The Wild Reason ‘Doctor Who’s Russell T. Davies Was Able to Make “73 Yards”

The big picture

• Scheduling conflicts led to the creation of “73 Yards”.
  Doctor Who
  Season 1.
• The episode focuses on companion Ruby Sunday, as The Doctor is absent.
• Millie Gibson's performance as Ruby was praised by showrunner Russell T. Davies.

Russell T. Daviesshowrunner of a hit sci-fi show Doctor Who has admitted that one of the biggest episodes of Season 1 was born out of scheduling conflicts among the cast. talking inside Doctor Who magazine Number 605, Davies explained how the record-breaking episode “73 Yards,” Davies and Disney's fourth episode. rebooted season 1 of the sci-fi show, came to be The episode debuted on Disney+ on 24 May 2024, before a UK release via BBC iPlayer on 25 May 2024 and a broadcast on BBC One later that day. The episode subsequently achieved the highest overnight ratings for a single episode of the series at the time, with a total of 2.62 million views.

“73 Yards” saw Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) strike out on her own for the first time in the absence of The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa). After accidentally entering a mysterious fairy circle, the Doctor disappears, leaving new companion Ruby haunted by a strange woman who follows her wherever she goes and is always exactly 73 meters away from her. Ruby couldn't understand why the woman was following her as anyone who tried to communicate with her seemed to run away in terror. A Doctor-lite episode, “73 Yards” was full of mystery and intrigue from start to finish, and even got a few references to the season finale “Empire of Death,” which premiered on Disney+ on the 21st of June 2024.

How did scheduling conflicts lead to “73 Yards”?

Speaking about the episode, Russell T. Davies explained that if it weren't for the scheduling conflict with leader Ncuti Gatwa, he had commitments with Netflix. Sexual Education — “73 Yards” might never have made it into Season 1 of the reboot of the reboot. Davies said: “I love Doctor-lite episodes. But let's face it, if Ncuti had been available, we would never have done a Doctor-lite episode in Season 1.” Doctor-lite episodes refer to narratives that feature very little of the titular time lord, such as Season 3's “Blink” or Season 4's “Turn Left”. Davies went on to say:

“The wonderful thing was that I had had this idea for many years, that the Doctor and his companion would get out of the TARDIS and see someone in the distance. But I could never make it work with two people. So when he left become Doctor-lite, when it was just Ruby, and we got to follow her whole life, she broke free.”

As with most Doctor-lite episodes, “73 Yards” ended up being rather reliant on the actions of The Doctor's companion. Speaking about the dichotomy, Davies explained:

“I thought there was a good balance, combining it with 'Boom'
,
which is a character piece for the Doctor. This ended up dictating the form of the series: a Doctor episode, followed by a Ruby episode. Millie is absolutely stunning. Came in from Coronation Street
,
towards driving
this
No offense to Coronation Street
,
but this is a big old train, where you are part of a cast of 70 or more. And suddenly, you're in a cast of one, pretty much. There was a huge weight on his shoulders. And his
the
better performance It's absolutely stunning.”

With Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson expected to return for Season 2, only time will tell if we'll see Ruby Sunday leading another game of Doctor-lite anytime soon. Currently in production, there is currently no official release date for Season 2.

First season of Doctor Who's new reboot is available to stream in its entirety Disney+

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