In a post-season interview, Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies, discussed the most talked about episode from Ncuti Gatwa’s first season, “73 Yards.”
Speaking to SFX Magazine (courtesy of BleedingCool), Davies discussed the story, considered Doctor-lite, since for the bulk of its runtime, Gatwa is absent as the Fifteenth Doctor. The actor, who was unavailable and filming Sex Education at the time, left the reins to Millie Gibson in the role of Ruby Sunday.
In an episode that leans on British folk horror elements over science fiction, Davies reflected on the script, describing it as a story audiences can “think about” for the rest of their lives. In the episode, a mysterious woman pursues Ruby throughout her life but remains at a distance of, you guessed it, 73 yards away.
While entirely visible to all approaching her, everyone flees in fright after the woman communicates with them. Davies has the answers but refuses to reveal them. He had this to say:
“You’re literally asking the wrong question because there’s nothing a woman could say to you in 10 seconds that would make you run away from your own daughter. That sentence doesn’t exist. So, therefore, what is happening with the woman is far deeper and graver and malevolent and dangerous than a simple sentence,” Davies said.
“I say I don’t explain things, but you are then suddenly given that clue in episode eight that it’s connected to the TARDIS perception filter, and suddenly that starts to make sense. But I’m not gonna go into any more detail,” he added.
“What everyone leaves out of the equation is that, actually, we’re now in a universe in which fairy circles are real and have power. I will tell you that Mad Jack was just a dog. There is no Mad Jack. I love people making up theories about Mad Jack.”
More than 800 episodes of Doctor Who and associated spinoffs, including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, and Class, are available on the BBC iPlayer.
Until then, we still have the 2024 Christmas Special, Joy to the World, to look forward to, starring Nicola Coughlan in an undisclosed guest role, with trains, Silurians, and a noisy fly.
