This one is a really hard episode to form an opinion on. The first half is very strong, creating a chilling atmosphere reminiscent of a Steven Moffat episode (only, in this case, written by Russell T Davies). However, once the story delves into the political narrative, it's not quite as engaging.

The premise, concerning the Doctor and Ruby breaking a fairy circle and unleashing the spirit of 'Mad Jack', as well as a woman who always stays 73 yards away from Ruby, is extremely interesting. It works well in the more supernaturally focused RTD2, and is a genuinely unsettling notion. Imagine how creeped out you'd feel if you noticed a woman was literally stalking you whilst staying a fair distance away. It would be so very uncomfortable.

The first half of the episode makes excellent use of this concept too, particularly whilst Ruby is in the pub. The whole sequence with the banging, and the locals teasing Ruby to open the door, is so well directed that it leaves you feeling uneasy as Ruby answers the door. Whilst it may be a fakeout and not actually 'Mad Jack', it's a brilliantly tense scene until the door is answered.

There are some obvious similarities to The Curse Of Clyde Langer, but unlike with Space Babies and The End Of The World, 73 Yards feels different enough to not feel like a carbon copy. Ruby doesn't end up homeless for one, and there's no totem pole either. I really felt for poor Ruby when her own foster mother turned against her, and the face that even Kate Lethbridge-Stewart wants nothing to do with Ruby does leave me curious as to what the woman stalking Ruby had said. It must have been something serious to make UNIT's leader turn against a companion of the Doctor's. Millie Gibson gives a fantastic performance of an isolated Ruby who refuses to give up despite her setbacks though, and shows that she was absolutely the right choice for the new companion.

As mentioned, the political storyline is where it falls apart for me. Roger ap Gwilliam could have been a great character, showing the danger the country would face if an extreme far-right politician became prime minister, but he feels too cartoony in his execution. This leader of the 'Albion Party' is so off-the-rails that he goes straight to wanting to buy nuclear weapons and leave NATO. It's about as subtle as a sledgehammer, and I'd have preferred something more realistic that feels like something the Tories, or Reform UK would actually do. As bad as both of those parties are, I doubt they would ever resort to buying nuclear weapons, or getting us out of NATO. Leaving the EU is one thing, but leaving NATO wouldn't happen.

It's weird how quickly the Roger ap Gwilliam storyline gets resolved too. He shows up, becomes prime minister, and then Ruby tricks the woman stalking her into facing Roger so that he resigns. I really thought he would be around longer.

I have seen a few criticising the ending, which reveals that Ruby was the woman 73 yards away, and that she then finds herself back in time, where she stops her younger self and the Doctor from breaking the fairy circle. I don't mind it myself, but it does mean that the woman saying something so bad that it causes Carla and Kate to flee, and never speak to her again, makes no sense. Why would Ruby want to punish herself? Is she her own worst enemy?

Overall, I'm unsure whether I'd score the episode a 7/10 or an 8/10. Maybe on first viewing I'd lean towards an 8, but when I rewatch it at a later date, I might change my mind and make it a 7. The 73 yards lady and the pub sequence is excellently written, but the political plot is weak. It's a shame the episode hadn't focused more on the woman stalking Ruby, as then it would have been an easy 10/10.