The most recent episode of Doctor Who, “73 Yards,” has a lot of similarities to a Tenth Doctor Era episode. In “73 Yards,” Ruby (Millie Gibson) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) end up in Whales and happen upon a “fairy circle.” When the two of them break it, the Doctor disappears, leaving Ruby alone with a strange woman she cannot approach. She is left to live her life without the Doctor, only to find a way to fix the timeline. This is similar to an episode from 2008 titled “Turn Left.” In “Turn Left,” the Tenth Doctor’s (David Tennant) companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) makes a decision that ends up leaving the Doctor out of her life completely. These two episodes parallel in many ways.
The Synopsis of “Turn Left (2008)”
“Turn Left” focused entirely on Donna, the companion of the Tenth Doctor. After traveling with the Doctor for some time, she happens upon a fortune teller who tells her to turn right at an intersection rather than left. In doing so, Donna alters the course of her history with the Doctor. A parallel universe is at play, causing the Doctor to drown. Because of this, he can never intervene in other aspects of Earth’s safety. Donna winds up living her life without the Doctor ever in it, which means the Doctor himself is not in much of the episode. UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) along with a former companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) help Donna as well as the rest of the universe, in correcting the timeline. In the end, Donna goes back in time to turn left, bringing the universe back to the way it was supposed to be.
The Similarities Between “73 Yards” and “Turn Left”
“73 Yards” focuses on Ruby, leaving the Doctor out of most of the episode. Ruby spends the episode trying to figure out where the Doctor went and who this woman is that remains 73 yards away from her at all times. Ultimately, she spends her entire life without the Doctor, much like Donna ends up doing in “Turn Left.” Both Ruby and Donna live relatively normal lives, however. In Ruby’s case, she still has a job, a place to live, and finds herself going on dates. Donna has her family and work, but she is forced out of her home.
Also, UNIT appears in both of these episodes. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jenna Redgrave) offers Ruby with her issue with the strange woman who will not leave her sight. A UNIT officer helps Donna with the insect on her back, from the fortune teller, that has caused her to alter the course of her own timeline. However, the main difference is that UNIT does help Donna but can’t help Ruby. Ruby is left to figure things out on her own throughout her entire life versus having someone by her side to aide in reuniting with the Doctor. Even though Donna had someone to guide her, she still has to make the decision to right the timeline. In the end, it is ultimately up to Donna and Ruby to make things right and bring the Doctor back into their universe.
Another parallel is how important both Donna and Ruby are to the universe as a whole. Time and time again, the Tenth Doctor tells Donna that she is the most important woman in the universe. While we do not know exactly who Ruby is and what role she will continue to play, we know that she saves the world. In “73 Yards,” Ruby manages to keep a corrupt, terrible politician from coming to power using whatever it is this mystery woman is saying to make people run in terror.
Both of these episodes are written by showrunner Russel T. Davies. It makes sense that they would feel very similar in many ways, especially with both being “Doctor-lite” stories. Focusing on the companion allows them to shine, providing insight into the way they work to travel with the Doctor once again.
There Are Plenty of Unanswered Questions by the End of the Episode
Ruby Sunday continues to be a mystery. Throughout the series so far, we have seen themes of snow and music. However, due to the Doctor being absent in “73 Yards,” we don’t see much of those at all. The episode does not even begin with the introductory theme song the way the previous episodes have done. In each of the prior stories, we see snow begin to fall around Ruby and the Doctor, usually when Ruby is in some sort of danger. However, snow doesn’t fall in this one. Ruby mentions being able to make snow fall when she is seen in a hospital bed as an old woman. She is still aware of what life was like with the Doctor. Yet, we are still unsure as to how or why the snow appears or what it means.
The woman who remained 73 yards away from Ruby says something to the people who approach her. Each person who did so ended up running away, terrified of who (or what) Ruby is. Ultimately, what was said is never revealed. Whatever it was made her own adoptive mother hide from her and claim that she is unwanted. Ruby is told once again that even her own birth mother did not want her. This mystery of Ruby’s birth mother is huge. The Doctor refuses to take Ruby to see her due to potential paradoxes.
Also, in their very first journey together, Ruby asks about stepping on a butterfly. She asks the cliche question about how if she steps on a butterfly, will that alter space and time. Even with it being mostly a joke, we see this concept expanded on in “73 Yards.” The Doctor steps on something he shouldn’t and seems to disappear from all reality. At the end of the episode, this mystery woman tells Ruby, “Don’t step,” allowing her past self to keep the events from the whole episode from taking place.
This begs the question: Can Ruby change more than just one timeline if they aren’t more careful?
