The Ruby-Centric "73 Yards" is 'Doctor Who's' Best Episode in Years

It is a truth universally acknowledged that some of Doctor Who's best episodes barely feature the show's primary character. These so-called "Doctor-lite" episodes were initially deployed during showrunner Russell T. Davies' first tenure to help mask the fact that the show was filming two episodes at once, and its lead actor literally couldn't be in two places simultaneously.

But by forcing itself to think out of the box about how it was telling its stories, this technique ultimately led to some of the franchise's best and most original hours. "Blink" and "Turn Left" are considered modern classics, and while "73 Yards," the first "Doctor-lite" episode of Davies' second tenure, doesn't quite reach those heights, it's still the best episode of this show we've seen in years.

The Ruby Sunday-centric hour we've all been waiting for, "73 Yards," is part Welsh horror story, part twisty alternate timeline future, and a full-on showcase for companion Millie Gibson that happily doesn't rely on the mystery of her character's origins to work. Given the buckets of charisma that Ncuti Gatwa exudes doing, well, pretty much anything, his Fifteen has generally overshadowed his companion in their initial episodes. (Also, we haven't spent much time with Ruby on her own either, though we did get a glimpse at her life outside of the Doctor in "The Church on Ruby Road.")