In tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, “73 Yards,” the Doctor and Ruby arrive on the coast of Wales and discover a fairy circle, which the Doctor accidentally steps on, breaking it. Suddenly the Doctor disappears and Ruby is left alone – except for a mysterious older woman who follows her everywhere, but always at the distance of 73 yards.

“73 Yards” focused on Welsh folklore horror and is Doctor Who at its best. The funny thing is, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen for 99% of the episode, yet I loved it and was on the edge of my seat. Millie Gibson did a phenomenal job of keeping the viewer intrigued from start to finish. 

The episode was full of creepy atmosphere and really gave you a sense of foreboding every time Ruby would see the old woman following her. She was isolated without the Doctor with no one to help, because everyone who talked to the woman would after the fact avoid Ruby, never to see her again. Her mother abandoning her was the most heartbreaking, as was her stating at the end of the episode that she had been abandoned by everyone, because it was true.

I loved seeing Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, as always. It gave a sense of relief in this case, someone Ruby could trust come to the rescue, until you realized she had her earpiece in and was therefore poisoned by the old woman’s words as well. All this just kept the feeling of the episode getting darker as years and decades passed for Ruby.

The side story of the prime minister was interesting: a warning from the Doctor that Ruby suddenly had the ability to change, and on her own with absolutely no help. I think this helped to cement the strength Ruby has as a companion: she didn’t give up in the face of everything, even when the Doctor wasn’t around. 

I also really enjoyed how Ruby got rid of the prime minister by moving 73 yards from him, knowing that the old woman would make him turn and leave and therefore take care of the problem. The way it was directed was excellent and made it feel very triumphant. 

Of course the reveal at the end that the old woman was actually an elder Ruby was done to great effect, although I can’t say this twist was 100% surprising. (Speaking of twists, yes this episode also has Susan Twist as the hiker at the beginning of the episode.)

Overall I absolutely loved the episode and would venture to say it’s one of the best in a long time. That being said, there were some problems with some of the logic of the episode. 

Some things seemed like maybe they had relevance but never came to fruition, such as Kate mentioning the perception filter and the idea that perhaps that’s why everyone ignored the old woman. 

On the other hand, some things were somewhat explained, such as that the Doctor disappeared completely because, as Kate said, that timeline was suspended after whatever happened to Ruby, however, that of course does not actually explain what happened to the Doctor or where he went. Did the old woman say something to make him leave and we just didn’t see it? Because it seems he left the Earth, not just Ruby, which doesn’t seem in line with what happened to everyone else. 

Other things were left completely open and not really explained at all, such as if Mad Jack (or the prime minister who may or may not have been the Mad Jack) was really specifically part of why the events took place, a circle to stop him from escaping. 

And, of course, one of the biggest questions left open is what the old woman actually said to everyone to get them to leave. It’s possible she just said whatever she needed to say to make events unfold as they needed to in order for Ruby to be able to stop events and set things right, but that begs the question. If it was because of the elder Ruby that the Doctor vanished and we just didn’t see it, out of everything, is it believable that he would abandon her, let alone the planet, regardless of anything she said? 

The last thing that wasn’t explained, and actually in my opinion was second only to the unexplained Doctor’s disappearance, is how in the world did Ruby even travel back in time to stop the Doctor from stepping on the circle? Or did she? Was the old woman a ghost after Ruby died? Again, it's left open for interpretation. But that's okay. Perhaps what Kate said is actually the answer to everything: “We see something inexplicable and invent rules to make it work.” Perhaps we just don’t need to know all the answers.