The Eleventh Doctor interrupts some Pizza, Booze, Telly in this incredibly polarising episode of NewWho
The Doctor accidentally breaks a fairy circle prompting an unexpectedly divisive episode of The Ruby Show
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Yes! Wow! Finally! Wales! And, honey, Wales in 2024 has a lot going for it: fresh air, cliffs, hiking trails, fairy circles that can make people disappear and interfere with causality if you break their string boundary and/or read out messages folded up inside them. Wait, what? Yep, Doctor Who is diving into the supernatural side of things this week. Next you’ll tell me they even have contactless payments!
Breaking just such a fairy circle inexplicably causes Doc to recuse himself into his TARDIS or disappear altogether, in turn triggering a Doctor-free episode of The Rube Show. That would be creepy on its own, but it’s not the half of it because a ghostly old lady is parked on the horizon, say, an inexplicably precise 73 yards away, gesticulating, mumbling and most importantly keeping her distance. How long will she do that this episode? Semper, that’s how long!
Said strange old lady develops a habit of turning anyone who notices her long enough to listen into Colonel Run-away wannabes. What could she possibly be saying or gesticulating to make people literally scream and run away? How could someone conceive of something so awful about Ruby that, no matter who hears it, they find it beyond comprehension and flee for their lives? What amazingly crafted ending could explain all of this? Hmm?
So strap in for the mundane adventures of a companion with a socially distancing companion of her own who refuses to shout, buy a megaphone, or learn semaphore for an entire lifetime, as she goes on dates, makes an enemy out of Kegels and inexplicably goes all-in for an unnecessary career in government that could have been avoided had she just opened that app she doesn’t have in the future.
Hi Gang,
73 Yards….just wow!! It’s been many years since Doctor Who has had me on the edge of my seat like this. It’s scary and unnerving from the start, with an award-winning performance from Millie Gibson.
The real kicker is when Carla abandons Ruby after talking to the old woman, it’s truly heartbreaking. When Kate then arrives, I thought oh at least UNIT will help but no, in another gut punch Kate leaves too. This story just keeps breaking you.
The tension builds with every scene, but even so there’s also room from some funny scenes too. I love the pub scene where they pretend not to know about contactless payments and also the boyfriend break-up scene where Ruby blames the bedroom problems on him.
The only area this story is lacking in is the set up for Roger Ap Gwilliam, if it had been a little longer we may have got more background. Why was he such a bastard? Was he an incarnation of Mad Jack?
Overall though it’s a fabulously gripping story. I love the solution and Millie Gibson knocks it out of the park.
I award this 4.8 bottles of Ruby’s anti-ageing cream out of 5
Didn’t remotely understand what was happening during ‘73 Yards’, but it felt interesting and the performances were good, so I’ll give it 2.8
…
Hello!
I’ve had time to think about it, and would like to update my mini with some notes:
– Why is everyone in the pub so mean? Poor Ruby found herself in the most hostile pub in Wales. Bet they were all Roger Ap Gwilliam voters
– everyone’s favourite app – ‘how far away is that in yards?’
– Roger Ap Gwilliam was so clearly into nukes – why? What was he going to do, fire them randomly? What did he actually stand for?
– how did that delivery guy knock on the door while holding a tray of meat with both hands?
Ok, that’s a more substantial Mini!
So the interesting thing about this one is how very compelling it is to watch, yet how the plot doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny.
The entire production looks and sounds very good. The flow of the episode never stalls. I’m continually hooked, on the edge of my seat to see what will happen.
But what really did happen? I appreciate a good time loop story. But what’s so scary about Ruby as an old woman, that it drives people almost mad with fear? And why would her appearance mean the Doctor vanishes? Now that this loop has been erased, should we expect a nuclear war in 2046? Why is Ruby so excited to be in Wales when they have basically the whole universe to visit??
Still I was happy to be watching this as it went along. It was a strong demonstration of Ruby’s character, as we learn about how she handles herself in a solo situation under frightening circumstances.
Rating: a mouthwateringly gorgeous cake that’s almost too beautiful to eat, then you find out it’s the inedible display model
While stopping for a pleasant jaunt in the Welsh countryside, The Doctor gets yanked off screen for sticking his foot in a fairy circle, and Ruby takes the long way round of a disquieting time loop.
For 28 minutes, we were treated to eerily crafted Welsh folklore; the delightful Siân Phillips and Maxine Evans; Ruby forced to live a life plagued by a shadow she cannot outrun, nor confront. Abandonment; isolation. 73 yards away from a spectre who sends everyone who speaks to her running away. Away from Ruby. Even Susan Twist and her walking sticks.
A mystery box made of time and distance.
And then RTD pulled the trigger on his dialogue-shaped Chekovs Gun, firing the Roger ap Gwilliam styled bullet at the remainder of the story. The eponymous “Mad Jack”. The most dangerous Prime Minister in history (because no one remembers that year under Saxon).
With time and distance, Ruby delivers the payoff, as The Woman is rendered in place next to Roger, and with some as yet unknown utterance, Mad Jack runs away, and the world is saved.
It’s clever, that bit, isn’t it? We are meant to wonder at its cleverness, and the sad, sorrowful tale of an isolated woman who lives a lonely life, but is never alone. Because, as time and distance fades, it is revealed The Woman was Ruby all along.
But how? Why? And what justice is there for Marti Bridges, a victim of both Roger’s appetites, and Ruby’s hesitation?
I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her.
4.5 out of 5 for the first 28 mins. 3.5 for the remainder. Two years. Ruby had two years to stand 73 yards away from Roger. But hey, she had to be sure.
hi gang!
i have just watched 73 yards. i’ve had a really long day – i moved back from sweden to the uk today! after hours and hours of lugging suitcases around, i had a new episode of doctor who as a reward – and this was quite possibly the best reward i could have gotten. here is my review.
i have not a single bad thing to say about 73 yards. i think it’s genuinely incredible. it’s a delightful blend of horror and political drama and thriller. i don’t think doctor who has ever done an episode like this before (though midnight comes close), where you’re constantly unsettled and on edge the whole time, starting with the distinct lack of title sequence. it felt almost like black mirror/twilight zone with the pacing, the ominous tone and the creepy dialogue. i know i’m being very repetitive, but that’s just because i love this vibe so much!
the welsh town at the beginning was delightful and charming, but so so unnerving when it needed to be. the guttoral screams from those two characters who ran away for no reason really stay with you [sidenote: i’m now very sure this whole season takes place in a tv show and susan twist is definitely the extra that keeps getting cast in different roles]. however, £5 for a glass of coke??? also, the pub is from torchwood 1×6.
the scenes with ruby’s family just made you feel terrible. what could that woman possibly have said to her mum? it doesn’t even really matter. what matters is that ruby, throughout the first half of the episode, has hope stripped away from her bit by bit and every time, it hits you like a bullet. millie CARRIES this episode, and i will sing her praises till the sun goes down. even kate’s return brought hope that we’d kick it up a notch and bring in the action – hope that was swiftly crushed.
the time jump and the gwilliam storyline was equally amazing. gwilliam was SCARY, both in the context of the episode and of current real-world politics. poor marti – her abuse was entirely ruby’s fault, a sacrifice she had to make to avoid the war. and WHAT a solution she had. will gwilliam come back, perhaps as the minister of war? also that old man amol rajan cameo was weird.
the final time jump and ruby’s speech was beautiful. surprise, the old woman was ruby herself from an alternate timeline! and this ruby is also in an alternate timeline, saving the real ruby’s life. that still leaves a lot of unanswered questions though, but it doesn’t matter. this is a simple ghost story, and that woman was one of those unexplained supernatural things that all ghost stories have. i think that this episode’s honestly going down as one of the best rtd episodes ever. way better than years and years.
rating: isn’t it obvious? 5/5.
best wishes,
vamshi
okay upon further reflection it wasn’t THAT good. there’s some clear flaws and gaps in writing that i just don’t understand.
i think this is definitely a normal distribution curve of enjoyment to understanding with this episode i.e. on the very left it’s people who hate it because they don’t understand it, and then in the middle it’s people who love it because “no no no you don’t get it it CAN’T be understood” and then on the very right it’s people who get what he was trying to go for but think it still sucks. i think i’ve moved past that peak and though i still really like it, it’s very much a surface level like.
idk it just reminds me of stories like listen/midnight/haunting of villa diodati which are all equally ambiguous but much more well crafted, internally consistent and rewarding in their ambiguity. the story doesn’t go anywhere and those last five minutes take ALL the wind out of it.
the politics storyline was menacing and i liked roger but it was a tonal shift that felt like it was praising itself for being a tonal shift – it didn’t mean anything and it was just ruby making a bunch of stupid decisions. and poor poor marty – i think that storyline with her was entirely mishandled and if it had any part in the story, it definitely wouldn’t be like that. i mean, assault doesn’t need to be made explicit or be the main part of a story to be impactful – the saxon master was clearly abusing his wife in the sound of drums, even though they never said it out loud. however, the difference is that it clearly affected her demeanour and actions, and actually led to something – she shot him! plus, there was no way anyone could have prevented it so it’s not a terrible look for the joneses or capt. jack at the end. that was rtd too, so he clearly does know what he’s doing sometimes.
that’s really emblematic of my main gripe of the story – it’s patting itself on the back at every turn and yet constantly taking shortcuts to seem more interesting than it has the material to be. and i’m so mad at myself that it’s tricked me into still enjoying it.
regardless, i still do enjoy it – i still (rather unwisely) think it’s the best episode of the season, a season where quite a few things have been questionable, felt too much like rtd was thinking about the real world audience rather than the story itself, and therefore EVERY SINGLE story has had a rushed, weak or otherwise unrewarding conclusion. look, i just like the vibes, okay?
4.5/5
Hi folks
Well, this series has really leaned into the fantastical a lot and no change here then. A fairy circle. Hmm, and that ending reminds me a little of 2001 with the camera perspectives and Old Ruby. I did like that at the end Ruby said three times rather than two as at the start.
A well done to Millie Gibson for carrying this episode all on her own pretty much. Apparently this was the first one they filmed with her (including Church on Ruby Road) so she was 18 when she doing this.
For a moment, I’d wondered if the Doctor had been deleted from time with Ruby the only one remembering him. But then we get Ruby’s foster parents and UNIT remembering him so not that.
I will say that I took my time watching it. It wasn’t one I rushed to get through. Maybe a rewatch is needed. Initial score: 3.5/5
Hi Who Back When Team!
I really don’t know what to think about this episode, I have to say.
UPS:
• Spooky atmosphere to begin with, which I enjoyed.
• The pub scenes (if brief) gave me “An American Werewolf in London” vibes. Great!
• I enjoyed Sian Phillips’s small appearance in aforementioned pub scenes as End Meadows (the woman sitting at the bar) – she was wonderful as scheming grandmother Livia in classic BBC drama “I, Claudius”.
• Plot kept me guessing the whole way through – at first I thought it was going to be a creepy horror story set in the pub, then when Kate appeared it almost turned into a UNIT story for a few minutes until the rug was pulled out from under me. It kept me on my toes on what was going to happen next if nothing else – definitely unpredictable in that respect (although I did predict that these would be some kind of timeline reset at the end).
• Aside from Roger ap Gwilliam and his itchy nuclear weapon trigger finger, it was refreshing that there wasn’t any physical threat to the outside world. It was all psychological torment for Ruby and it provided a more thoughtful and mature narrative than is usual for Doctor Who.
• I found the broadcast timing of this episode hilarious as a surprise General Election was announced just 3 days before. The Roger ap Gwilliam subplot became surprisingly topical and amusing to watch!
• Millie Gibson was superb in this episode. She really held the whole episode on her shoulders, particularly the scenes where she’s abandoned by her mum and subsequently locked out of her flat. It’s amazing to thank that she was only 18 when this episode was filmed, and that it was her first episode to be filmed (due to Ncuti Gatwa’s filming commitments for “Sex Education”).
DOWNS:
• The Ending!!
1. Part I: If the woman was just friendly Old Ruby the whole time, what was she saying that made everyone run away in terror every time, as well as ostracize Young Ruby?
2. Part 2: If Old Ruby was being brought back in time throughout the episode, why was she constantly attracted towards Young Ruby’s current position as if she was attached to her via an invisible string or being pulled by a giant magnet (such as when she appeared in the street and the fields when Young Ruby was travelling back to London on the train)?
3. Part 3: At what point does going to back in time to guide your younger self into saving the world turn into supernaturally stalking your younger self for decades and alienating her from everyone around her, therefore ruining her life? The Police song “Every Breath You Take” springs to my mind.
Overall, I thought this was an eerie, unsettling psychological character study with intriguing twists and turns but with an ending that unfortunately came apart the more I thought about it.
RATING:
3.7 Prime Ministers running away from elderly women on football pitches while armed guards tell you to keep off the grass.