At a Distance

After his first couple episodes this season of Doctor Who were just so-so, I was starting to lose faith in Russell T Davies a bit. Fortunately to-day brought "73 Yards", which is mostly excellent.

Hey, do people still say yards in Britain? I thought it was all metric there.

Anyway, the first half of the episode had the sort of cosily creepy quality of a First, Second, or Third Doctor serial. Ruby pursued by that stationary figure who seemed to render anyone who talked to her permanently terror stricken felt like The Web of Fear or The Demons, especially when Ruby met a group of characters in a pub. I was hoping the episode would involve this group and stay in that little Welsh town. But I like the story it became.

I partly wish the story gave no explanation at the end but, on the other hand, it kind of didn't. I kind of figured early on who the woman was likely to be but there's no explanation for how she got to be where she was, or why she was doing those hand signals. A lot is left up to viewer interpretation, which is probably for the best.

I don't have any complaints about the episode, except possibly to say I found it odd the woman in the pub chastised Ruby for not having a coat when she was clearly wearing one. Sure, a heavier coat would have been warranted but it was yet another moment where it felt like people involved with the production didn't quite read the script closely enough.

Doctor Who is available on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ elsewhere.