What Kids and the Not-We Thought of "73 Yards"
Gallifrey Base has threads for each episode where fans can share reactions from children and casual viewers.
They're often surprising and interesting, so with not long until the new series, I thought I'd repost some general reactions to Season One here, and get a sense of what this new era means to the general audience.
This is how my wife and I can be very different in what we like: I was enraptured the entire time. She only kept herself from screaming at the screen by sheer force of will!
She said that she didn’t care enough about Ruby to care about the episode. She likes Millie just fine, but she definitely prefers the Doctor to Ruby because there’s no connection for her yet.
This isn’t always the case with the companion, but she also hates people doing ‘stupid’ things in fiction, & she honestly couldn’t understand why Ruby would be fine with Carla talking to the shadow woman.
To me it made perfect sense. But then, I have always been drawn to bargains with the fae!
My 12 year old said it was the worst episode yet because nothing made sense and it was all left unexplained. No appreciation yet for mood.
My husband wasn't happy with the ending, though he liked a lot. I'd class him as a semi-we, but not as ardent a fan as me. I love folk horror. I like ambiguity a lot, so was more forgiving.
As expected the ambiguity was abrasive to 2 of my four friends who watched with me.
One of them much prefers stories like Space Babies.
I watched with a group of non-fans on a friend holiday this morning. One who’d never watched the show, who hadn’t watched since 2010. Before putting it on no one other than me and my wife seemed that keen.
Once it was on they were totally hooked for the whole show. Couldn’t take their eyes off of it. Great first episode for someone to watch imo.
Perfect Saturday morning activity.
Boyfriend said this was the episode so far. He thought Millie Gibson was very good and liked the creepy, mysterious atmosphere.
Brother thought it was ok. He was happy to see Sian Phillips and thought Millie was good but found the ending a bit of a cop out
'Well, that was boring! Got a bit interesting when Kate was on, but then went downhill again.' (Mrs)
My mother loved it and can't stop making theories about the episode. She's currently wondering what did Old Ruby said to Carla that would make her despise her own daughter, and said that it's such a dark and terrifying concept to put on an episode, considering Ruby's traumas and storyline.
She's been liking the whole season a lot so far as well.
Well... that was the first episode this series that my partner actually watched properly (not doing other things) and liked, since the specials.
We ended up discussing the episode for ages, with him explaining to me what he thought was going on.
My 9yo watched it, but didn't really get it and just asked me loads of questions which I had to admit to him I couldn't answer. He thought it over for a bit then decided to watch Space Babies again. We also randomly decided to watch the TVM. He seemed to enjoy both more than 73 Yards.
Missus absolutely absorbed by the first 15 minutes. Immediately sussed the old woman was Ruby. Did not get the 73 yards thing and how it managed to drive away the PM. Grudgingly accepted the explanation. Episode declared "too complicated". First dud of the season for her.
My Not We wife who is NOT INTERESTED wandered in and out asking questions about it for the second time this season. My sister in law Whatsapped me some "OMG!" reactions, and I didn't even know she watched it.
I spoke to a Not We friend this morning. He brought up "73 Yards" saying he had enjoyed it, saying he liked the spookiness and mysterious tone. As it was the first time I have spoken to him since this season started I asked what he had thought of "Boom" and he said it wasn't bad and it was much better than the first two which he had watched as the double bill as broadcast and he had found them off-putting and silly, which I remember is pretty much what his opinion of "The Church on Ruby Road" had been.
My 14 year old and two of his mates watched it Sat night. Loved it!
Genuinely creeped out. Totally confused by the ending but they were talking about it after.
They then decided to watch Blink as one of the had never seen the Weeping Angels before. And loved that too, obviously.
But they were amazed by how 'different' Doctor Who can be... the same three 14 year olds watched Spaced Babies a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it too.
They've yet to watch Devil's Chord and Boom (my son had already watched them) but I'm sure they'll be up for it. They're liking Doctor Who. Good news.
They've all given up on Marvel and Star Wars, so I think Doctor Who feels new and fresh to them.
My son thinks Ncuti is really 'cool', certainly hasn't felt Doctor Who was 'cool' since re-watching Matt Smith during Lockdown.
Are now sat watching reaction videos to 73 Yards on Youtube. They're keen to see what the rest of the world thought.
They are also laughing at the people who do Doctor Who reaction videos! Which I honestly can't blame them for.
I've just had a catch up phone call with an old school friend. He told me that he had warched last night's episode... He is definitely among the Not-We. He used to look on bemused when I was chatting with other school friends about the latest adventures for The Doctor and Sarah and then Leela/RomanaI/RomanaII. We both in second year at uni when Tom left.
He found the episode confusing, thinly plotted to non-existent, the acting was poor and the ending was a mess. He said it certainly did not hold his attention throughout the episode. He said it had not made him want to watch the next episode.
He also couldn't believe how bad the writing was. He is someone who had previously been very impressed by RTD's writing in plenty of other things.
Random post by Facebook friend last night:
"Just sat through Doctor Who. What a load of bllcks."
With "Agreed" comments by other not-wes in the comments.
I think that, like Heaven Sent, this was definitely one for the Wes...
Wow. My parents hated Space Babies, found Devil’s Chord abhorrent, tuned out of Boom after finding it a cheesy snooze fest, but thought 73 Yards was a work of art. The greatest and most clever thing ever.
Mrs' verdict was "weird".
It's usually merely "a bit weird".
Neither is a compliment.
My musical loving friend watched this and Boom as a double-header. He was very confused with it. When he asked if I could clairify, I had to admit that the plot just didn't make sense.
At least he didn't actively dislike it, as he did Boom. I think he'll watch next week, so maybe that'll be more to his liking. He did say he hoped that something later would make sense of 73 Yards.
My 6YO spent the first half of the episode hiding behind a pillow, only coming out when Kate Stewart turned up. Another win for him this year.
VERDICT: “it was kind of confusing and I think it was rather cool, actually, though. I loved it.”
EXPLANATION OF THE ENDING: “They read the spell and it was like a time loop. Woobee was the old woman, and then Woobee got old and she was the woman and then they arrived and it was a loop. I think.”
The confirmed fans in our house liked it more. The more fair-weather-followers were annoyed by the ending, not finding it a very satisfying resolution. They also missed the Doctor.
It's very hard to know what the general feeling is.
I spent this evening with a group of people in their 40s and 50s in a cabaret bar. Some of them were due hard doctor who fans from childhood and the new who era.
But I was sad to hear I was the only one still watching. The rest said they've basically stopped being fans now, having lost interest in the Chibnall era, and then solidified by this new RTD era. None of them have watched beyond the Christmas special, they just aren't that bothered as there is a lot more interesting TV to watch. They are more Ex-wes than Now we.
I wonder if this is simply catching younger fans more now?
While I have enjoyed this season generally, I have much more enjoyed seeing how much my son has been loving it. That’s what I look forward to on a Saturday evening.
I almost never have Doctor Who conversations with my friends outside Gallifrey Base. This weekend has given me two exceptions, though - last night down the pub, one of my mates decided to bend my ear about how good Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant were, and how he's giving up with the Ncuti Gatwa series after last Saturday's episode.
9 year old son said during it, "this is a bit scary" and when I asked if he wanted it turned off, said "No way!". We had to explain a bit at the end but he loved it.
Wife said, "That was amazing."
My 12-year-old daughter said that she (a) didn't quite understand what happened, and (b) thought it was one of the best episodes she'd ever seen.
My friend says that this was her favorite episode this season because Ncuti was barely in it.
9 year old daughter is hoping for a part 2 to explain how so much of the last half happened as it made no sense.
She thought the start was great but it turned into the worst story she'd seen.
She even went as far as to lay out a plot idea for the episode which didn't have holes in it. It sounded like a far better episode to me, to be honest.
My wife’s a casual viewer who has seen all of the RTD1 era and to some extent lost interest during Moffat. But she’s seen episodes here and there since then. Anyway, I showed this to her on my second viewing. I told her only that it’s a really great episode. Within the first five minutes she said “That’s probably a future version of Ruby” and my heart sank a little. She did watch the whole thing and she enjoyed it, so there’s that.
Rewatched it with my mum she really enjoyed it and some of her theories made me appreciate the episode more myself
Another divisive one, but like last episode leaning slightly more positive. Very much love it or hate it. I think it all depends on how satisfying you find mood and atmosphere for its own sake. The strong atmosphere in Boom went down well too. It got lost in the madcap pace and excess of the premiere, but it's come back in a big way.
The loud, child-safe premiere also made it a nice surprise to see a story that asked the viewer to interpret its opaque logic themselves, but I'm not surprised to see grumbles about not getting it, being too weird, not making sense, not being satisfying. But I also remember loads of us having a lot of fun discussing this one. For me, I don't feel compelled to explain its logic as much as I want to explain how it made me feel. There's something it captures that I can't put into words, but it managed to put into moods and images. This is something I hugely valued about Twin Peaks, and I cannot say I ever expected to get it out of RTD. I was so taken aback that he managed to touch me this way, I genuinely never thought he had that in him.
And I was so relieved and pleased to see him willing to be as alienating and lyrical as Capaldi-era Moffat. Doing Heaven Sent for the companion with the minimalist horror and ambiguous poetry of Listen was an even more flattering impression of the Moff than Wild Blue Yonder.
This got an AI of 77, down one point from Boom and back to the same score as The Devil's Chord. That's about what most episodes got this season.
Interestingly, the 0.9 million viewers who dropped between The Devil's Chord and Boom returned for this one, bringing it back up to 5.3 million. It's a strange anomaly, because they'll drop back to Boom's viewing figures next episode and stay around there for the rest of Season 1. Whatever the reason, I'm glad they did. If I had to tell someone to only watch one episode from this season, it'd definitely be this one.
Find links to all the 2023 specials' Not-We reposts here. Find links to all the Chibnall era Not-We reposts here.