Doctor Who boss on 73 Yards mystery: 'I’m never going to tell you what she says'

One of the biggest questions fans will have had throughout the episode is just what the woman stalking Ruby, who we later found out was an older version of Ruby herself, was saying to people to get them to run away from her.

Not only did stranger who approached the woman run away from Ruby in fear, often screaming and shouting as they did so, but even Kate Stewart and Ruby's own mother Carla turned their backs on her, a look of disgust and fury in their eyes.

Ruby did manage to get Carla to speak to her briefly, one last time, where she said: "I won't ask you again, Ruby. Please stop calling and go away."

When Ruby said "But I'm your daughter", Carla coldly replied: "Well, except you're not, are you? Even your real mother didn't want you."

So, just what was the woman saying? Well, it seems that showrunner Russell T Davies knows, but he never plans to reveal the truth.

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Speaking on the latest episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed, Davies said when asked what the woman was saying: "You will never know. I’m never gonna tell you what she says. It’s kind of up to you to sit there and think, 'Well, what could someone say that would make a mother run away from her daughter forever?'

"You could look at yourself and think, 'What would make me do that?' And once you start to do that, you enter the real horror story. The dreadful things that are being said there, terrible things."

Ahead of the episode airing, Davies teased that it featured "possibly the strangest villain you’ll ever see", emphasising that "it’s hard to describe" – and he wasn't wrong.

Doctor Who continues on Saturday 1st June on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.

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