Doctor Who's latest Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road," introduced us to the Goblin King. In one of the episode's most memorable moments, the Doctor and Ruby Sunday broke into song to distract the monstrous villain, but there was a version of the story in which he was a little more proactive.
Talking on the BBC's Doctor Who: Video Commentaries, showrunner Russell T Davies revealed that, prior to the show's heroes using the Goblin King's probability powers against him, the plan had been for the baddie to pursue Ruby through her apartment.
"Originally, they got back to the flat, and everything was fine, and then the Goblin King attacked, and he arrived in the bedroom, and came down the hall, so it was brilliant," he reveals. "Sorry, it was brilliant. He was coming down the hall. But earlier on we’d established that Carla gives everyone a scratchcard for Christmas, like when the social workers say, 'Oh, have a scratchcard, have a scratchcard. Hope you win, blah blah blah.'"
"So, there’s a pile of scratchcards in the kitchen. So Ruby fought off the Goblin King with luck. She kept scratching them until she won," Davies continues. "It was bad luck, bad luck, bad luck. Then she got to like the 15th card and she won £10. And she went 'Good luck!' like that, and the Goblin King vanished. And then what we’ve replaced that with is a crack in the roof."
The writer and producer went on to reveal the sequence had to be cut due to budgetary constraints.
That's a surprise, particularly when Doctor Who is thought to have received a budget increase courtesy of Disney+. However, whether it was achieved through practical or visual effects, sending the Goblin King on a rampage in Ruby's home would have been incredibly costly for a single sequence.
We never got to see the Goblin King in his entirety and it's previously been reported that it took at least five people to operate what we did see. As a result, it may well have been for the best the villain remained on his ship...where he was eventually impaled by a church spire in the past.
Finishing him off in such a brutal manner not only shows us exactly what the Doctor is capable of when he's pushed by his enemies but also deepens the mystery of Ruby's adoption by showing more of that mystery figure leaving her at the church as a baby.
Doctor Who returns to BBC and Disney+ with new episodes this May.