Doctor Who finale gives clue about crucial 73 Yards mystery
The finale episode answered a lot of questions.
This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Empire of Death
Weeks later, Doctor Who has given us a clue about the crucial mystery at the heart of 73 Yards with its finale two-parter.
Empire of Death saw the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford) defeat the god Sutekh, and restore life to the universe.
A key part of the story was Susan Triad, the tech mogul Sutekh possessed, played by Susan Twist. As fans noticed, Twist turned up in every episode of season 14 as a different character, with Sutekh laying a trap for the Doctor.
Having invaded the TARDIS, Sutekh was exposed to all of the ship’s “secrets” – including memories of Susan (Carole Ann Ford), the Doctor’s granddaughter.
Inspired, the Osiran “created an apparition of her, universally” – a woman who resembled Susan was brought into existence anywhere the TARDIS landed, with the combined might of Sutekh’s power and the TARDIS’s perception filter enabling the woman’s various guises to be birthed as real beings who fitted into history.
If the TARDIS landed in the same spot more than once – e.g. Earth in 2024 – then the woman would be reborn each time, getting “stronger and stronger” with each reincarnation.
During the episode, the Doctor explains this perception filter to Ruby, saying: “The TARDIS has a perception filter – so it doesn’t get noticed. It just sits there, kind of unseen. It casts a field around it at 66.7 metres exactly."
Immediately, Ruby says: “73 yards.”
Puzzled, the Doctor asks: "How do you know that?"
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"I don't know, I just do," Ruby responds, with the Doctor saying: “Funny things happen at 73 yards… people say that you can see things.”
Of course, that's a callback to 73 Yards, episode 4 in the season, which saw Ruby encounter a woman (who turned out to be her older self), always standing 73 yards away from her, giving us a clue as to why that distance was so important...
It's not the only reference to 73 Yards in Empire of Death, with Aneurin Barnard's Roger ap Gwilliam also making an appearance and proving key to the discovery of the identity of Ruby's biological mother.
With Ruby opting to leave the TARDIS to spend time with her biological parents, "the story of the church on Ruby Road" has come to an end – but with Millie Gibson set to return to Doctor Who next season, perhaps the mysteries posed in 73 Yards are yet to fully unravel?
Doctor Who will return to BBC One this Christmas. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.
