Doctor Who: 73 Yards – a 'stone-cold classic piece of British TV sci-fi'

Ncuti Gatwa was almost entirely absent from "73 Yards" but it didn't matter, said Ed Power in The Independent. The latest instalment of the iconic British sci-fi show passed the "litmus test" of any great "Doctor Who" episode: would it still work without the doctor? "The answer is stonkingly in the affirmative."

Despite the BBC's flash deal with Disney+, the fourth episode of season 14 had a "back-to-basics vibe", with the drama unfolding from a windswept cliff in Wales. The doctor mentions a dangerous politician before stepping on a fairy circle and vanishing, leaving Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) to fend for herself. Things take a dark turn as Ruby spies a mysterious woman following her from a distance (never allowing her to get closer than 73 yards), "making weird hand signals and cackling out of earshot". What more could an avid Whovian ask for?

The episode, penned by Russell T. Davies, cranks up to "full-on horror" as Ruby tries to "unravel the mystery", said Martin Belam in The Guardian. She heads to the nearby village to find help; the high point of the episode is the "oppressive Welsh pub night-time sequence" which "veers wildly" between the mirth of locals enjoying "pulling the leg of the gullible English tourist" and the "genuinely unnerving menace" as they tell tales of "Mad Jack". 

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Aneurin Barnard "cut an impressive figure" as villainous politician Roger ap Gwilliam, while Ruby's adoptive mum Carla (Michelle Greenidge) put on a heart-rending show, disowning her daughter and telling her with conviction: "Even your real mother didn't want you."

But it is Gibson who carried the episode with a "deeply moving and noble" performance, said Martin Robinson in the London Evening Standard, proving she is "a lot more" than a mere "gauche, wide-eyed companion".

The ending doesn't completely make sense. ("You'll probably need a flowchart, a cork board and lots of string to work it out", conceded Power.) Regardless, "73 Yards" is a "moving, provocative" episode that has the "gumption" to break with the weekly format and temporarily relegate the doctor to the sidelines. "It's a five-star knockout all day long."

Although  "genuinely disturbing", this episode is, all in all, a "stone-cold classic piece of British TV sci-fi", said Robinson, and one that is sure to win over "even people who hate 'Doctor Who'".