2nd Opinion, Take 2 “73 Yards” – What the hell is going on here?!

J.C. reviews the fourth episode of Series 14.

For about the first half of “73 Yards,” I was completely engrossed, largely because my favourite Doctor Who episodes are the scarier ones that push the boundaries of what they can show in a family slot. Doctor Who always feels perfectly at home in rural UK settings, so the premise of a mysterious spectre stalking Ruby through the eerie Welsh countryside hit all the right notes for me.

What surprised me most at first was that this episode was almost entirely Doctor-free. Given that this series only has eight episodes, it seems strange that this was even necessary. The Doctor-lite format used to be a necessity when they were filming 14 episodes a year and had to double-bank episodes to fit them all in. However, Russell T Davies explained on Doctor Who Unleashed that this time it was due to Gatwa’s commitments to the Netflix show Sex Education, which is unfortunate so early in this Doctor’s tenure.

Still, Gatwa’s absence allowed Millie Gibson to shine as the tormented Ruby through various stages of her life, and she delivered a captivating performance for the duration. She did such a good job that I didn’t really miss the Doctor. But I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, especially since it’s crucial this year to get viewers on board with Gatwa’s Doctor. Previews suggest that the next episode will also be Doctor-lite, which means we will be missing his full presence for two of the eight episodes by the end of this run. Perhaps hiring an actor who could film for the duration would’ve been a better choice.

Anyway, when Ruby arrives at the pub and receives an American Werewolf in London-style friendly greeting from the locals, I assumed the episode would continue to ramp up the tension with Ruby trapped inside where the locals start to panic and chaos ensues, à la “Midnight.” However, RTD decided to subvert expectations. Instead, Ruby makes it back home soon after, and the plot eventually shifts to focus on her taking down politician Roger ap Gwilliam. This is where the episode started to lose me a bit.

By the time ap Gwilliam is introduced, there are less than 20 minutes left, and the political plotline has to move at a breakneck pace as a result. Aneurin Barnard is a solid actor (check him out in the sadly axed Netflix show 1899), but he was wasted in a generic villain role here. The fact that he wants to acquire nukes to seemingly blow up the world is the most cartoon villain plot out there, and we are given no motivations for his madness.

Then, after he is thwarted, we get to the ending and the big twist, and all I could think was, to quote, the 15th Doctor, “What the hell is going on here?!” The scene in the nursing home was wonderfully creepy, but the following reveal that Ruby was, in fact, the Woman all along, and she was stuck in a loop creates more questions than it answers. The episode ends before anything can be properly answered. So we’re left with questions such as:

• How did elderly Ruby travel back in time?
• Given that we know Ruby is the Woman, why does she still scare those even closest to her, like her adopted mother?
• What did she say that made Carla hate her, and why would she even do that to herself?
• What was she saying to her other victims?
• Why does she appear to use sign language as well, and how did she learn this?
• Why the 73 yards distance?
• Where did the Doctor end up?
• If none of the events happened, then ap Gwilliam was never stopped and will still cause nuclear war, making the whole episode and Ruby’s efforts pointless?
• Roger ap Gwilliam is apparently Mad Jack, but why did the message Ruby found say “Rest in Peace, Mad Jack”?
• Who even made the circle in the first place?

Russell T Davies has already said we will never find out what the Woman was saying, but will any of the other questions be answered? I will give RTD a pass if the truth about Ruby’s origins answers some of these mysteries. If ap Gwilliam returns, and they flesh out his role and reveal his fate, that would help too. But for now, most of these will have to remain as plot holes. My worst fear is that RTD will just hand wave it away as “magical” events, like some of the other things that have happened in this era.

Overall, “73 Yards” leaves me hugely conflicted. On the one hand, the episode hooks you with its eerie atmosphere, intriguing mysteries, and Millie Gibson’s standout performance. The rural UK setting and initial tension-building are classic Doctor Who elements that work well. On the other hand, the abrupt plot shift and rushed introduction of an underdeveloped villain undermine its potential. The unresolved questions leave significant plot holes, and while there’s hope that future episodes might address some of these, judged as it is, “73 Yards” ultimately ends so near, yet so far…

Asides

• RTD must have watched the 2014 horror flick It Follows.
• Credit to director Dylan Holmes Williams for the best-directed episode of Series 14 thus far. I knew he would do a great job with an episode like this, as he showcased a great eye for horror on the Apple TV show Servant.
• Why is the Doctor being portrayed as such an idiot this series? He’s meant to be the most intelligent man in the room. Now he can’t even remember what year Ruby is from. And then he accidentally stands on the fairy circle, right after narrowly escaping death from standing on a mine!
• Siân Phillips was great, but sadly her role amounted to little more than a cameo.
• How on Earth is the pub owner still in business? She’s so hostile to Ruby even after she’s been there for a while.
• “The most dangerous Prime Minister in history.” More so than Harold Saxon!?
• It’s always great to see Kate again, but how did UNIT actually find Ruby?
• Finally, are we sure Moffat didn’t write this one?! Did the scripts get mixed up? I haven’t done this much head scratching with Doctor Who since Series 6.