Doctor Who (40) 14:04: 73 Yards.

[nixie]

More please, this for me is one the best who's I've seen in a long time.
The Doctor disappears, we have Ruby all alone being stalked by a mysterious woman.
Have to say I really enjoyed this, I would have liked to see this one being done over a couple of episodes. I didn't click who the woman was until Ruby went back to Wales. Yes there was some flaws and the end was a little too neat but overall it was good.

 

[Pyan]

One of the best Doctor Who episodes that I've seen for a very long time.

 

[Ursa major]

Much better than what has gone before.

There is some criticism online about the ending, but I find this is a bit odd given that Doctor Who is about time travel and its possible consequences and paradoxes.

 

[Karapace]

I like how Susan Twist appears again "Have I seen you before?" (coincidence I think not)
Mrs Flood says "Nothing to do with me"
Tardis materialises on Lone Buttress at Beck's Bay. (done a lot of climbing around there)

 

[Matteo]

More of this please! Beat anything from the Chibnell run hands down**.

Maybe the ending was a  little neat, but the "solution" with the PM was good, and it didn't wrap everything up nice and neatly with everything explained.

Some real South Walian expressions as well .

And it did deserve two episodes.

**actually, that's faint praise...it was one of the best episodes I've seen.

 

[Dave]

I agree that this was one of the best in some time, and with hardly any Doctor in it either.

"How can you tell we're in Wales?" The answer should have been - We are always in Wales, we never leave here really!

The 'paying by phone' part was great as the date had been kept a secret (and the pub had a telephone kiosk outside.) Ditto for the man delivering pies knocking at the door.

 

[Pyan]

The 'paying by phone' part was great as the date had been kept a secret (and the pub had a telephone kiosk outside.)

Yes, I really thought that this was going in a completely different direction.

I half expected Dafydd Thomas, from Little Britain, to make an appearance...

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

I enjoyed it, but I thought it more of an episode worthy of The Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits, or even Black Mirror. A Doctor Who episode, not so much.

But the bigger question is, what did the old woman say to make everyone run away? Even Lethbridge-Stewart who has seen it all before.

Given that they all turned to look at Ruby and then ran, even her own mother, it must have been something about her, but then if the old woman was Ruby...

 

[Ursa major]

Perhaps she told them what Ruby's origin story is.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Perhaps she told them what Ruby's origin story is.

Ah, I know, she told them Chris Chibnall is going to write Ruby's origin story.

 

[Ursa major]

Don't even joke about that!!!!!!

 

[Matteo]

I just realised I've been misspelling "Chibnell".

Ironic really...

...it means he is written badly

 

[Ursa major]

When it comes to his Doctor Who scripts, Deathnell would be a more appropriate spelling of his name.

 

[Foxbat]

During one of my regular bouts of insomnia, I caught the repeat of this episode on BBC2 and was quite pleasantly surprised. No daft running around. No solve-everything (including poor scriptwriting) sonic screwdriver. No infantile phrases like timey winey.
Just a good solid, character driven story with a nice twist of the supernatural on the side.

If every Dr Who story was as good as this one, I might become a regular viewer again. I wonder what will come first, another good Dr Who story or Halley’s Comet?

 

[BT Jones]

I really enjoyed the episode, too. I'm quite fond of Doctor-lite episodes (Blink being the best). Yes, they do the paradox thing a lot in Doctor Who, but they usually always find a novel way of doing it rather than just the old 'it happened because it already happened' schtick. I thought it was a little rushed, and the quality of the writing and pacing dropped in the 2046 segment (as opposed to the initial Welsh segment, which was excellent). Very promising, and already much better than the Chibnall era. If I was being really picky, I'd like Ncuti Gatwah's effusiveness toned down about 50%. He's just far too perky and positive. I always preferred my doctor's with a little cynical world weariness.

 

[Astro Pen]

I always preferred my doctor's with a little cynical world weariness.

Yes, the original Doctor, William Hartnell, did the"grumpy old grandpa" thing very well.

 

[Karapace]

I always preferred my doctor's with a little cynical world weariness.

And sarcastic
Peter Capaldi is perhaps my favourite of the new Doctors for that reason. I don't mind Ncuti's effusiveness too much, a change of pace is good sometimes but I like how he has that confidence of the Doctor, which I never quite got with Jodi Whittaker, even though it started well. She never seemed to get her "I am the Doctor" speech. I think Chibnall was brave in the way he shook things up but sadly the writing and the dialogue didn't do it justice in my view.

 

[BT Jones]

And sarcastic
Peter Capaldi is perhaps my favourite of the new Doctors for that reason. I don't mind Ncuti's effusiveness too much, a change of pace is good sometimes but I like how he has that confidence of the Doctor, which I never quite got with Jodi Whittaker, even though it started well. She never seemed to get her "I am the Doctor" speech. I think Chibnall was brave in the way he shook things up but sadly the writing and the dialogue didn't do it justice in my view.

Well said, @Karapace - quite a measured response. Most people are very harsh on the era and condemning of Chibnall. I prefer to be reflective (with the benefit of hindsight) and just think that it was a different take on the show that just wasn't for my taste. I know a couple of people that really liked it, but it seems a lot of people are not remotely picky about the quality of TV they watch. They are just happy for it to be there, in the same way their favorite comfort food is.

This has just got me thinking about another marked contrast in this particular episode with the Chibnall era - it was the passage of time. Whilst being a little rushed, this episode still did well establishing the passing of time, and using (relatively) subtle ways to note how long it had been (the birthday cards). Compare this to one of the execrable Flux episodes where Danny (I think that was his name) walks on screen and says something along the lines of: "Where are we now? Peru? Gee, how long has it take us to get here? 3 years?" And that was it - that was considered enough exposition to tick the 'confirm how long its been' box for the episode / story. Rather than giving the characters one minute of acting total exhausted / emotional / relief at finally reaching their goal. I actually think that individual moment might be (IMO) the complete nadir of any and all Doctor Who.

As such, its refreshing to at least be back on the right tracks.

 

[MemoryTale]

I loved this episode. It was moody and atmospheric, and the mystery of the woman was really well handled in my opinion. The way she went from being a scary presence, to almost being considered a friend by Ruby was a better indication of time passing.

Some research into folklore and fairy circles in particular make this episode make a lot more sense, but I'm personally glad that nothing was explained, particularly why people were running for the hills after a chat with the distant figure. Like the Time War, I feel nothing satisfying could have been written, so leaving it vague is the safest bet.