Reading all of the opinions on 73 Yards here I can tell that I might be in the minority of not being particularly enamoured by it.
It was a beautiful episode and fantastically atmospheric, but the direction was really inconsistent I thought. That slow shot away from the Doctor and slowly back so Ncuti had a chance to run behind the camera felt a bit undramatic and something you would expect from a fan production.
And generally I found the story so rushed that the narrative cohesion was severely lacking. I can’t go on atmosphere or “vibes” alone - it was a good concept for a story but I don’t really think it followed through in the execution. A real need for a rewrite or two.
Last week was basically all I like about a Steven Moffat script whereas this week was almost all the bits I dislike about an RTD script.
I found a bit of a similarity in the production with The Devil’s Chord, the story really hinges on the acting of a single actor. Millie Gibson here, Jinxx Monsoon in the other. In my opinion Millie pulled it off whereas Jinxx was a travesty to acting in general - all spectacle no substance. But still good acting can only take an episode so far if the script is an issue.
Perhaps I also had too high expectations when the production team said that the story was unlike any other done, but it kind of wasn’t - I found it to be entirely within the preset boundaries of the Whoniverse. I am kind of left with the thought that RTD is overextending himself by writing so many of the stories, he could easily come up with the idea and premise of a script and give it to another writer, and then have a greater control in the final editing of the script.
This story has more questions than there are question marks on the 7th Doctor pullover. We might get some answers later on in the season, but as a standalone story I just don’t think it hangs together as a narrative structure.
Am I being overly negative? I will try to fit in a rewatch tonight and see if knowing what to expect will change my enjoyment of the parts I did like from it
I saw someone else say something that I think was a big part of what made the ending not totally land with me, which is that showing us that the Woman is Ruby simultaneously takes away that sort of unknowable horror that is present in monsters like the Midnight entity or the Not-Things, while also creating a bunch more questions that feel just kinda unsatisfactorily unexplained
The more I sit with the episode the more I feel like most of the unanswered questions (What was she saying? How did we end up in this timeline? Was there a purpose? Why 73 yards? etc.) I am totally content with not knowing and think that leaving them very vague adds a lot to the creepiness of the episode. The ones that I’m really stuck on feeling like they should have answers are really all a result of the reveal that the Woman is Ruby, because for me that raises questions of both mechanics and motives that do feel like they need explanation, because otherwise it feels like a twist reveal just for the sake of it
Wow. It was an absolutely compelling episode to watch. The atmosphere was thoroughly unsettling.
I particularly found the expressions of disgust on people’s faces when they ran away from Ruby very disturbing. There’s a primal fear of being “found out” by friends and relatives that speaks to me. If they really knew the real you, would they find you disgusting?
I felt it began to unravel a bit once Ruby realised that she needed to prevent the nuclear disaster and once she’d managed that, her life continued. I was kind of expecting the undoing of the nuclear launch to be the reset, but we then went on and only snapped back when Ruby was dying. I like the idea that the woman was herself warning her about breaking the fairy circle, but the rest of the plot didn’t really add up. Was mad Jack held by the fairy circle and released when the Doctor trod on it? Did that create t he alternate timeline that Ruby had to undo? If so, why did the Doctor already know about the worst PM in history? Why was everyone who had spoken to Ruby’s future self so repulsed by her?
As many have said, there seem to be questions central to the plot that remain unanswered.
It was a great premise, brilliantly realised, but, after investing an hour of our time being unsettled by events, it did seem that we were lacking some resolution.
RTD does like to hype things up a bit too much! I know it’s his job to promote things but saying stuff like that can only lead to slight disappointment. I agree it wasn’t really treading that new ground, even in Who itself.
And especially in wider media, there’s another TV show that did a very similar plot of someone being haunted by a ghost their whole life and it turns out to be themselves from when they died (I won’t say the name of the show because that’s a major spoiler, DM me if you want to know, lol).
It makes me nervous about the finale, which he said is better than The Stolen Earth. That’s probably my favourite finale so I hope he’s right!!
I really really enjoyed this episode, the atmosphere was unsettling and Millie gave a great performance as Ruby. Makes me wish Wales existed in real life
I did enjoy the episode but I don’t actually disagree with anything you said - I feel like many of the episodes seem to be promising us ‘the end of the series will make it all make sense!’ and idk if that’s the best defense for some kind of mediocre episodes
It’s definitely the sort of thing that only works properly if the end of the series is good and does make it all make sense. Otherwise, you end up retrospectively lowering your ratings for everything in the season.
Watched it twice, first time I didn’t like it at all, too much anxiety stuff I guess. Second time was better, although I want those questions answered NOW.
That pub and its customers reminded me strongly of the diner in The Birds. Anyone else or is it just me?
Spoiler
My theory for everyone abandoning Ruby: Some kind of curse for reading the paper “I miss you”?
Brilliant, brilliant episode. Why is it brilliant? Because while we debate the many unexplained things and try to look for answers, we miss the simple fact that RTD answers all of them in the episode. The answer arrives when we listen to what Kate says to Ruby, “We see something inexplicable and invent the rules to make it work.” RTD placed the answer slap-bang into the middle of the episode and tested our perception of things. The episode leaves much unexplained, leaving us to invent our own rules to make everything work. It’s brilliant writing!
Other than that, the episode excels at conveying vibes and atmosphere. It begins as a Welsh folk horror with a brilliantly creepy atmosphere and then turns into a more straightforward political satire (that’s the only thing I’m a bit bummed about, as the latter half isn’t as atmospheric as the first, even if the commentary of danferously charismatic political leaders is apt).
Millie is amazing, and considering this is her first work on the show, she carries the episode beautifully. I also didn’t expect Kate and UNIT to show up, which was great. Although the actor portraying Gwilliam excelled, the role itself lacked consistency and development.
I love the unnerving, strange puzzle box vibe of this adventure and its timey-wimeyness, combined with a touch of magic and fantasy (a lot of things happened in threes, for instance). And no title sequence adds to the strange atmosphere, as does another appearance from Susan Twist (this time commented on by Ruby; we are getting somewhere with this!).
Because of its uneven halves and Gwilliam’s nature, it’s a 9/10 for me, just behind Boom and before The Devil’s Chord.
He placed a perception filter on the episode itself? I kind of like this interpretation.
And leaving something unexplained due to the supernatural I totally valid, but unless we get some sort of overall explanation of the supernatural nature of things (probably in the finale) I don’t think I will be able to enjoy this story the way you do. (Also this is one of my many issues with the End of Time, so many things left unexplained).
As it stands on it’s own my personal opinion is that this is not so much a case of brilliant writing but of lazy writing relying on atmosphere alone.
Hmm, I kind of hate it when there is such overwhelming love for a story and it just doesn’t work for me, I guess there is a bit of a FOMO at play
This one seems to be somewhat divisive, exactly because of the loose nature of the plotting.
I have a feeling that we are going to get some answers that tie to all of this (Ruby’s past, the song and dance numbers, The One Who Waits, Mrs Flood, Susan Twist etc.) in the finale. I sure hope so, because otherwise some of the tonal and narrative choices in this season feel very random (and RTD tends to have a reason for doing certain things). But only time will tell!
I get this, but you shouldn’t feel too bad. That’s the beauty of Who: we love some things and dislike others and the show can’t always please everyone! Sometimes, a rewatch helps (and sometimes it makes things worse). Sometimes being in a different life situation means that we vibe with an episode differently than before. We all connect with different things and value different aspects of the show - I for one cannot fathom how anyone could find The Web Planet enjoyable (but I respect those that do!), while I honestly think that Love & Monsters isn’t as bad as most people make it out to be.
I fully expect Ruby’s past to be explained in the finale, and The One Who Waits, but personally I hope some other smaller things like Susan Twist get left until next season.
Explaining too much in one go could be detrimental to the final story, and only having these mysteries for 7 episodes isn’t very much. And we know they filmed these two seasons back to back - let’s have a really big arc!
I hope the finale doubles down on some of the mysteries and we speculate about them for a year
Quoted for truth (except the bit about The Web Planet - I’m still fond of that story). It’s been really interesting to see the different reactions to the season here and to be honest, I think I’m surprised I loved 73 Yards as much as I did because ‘unexplained’ stories tend to bug me. But I think it came at a time when I’m vibing with shows like Inside No 9 and Years and Years and it just hit right. I fully expected to love The Devil’s Chord but didn’t because I thought the song was a bit crap and the magical zebra crossing was just silly but I know I will go back to the episode without the weight of expectation of what I’d built up in my head from the trailers and probably enjoy it a whole bunch more.
Deep Breath is a prime example of this for me. I watched it on broadcast and didn’t like the aesthetic or Capaldi or much at all but then rewatched it a few years later and couldn’t understand why I’d been so nonplussed by it and loved it!
I’ve always assumed that it was Kate who picked up the tooth at the end of The Giggle in order to put it safely (?) away in the Black Archive… She had red fingernails in the episode and it would make complete sense for her to do that
My overall take is that Ruby was pulled into an alternate timeline because she read the messages. Yes the Doctor broke the circle but immediately set forth to fixing his part. This might have been Ruby’s option for “fixing” her part and explain why she had to do it alone. But then the Tardis remained…
I am not entirely ready to assume that Ruby was the 73 yards woman the entire time. Maybe they merged at the end? Maybe they did not merge and the 73 yards woman just took the message. I do not know… and why was she suddenly facing away from Ruby at the end as she drew closer? Simple plot device to not reveal her face or actual reason? How does this result in traveling back in time? Who knows… yet.
If it was a loop then I presume that she merged with the 73 yards woman, herself, at the end and had learned enough, during the first pass, to utter the “Don’t step” message in an attempt to break the time loop and return to “regular” continuity. But what could explain the repeated gestures (If it is some form of sign language then either Ruby should have recognized it or we should have watched Ruby learn it under the theory that the 73 yards woman is Ruby.) and whatever she uttered that made both strangers and close loved ones run away screaming? Not simply run away but screaming (I assume Kate’s training helped subdue the effects.).
I really liked the episode and even though it has more unanswered questions than usual I am hopeful that they will be addressed in future episodes (Though not necessarily this season.). To me this just seems like another part of setting up the foundation for the shift in theme for this new season. That it has mavitated more towards superstitions, fairy tales and the supernatural.
And why did the episode not have an intro? Is it going to be related to the Maestro playing the theme song within an episode? The repeated breaking of the fourth wall? Is the show itself, not simply the fictional content, being pulled into an alternate timeline? Or was it pulled in during this episode?
