TW reviews Doctor Who S01E04 73 Yards

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright BBC

SPOILERS BEWARE!!!

So can 73 Yards continue the quality of last week’s Boom?

The wilds of Wales, a spooky web thing that looks like a dreamcatcher but is actually a fairy ring, a pub in the middle of nowhere and a land soaked in blood.

Spooky trailer indeed. The first thing that struck me was the Doctor’s garb in the beautiful coastline of Wales somehow reminded me of Sarah Jane in The Sontaran Experiment. Don’t ask me why; I don’t know. Excited about being in Wales, the duo tell each other of previous visits to Wales. The Doctor tells Ruby about a Welsh politician, David Pa Gwilliam, who almost brought the world to nuclear destruction then realises this is all in Ruby’s future so he never finishes the story.

So when the Doctor accidentally stands on a fairy ring, Ruby reads the messages amid the bird skulls and trinkets. One of the messages talks of Mad Jack and in a second the Doctor has disappeared. She sees a woman standing in the distance watching her yet no matter how close Ruby gets she cannot meet her. The old woman remains the same distance away every time.

The Tardis is locked so Ruby thinks this is how the Doctor leaves others behind and she walks along the cliffs to find civilisation. Along the way she meets a hill walker who approaches the woman in the distance and runs away screaming. I have to say the shots of the cliffs are stunning and the camera rotating round the Tardis is gorgeous and slightly reminiscent of the 13th Doctor’s final shot.

Finding refuge and overnight lodgings in a pub, the Dead Wood, run by the unfriendliest landlady in the world, Ruby tries to figure what is happening. The pub scenes are a complete nod to An American Werewolf in London’s famous pub scene. WIth the dark setting of night and the close ups, the introduction of witchcraft is well done and an exciting possibility. Are they up against primal forces or a reature from beyond the grave? Has Ruby and the Doctor accidentally unleashed the ghost of Mad Jack intent on picking up his evil behaviour where he left off? The fear of this woman following her unnerves Ruby especially when local Josh went to speak to the woman and ran away in terror just like the hill walker. Is she the manifestation of Mad Jack hunting Ruby?

But the vengeful spirit is nothing but a joke but the persistent woman sticks what Ruby discovers is a distance of 73 yards. There is no reason nor reason. She is there constantly. Even on the train journey home, Ruby sees her everywhere. Her mum Carla stays on the phone while she confronts the woman haunting her daughter. However she runs away screaming, changing the locks so Ruby gets the message she is no longer family.

Jump forward in time and Ruby is found by Kate Stewart but the haunting woman even scares off the UNIT forces. Alone and learning to live with the presence, Ruby sees a television report where new and upcoming minister, David Pa Gwilliam is fighting to make Britain great again. Remembering what the Doctor told her about him, Ruby now thinks she knows why she this is all happening.

Now we are in the Dead Zone territory as Ruby must stop a charismatic politician from bringing the world into a nuclear apocalypse. Infiltrating his political campaign, Ruby works her way into his closest ranks. Gwilliam quickly gains massive popularity and is so popular is about to get the codes for the nuclear missiles in a worldwide broadcast. If that happens then he will launch them bringing about the end of the world.

Ruby positions herself 73 yards from him so the haunting woman appears beside him and speaks to him. He runs away in terror, disappearing from public becoming a hermit. Ruby then lives the rest of her life alone until she returns to the clifftop where it all began. The Tardis is still there covered in all sorts of crap. Ruby lays flowers at the doors then sits admiring the views.

As an old lady, Ruby is visited one night by the haunting woman and it is revealed that the haunting woman has been Ruby all along. This time she stops the Doctor stepping on to the fairy ring and the 73 yards woman disappears.

I haven’t the slightest idea what this episode was about. It feels like a poor man’s Turn Left but without the explanation. Ruby solo mission happens for seemingly stepping on a fairy ring. Is it some temporal anomaly, ancient magic or something that lies within Ruby herself that subconsciously triggers by the thought of nuclear devastation in the near future? Was the Doctor wiped from history? If so why was the Tardis still on the cliff sixty years later?

Millie Gibson does a great job as she lives her life without the Doctor and stepping up to save the world all alone. The pub scenes are haunting and provocative until Mad jack is revealed to be a windup. That is until Gwilliam reveals on a television interview that his nickname is Mad Jack. Ruby’s slow realisation and isolation from everyone she knows and near tenure with UNIT is palpable. Ruby has no emotional ties and has fleeting relationships with men. She is ultimately a lonely figure just as the Doctor is by this strange circumstance.

I knew the woman was Ruby from the get go but how this was going to play out kept me going to the end. But to be honest I grew tired part way through and just wanted it to be over. There was nothing original here and again i have to ask where is the new style of storytelling that brought Russell T Davies back to the show? The only thing I can think of is that this somehow will tie in with Ruby’s secret.

Well acted, well directed but ultimately, not one I will watch again. Back to Boom for me.