73 Yards

308 – "73 Yards"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional poster
Cast
Doctor Ncuti Gatwa – Fifteenth Doctor
Companion Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday
Others Hilary Hobson – The Woman Susan Twist – Hiker Maxine Evans – Lowri Palin Siân Phillips – Enid Meadows Sion Pritchard – Joshua Steele Gwion Morris Jones – Ifor Jones Elan Davies – Thin Lucy Glyn Pritchard – Eddie Jones Michelle Greenidge – Carla Sunday Angela Wynter – Cherry Sunday Anita Dobson – Mrs Flood Jemma Redgrave – Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Graham Butler – Frank Hinchey Ali Ariaie – Sanjay Miah Albey Brookes – Rufus Bray Aneurin Barnard – Roger ap Gwilliam Miles Yekinni – Craig Deloach Amol Rajan – Himself Sophie Ablett – Marti Bridges Shane David-Joseph – Akhim Patil Jason May – Groundsman Dylan Baldwin – Security Officer David Constant – Armed Policeman Deeviya Meir – Newsreader Amanda Walker – Old Ruby Rhyanna Alexander-Davis – Elizabeth Campbell Vee Vimolmal – Nurse
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 science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 25 May 2024, and was released by Disney+ in the United States on 24 May. It was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams. In the episode the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) suddenly disappears off a cliffside in Wales after breaking a fairy circle. His companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) searches for the Doctor while being followed by a mysterious woman who is always 73 yards away from her.

"73 Yards" was the first of the fourteenth series to be filmed and was produced in various locations around Wales in late 2022 and early 2023. Described by Davies as folk horror, the episode received largely positive reviews, with many critics praising Gibson's performance in particular.

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 (67 m) away from her, no matter where she is standing. Ruby finds that the woman moves when she moves toward her, and every person she requests talk to her 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 in terror. Carla disowns Ruby and leaves her on the streets, where Ruby meets up with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT. Several UNIT soldiers attempt to capture the woman, but as they get close to her she speaks to them and they leave. 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. Gwilliam mentions going by the nickname "Mad Jack," and Ruby thus joins Gwilliam's party to stop him. However, she is relegated to carrying coats. 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 elderly Ruby lies in a hospital bed, encountering the woman as she slowly approaches the foot of her bedside. Elder Ruby appears in the past, on the day she and The Doctor interacted with the circle. She appears in the form of the woman, seemingly as if it were her the whole time. She then gets young Ruby's attention and manages to have her warn The Doctor right as he is about to step on the circle. Preventing The Doctor from dissappearing, with the pair leaving after admiring the fairy circle. The older Ruby has disappeared, having never existed.

Production

Development

"73 Yards" 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." Gatwa stated that "73 Yards" was important to Ruby's overall development throughout the series. The episode omitted Doctor Who's opening theme song and title sequence for only the fourth time in the programme's history, the first three being "Sleep No More" (2015), "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (2018) and "Resolution" (2019).

Filming

The studio at BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House was used as a filming location.

"73 Yards" was filmed in December 2022 and January 2023 and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams. It was the first episode of the fourteenth series to film which occurred in the first production block along with the following episode, "Dot and Bubble". It was the first script given to Gibson. The first scenes filmed by Gibson took place in Ruby's flat. The opening scene was filmed in the West Wales town of Tenby. Two TARDIS props were used during filming because the production team needed it to appear aged and would not have had time to re-paint it on location. Filming for pub scenes took place at White Cross Inn in Caerphilly. which had also previously been used as a filming location in the spin-off series Torchwood. Because the window Ruby looks out in the pub actually overlooked a car park, the window had to be removed from the building and relocated to obtain the proper point of view. Some scenes were filmed at BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House and Cardiff City Stadium.

Casting

Gibson while filming for the series.

"73 Yards" is deemed as a "Doctor-lite" episode which refers to an episode that features limited screen time for the Doctor. Gatwa was still filming Sex Education (2019-2023) at the time the episode was filmed, limiting his availability. Gatwa was only on set for one day of filming. As a result the episode was largely led by Millie Gibson's performance as Ruby Sunday.

Casting for the episode was announced on 9 January 2023. Aneurin Barnard appears in the episode as the antagonistic Prime Minister Roger ap Gwilliam. Hilary Hobson portrays the Woman, while Siân Phillips portrays Enid Meadows.

"73 Yards" features several returning characters including Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the leader of UNIT who has acted in a recurring role in the series, last appearing in "The Giggle" (2023). Anita Dobson reprises her role as Mrs. Flood in a brief appearance. Real broadcast journalists were used as extras in the scenes filmed at the BBC Broadcasting House. As in previous episodes of the series, Susan Twist appears in a different role this time at the beginning of the episode as a hiker.

Broadcast and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Vulture
Evening Standard
i
IGN	8/10
Radio Times
The Independent

Broadcast

"73 Yards" was first released simultaneously on Disney+ in the United States and BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom on 24 and 25 May 2024, respectively. It was followed by a broadcast on BBC One later in the day. Disney also handled international distribution of the episode outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Critical reception

The episode was met with positive reviews from critics. Gibson's performance was widely praised by critics.

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". Similarly, Evening Standard's Martin Robinson hailed it as "a sci-fi horror classic that even the show's haters will love" and saw it as a rival to "Blink" (2007), citing its "formal excellence and truly affecting horror". IGN's Robert Anderson praised the atmosphere of the episode, considering it "among the best 'Doctor-lite' episodes ever", despite commenting that some plot threads do not resolve in a satisfactory manner.

Bradley Russell of Total Film described the episode as an "outstanding Who entry" that is "unsettling" and that would "stay with you long after the iconic credits music kicks in", but argued that the third act was weaker than the rest of the episode as it loses the impact of horror and forward momentum from Welsh setting. Daniel Cooper of Engadget praised the episode for its exploration of Ruby's character and how it utilized her. Rebecca Cook from Digital Spy thought the episode was "frustratingly close to being faultless", criticizing the Gwilliam plot as well as its execution in conjunction with the rest of the episode. Louise Griffin of Radio Times opined that, while the "unanswered questions" contributed "to the riddle of the story" and the execution was good. She added that she believed there was a limit for audiences, but the episode did not cross it.

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