Doctor Who: 73 Yards Review (Ups & Downs)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- A Doctor Who episode unlike any we've ever seen. But does it stick the landing? Here's Ellie with our review of 73 Yards!
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Spoiler discussion for 73 Yards is now live! th-cam.com/video/E1i_GV0Uyxg/w-d-xo.html
COULD BE IMPORTANT: Just rewatched the episode and noticed something no-one seems to be talking about yet. When the people approach the old lady 73 yards away, it doesn't appear they are being talked to, the lady is not looking at them or pausing her hand gestures at all. They get the terrible shock and start running away only AFTER they look back at Ruby. Only in the proximity of the old lady they are seeing something about young Ruby that scares the life out of them, even from that distance. I don't think Ruby is who / what she thinks she is.
It would be neat if this tied into the grander mystery of who Ruby is. I don't necessarily expect it since a lot of Doctor Who is one-and-done for the sake of the concept, but if they can tie it together I'd be impressed.
now that's intriguing
I noticed the exact same thing
Exactly! At the end of watching this episode, I said aloud, “OH MY GOD, WHY DID THAT KEEP HAPPENING?!” I am now on the lookout on TH-cam for someone putting a theory out there on that fact. There’s no way that that couldn’t be something not important.
I had the same thought! What are they seeing or realizing about her that would make her own mother treat her so badly that she says “you’re not really my daughter”
About the scene with the phone, I genuinely thought Ruby had gone back in time for a while there, until the landlady said of course you can pay with your phone 😂
Same lol
On a rewatch you can see that the guy in the pub has a smart phone as well, really clever set up and misdirect
Me too 😅 I even said out loud "oh honey you're in another time"
that whole pub sequence was brilliant -- but egads, 5 quid for a Coke??? Never going to Wales again ;)
same
Ellie, at the end of the episode Ruby says she has been to Wales 3 times before as opposed to at the beginning where she says 2 times. Her subconscious remembers it all. That is why she stops The Doctor from stepping on the circle. We will likely see more hints of this throughout the season. But yeah as always with RTD everything has a reason even if the reason is not apparent to us as the viewer.
And that's also why the Doctor still mentions Roger ap Gwilliam *before* stepping onto the circle. It's like an echo of the now defunct timeline because Ruby also says that she has been to Wales 3 times before the Doctor steps into the circle. But in defence of Ellie, I only noticed it on the Doctor asking "When was your third time?" and I thought: "Hang on, Ruby was only in Wales 2 times..."
Hmm that's interesting.
Also in the beginning, IIRC, we hear whispers, but can't understand them. At the end, we hear the whispers and can hear the "Don't Step".
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o While the Doc still mentions Roger ap Gwilliam, at the beginning he mentions ap Gwilliams connection to nuclear war, at the end there's no mention of anything nuclear to do with him.
Nope: she hears the voice saying "step back" then tells the Doctor to do so but yeah; I said notice she said 3 instead of 2 as she subconsciously remembers it - it's like at the end of Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS when the behaviour of one of the brothers is altered by his experience even though none of it happened due to the big friendly red button.
Mrs Flood essentially said "Oh, this episode isn't about me, I'm going indoors".
No doctor in sight so "nothing to do with me" She's a time-lord waiting for an opportunity.
Even more: "That mysterious woman is NOT me. Don't start your crazy fan theories now."
Something with the number 65 as well. £65 pounds for the pub, £65 billion for spending of mad jack, 65 years until the end.
I can't remember where, might have been the interview with Russel, Steven and Chris, that writers have a specific number that they go to whenever they need it. I can't remember what Russell's was. So it could be coincidence or something more going on
Calling the episode 65 Yards would have probably been a bit TOO on the nose.
@@stephenderry9488 Russel did explain on Unleashed that he went to Swansea pier and used the rails mgs as a guide to see how far away someone could stand where you couldn't quite make them out and that turned out to be 76 yards away. The camera crew did a more thorough test and it turned out Russel was correct
he may have thought 66.6 was a bit obvious...
21 years from now, someone may look at this video and think, "Oh my goodness! Millie Gibson looks exactly the same as they suggested she might look at 40!"
Yep hahaha😜
She told everyone “don’t you think she looks tired”
Completely thought of that too
That’s brilliant
That’s not so funny anymore….
Obviously, by the time Ruby reaches 40 there's been a breakthrough in the skin care industry.
Haha ikr
so the issue here may be too much (literal) filler in the episode? 🤔
Why do people think she doesn't look like 40? People age differently, and she convinces me, when I compare her to some women even over 40, I do know.
🤔
in back to the future 2015 doc gets skin rejuvenation surgery
New head canon just dropped
The takeaway here is that the new Doctor really needs to start watching where he's stepping.
This.
😂😂😂
5:05 - Ncuti wasn't available for this episode, he was away filming Sex Education. And keep in mind that, in the shooting schedule, this was Millie's first episode as Ruby and she effectively had to carry the whole episode. She was phenomenal, even if at times the story tripped over itself.
this ep makes wayyy more sense to me now!! I was STRESSED OUT at the beginning of this episode. like “why would you touch these things?” “OMG, HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED ANYTHING FROM PAST ADVENTURES??” and then when she sent her mother to speak to the MYSTERIOUS woman who had been FOLLOWING HER due to this CURSE 😵💫 and was making ppl run away, WHY OH WHY would you send your MOTHER to speak to her??! have you not learned 💆🏽♀️😭😭
Isnt sex education ended with the last season?
This episode was filmed in 2022 so that would have been when they were filming the final season of SE
Wow, yeah thats amazing acting from her then.
Lets assume RTD is a good writer. Then all this 'fumbling' may be intentional. There is a lot referencing story writing. Like the bit about paying with your phone and everybody believing in magic, NOT!. I trust in RTD's craftsmanship and will wait for any of this to return and bite the doctor in the but.
Up?: The side storyline of Marti and Rodger and the implication that Ruby knew Rodger was abusing Marti but didn't say anything because Ruby was trying to save the world from WW3. That's incredibly dark and I am intrigued DW went there.
Very Torchwood, actually
Yeah, that shocked me... you never expect that kind of thing to be implied in Doctor Who... I felt really bad for Marti, it made me hate Roger even more and made his defeat even more satisfying
I'm not so sure what Ruby knew and when -- she certainly had her eye on saving the world when she pointed Marti out to Rodger and so surely didn't suspect what we the viewers did. We don't see when she eventually figures it out -- but she does give an impassioned apology to Marti when the time comes. Alas that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Otherwise someone as strong as Ruby would have done something about it sooner.
I think Ruby definitely knew something was going on, but wasn't fully aware of the personal information. She does apologize but does it in a way that isn't super guilty. That being said, we don't really know what happened between those two. The only thing of note is that he mentions that "Marti is a boy's name". I wasn't sure if that was supposed to imply anything or not. Obviously it paints a picture of him, but we don't really know what his intentions behind that are.
I also was confused about her. I almost felt like she was important in the actual solution and perhaps supernatural as well. After she defeated him I kept looking for a reset so the doctor could show up and save the day and maybe explain what we missed and healed the issue that caused everyone to run away. I mean I know things did reset in the end but I still need to understand what was said that made them run. What do they see when they look at ruby and what cause it all. It was such a thrilling episode and those are the best
If I had a nickel for every time the Doctor stepped on a circular item, rendering the companion needing to fend for herself and end up helping the Doctor and saving herself because she's helped the people in her world, I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it's happened twice.
In a row
I think it's part of the overall plan, but I'm not sure how yet.
Their testing the waters to see if the doctor is really needed. so far he's just got in the way.
@@thedeadpoolwhochuckles.6852expand that thought process
Perry the platypus approves op post
The Ups and Down circles have switched sides. This is as unsettling as not having the title sequence.
I was like so many downs? as if I went color blind 😂
I noticed that too!
I wasn't sure if they had done it on purpose or if Ellie had confused herself by starting with a down. Either way another great video. I watched this straight after the episode which was nice.
Yes! We need an explanation!
YES! it bothered me all throughout the video 💔
The Torchwood vibe in the pub comes from the fact that the same location was used in Torchwood.
My theory is that "old Ruby" is actually not Ruby, but an incarnation of the Tardis, a bit like Ydris. When the circle is broken, the Doctor disappears, and the Tardis is using Ruby to close the alt timeline and save the Doctor. The character doesn't appear until the circle is broken, and disappears when it's not broken anymore. The repetitive moves the character makes are evocative of the Tardis mechanical moves and grunts. the fact that there's a perception filter around her and that the Tardis is locked from the moment the circle is broken. The Ap gwillan subplot is just a plot device that allows Ruby to really make her peace with the mysterious woman. And once the circle is unbroken, she disappears. Could be something completely different though LOL
Up
That's probably a better explanation than whatever we might eventually get.
If she is TARDIS why she isolates Ruby in this cruel way🤔
I think Mrs. Flood being in the episode served two purposes. First, it was to remind the audience of her, to keep her on our minds. Second, her saying this had nothing to do with her was basically like a "Oh, it's not time yet" kind of thing.
Tbh I was shouting at the screen for her to help Ruby and pissed when she just left
sooo....you could say....she waited?.......
this is twice she has seen through a perception filter now
I think she is Susan, Granddaughter of The Doctor.
@@tobi5838 Well water (flood, lots of water...) is patient. Water just.... waits.... (I got the reference, unless you meant "the one who waits" of course.) :)
Ellie. The reason the intro wasn't there was to unsettle you. The whole episode is meant to unsettle you. You shouldn't be settled in this episode.
I didn't even realise it was missing till the end 🤣
@@mistknights4675 I didn't realise it was missing until she mentioned it
She literally said she knows why they did it and thought it still didn't fit
And not even a minute into the video!
Great observation!
The Doctor was cosplaying as Nardole in this episode. What?
LOL, you're right and I missed it!
Wow. Accurate 😂.
😁
😭😭i found it cute, it just fits 15 so well imo
Cosplaying the handyman from balamory😂😂
1) Since Gwilliam turns out to be this fairy menace Mad Jack character the villagers were talking about, obviously not breaking the circle at the end prevents him from being "unleashed" in the first place.
Please notice that both Ruby saying that she's been to Wales three times and the Doctor talking about Gwilliam are lines said before the event that changes the timeline.
Ruby forgets when the third time was afterwards because it was erased from existence. Probably the same happened with Gwilliam's presidential campaign.
2) Pay attention to the specific words Mrs Flood used.
The moment Ruby explained what happened, she said "nothing to do with me".
And then scampered away.
It was literal.
This has nothing to do with her, this is not "her" storyline, therefore she won't intervene this time.
She will intervene when it's something connected to her.
3) The scary old Ruby didn't say anything to the people approaching her.
And obviously Kate might be incompetent, but not *SO* incompetent that one line from a stranger turns her. Same for the mom.
Whatever supernatural event happened when people looked at witch Ruby and then at young Ruby isn't about this episode's plot, but rather it's about the overarching season plot about Ruby.
4) Susan Twist is definitely not innocent.
This was a red herring.
If even Ruby's mom and UNIT's "psychic secret agents" could do nothing against this "curse", this just means that Susan was defenseless against it, too.
Not that she's an average person or a good one.
5) This storyline is almost exactly the same as one of the Haunting of Hill House subplots.
Up to and including the reveal at the end.
Another thing that this reminded me of is The Watcher from old Who.
Go back and check the opening again. The first time Ruby says that she's been to Wales twice. At the end of the episode she says that she's been there three times.
I was unsure of this myself and had to go back and watch the beginning of the episode.
Whos Susan Twist
@@Manimanocasthe name of the actress that plays the older women that has had a repeat appearance in every episode as a different character so far
@@caskgaming4008 Oh ok I just searched and I didnt even notice that the ambulance or any of the other characters were the same person, interesting
Mrs Flood gives me Bilis Manger vibes (aka the guy from Torchwood S1 who summoned Abaddon), and that's she's probably 'the one who waits' mentioned in E2.
My first thought about the "paying with my phone" scene was that it might be a play on Ruby not sure exactly WHEN she was. Say 20 years ago, things would have looked similar, but paying with your phone would have been less universal than it is today.
The weird feeling this episode leaves me with is this: The Toymaker said that when he met The One Who Waits, the only thing he could do was run away. And that's what everyone who approached this time-loop phantom of Ruby did. Can't help but wonder if there's a connection there.
I've had a theory that ruby could be the one who waits as well
This is a great point! All she basically did this episode was wait too, if you think about it. Wait for The Doctor to return, wait for the Tardis to open, wait for her to reach her deathbed so that she could finally communicate with herself
This is pretty much the only good reason for this awful episode, as far as I can tell. I mean, Millie did her job, but the writing seemed like the product of a stoned college kid who wants to brag about how profound he is.
Thanks for the suggestion about The One Who Waits. 😊
Oooo good theory!
I LIKE that a lot! Gonna look for more clues.
As an adopted person, the "even your own mother didn't want you" was a huge punch in the gut to me, because it's a line I've heard a lot before. While I now know it's not true, because I have a fantastic relationship with my biological mom, it did still affect me.
Sadly, you will experience many things in life that you don't like. We are dealing with a character who was adopted so it is very in tune with what you are saying - this shit happens in real life and should be addressed in the show rather than sugar coating it like Moffat did - I mean last week it was all about how parents love, love their children from dot one. Well, some do not. Personally, I hate kids but I'd choose abortion over adoption. How is that for real life!
I'm so sorry you ever heard anyone say that, but glad to hear you had a happy ending.
I enjoyed the phone payment in the pub gag because it wasn't clear what year they were in
Great point about it being really early in Ruby's journey to get this sort of Doctor Lite episode
It was the lowest blow, wasn’t it? Fellow adopted person here. I feel like the point could have been made without that line. I had to pause the episode to have an ugly cry.
If I’d been RTD I would have made Carla the only character who didn’t leave Ruby cos she chose Ruby, the power of love bonds them and all that mushy stuff. We need a positive representation of adoption in tv.
I really like the risk this episode took. A completely lonely companion. No explanation. No real "resolve". Just completely uncanny, uncomfortable, then it just....ends.
I fw that alot😂
Episode had a "twilight zone" feel to it...I thought it was a great episode..
Kinda reminded me of Turn Left in a way. Only with a more hopeless tone.
@@TheHufflepuffSaint i was getting a24 vibes.
its litterally a ripoff of the sarah jane adventures episode
@@law2859reminded me of American Werewolf in London in the pub
My twin sister and I thought the woman was using sign language! To us, it appeared that she was signing 'I'm sorry' and shrugging her shoulders saying 'I don't know'
I was looking for this, thank you! I thought I saw three separate gestures though; the shrug, putting the arms out, and something like rubbing the hands together or maybe rubbing one fist into the other palm?
@HalfwayUK to us the rubbing her fist in the palm is apologizing. I meant to say the reaching out too! So it was the three gestures
"Kate had red nails" - me, looking at Ellie with her red nails explaining that...
The title theme is missing because the theme is abandonment. The Doctor abandons her, the TARDIS abandons her, everyone who listens to the Old Woman abandons her, the elder home staff abandons her, the opening title sequence abandons her...but not the 73 Yard Woman.
I just thought they wanted to have more story so they removed the intro.
As if the person who don’t abandon her it’s actually herself. But I don’t know something doesn’t translated very well here… I was expecting some answers 🥲 not more questions
Well, Ruby certainly does enough of her own abandonment, abandoning the Doctor when the TARDIS is clearly there, without him, and abandoning those boyfriends, and seemingly abandoning anything else interesting in life. All she seems to care about is her own story.
@@thewiseturtleI mean personally if I had a creepy old woman following me for decades I would be a bit distracted too lol she didn’t abandon the doctor I mean was she supposed to wait outside the tardis for 40 years? I caught the sense that the doctor was the first person who talked to the old woman and abandoned Ruby because of that. It wasn’t well explained though so I suppose it’s open to interpretation. The lock seemed to be changed though.
Unsure why the tardis stayed in the same spot for so long but if you remember I think it was during wild blue yonder the doctor says he wonders where the tardis goes when it flies off on it’s own. He says maybe it lands on some outcrop by the sea and people worship it for 100 years. Maybe that’s what happened here 🤷♀️ something to think about.
The only one who doesn't abandon Ruby... is Ruby herself.
Something everyone is overlooking is the fact Kate said Unit are looking more into the supernatural. This myth about Mad Jack may not have a complete logical conclusion because its supernatural, just like the butterfly effect in Space Babies and the salt in Wild Blue Yonder
supernatural shows/worlds can still work within a certain internal-logic. Providing an explanation, doesn't mean it has to be a real-world realistic one, just one that makes sense within the story and world of the show.
@@micron000 I think giving a concrete explanation to the events of this episode would ruin it personally.
Yes, the "Supernatural" element is the key of this series imo. In DW there's always a scientific/sci-fi explanation for the things, only few episode dont have it. I think its all related to the salt thing
I keep thinking a spinoff of UNIT is to come -- anyone know if there's credence to this theory?
THIS! it caught my attention big time too!
It was definitely still confusing, but the point is that old Ruby was able to warn young Ruby to stop the Doctor from breaking the circle - and it was the breaking of the fairy circle that released Mad Jack, who had been bound by it. In the TV interview, the future prime minister said he was “Mad Jack”. Therefore, since he wasn’t released, he would never appear in the revised timeline.
But wait, spooky ruby is clearly younger than 80+ yo ruby. And when spooky ruby comes close to old ruby they warp back in time?? Not only that but there is only one older ruby?? Make that make sense
I thought so at first, too. But then I thought "why did the doctor mention him before he stepped on the circle?" and got confused again. I still dig it though. :D
"point is that old Ruby was able to warn young Ruby" ok but how?
@@goodvdark7949 Ruby might not even be human. We don't even know who her birth parents are
Lot a shite
9:20 “That voice!” I said. “That face! Is that…? Nah, surely she’s dead by now? ‘I, Claudius’ was decades ago!”
I was SO GLAD to be wrong! Sian Philips is over 90, but she’s still unmistakable, still has that regal, slightly sinister presence.
And speaking Latin
I had a similar reaction. I was so excited when I realized it was really her!
You’re so right about the costume changes. I keep having moments where I’m forgetting that he’s the Doctor. Doesn’t help that he hasn’t really had an episode where he stands out yet. This really feels like Ruby’s series!
While Ruby forgot all the lessons she learned during her long life leading to getting the Doctor to not break the fairy circle, WE know that she has the ability and cleverness to thwart Roger ap Gwilliam from nuking the world and get her younger self to stop the Doctor before calamity ensued. So going forward, we aware that she's far more capable than she appears.
Thank you! Came here hoping to see this comment. This episode was a great demonstration of Ruby's own resourcefulness and resolve, independent of the Doctor.
@@jbrezovan er no, just good acting and suspense...
"sometimes doctor light episodes don't work" *absorbilof appears on screen* ... I may have snorted dr pepper out of my nose LOL
List of top rated dr who episodes: BLINK, HEAVEN SENT, BOOM. ALL DOCTOR LIGHT EPISODES BY STEVEN???? the system is RIGGED
Love and Monsters was a bit weird
Underrated episode xD
I thought that episode was great
in fairness to the absorbilof episode, it was a prize from a cbbc show so I always took it at face value for that.
The fact Ruby remembers to warn the doctor at the end suggests she hasn’t totally forgotten the other timeline.
I thought it was implied that the older-version of her, aka The Woman, manages to break through and warn her (whispering not to step), not that she remembers it on her own. There is however a suggestions with the times she's been to Wales thing, that there is some sort of lingering recollection, but then she pretty quickly brushes it off.
@@micron000 It might not be a conscious, but a subliminal residue, or of course it could just fade from her memory as she continues down the new timeline. I tend to find narrative requirements Trump logic every time! 😆
@@vultan2000honestly I’ve been theorising since devils chord that ruby is a grandchild of the toymaker and her domain is memory.
@@qwart22 But isn’t the villain said to be a child of the toy maker? And there was no suggestion they and Ruby were family.
@@vultan2000 to me the villain is Hecuba, the Toymaker's sister. She has the same premisse as TM, but instead of using toys she uses time. She was only mentionned in an Audio I believe, but she is said to be part of the Pantheon as well. So maybe this episode was her playing with Ruby by putting her in a sort of time loop, and that for Ruby to be free she'd have to find the loophole of using The Woman to stop Gwilliam from getting in power? Knowing Hecuba's powers revolve around time makes sense with the whole "The One Who Waits", and her being TM's sister would put her in the same hierarchical place as him in terms of her being the Boss and everything
What is so bad about all the exposition lines? They all work in the context of the scenes they’re used in, as well as being helpful for new viewers, but they also work as little references for long time viewers. They’re all pretty short too, and never overstay their welcome
Disagree with the down about Ruby, not looking 40. There were plenty of celebrities who are 40 who still look very very young like they could be in their early 20s, including my wife who is 44 and still looks like she’s 25 so I think that one is undeserved.but you’re pretty spot on with most of your ups and downs this time. I also have to say that the episode was giving me harsh Wicker Man vibes there at the beginning.
Of course it isn't just the question of can you use your phone to pay in a different country or in a place that looks older. Ruby travels through time and she can't be entirely sure that this IS a time when Apple pay or whatever even exists. If she is even 30 years in the past, 1994, no one would know what she was talking about. I actually did wonder when they were winding her up if she had landed before 2024.
I was wondering that too! I mean, the whole episode is mysterious and the TARDIS doesn't always take you where you want to go so it might have been a pre-smartphone time indeed.
Plus, regarding to whether you use your phone to pay in a different country or in a place that looks older, as a German, I was thinking that same thing because in our countryside (unless I've been very misinformed), you typically will more likely have to pay in cash. Heck, Germany is infamous for bad or non-existing internet connections in the countryside or in smaller towns.
Two funny comments by people from such areas in news report. A farmer once said that his internet access works once he steps onto the roof of his tractor. And an old woman said in regards to the internet connection in her town: "When I want to phone someone, I always go the the graveyard and there it works. But I can't always run to the graveyard now, can I?"
That was what I was thinking too, before that ruby could have been at any time in the past several decades.
Absolutely! The Doctor never stated the year and Ruby never checked it before going into the pub. The only possible context clue she had was that the hiker was dressed in relatively modern hiking gear. But still, go back even ten years and smartphones were only just becoming widespread. ‘Paying with your phone’ certainly wasn’t a thing in 2014. Really it was rather lucky the Doctor decided to use his time and space machine to take her only a short distance away in the same year she’s from, otherwise she’d have been up s*** creek and would have had to learn to adapt to an entirely new life like the Ponds.
I thought that the phone bit in the pub was unnecessary, there are plenty of places that still don't accept phone payment even now. Them winding Ruby up made them all look like huge arseholes, rather than people having a laugh (I think it was intended to be interpreted that way)
I commented this somewhere else, but, basically, yes. Apparently you can see one of the patrons has a smart phone before she asks, but iPhone was released in 2007 but ApplePay not until 2014. ie, just because she's in a time with smart phones doesn't mean she's in a time with paying by phone.
About the Mrs. Flood appearance I feel it gave exactly what I expect from her atm.
She was like, "What are you doing?" See's the supernatural thing and was like, "oh nothing to do with me." And leaves. The only person who didnt think twice about the situation
It's interesting we got both of the season's "mystery characters" in the same ep and neither were (that we know of) related to what was going on.
Both had completely different reactions or just base understandings
I think the fact that she said “nothing to do with me” means something. Idk what lol but I think when we find out who she is that line is going to end up part of it
Pond - River - Flood. Notice a theme?
@@vultan2000 finaly someone said it
I think Kate's training might have been partly effective. "Although I think this timeline might be suspended along your event".
Another "Up" for me is that this is so impressive for Millie's first episode. (At least I got that impression from Unleashed.) She hadn't even done Ruby Road yet.
I agree with you about the Doctor's costume, one of my favorite things to see with a new Doctor is when they decide on their costume.
Millie Gibson did such a good job carrying this episode, but I think it's too soon for a Doctor-light episode since we are still getting to know both the 15th Doctor and Ruby.
If the "Demon" was old Ruby then even at 73 yards away two versions of Ruby in the same place caused the "demon" to be a paradox. Everyone running from it/her could be the fact that the human mind is not able to deal with a paradox so they instinctively just run
Ooooh that’s the best idea I’ve heard so far
That's a great idea! Makes perfect sense! I just figured Older Ruby was scaring people away from Younger Ruby to keep her on track and get her to change the reality, but not how she did it.
@@Donnagata1409 Also this could explain Clara and Kate/UNIT running when they had no reason too- if UNIT brought the woman in then Ruby wouldn't be able to save the world and if Clara found out what they were saying same deal-
I quite liked the absence of the title sequence because I see the beginning as the cold open and then the doctor disappears. So the title sequence doesn’t play to add to the absence of the doctor and the Tardis throughout the episode.
I honestly didn't even notice it was missing until I watched this, hah.
Yeah I don't think the title sequence with it's jaunty theme music would have been a good fit for this episode at all. So I'm glad they dropped it.
I honestly loved that they never did the intro because 1. it felt like the story never started, it just kept stretching and stretching until you see that 20+ years pass and it makes the viewer unnerved. 2. This isn't an episode of doctor who, it is a timeline that never happened where the doctor was not present at all. I'm excited to see why all this took place the way it did.
I never even noticed there was no title sequence! Probably because I was so gripped by the story. This has to be one of the greatest ever episodes.
How did Ruby contact Kate?
- How did the doctor disappear
- Was it a closed loop? How did Ruby change things at the end of the episode
- Why couldn’t Kate contact 14 to help?
- Why did the TARIDS lock itself? Really could have used her to help lol
Literally NOTHING was explained lol
Also, how did ruby manage to measure 73 yards when the woman always moved. You’d never get a fix on her. Unless she had a tape measure that was 73 yards long LOL!
I'm starting to feel like RTD isn't the great writer we thought he was.
These things NEED explaining and the only one we got was the "my phone measured her as only ever 73 yards away"
I agree with you that all your questions nees answers ... I might answer the last one:
You mark the spot where you are (with cahlk on the ground) and the go where old ruby stood at that moment and make a second mark there. Than you have all the time and tools in the world to measure the distance between the two marks.
@@DrB_BigBlueBox You could mark the spot with chalk yeah. As long as you had some way of knowing where she was standing. For example you chalk your position that’s fine, but as soon as you start walking towards the women, she moves again. So how do you get to her spot in the first place to chalk it down and measure? Unless there was some key landmark where the woman was that you can use I suppose
For a good chunk of time, I was distracted by the fact that Ruby was dressed up as Ashley Graham from Resident Evil 4 Remake lol
Hahahaha OMFGG now I'll never be able to not see it
I hadn't realized it, but now I want to see her as a future Ashley, we just need to find our Leon 😂
@@owenharrison761 You are on fire today.I'm off to play RE4
Oh dang that’s why she looked familiar 😅
My interpretation on Mad Jack is that it's not the pm himself but rather some malicious entity that was bound by the fairy circle. Notice how the Doctor was already talking about this pm before breaking the fairy circle, so it's not like the fairy circle released Roger or prevented him from existing. There was already a terrible pm destined to exist, but I feel like once the circle was broken, this Mad Jack entity got released and started acting through the guy the Doctor was talking about, turning him from just awful to a literal nuclear warlord that Ruby had to stop. Once Ruby prevents the circle from being broken, the pm would still exist and take office, but he would just be bad for the country, otherwise the Doctor wouldn't know about him
Exactly, he'll still be a historically terrible PM, just not possessed by Mad Jack and actively looking to end the world!
Makes sense. The entity found a great dude to influence
I'd be inclined to agree with this if it wasn't for the Doctor explaining why he was a bad pm before stopping and saying Spoilers, The Doctor does reference nuclear weapons in his explanation but it's easily missed
I agree with this -- but since the Doctor is aware of future as well as past, he surely knew about the PM because he is from the future and had the intel about Ap Gwilliam. What he didnt didn't know was that it was his stepping on the fairy circle and Ruby's further interference with it that was the cause of the PM's behavior in the first place.
Since The Doctor knew who Mad Jack was, I believe he stepped on a butterfly and missed up history. It should have been the Susan Twist character that releases the Mad Jack entity not The Doctor. That blunder saved the world.
5:11 I feel like with this episode, you're SUPPOSED to miss Ncuti/15s presence. And the point in the episode where you start feeling that is exactly the right timing. I feel like it works
feels like a few of the downs here are just things the episode did intentionally. "i didn't like the horror movie because it scared me" vibes
Yup, agree with that. I would have taken back some of those downs for being intentional putting us out of our comfort zones at just the right times and ways. The whole series has had more 4th-wall and sense of writing it to the audience rather than just writing the story they want to tell. Sometimes I’m liking that, sometimes I’m feeling unsure, but I appreciate that they’re trying some new directing of the series.
I didn't. I actually forgot he was even missing. I enjoyed watching Mille/Ruby and seeing her story unfold.
Until the landlord barwoman pulled out the card reader my whole family were going "Well what year are you in? The Doctor could have left her stranded in the 1900's!
I have to give a tremendous amount of credit to Millie Gibson for this episode. While the makeup may not have been convincing that this 18 year old young woman was actually 40, Gibson did manage to adjust he mannerisms enough to display a self-assuredness of someone with more age and experience. She did an absolutely spectacular job with this. While there are still what feel like somewhat maddening unanswered questions in this episode (ie: what made The Doctor disappear, what scared off all of the people that approached the phantom woman, etc.), this felt to me like the strongest episode since Heaven Sent, the best Doctor-lite episode since Blink, and probably the single best RTD-penned episode ever. Ranks right up there with Turn Left and Midnight for me, surpassing both in many ways. I loved this.
I also have to point out the careful handling and implication that Mad Jack was a sexual predator that had assaulted the other intern. It was not stated more explicitly than "he IS a monster", but was as clearly expressed as one could safely do on a Disney-backed program aimed at family entertainment. That hit nearly as hard as the "your own mother didn't love you". BRUTAL.
I should also point out that I love this because it reminds me of the Hammer Horror-inspired Hinchcliffe Era from Tom Baker's early years. The moments on the cliff and in the pub reminded me of Terror of the Zygons. Just fantastic stuff here!
"a doctor who fan who doesn't like change", this is something I never thought I'd hear
That’s half of them
the most real thing ever for us neurodiverse whovians 💀
Yeah I though the same thing get use to it, Dr Who always changes. I have been a long suffering fan of Dr Who for near 50 years changing is a constant.
I cried a lot for Ruby, when Carla left her, when she said that Ruby's biological mim didn't want her, when old Ruby visited the TARDIS and of course, when Ruby said that everyone has abandoned her😢
Me too... For her own sake, may she never remember this alternate reality...
Ok, as someone in their 40s, I thought she looked about 40. For reference, Jenna Coleman is 38. So is Lea Seydoux. We're not all grey and wrinkly.
Very true 🤣
Yeah, I don’t think Ellie realizes that a lot of 40 year olds today look very youthful, so I thought it was believable.
YTer Melonie Mac is also in her late 30s...
She looked exactly the same 42 in 2046 as she did at 20. She just had glasses. Could at least put crows feet around her eyes.
JENNA COLEMAN IS 38?!?!
I noticed that in the beginning Ruby told the Doctor that she had been to Wales twice. At the end she said three times. And the close caption had her hearing the whispering saying "Don't step" that made her stop the doctor from stepping on the circle. So maybe she will remember what happened, like a dream.
Somewhere in a pub in England, the bar-staff of a place that has old kit and doesn't do phones very well has let out a heavy sigh.
This is the most unsettling episode ever, it leaves a weird feeling in you
Ikr? quite haunting.
Doctor Who did an amazing job aging up Karen Gillan 12-13 years ago in “The Girl Who Waited”. With the bigger budget and advances in makeup prosthetic effects, they should have been able to do more than glasses and a different haircut to age Millie 20 years.
Amy was alone in a hostile environment, always trying to stay alive and with little resources. Millie was living in a modern society with a dominant beauty industry. Just think of what you have access to now and multiply it. So it makes sense.
Yeah pure lazy
Roger ap Gwilliam existing was caused by the Doctor breaking the circle. In the time where Ruby stopped him from breaking the circle he never event mentioned Roger ap Gwilliam. We start the episode by seeing a world and time in which the Doctor has always broken the fairy circle and end in a time where he didn't. As such he never disappears, Mad Jack never gets released and Ruby never grows old haunted by her fear of abandonment, because she now has a friend who never would.
This is probably the best explanation. Why people who confront the phantom turn on Ruby and run away is not important: The whole thing is an allegory of fear of abandonment.
He was mentioned, but Ruby was busy noticing her older self so the words faded out a little bit. However! In the beginning of the episode, she says she's been to Wales twice. At the end, she says the times and can't remember the third
But the Doctor mentions Roger BEFORE he steps on / breaks the circle, which means he existed before the Dr 'released' him?
I like this theory. And maybe 15 will be different, but the Doctor in general, abandons people all the time!
mais pourquoi il y a une distance de 73 yards ? qu'est ce que ça signifie ?
In the behind the scenes video, RTD says:
“Something profane has happened with the disturbance of this fairy circle. There’s been a lack of respect. The Doctor is normally very respectful of alien lifeforms and cultures, but now he’s just walked through something very powerful, and something’s gone wrong. But this something is corrected when Ruby has to spend a life of penitence in which she does something good, which brings the whole thing full circle. It forgives them in the end.”
Personally, I also think it’s important to acknowledge the underlying theme of Ruby’s worst fear: abandonment. To appease this spirit and save the world, she had to confront her fear of everyone she loves abandoning her, just as her own birth mother did. The "Old woman" didn't really say anything to anyone...it was part of the penitence and her fear. She had to keep people at distance, like her boyfriend as she got older. When she needed someone to be there for her, to help her...by talking to the "old woman", they then had to abandon her.
It was her curse and her power, which she used to stop Mad Jack.
The final piece to break this curse was at the end, she reaches out to embrace this part of herself, fully accepting who she is in spite of her fear and is able to stop the "curse" and reset.
Is it snow, though? OR is it nuclear fallout? Since the Prime Minister set of a nuclear bomb (in at least one time line), Ruby is seeing or sensing this upcoming fixed point. And after she resolves the "Prime Minister problem," she no longer can see/make it snow.
Best episode of Who in a long while. Loving this season in general but this episode really blended horror and Black Mirror ideas spectacular. Serious Turn Left vibes too. Loved it 😁
Spot on.
Definitely the best episode I was beginning to fear this season was going to be worst than the first season of Colin Baker.
Weirdly enough, this episode kinda reminded me of a great episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures from 2011, The Curse of Clyde Langer.
For those who don't remember the episode:
When Daniel Anthony's Clyde Langer ends up getting a splinter from a Totem pole at a museum, he finds the next day that anyone who speaks his name suddenly turns against him, including Sarah Jane, Rani, Mr Chandra, Luke and his own mother. Left with no one and nowhere to turn to, Clyde ends up resigning himself to living on the streets of London until a mysterious girl helps him out.
Some of the situations and emotions that Ruby encountered in 73 yards reminded me quite a bit of the Curse of Clyde Langer, that feeling of being almost completely isolated from everything and everyone that you love.
It’s not weird since RTD also worked on the Sarah Jane Adventures. I’m not sure if he wrote that episode, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen him reuse old ideas.
Yes, that’s what this episode reminded me of, everyone abandoning the primary character, even those close to them, and those who they formed a bond with throughout that episode, like that homeless girl in the Clyde Langer episode and old Ruby, it’s great
Me too, even if i had watched once
@@besskorey7403 Phil Ford wrote that particular story, but your point still stands.
idk if that episode is even good but i still remember it sometimes
I think the doctor changing his outfit is supposed to show how he is coming to terms with being a "foundling" and trying to really figure out who he is. I feel like that is a very big theme for this new series so far.
I think by the last episode he will finally choose his own iconic outfit
And the embrace of the fun that is at the core of this Doctor. Why not change clothes every time? How fun!
Nope, it's just so Disney can sell more dolls. Anyone for a Dr (S1, Ep4) doll?
@@tomboyle2473 It seems like one or two of the other older. after Tom Baker, Doctors took awhile to settle on a complete outfit.
Eh, I agree with Ellie, it just feels like an actor insert to me. When you think of 10, 11, 12, or most of the other doctors, they are playing a role who is distinctly different from who the actor is as a person. I'm not saying self inserts are objectively bad, but there does have to be limitations and intentionality in which parts of the actor are brought into the character. Right now it's hard to distinguish between Ncuti and the Doctor, and that's not great
For the '5 quid for a glass of coke' thing- has anyone else noticed the commentary on the price of drinks has happened twice in both this episode and the devil's chord, I don't know if its unintentional, a commentary on the cost of living crisis or something but I haven't seen anyone talking about it.
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart to Ruby: “I think this timeline might be suspended along your event….”
The old woman 73 yards away never spoke or looked at anyone who approached her, and then they only ran away after looking back at Ruby. How can you say that you don’t want to know?! We need to know. OMG, that is so important! The old Ruby NEVER said anything to those people, so something happened!
It’s just the curse. Ruby is scared of getting abandoned so her punishment for disturbing the fairy circle is making her worst fear happen.
@@barboralitvanova5111 ah, that’s too easy. I hope there’s more to it.
I noticed that also and wanted to know what they saw.
@@SheSaidWhat1101 well 73 yards is 66,7 metrem so it’s like 666. 😂 if that helps you. But it’s what I got and it’s what Russel said in behind the scenes for this episode.
I think Ruby also had a perception filter on herself that only triggered when the person viewing her attempted to interact with/was close enough to hear the mutterings of the old woman. When they looked back, they didn't see Ruby, they saw a representation of their own darkest fears.
I was getting massive "Midnight" vibes from the pub scene. Made it that much better to realize it was RTD taking the piss out of the fans
The new PM is Mad Jack. He was a curse unleashed by the fairy ring. In this second go round of the time loop, he is contained because The Doctor doesn't break the ring and Ruby doesn't read the notes.
I disagree, because the doctor still mentions him. So now that circle is not broken that PM still comes to power and does all those horrible things. I think given the striking resemblance in policy and manner to the 45th US president, the message here is that there is no supernatural force coming to save us, we are going to have to wake up on our own and stop these horrible people by not voting for them, you are the one that has to save you
@@kevinbecquet At the beginning she says she's been to Wales twice, and at the end she says three times. Maybe this happened once before, and her old self is helping her deal with the situation.
Never been to Wales before- Break the circle, war happens because she didn't know who Mad Jack was
Been once before- Break the circle, read the note, war happens because she can't effectively fight against it
Been twice before- Events of the episode
Been thrice before- Events of the ending
@@thatonespooder1513 but she said wath she did in Wales before. Is not that
@@gisela_oliveira no she says what she did 2 other times but then says that she doesnt remember the third time.clearly implying that the third time was her older self
@@dragonballz5600 Yes, but the person they were replying to was saying that the other two times she's been to Wales were also part of the time loop. They weren't talking about the third time.
How does this episode have 7 downs, while Space Babies and Devils Chord only have 5?
7? I see 3.
@@judithstrachan9399 How far into the video are you?
@@cjscrubs yeah, I realised MUCH later that I’d gone back & paused the video nearer the start. Couldn’t find my comment by then, to edit it.
I wonder why this one has only 7.
@@judithstrachan9399 ah ok
Bro this episode bugged my brain so heavilly and i now realise its doctor who its meant to do that
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart alluded to this being an encapsulated timeline in her conversation with Ruby...
She also used the Lethbridge- which I don’t remember her doing before.
I didn’t notice the intro wasn’t there, I was so engrossed in the episode. Best one so far.
All that character growth wasn't wasted though. She tells the doctor this is her third trip to Wales when the first time she said it was her second. Some part of her remembers, even if the details are lost.
Also, I like not knowing what it was about the entity that made people turn on her. Adds to the unpleasantness of it all.
Wales
@Dagger2311 my phone must've auto corrected to that lol
I don’t want to sound pretentious, however I got the impression that this episode wasn’t meant to be thought about too deeply, but felt.
The ambiguity of the situation added to the suspense. I’m not sure if answering things like why old Ruby caused people to run away would be satisfying.
Lastly, I see where you’re coming from about Ruby returning to the present potentially taking away from her growth; it appeared to me that Ruby did remember on some level. I’d like to believe that deep down, the experience she had remains inside her.
The moment Carla ran was terrifying.
This is one of those episodes/stories that was overall so well done that I don't mind not getting answers to every single lingering question. What the old woman was actually saying to make everyone run off in terror is probably best left to imagination.
That is true, but there are some other things I would have loved to have explained. Like, why did the Doctor disappear? Did Ruby restoring the timeline mean she never actually stopped Gwilliam, or was he stopped anyway by them not disturbing the circle? Did she even ever need to stop him, or was she just grasping at straws/made it worse by her being there? etc. I don't mind not getting every answer about the monster-of-the-week, I understand the point of preserving some aspects of it as a mystery in order to make the story more creepy or suspenseful, but when there's too many unknowns, including ones that impact the actual resolution/overall understanding of the story, then yeah, that feels like it's just not very well thought-out.
I want to know what the significance of the 73 yards was. The only time that distance seemed to aid Ruby was when she used it on Roger ap Gwilliam at the stadium.
@@merri_0153 The point is that it's a point where you can see someone however you can't make out any distinguishable features.
Except it’s not some old lady.. it’s Ruby, so why is she dojng this to herself?..For me that’s not some small question. It’s literally the crux of the episode, so to not get any answer is just bad writing.
I think the two notes she read were both "perception curses"
"I miss you" causes the person she says misses (The Doctor) to vanish, and then whenever she brings him up to people, like at the pub, there is no sense of "Oh hey, we have a missing person. Maybe we should call the police"
"Rest in peace. Mad Jack" causes Ruby to make people turn mad when she rests in peace. Ones approaching old Ruby gain madness perceived towards Ruby. So I don't think there were any specific words. Just an aurra.
73 Yards gave me vids of the episode from The Sarah Jane Adventures where Clyde disturbed an ancient relic (can't fully remember what it was, haven't seen the epsidoe in years) and as a result anyone who he talks to says his name instantly hates him until he fixes the problem
Same!!!
Same haha
@@thedoctorwho73 you must be very pleased with the title of this episode lol
@@db5094 lol why
@@thedoctorwho73 cos your name is doctor who 73? And doctor who just released an episode called 73 yards?
5 pounds for a glass of Coke? How about 9 pounds for 2 ice creams? Bloody Hell! ;-P
Not even a Cuba Libra. That's a rum and coke. That's what I thought.
@@julianaylor4351 You totally missed the viral video reference...
$6.33 USD, lol I had to look it up. That's a bit much here too.
She did get a light breakfast with the room, though.
Haha I understood that reference 😆
I took it that Roger Gwilliam was possessed or influenced by the spirit of Mad Jack that Ruby and The Doctor accidentally released. Once the fairy circle was restored at the end of the episode the spirit was bound again and unable to negatively impact this timeline.
The whole Susan Twist thing just screams Bad Wolf to me, but the image of a person was sent through time to try and warn the Doctor about something rather than text.
I loved not having the opening sequence. It immediately told us this episode was special, and I think it paid off.
Not all 40 year-olds look like the crypt keeper. I bought that she was supposed to be 40 entirely. It was more about how she dressed and carried herself.
Absolutely -- i guess Ellie will have to revisit this video when she turns 40 and compare. I'm sure she will still look as lovely, but with maturity only making her more so.
Some people just don't seem to age, and look the same at 40 as they did at 20...it's uncanny.
I'm with Ellie on this one. I don't know anyone aged 40 who looks exactly the same as they did at the age of 20. I enjoyed this episode but I wish they'd made her look a bit more older.
I mean, I'm not saying I look like my 20-year-old self still at 47, but, yeah. I always wore glasses, I've got a few grey hairs and a weird inch-wide grey streak, a few more wrinkles maybe, but, **shrug**
@@chazo1367 Paul Rudd has entered the chat.
What you asked for in terms of how it makes sense -
I think the audience was supposed to be left with a sense of “mystery” because it was supernatural and magic isn’t really supposed to be fully explained
Saying that 😉, the way I interpreted it was:
- the fairy circle was left to defend the world from the spirit of Mad Jack and thus to prevent him causing the nuclear holocaust
- by stepping on it, the doctor breaks this protection and the “break” in the circle (which would’ve been a fixed point from the centre at all times) becomes a point a fixed point 73 yards from Ruby
- by breaking it there is now a curse on her because she was the nearest person it could attach the magic to at the moment the doctor broke it and it essentially makes her life the new circle so that she is charged with protecting the world from the catastrophe of this Mad Jack spirit of evil and the person 73 yards away is the embodiment of the break in the circle both as a constant reminder and as a focal point for the energy of the curse (as when it attached to her the “broken circle” was sort of reversed from a circle with a single break into a single point of power at the position of the break)
- she then lives out her life until its end, at which point the magic essentially closes and as a sort of respite allows her to call back to herself to stop the circle being broken so that it could’ve operated as intended without her
- when people approach her they are not “talking to a woman” as they initially perceive, they are approaching the focal point of this magical curse that is the focal point of this entire timeline and so the most magical point in this branch of the universe and it has one message “The circle should never have broken. She is cursed. Stay away. Mad Jack must be stopped.”
- But it’s not really communicated through words and it’s not really a woman but a shadow of her older self frozen in place in the form of the curse… and it’s communicated by a sort of psychic magic to anyone who approaches it deliberately so that they don’t know what was said or why… they just deeply deeply understand that they must stay away from this cursed girl as she has taken responsibility for the abomination of breaking the circle and she represents all the loathing of the person who made the fairy circle put into it against Mad Jack.
TL;DR I don’t thing they’re talking to her 86 year old self, I think they’re talking to a pure magic entity meant to protect Mad Jack through pure magical energy taking the form of her final image.
Perhaps the best explanation here.
Gwlliam was Mad Jack, a fair folk Spirit who returns to this world to take part in the biggest fights he can scare up. When they broke his sealing circle, he returned and the Tardis used what ever Ruby is to fix it, because for some reason Ruby is magically paradox proof.
Well done, Ellie! I really appreciated your critical take on this episode since I had the same issues with it that you did. I know you are probably going to get some flak for how you’ve criticized this episode, but I appreciate your honesty.
Funnily enough, you mentioned about the Torchwood vibes from the scene in the pub in part because of the actress - the interior pub scenes were actually filmed in the same location as the pub in Countrycide.
I literally just watched that episode yesterday
There was also no explanation as to why the Doctor just disappeared. Like what happened? Where did he go?
Ikr..? i still wonder what happened there🫤
I would say with the folklore influence, that a part of Mad Jack’s binding would be that whoever breaks the binding replaces him within its confines. Then, the Doctor is trapped in the circle in Mad Jack’s place until that timeline is unwritten at the end.
Millie was stunning in this
My interpretation of the episode:
Ruby was cursed to live her biggest fear forever and ever: to chase everyone away. The old woman is Ruby's own ghost, as we see from the end of the episode. She turns into her when she dies and apologizes that it took so long to come back. The first person who she scares away is the Doctor, who runs away off screen. She is forgiven in the end, because she had used the curse to do something good for the world. She gets a chance to whisper to her young self as the ghost to not step on the circle. In a way it's not complicated, it's just so incredibly sad that it's hard to fathom. This episode is very similar to the movie A Ghost Story, where a character dies and waits until the universe ends and starts again just to read a note his wife left him. The 73 yards thing is explained in the episode: that's the distance where a human can't see a face from. Ruby can never see that she is followed by her own ghost.
I think the episode needed to be early in the season order because Ruby needs to not know the Doctor well enough to know that he would never abandon her.
The only problem with Ruby registering some familiarity upon seeing ‘the hiker’ is that at the end of the episode, when the loop is broken and kind of resets back to before the Doctors breaks the circle is that they may not then see Susan Twists’ character. And any memory progression is lost. It’s possible they do bump in to her and we don’t see her, but then I’m pretty sure the Doctor would also recognise the face, and with both of them seeing her it would be harder to pass it off as coincidence. The fact we don’t see that suggests that they do not see her on their walk.
But Ruby remembers (at least subconsciously) bits of the first loop, so she may still remember seeing Hiker Twist.
We’re definitely getting closer to the Doctor realising something is up, both him and Ruby have definitely seen that face on the Villengard ambulances now. I think he will be the one to see Susan Twist’s character in Dot and Bubble, probably shortly before the climax of the episode, but will be forced to leave her behind to save the day.
I’m starting to wonder if the Susan Twist thing is a play on the trope of having character actors play multiple characters within a series yet we’re all supposed to not notice it. Perhaps going back to the Doctor realizing he’s in a TV show and the 4th wall breaking and everything.
Oh, i think there is a reason for her appearing so often. She must have a connection to Ruby. Is she her birth mother? Duh-dun-dunh!!!
There are all kinds of meta references going on.
There’s the supernatural and magical and the constant nod to this all being a TV show. Something is wrong for the Doctor. The first indication being the return of the Toymaker, I guess?
It's a ghost story, pure and simple. The reason she scares the s**t out of people all throughout the episode is to make it clear to young Ruby that she can use the scare to scare off ap Gwilliam. It's essential to the plot. She keeps her distance so she doesn't recognise herself.
And it doesn't matter what she actually says. All we need to know that it's a scary thing. True horror rests in the unknown. In the true tradition of gothic horror, the unknown and the uncanny is scarier and more disturbing the less we know.
This episode is about Fear. And seems that it snows whenever Ruby is scared or fearing things. It stops snowing when she is older because she stops letting that fear control her and finally conquers it.
We felt the same way at the end - so many unanswered questions, unexplained things
The doctor needs to watch where he steps
Agreed
No stepping on butterflies.
😂
2 episodes in a row.
Or land mines.
Or fairy circles.
RTD said in the commentary track for Church on Ruby Road that Mrs. Flood is important, and that it will be a very long burn storyline.
With all the river, pond, flood theories , it better be a long burn otherwise it would be too short for that type of reference
@7:22 I agree, the moment of recognition of Susan Twist from Ruby was great, but, since the timeline was reset it sadly meant nothing because she won't remember it.
EDIT: Also, thank you for this video! I honestly was feeling pretty down about this episode, mostly due to the shoddy resolution and overall confusion. But you've helped remind me of the things I did actually like about it, at least before getting to the ending lol. Might have to up my overall rating from 6.5 to a 7. It still could have been much better with more explanations/without the twist of Ruby being The Woman at the end.. But oh well. For what it's worth, I don't think you're being dumb, the episode definitely left too many gaps up for interpretation, to the point of detriment imo.
The doctors fashion choices for this version are iconic because they change so much. I think this is one of the most youthful doctors we’ve got, but at the same time he has this deep sense of age and maturity, it’s a great combo.