25 May 2024

Un eithaf rhyfedd (Review: 'Doctor Who', 1.4, "73 Yards")

  • The complete lack of a title sequence, even a title card, is pretty rare for the show, but has happened before.
  • Ncuti Gatwa is barely in this one. Was there a reason in terms of scheduling that this is so Millie-focussed?
  • While this is clearly meant to be a focus on Millie's acting talents, merely sticking her in a pair of glasses doesn't make her a convincing 40-year-old. They did a much better job with Karen Gillan (who is now 36) in "The Girl Who Waited".
  • A Welsh village pretending to be backward and superstitious just for the LOLs. I am sure that some other places will do that too.
  • Why can the woman be exactly 73 yards away and no more, no less? How does she drive everyone who talks to her to run away scream?
  • Nice to see UNIT make an appearance and for their role as a support service for former companions.
  • A search for "Mad Jack" found a rather eccentric Regency-era chap who once tried to cure hiccups by setting his shirt on fire.
  • I was rather reminded of "Turn Left" in this episode. Not to mention Mr Saxon from Series 3.
  • It's a good thing that far-right politicians don't generally tend to be handsome chaps like Roger ap Gwilliam was in this one. The regular ones are a big enough problem already.
Conclusion

This "Doctor-lite" episode has some rather great atmosphere, but also far too little explanation to be truly great.

7/10

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