Draft:73 Yards

308 – "73 Yards"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Companion Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday
Others Aneurin Barnard – Roger ap Gwilliam Maxine Evans – Lowri Palin Hillary Hobson – The Woman Susan Twist – Hiker Sion Pritchard – Joshua Steele Gwion Morris Jones – Ifor Jones Elan Davies – Thin Lucy Glyn Pritchard – Eddie Jones Siân Phillips – Enid Meadows Jemma Redgrave – Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Michelle Greenidge – Carla Sunday Angela Wynter – Cherry Sunday
Production
Directed by	Dylan Holmes Williams
Written by	Russell T Davies
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Joel Collins Phil Collinson
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 14
First broadcast	25 May 2024 (2024-05-25)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Boom" Followed by → "Dot and Bubble"

"73 Yards" is the fourth episode of the fourteenth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 25 May 2024, and was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams. It stars Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as his companion Ruby Sunday.

Plot

The Doctor and Ruby arrive at a cliffside in Wales. The Doctor accidentally steps on a fairy circle, which warns of a "Mad Jack." The Doctor vanishes, and Ruby finds a mysterious woman has appeared exactly 73 yards away from her, no matter where she is standing. Ruby finds that the woman moves when she moves toward it, and every person she requests talk to it in her stead flees in terror.

Ruby returns to her home, where she requests the aid of her mother, Carla. Carla talks to the woman, but she flees, angry at Ruby. Carla disowns Ruby and leaves her on the streets, where she encounters Kate Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT. UNIT attempts to take the woman in, but UNIT promptly leaves after getting close to her. Ruby spends the next twenty years alone.

While on a date, Ruby sees an advertisement for Roger ap Gwilliam, a political candidate mentioned by The Doctor as bringing Britain to the brink of nuclear war after he is elected, who mentions going by the nickname "Mad Jack." Ruby joins Gwilliam's party to stop him, but is relegated to carrying coats. Gwilliam meets a woman named Marti, who grows terrified of him after some time. Gwilliam wins the election, and plans to make a speech to the world where he will announce that Britain is leaving NATO and buying Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Ruby manages to move 73 yards away from Gwilliam, leading to him encountering the woman. Gwilliam flees in terror and resigns as Prime Minister.

The woman does not leave, and Ruby spends another forty years alone. An older Ruby goes on life support in her older years, eventually passing away as the woman approaches the foot of her bedside. Ruby appears in the past, on the day she and The Doctor interacted with the circle. She appears in the form of the woman, and calls out to her younger self, warning The Doctor not to step on it. Ruby prevents The Doctor from stepping on the circle, and the pair leave as the older Ruby disappears.

Production

Development

"73 Yards" was the first episode filmed by Millie Gibson as Ruby, as well as the first script given to her. Gatwa stated that "73 Yards" was important to Ruby's overall development throughout the series. It was written by Russell T Davies who considered the episode to be Welsh folk horror and the antagonist to be "strangest villain you’ll ever see." The episode omitted Doctor Who's opening theme song for only the second time in the programme's 60-year history, the first being "Sleep No More" in 2015.

Casting

Casting for "73 Yards" was announced on May 24th, 2024. Aneurin Barnard guest stars as Roger ap Gwilliam. Hilary Hobson portrays the mysterious woman while Siân Phillips portrays Enid Meadows. Susan Twist appears as a hiker in the beginning of the episode, carrying on the trend of appearing in every episode in the series in small, unrelated roles. Jemma Redgrave also makes an appearance as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, a member of UNIT who has acted in a recurring role in the series, last appearing in "The Giggle". Anita Dobson reprises her role as Mrs. Flood in a brief appearance.

Broadcast and reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)
Review scores
Source	Rating
Digital Spy
Radio Times
Total Film

Broadcast

"73 Yards" was broadcast on BBC One 25 May 2024. The episode was simulcast on BBC iPlayer and Disney+.

Critical reception

73 Yards was met with a primarily positive response from critics, with much praise being directed to Gibson's performance as Ruby.

In his review for VG247, Alex Donaldson referred to "73 Yards" as "more than just an all-time great Doctor Who episode, it's one of the best bits of TV in years". IGN's Robert Anderson praised the performance of Gibson as Ruby as well as the atmosphere of the episode, Bradley Russell of Total Film found the episode "unsettling" and that it would "stay with you long after the iconic credits music kicks in." The Radio Times responded positively to the episode, highlighting the performances of Phillips and Barnard. Daniel Cooper of Engadget praised the episode for its exploration of Ruby's character and how it utilized her in the episode. Rebecca Cook from Digital Spy thought the episode was "frustratingly close to being faultless", criticizing the Gwilliam plot thread as well as its execution in conjunction with the rest of the episode.

The episode's ending received mixed responses. Louise Griffin of The Radio Times stated that while the various plot threads and loose threads contributed "to the riddle of the story" and believed the execution was good, she believed there was a limit for audiences. Anderson criticized the various plot threads of the episode, believing that they had not resolve in a satisfactory manner. Bradley Russell of GamesRadar+ responded similarly, believing that the episode was weaker when moved from the initial Welsh setting and that the "final third act" was weaker than the rest of the episode.

In print

73 Yards

Author	Scott Handcock
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Publisher	BBC Books
Publication date	8 August 2024
Pages	192
ISBN	9781785948862

A novelisation of the episode, written by Scott Handcock, will be released as a paperback and an audiobook on 8 August 2024 as part of the Target Collection.

External links

• "73 Yards" at BBC Online
• "73 Yards" at the Doctor Who Stories Website
• "73 Yards" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "73 Yards" at IMDb

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• 2024 British television episodes
• Fifteenth Doctor episodes
• Television episodes written by Russell T Davies
• Television episodes set in Wales
• Fiction set in 2046
• Fiction set in 2089