‘Doctor Who’: Jonah Hauer-King Breaks Down Terrible Truth About Ruby’s Boyfriend Conrad

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 4 “Lucky Day.”]

Maybe Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King) was just too nice. It certainly seemed like Ruby (Millie Gibson) had not only found a boyfriend but one that she could be honest and talk about her adventures with the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) with in the latest episode of Doctor Who, only for it to turn out to all be a lie.

Instead, Conrad was using Ruby and aiming to expose the “lies” of UNIT regarding aliens, and Conrad still refused to believe the truth even when one, a Shreek, which had marked him as prey, took a bite out of his arm. Honestly? He deserved it for what he dared to say about Kate’s (Jemma Redgrave) father. But once locked up, he found himself brought briefly onto the TARDIS for a confrontation with the Doctor. There, we found out why the Doctor was looking for Belinda (Varada Sethu) at the beginning of the season: Conrad mentioned her, after encountering the two when he was a kid. That wasn’t all. As the episode ended, Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) showed up at his cell with keys…

Below, Jonah Hauer-King talks about playing evil, whether Conrad had any real feelings for Ruby, going head-to-head with the Doctor, and more.

It starts with what seems like a sweet love story, but then Conrad turns out to be awful. Talk about playing that moment of the switch when he reveals who he really is.

Jonah Hauer-King: It was so fun. I experienced the twist as an audience member would when I read the script. Genuinely, I got sent the part and Russell [T Davies] said, “We’re asking you to play someone a little bit evil.” And I started reading it, and I was like, “I don’t get it. I think maybe this is the wrong script or it was a typo because I feel like he’s kind of the good guy.” And then it comes and it’s so striking and surprising and, as an actor, really fun to play because you’re always looking for levels, nuance, multilayered characters, and this is the epitome of that. To essentially play two different people is really fun and rewarding even though he’s really mean.

James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

Did he have any real feelings for Ruby?

That’s an excellent question. I think so. Yeah, I think he did. I think he really did because I think Conrad is human and he is very dark and he’s not a good person, but he is human and I think he has a lot of reasons for being the way he is — not excuses, but I think there are reasons. And so whilst he has this agenda and this mission, I think he does fall for Ruby a bit, but he represses it, he throws it away. I think he pushes it down and sort of focuses on the task at hand. But I do think there’s humanity there deep, deep down. And Ruby Sunday’s great and charismatic and fine and silly and I think they just do connect. Yes. Did you think they did?

I don’t know because once he had that turn and then he stuck with it … That sort of goes into my next question because he comes face-to-face with the Doctor and this is an angry Doctor. Talk about filming that scene with Ncuti.

Yeah, I think he changes, though, because had he met Ncuti at the beginning of the episode, I think you’re going to get a different Conrad. But I think this whole thing has snowballed, and it’s gotten so much bigger and so much further than really he could ever have expected. And I think he’s got a taste for power, for the limelight. I think he believes the hype to a point. I think he starts to actually believe that he can go head-to-head with the Doctor. And it’s an amazing scene, like a brilliantly written scene. I don’t think he can go head-to-head with — the Doctor is the Doctor, let’s be real. There’s no chance of coming up against him. But in that particular moment, I do think Conrad comes across as so lacking in vulnerability and fragility, and that, I think, throws the Doctor off a bit because he’s used to human beings having more kind of heart. And by the end of the episode, I think Conrad has changed. I think he’s changed for the worse.

Conrad does tell the Doctor something he doesn’t know about Belinda putting him on the path to find her. Did Conrad know that’s what he was doing? And did you know that would be answering a question that was set up in the premiere, why was the Doctor looking for Belinda? 

It’s just the fun time-bending quality of Doctor Who that there’s constantly these cycles going on. I think Conrad knew what he was doing, but it’s such a satisfying thing. And I did kind of know because I asked — obviously me as the actor, I didn’t really know what that meant when I first said it. So I spoke to Russell about it, and he explained a little bit more so I could have some context. But it’s so fun and it’s why I think this season and all seasons do so well because they seem so interconnected. Whilst the episodes can seem like they’re standalone, they’re interconnected for sure. They’re all in that universe and there’s all kinds of Easter eggs and clues along the way.

Then comes the end of the episode when Mrs Flood shows up with the keys to the cell. There are all these theories about who she is. But at that point, who does Conrad think she is? 

I truly think he is like the audience. I truly think he has no idea. In that split second, I think he’s like, all bets are off. I’ve just been transported into the TARDIS. I think anything could happen now. This person could be anyone, but I think in that moment he looks at her and thinks, maybe this is my ticket out. But I think he’s got no idea.

Yeah, it does seem like Conrad is going to be free. So what do you think he does next?

I don’t know. I do not. Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Couldn’t possibly say, but it leaves us on a bit of a cliffhanger for sure. But yeah, we shall see.

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Will we see you again this season?

I couldn’t possibly comment on that. We might, but we also might not, it keeps us guessing.

Talk about going head-to-head with Jemma also because I mean, to go after Kate’s father like Conrad does…

It’s ballsy. It’s a nasty moment for him. And it’s sad. I’m such a fan of Jemma the person, Jemma the actor, Jemma in the show. And it’s not that fun being mean to people that you like, but it is also juicy and she’s so commanding and really Conrad, I don’t know, I don’t think Conrad’s any match for her either. But yeah, she’s so fab, and it was great to get to work with — most of my stuff is with Millie, but to get to work with Ncuti, to get to work with Jemma, I got a real sort of feel for some of the big characters in the show, which is really, really rewarding.

Conrad kept insisting monsters aren’t real, aliens aren’t real, it’s special effects, etc. But did he at any point think his life was in serious danger in UNIT?

Definitely. I think he was terrified and even in that last moment when he says, “Your special effects, your costumes have got really good,” I think at that point he realizes he’s in a new phase now. He’s keeping up appearances, but I think he realizes that they are real. But in that moment, in that split second, he makes a decision to keep the act up and maybe that will sort of stand him. He’s so opportunistic, Conrad, that I think he thinks he can get away with it there. I don’t think there’s any doubting that those things are real.

Did he think that Kate would’ve let him be killed?

I mean, generally, no. Because I think he sort of preys on the goodness of other people and I think he is bluffing all the way up and really fancies his chances. But then I don’t know, when that thing has its head in his face and he’s inches away from that jaw, I think he’s terrified and I think he might be in big trouble.

What was your favorite scene to film from the episode?

There were a few. I’m going to cop out and say three, sorry. I actually loved when him and Ruby Sunday meet and after that interview because a lot of that I was kind of playing it as authentically and truthfully as I could and not really thinking actually — that was advice from our director — about what was to come. We really didn’t want to give anything away and that’s such a classic meetcute moment, and they drop the papers and they’re face to face and it’s really sweet. I loved the turn. It was a big sequence with helicopter and UNIT cars and all the soldiers, and it’s a great acting moment. And then, yeah, the bit was Ncuti. Ncuti’s great and loved that, great dialogue in that scene. Those three stand out.

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