Entertainment

Doctor Who: Review of Season 1, Episode 5 “73 Yards”

WilliamMay 25, 2024

16 3 minutes read

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Doctor Who Season 1, Episode 5, “73 Yards”

“73 Yards” is a heartbreaking and downright strange tale that stands tall alongside some of the finest horrors of recent years. This is also our first example of a “Doctor-Lite” episode in this new era of Doctor Who, with minimal Doctor presence and allowing other characters to take center stage.

This concept has been explored several times in the history of the WHO; in “Blink” we followed Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan) as she encountered the Weeping Angels, while “Turn Left” showed Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) navigating a timeline that was happening without the Doctor. Following a terrific showcase for Ncuti Gatwa in “Boom,” “73 Yards” gives Millie Gibson her time to shine. Although she had a lot of screen time in the first three episodes of Season 1, none showcased her talent as powerfully as this episode.

Doctor Who Gallery “73 Yards”

“73 Yards” begins with Ruby trapped in a strange folk tale, releasing a disturbing entity that follows her, as you might have guessed, 73 yards away. Imagine It Follows, but without the incessant chasing and shape-shifting. Here, the villain still looks like an old person; he also possesses a sinister ability to petrify anyone who dares interact with him – and, by proxy, Ruby – further increasing the terror factor. But this episode doesn’t just depict the building blocks of horror – it also captures the shattering moments that ground these horrific tales of heartbreak.

Several moments in “73 Yards” are as painfully sad as they are horrific. It’s heartbreaking when Ruby’s adoptive mother rejects her after encountering the 250-foot entity, leaving Ruby screaming for her mother in the middle of the street, desperately trying to break the spell she finds herself under. These scenes showcase a gripping performance from Gibson, who expertly portrays the burden of trauma that follows her as relentlessly as the old woman-shaped thing on her tail. It’s a dark watch: Ruby is abandoned by everyone she loves, and her life descends into cruel banality.

The rest of “73 Yards” unfolds with ever-present sadness, but it’s not long before we take an iconic detour. After the introduction of politician Roger ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard), the storyline shifts from a series of harrowing events to an urgent mission to thwart nuclear armageddon. I much preferred the episode’s early explorations of horror, but there’s still plenty to enjoy in this impactful third act. Infiltrating a political organization because the Doctor mentioned that a future Prime Minister would be about to end the world is as strangely amusing as it sounds. Plus, it’s extremely satisfying when Ruby ends up chasing Gwilliam using her curse.

By its conclusion, the episode returns to its disconcerting starting point, but there is also a disappointing and enigmatic finality to “73 Yards” that doesn’t have the satisfaction I was hoping for. Some horror fans may appreciate the ambiguity of this ending, but there is a limit to how effective it can be. The questions remain unanswered and despite everything that has happened, we are still sent back to square one, with consequences that seem to remain unexplored.

While I wish “73 Yards” didn’t stray away from Ruby’s troubling fate to support a subplot, I still feel extremely satisfied with its attempts to explore so many of modern horror’s most traumatic themes. This episode is an incredibly memorable experience and achieves the “hide behind the sofa” goal that Doctor Who so often strives for. Most importantly, Millie Gibson’s terrific performance perfectly carries an emotionally fraught episode; the young star continues to show off her acting prowess in this new era.