Doctor Who 2024 (Starting May 11 on Disney+ and BBC One)

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41

This has been an impressive run. All four episodes have been top notch…“Space Babies” was the weakest, but it’s better than 90% of Chibnell’s output.

“The Devil’s Chord” was a10/10 in every respect. “Boom” and “73 Yards” were nearly up there.

I should have guessed the identity of the mysterious woman in “73 Yards,” but I loved the fact that

Summary

They didn’t explain what she said to people. The important thing was how people reacted.

It’s as if Davies (and Moffitt) had been thinking up scripts ever since they left the show and chose the best ones.

42

Good episode, but more than a passing resemblance to ‘The Dead Zone’. I was expecting the woman to be Stephen Kings Lawyer issuing a cease and desist.

43

Yeah. 73 Yards is a really well made piece of television and all that. Loved the mood and the pacing, even much of the storytelling. But in the end I’m left feeling a bit unsatisfied and find it all a bit pointless. Maybe that is the point :face_with_diagonal_mouth:- definitely part of the mood evoked in Ruby’s life lived without The Doctor.

I guess I’d just like a little more explanation as to the cause of this stalled timeline/loop. Why does the figure appear to be making specific gestures when in the reveal we see just shaky hands held out willy nilly? Finally knowing its identity, exactly what could the figure be saying/doing to make disparate people react with such utter disgust? :person_shrugging:

OB

44

Questions that I think will have no answers but some seem important to me. I’m just hoping future developments answer some of them.

Of course the what a ?old? ?ghost? whatever? Ruby could say that would cause that reaction including in both her adoptive mum and the recurring Susan Twist whatever she represents and the nuke happy politician?

How old Ruby has the power at the end of her life (or after) to do what she does.

What or who is the source of causing it (call it magic) to happen? Not The Doctor who had no awareness that a loop happened and that he had disappeared from a timeline loop. The fairy circle? Or does it come from Ruby herself? A power and an awareness that she is not conscious of? I’m thinking the last.

Any significance to the 73 yards distance as the semperdistance?

Why did it stop snowing for Ruby in this timeline?

How much of what is going on in the loop also occurs without the loop? Is there something odd going on with UNIT and supernatural happenings in the ongoing timeline?

Will Marti Bridges have a role in a future show? I have a sense she will, even if the character is at a different age.

The Doctor’s timeline had Mad nuke man in it before and after the loop, but before looping he was dead and bound by the fairy circle and afterwards he was never released. How does that work?

45

You are far from alone in having issues with the plot on this. Here are the two Reddit threads on it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/1d0h3x6/doctor_who_1x04_73_yards_bbc_one_live_and/

https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/1czz9u3/doctor_who_1x04_73_yards_postepisode_discussion/

46

BTW, I saw posts there pointing out how for two episodes in a row the problem was caused by The Doctor stepping on things he shouldn’t have, but I don’t think anybody mentioned Tuby and the butterfly. So this season arc so far seems to be about Susan Twist and inattentive walking.

47

Why do you need answers when the answers would inevitably be disappointing?

I will say that the snow will eventually make sense, since it’s been shown in each episode. The rest doesn’t need to be explained. The story works without one, and is even stronger for leaving them out.

48

For me at least it’s not necessarily about answers but clarity. But then, maybe the lack of clarity is a theme of the episode, as…

From Doctor Who – 73 Yards ending explained: Who is the woman? | Radio Times :

From what showrunner Russell T Davies has said, it seems that 73 yards is the perfect distance to be able to see the figure in the distance but not see any distinguishing features. It also had to be shorter than the length of a football pitch for the scene with Roger ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard) to work.

I should say that despite the lack of clarity I really liked this episode and it’s easily my favourite of the season so far. Thinking about it, I think there’s a dissonance because the episode plays like a typical monster of the week episode, in that everything is essentially (or literally!) reset at the end, but leaves the sort of questions that a story arc episode would. I’m hoping that there is some clarity on at least some of questions, as we discover how Ruby’s life really plays out, as the series progresses.

OB

49

“Space Babies” was stupid dreck. (It, like several of the other episdoes, makes me think that Russell Davies has been hanging out with new parents rather too much lately.)
The first half of “The Devil’s Chord” was amazing.
(Edit: “Boom” was overall of a higher quality, but I’d rate it “satisfying” rather than “amazing,” and the child didn’t really seem to be a consistent age in the script.)
Most of the first 90% of “73 Yards” was amazing.

To my mind, at least, the trajectory is improving. If only they can get around to writing a satisfactory ending.

50

Need?

Don’t.

For some bit I “want” because the bulk of the episode sets up a puzzle that we (along with Ruby) are trying to solve. I prefer when puzzle episodes’ reveals click together at the end. For that matter same with the big arc puzzles: if the answers to the questions set up in the arc do not answer the questions it would be disappointing, as good as the ride had been to then.

But more I “wonder” because the episode is done but the arc is not. I speculate about how this episode will come back up as the arc progresses, and if it offers clues to that, if the portions that are kept semperdistant are given clarity as the story unwinds, or if they only exist inside this bottle.

My hot take was that I enjoyed it and I didn’t understand it. I stand by that. It works as a mood piece. But I suspect and hope it will have more significance that makes sense in the bigger picture as well.

51

It was an excellent Twilight Zone episode.

I wonder why they skipped the opening title sequence. Was it because it was a Ruby episode, not the Doctor?

52

Some good thoughts and pick ups buried in those Reddit threads. Thanks.

53

Because The Doctor was disappeared from existence already.

A few gleans from threads @Darren_Garrison linked to:

Distant woman was apparently signing in British Sign Language but a pretty inane comment.

Echos of The Doctor’s salt line introducing the supernatural…

The Maestro also reacting to something buried deep in Ruby with horror and backing away.

A focus on Kate’s red nails and I guess the same red nails having picked up The Master containing tooth.

Repeating the harms of not looking where you step from the first throwaway butterfly and now two eps in a row with hiker Twist asking if she’s stepped into something.

I am convinced that this is not only a creepy mood piece standalone bottle ep but that it also fits into the bigger arc in ways that are now not clear.

My own thought now: I’m also now no longer completely sure that the distant woman was old/dead/ghost Ruby exactly, but rather the very powerful One Who Waits buried within her waiting on the other side of her life. Always kept where Ruby cannot quite make her out but still there.

54

We now know why The Doctor disappeared. Not some deep, well planned plot point, but because the actor was busy elsewhere.

55

But the episode isn’t about the words. The puzzle is “who is she and why is she following Ruby?” That’s clearly resolved.

The actual words she says is irrelevant to the story. The important thing is their effect.

And, as I said, if they were revealed, everyone would complain that they couldn’t possibly have the effect portrayed. Keeping them hidden is the best choice to make the story work.

56

Yeah it was already known that Gatwa being busy still on Sex Education was why the Doctor lite ep was filmed first.

Which does not inform whether or not the events or which events serve as elements of the bigger arc or not. I’d highly suspect that the big arc and the key elements to be placed along the way were sketched out long before the individual eps were written.

57

To my view that was one of multiple puzzles and it was not necessarily resolved.

Which does not mean that my view is correct!

But I completely agree that about not worrying about what the words were and that any revealed would disappoint. Like Medusa’s face, it’s just important we understand its effect. I just see potential significance to the “coincidence” that The Toymaker met the One and could only run away, The Maestro recoils in fear from the song inside Ruby, and everyone who hears this woman who is alway near to Ruby but never able to be clearly made out and who possibly is Ruby or at least always buried within her run away in horror.

And it just occurred to me now that when The Doctor was there as a woman dropped off baby Ruby, he couldn’t make out who she was, partly with snow making things unclear.

Of course it is just as likely that coincidences are intentionally placed to distract from what the hand actually holding the coin is doing!

58

I’m torn on 73 yards. I agree that the setup was fantastic. I thought Millie did well carrying the show with Ncuti gone. In fact, as a sidestep, I don’t understand the rumors of her being gone next season (or fired) with how well she did in this one. I know it’s not true, and hope to hear that story some day.

I don’t need everything explained to me but I would like something presented in the show, or more than one, and pick it, rather than feeling that nothing was explained. It could be it will be explained later and I’m fine with that because overall the episode was good. In all of the threads, everyone is discussing their own take on it and all are valid because we didn’t get enough information from the episode.

I wouldn’t have minded a Groundhog Day style episode where she had to learn what to do to get it right but we only see one loop, apparently. I don’t prefer collapsed timelines where it ends up nothing actually happened because no one remembers it or it was reset.

If we just get powers when we get older, I can’t wait until mine kick in!

What it comes down to is that I’m seeing this trend of showrunners who start something and have no idea how to finish it. They keep getting shows. Lost, Heroes, Umbrella Academy, BSG, The OA, and I’m worried that Stranger Things might end up there. These shows all introduced things (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 I still remember them more than a decade later) that are then hand waved away.

What I want to see is a showrunner that has a reason for what is introduced and a second viewing sheds light on it or shows it in a new way. Haunting of House Hill ep5 is an example of what I mean. We have this thing that is confusing but I keep watching. The payout is brilliant! That’s what I want. I want to know that they did think about it and didn’t write themselves into a corner and just hand wave it away.

I’m going to watch Doctor Who and I’m sure I will enjoy it. These things just make rewatches better. As I said upthread, I have to think hard for a Smith, Capaldi, or Whittaker storyline but can rattle off Nine and Ten’s. Further, if an episode of Nine or Ten is on, I will watch it because I liked them. I can walk away from the other seasons, unless it’s one of the few I liked.

Thanks for the discussion!

59

I also thought it was mostly gripping, but I’m not sure it amounted to all that much in the end. I dunno; I am not trying to be one of those guys that likest things they way they were, but the show just doesn’t feel as fresh and good as it did from the David Tenant and Matt Smith years. Those are the years I loved the show the most. I liked Peter Capaldi’s years, too, but just a bit less. I thought Jodie Whittaker’s run was terrible. I even liked the 1 season of Chris Eccleston, though it was a bit sillier in parts.

I hope it improves. I stand by my feeling that Ncuti has great Doctor potential. He just hasn’t had a huge moment to shine fully yet. I kind of want a “I’m fun, funny, the smartest man in the room, optimistic, and kind of childish” type moment. That is the style of Doctor that is the most fun to watch.

60

I just got here, so I’m going to comment on all four episodes so far. I think they started out bad and kept getting better.

“Space Babies” was terrible. Just awful, and nowhere near good enough to be the first episode of a new season. Full disclosure: I’m not a baby fan, and I don’t think they’re cute at all at that age. Throw in the “Clutch Cargo”-style CGI mouths and the Doctor gleefully repeating “Space Babies!!” at every possible opportunity, and this one was a complete dud for me.

“The Lost Chord” was fine - not the best, not the worst. I wondered if “The Maestro” was supposed to be The Master, especially since they didn’t mention The Master’s name in the listing of other Time Lords’ names. I felt like they were trying to rehash the Toymaker storyline, but not as well.

“Boom” was good. Nice and suspenseful. The ambulances reminded me of Daleks from a distance, and I bet that wasn’t a coincidence. I didn’t realize that Mundy (or at least the same actor) is going to be the Doctor’s new companion for season 2. A solid episode.

“73 Yards” - the best yet. Really good, creepy, classic Doctor Who (even though it was a Doctor-light episode). The story kept me guessing, and even though there were several loose ends that they didn’t tie up (as the spouse pointed out - they mentioned “apps” as “those things you used to have on your phone,” but then Ruby had a distance app on her phone… and also, what did the Old Lady say to people to make them run off in fear, and why 73 yards?) it had a much more Doctor Who feel to it than any of the others. I got “Blink” vibes from it (not as good, but the same kind of episode).

I’ll definitely keep watching. I really want to find out what’s up with Ruby and the intriguing neighbor lady who keeps popping up.