlfriend Experience (2021), Chivalry (2022) and Vera (2023).

Facts

In January 2023, trans actor Mary launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money to support gender-affirming healthcare.

Angela Wynter (Cherry) Born Jul 14 1957

Doctor Who credits

Played: Cherry Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), Space Babies (2024), 73 Yards (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Jamaican Angela's earliest credit is 1981's Burning an Illusion, followed by The Nation's Health (1983), Minder (1984), No Problem! (1983-84), The Bill (1992), Murder Most Horrid (1994), Cracker (1994), Cutting It (2002), Death in Paradise (2017), The Tunnel (2017-18), Les Miserables (2019), Last Christmas (2019), Home by 8.30 (2020), Mood (2022), Vampire Academy (2022), Call the Midwife (2023) and Time (2023). Regular roles include Makeda Sylvester in Doctors (2021) and Yolande Trueman in more than 360 episodes of soap EastEnders (2003-23).

Facts

Angela is also a singer, having been part of the 1980s band View from the Hill between 1985-88. During this period the band released an album called In Time, and three singles: No Conversation  (which peaked at number 58 in the singles chart), I'm No Rebel (which peaked at number 59) and Stay and Let Me Love You. More recently, Angela has been a member of the female reggae group Sistas.

Hami Yeroham (Abdul) Born Jan 2 1980

Career highlights

Turk Hami's earliest credit was in 2008 film Mamma Mia!, followed by EastEnders: E20 (2010), Common Ground (2013), Tyrant (2014), Benidorm (2017), The Cockfields (2021), the voice of Zakariya in the video games Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot (2021-23) and Casualty (2024).

CREW

Russell T Davies (writer) Born Apr 27 1963 Click here for Russell T Davies' entry on Rose

Mark Tonderai (director) Born Jul 16 1974
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Ghost Monument (2018), Rosa (2018), The Church on Ruby Road (2023)
Career highlights
Mark's earliest directing work was on the 1996 documentary The A Force, followed by stints on Friday Night's All Wright (1998), Uncut Funk (1999), Hush (2008), House at the End of the Street (2008), 12 Monkeys (2015), The Five (2016), Paranoid (2016), Time After Time (2017), Lucifer (2018), Black Lightning (2018), Gotham (2017-19), Nightflyers (2018), The Passage (2019), Castle Rock (2019), The Mysterious Benedict Society (2021) and Locke & Key (2020-21). He has also worked in front of the camera, in Comedy Nation (1998), Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000), Dog Eat Dog (2001), The Four Feathers (2002) and Holby City (2003).
Facts
Between 1993-98 Mark was a DJ on BBC Radio 1, with his own show.

Producers to be added...