Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “73 Yards”

“73 Yards” Does Not Remotely Stick The Landing

“73 Yards” is a confusing episode. I’ll admit that immediately. I did not fully understand the plot of it. The inclusion of supernatural elements might have something to do with that, but the conclusion and middle section left me uncertain of even the magic’s rules.

And that really is a shame because if the episode had just been a little clearer, “73 Yards” is a solid mystery plot. Much like the beginning of “The Devil’s Chord,” there’s an instant hook. In this episode, The Doctor disappears and there’s a strange woman always a certain distance away, repeating the same few gestures. And “73 Yards” has the patience, the attention to detail, to carry that mystery’s momentum throughout almost the whole episode. Ruby spends time trying the things that anyone would try—and there’s never any big exposition speech to just wipe away the tension.

Lots Of Interesting Ideas Happen In The First Part

But the issues are both before and after the big reveal. And I am spoiling stuff from here on out. Like full spoilers. Now, admittedly, the first issue I’m not super equipped to talk about, so take it with a grain of salt. I’m not Welsh and I really don’t know the history that’s being pulled from for “73 Yards,” if any. But there’s an extended scene that’s kind of odd. There’s dialogue about how it’s offensive to assume Welsh people are “witches” and “druids.” But there is real magic in “73 Yards” and their jokes about it are correct often enough it seems to be more lamp shading than critiquing a stereotype.

Secondly, the time loop ruins Ruby’s big moment. The payoff of her finding a way to stop a Prime Minister from shooting nukes at people is a really cool plotline. Putting the pivotal scene in a stadium—a location sometimes associated with demarcated yards—subtly plants the idea before the big reveal. But that moment canonically never happens. It’s undone. That Prime Minister is still a danger in the far-flung future. The altered timeline doesn’t exist because The Doctor doesn’t step on the circle. I’m not complaining about paradoxes; I’m complaining that this episode is essentially a dream sequence. Ruby doesn’t even recall what happened, so she doesn’t get to have any character growth. Possibly they could pay this off in later episodes, but it feels like a one-time thing.

And that’s the whole episode, really. It’s a fun supernatural mystery, until it’s an effective political thriller, until a twist makes everything a little pointless. “73 Yards” didn’t need more time; it didn’t need to calm down on the bleakness, it’s simply flawed from a structural level. I don’t mind that Doctor Who has canon magic now—as long as it keeps to some level of internal logic within the bounds of an episode. “73 Yards” doesn’t do that. And while it’s well acted, well shot, and intriguing for a while, it just wasn’t what it needed to be.  

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