Doctor Who script confirms musical scene was cut from Ncuti Gatwa episode

You might remember that the rather divisive season opener Space Babies included a few references to Push the Button, the 2005 Sugababes hit.

Well, it seems that the original plan was for a scene set in the TARDIS to show Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor to dance and lip-sync along to the song.

Fans had previously speculated this might have been the case, and with the BBC having recently shared the original script for the episode, we now know it to be true.

The moment would have occurred very early in the episode, with the relevant portion of the script on Page 3 reading: "He WHIRRS the SONIC at the JUKEBOX. Click, needle slides over a VINYL, lowers, plays the Sugababes, Push the Button."

It continues: "The track starts with a bar, then says the words: 'Push the button.' The Doctor uses this to dance around a BIG BUTTON. Like, should he press it or not? The song says it four times, and he loves it, mouthing the words, playing with the button. And Ruby SMILES. She loves this. And the 4th time: He presses the button!

"TIME ROTOR MOVES, room JOLTS - a moment of anti-gravity as the Doctor & Ruby rise upwards, then down - Ruby holds onto the console, alarmed, excited, the song JUMPS to the CHORUS. The Doctor in his element at the controls, the MUSIC, the chamber’s MOVING LIGHTS. Ruby does not stop being amazed."

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So there you have it! It's not clear exactly why this moment was cut, but some Whovians seem a little disappointed that it didn't make it into the episode, with popular X (formerly Twitter) account Bad Wolf Archives posting: "WE WERE ROBBED," alongside an image of the script.

"This being cut literally makes the episode so much worse," another fan wrote in reply. "Because he says push the button so many times and it feels very strange, and it even sets up the entire climax."

Meanwhile, a third fan wrote: "I had a feeling there was a lot missing from this scene... it all seemed cut together very quick, and now we know why."

Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas Day. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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