UNADULTERATED BOORISH OPINION: WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED IN 73 YARDS?

So I was toiling away on a fascinating ANALYTICAL post that was coming together quite nicely. It was a deep dive into the nature of time loops. How friggin' interesting is that?! 

I was having a great time re-watching stories like Claws of Axos and Meglos and Eve of the Daleks to glean whatever information I could on this strange form of time manipulation. And then packaging all that knowledge in a fun colorful manner that I hoped my readership would enjoy. 

But then, 73 Yards came along....

SUPRISE ENTRY 

If you followed the Season Reviews I wrote throughout the 60th Anniversary Year (well, the 60th Anniversary Year and Then Some!), you'll see that I'm not always the biggest fan of RTD's writing. Series One was brilliant, but everything else has given me some pretty mixed reactions. The Anniversary Specials, themselves, even felt largely disappointing. Suffice it to say, I was not the most enthused of individuals when the first "real" season of RTD2 fell upon us. 

But in the last few weeks, my opinion has changed greatly. These have been some really enjoyable stories (I even liked Space Babies!). RTD made a great choice by causing the Whoniverse to become more supernatural. The plot contrivance allows a whole new sort of story to be told within the show's lore. The Devil's Chord, for instance, proved to be great fun by allowing its villainess to, essentially, be a powerful magical being that the Doctor needed to defeat with music. I completely loved this idea and looked forward to more adventures of this nature. 

The next tale after Devil's Chord that had a supernatural theme to it, however, really astounded me. 73 Yards took me all the way back to the incredibly brilliant Ghost Light of Season Twenty-Six. Both adventures were written with an extreme level of sophistication and ambiguity. We're just expected to be intelligent as we watch them. Rather than have everything spelt out for us, we are required to make certain conclusions on our own. 

When Ghost Light came out, fans started coming up with their own theories as to what exactly occurred in the plot. Which is, of course, the biggest appeal to a story of this nature. The same thing is now happening with 73 Yards. People are actually putting forward all sorts of notions on what the lesser-explained aspects of the tale are meant to be about. I'm no exception to that rule. I have my own ideas about how 73 Yards is meant to work. 

Since I have this little blog to express myself in, I decided I should share them here! 

MAD JACK

There are certain key aspects of 73 Yards that need to be delved into quite deeply before we can really break down the actual plot and give it a proper explanation. Mad Jack is, without a doubt, the most important of all these elements.  

It all goes back to Wild Blue Yonder, of course. The Doctor employing superstition and pouring salt at the very edge of the Universe has allowed various mystical beings to enter our reality. Characters like the Celestial Toymaker and his daughter, the Maestro. Or the Goblin King. Most of these infiltrators, as you can see, seem to be quite malevolent. 

Mad Jack is another one of these creatures. He just might be the most mean-spirited of them all. 

Mad Jack revels in mindless destruction. He wants to see every civilization ruined in the worst way possible. But he has a curious way of manifesting Armageddon. He enters each society he wishes to ruin and creates the proper conditions it needs to unravel. He does this by either possessing a denizen of that world or, perhaps, he can actually assume the form of one of them. We're not entirely sure. 

Whichever the method, Mad Jack is incredibly charismatic as he walks amongst the mortals he's seeking to destroy. This allows him to assume a role of power in their social structure. Which, in turn, gives him access to the suitable weapons he will need to effect their ending. 

This is, essentially, his "M.O.". But there are ways to stop him. 

THE FAIRY CIRCLE 

This is our second super-important aspect to the story that merits a section of its own.

It's not entirely certain who actually constructed the Fairy Circle. It might have been a more benevolent being that the Doctor has let in from outside of our universe that rivals Mad Jack. Or it might actually be someone from Earth who performed "witchcraft". Perhaps some human amongst us has, somehow, learnt certain spells that can negate a few of these evil beings that are now infiltrating our dimension. Kate Stewart spoke to Ruby of the increased amount of supernatural incidents that UNIT has been investigating, of late. So all sorts of magic could now be going on. Some of it could stem from humans who now have strong psychic abilities. 

Regardless of its origins, the Fairy Circle is a ward spell that is preventing Mad Jack from being able to manifest himself on Earth. Many of these Evil Beings from Beyond have been showing a strong interest in us. Perhaps it's because they know that the Doctor has a fondness for our planet and they want to kick him where it hurts most. 

While the Fairy Circle keeps Mad Jack out, he is still very powerful and has made his presence felt. Particularly by those near the Circle, itself. Legends of his evil have spread amongst the villagers in the area. To the point where it seems he may have been able to partially enter our world once or twice and wreaked some degree of havoc. Alternatively, the Fairy Circle may have been constructed because Mad Jack has legitimately walked the Earth during its earlier days when civilization wasn't quite advanced enough for him to completely wipe it out. Whatever the case, he's gained a reputation in the area. 

As the Doctor stands close to the Fairy Circle, he's picking up on the potential alternative timeline that is about to be released. This prompts him, unknowingly, to tell Ruby about Roger ap Gwilliam. It's my belief, however, that if they hadn't come to the Fairy Circle, then the Roger ap Gwilliam Timeline would never have manifested itself in such a manner. The man may have still been born and lived a normal life. Or he may have never existed at all (as I've said, I'm not sure if Mad Jack would possess a human or just assume their form). But Mad Jack senses the Fairy Circle is about to break so his presence is already starting to be felt. 

BREAKING THE CIRCLE 

Within minutes of the episode starting, the Doctor accidentally steps on the Fairy Circle and breaks it. This, quite naturally, is when all the trouble starts. 

With the Circle damaged, the ward spell holding back Mad Jack no longer works. He can enter our world and begin his plans. Technically, that should be it for being able to thwart the evil entity. The ward spell should lose all its effectiveness. Especially since Ruby also does things to damage it. 

But the ward spell, hell-bent on doing everything it can to hold back Mad Jack, recognizes an enormous resource nearby: the TARDIS. If it can, somehow, access some of its abilities to manipulate time, it might be able to still prevent Jack from succeeding. 

This is why the Doctor suddenly disappears. The Fairy Circle absorbed him and is using his symbiotic link with the TARDIS to harness its powers. The Doctor, always willing to fight for a good cause, is happy to help. This also explains why it's suddenly become impossible to open the TARDIS door. The time vessel is now fully engaged in working with the Fairy Circle. It cannot be distracted by passengers. 

THE OLD LADY FROM A DISTANCE 

With the powers of the TARDIS at its disposal, the ward spell can make an attempt to re-set the timelines and cast Mad Jack back out. It goes for something quite simple. Get a future version or Ruby to travel back in time and prevent the Doctor from stepping on the Circle.  

There is a problem: With the Fairy Circle broken, the ward spell is very weak. Even with the TARDIS backing it up, it can only do so much. The plan is only so effective. 

A future version of Ruby can be sent back, but only if she is plucked from the very weakest point in her timeline. Basically, it can only be Ruby at the point of her death. A version of her that exists just as she has drawn her last breath. She's not quite dead. But not alive either. I remember one fan mentioning that she's a bit like the Doctor's Watcher in Logopolis. The image works for me. 

This future version of Ruby appears as a strange otherworldly-looking old woman who is completely unrecognizable to her. Particularly since she can only see her from a distance. Which is the other problem the ward spell is experiencing. Getting the same person from different periods of their life to meet each other is quite dangerous. The TARDIS actually has a failsafe in place that the ward spell doesn't have the strength to by-pass. The two versions of Ruby can never get any closer than 73 yards from each other. Future Ruby, however, will make continuous efforts to close the distance. No matter where Young Ruby goes, Ruby on the Verge of Death will follow her. Always trying to make contact. If Ruby can know the full plan of the ward spell, that will make all of this easier for her. So she's constantly trying to tell her. She just can't get close enough to be heard. 

Here's the thing about Future Ruby being in the state she's in: it disturbs the Hell out of any living human being that has direct contact with her. Most of the time, the TARDIS can protect nearby people by placing a perception filter around her. They will see her but intentionally avoid her. Unless, of course, they make a conscious effort to engage her. That will break the cloaking device and the full effect of her intensely off-putting aura will hit them. 

Fans keep speculating about what the Old Woman says to people that gets them to run away. I don't think she says much of anything. She just causes anyone who speaks to her directly to come face-to-face with their own mortality. Unable to deal with such a thing, they run off in total fear. And, because Old Ruby is connected to Young Ruby, it causes them to reject her too. They want nothing to do with either of them. Because they now both represent Death. 

ROGER AP GWILLIAM 

As all this is going on in Ruby's life, Roger ap Gwilliam rises to power. He does seem to have been born right around when the Fairy Circle was broken. Which implies that he came into existence when Mad Jack could enter our world. 

Here's where my theory gets at its wildest: I'm not entirely sure that Ruby needed to actually do anything to stop Gwilliam (or is it ap Gwilliam? Excuse my cultural ignorance!). The real plan was to just re-write time a bit by sending Future Ruby back to distract herself. Young Ruby deciding to use her own curse to her advantage was just a nice extra bonus. 

Yes, the Mad Prime Minister was planning to blow up the world. But the ward spell just needed to take Ruby at the point of death and send her back in time. If she had died in a nuclear blast rather than a bed in a hospital, it would not have made a difference.  

Or perhaps it would. Perhaps a violent death would have been too difficult to wrest a future version of Ruby from. So Ruby ruining Mad Jack's plans was an important part of the whole operation. As I've said several times already: Who can say for sure?!! 

COMPLETING THE LOOP 

And so, Ruby reaches the end of her life. The Old Woman From a Distance can approach her ever-so-briefly so that they can merge and she can then be projected into the past. 

The saddest thing, of course, is that Ruby had to live through the entire alternative timeline at least once for the actual sequence of events to occur. Otherwise, Future Ruby would not be able to appear and stop them. Only when Ruby's full life is completed can the Old Woman From a Distance properly appear in the past and provide a distraction at just the right time. Thus causing the Doctor to not step on the Circle. Which, in turn, stops Ruby's whole miserable existence without the Doctor from ever occurring. 

It's a fairly mind-boggling paradox. But it just manages to work. 

This is one of those rare occasions where a huge hiccup in time isn't actually noticed by the Doctor. Which makes sense. The ward spell's plan prevents a whole series of events from ever happening. He just doesn't break the Fairy Circle, now. So how could he know about any of this? 

But Ruby does appear to remember it all and just isn't going to say anything to him about it. I purposely waited until Dot and Bubble came out before posting this. I wanted to see if Ruby would mention the events of 73 Yards in it. Sure enough, she did. Although she does seem pretty hazy about the whole experience. So maybe she only vaguely recalls it. 

Future episodes might clarify these issues a bit better but I didn't want to wait too long to post this. The more new episodes come out, the more attention they will get. Speculating about 73 Yards will lose popularity. As is, people might already be saying to themselves: "Who cares anymore, Rob?!" when this actual entry does go up!    

A FEW MINOR NIGGLES:

So, just a few more quick questions that need answering: 

How can Mad Jack exist if he's just a joke that was made up by the patrons in the pub to tease Ruby? 

It's my belief that he wasn't completely made up. That there are some old legends about him that the locals in the pub chose to exploit. The fact that there are stories about him made it all-the-easier to get in on the joke. The first person to mention him knew that no one else in the room would be like: "Mad Jack?! Who's that meant to be ?!" Instead, they would be like: "Yeah! Let's scare her with some tales about Mad Jack!" 

The same goes, of course, for Ruby damaging the Fairy Circle. There would be superstitions about what doing such a thing causes. The locals could use this to their advantage. They would know about the "rules" that apply to fairy circles but would not, necessarily, believe in them. Nonetheless, it would still be fun to tease Ruby for breaking them. 

While the patrons of the pub are taking the piss out of Ruby, they are still drawing upon old Lore about the area as they do so. It just so happens that everything that they are citing is actually accurate! 

Why Can't Ruby hear what her Future Self is telling her when her Mom holds up the phone to her?

Hearing herself over the phone still constitutes someone from two different points in their timeline having contact. Which causes the TARDIS failsafe I mentioned earlier to kick in. A condition that the ward spell is too weak to break. During many other instances, this isn't actually a problem and a person is able to meet themselves (ie: the Brigadier in Mawdryn Undead) but this might be due to the fact that the TARDIS is old and unreliable. The failsafe breaks down from time-to-time but will also get repaired now and again. Meaning, of course, that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (Mind you, the TARDIS may have shut the protocol down, herself, during Mawdryn Undead knowing it would save the Doctor). So when Young Ruby tries to hear Old Ruby through her cell, the whole process triggers a sort of temporal backwash that causes the reception between the two phones to become staticky. Thus preventing proper contact. 

Will Roger ap Gwilliam still become Prime Minister? 

Probably not. He may not even exist anymore. Or, if he is born, he doesn't become Prime Minister. Or, if he does have a successful political career that makes him the leader of Britain, he won't want to blow up the world. 

The Fairy Circle managed to create a continuum where the Doctor and Ruby never damaged it. So Mad Jack never enters our world. He won't be able to create the circumstances that Ruby had to live through when the Fairy Circle broke. 

Basically, it's all an aborted timeline, now. But one that was created more through magic than technology. Which kinda makes it special! 

If it's an aborted timeline, why does the Doctor still mention him?! 

Because he is still standing close to the Fairy Circle. So the potential reality is still speaking to him. As he gets further and further away from it, he will forget all about Roger ap Gwilliam. Or, at the very least, he will remember him differently. 

It's also entirely possible that he still had to bring up the topic in order to get the whole paradox to work. Ruby needed to know about Mad Jack so that she would know to stop him in the future while she was still stuck in the aborted timeline. Particularly if my "Ruby Needed to Die a Peaceful Death" theory is accurate. She would need the "tease" the Doctor gave her to get her to foil his plans. Which, in turn, would ensure she dies under favorable circumstances. 

So the Fairy Circle allowed that little bit of information to leak in order to get all the events of the aborted timeline to flow the way they needed to. So that, in turn, the whole thing would never happen. 

Yup, definitely a complex paradox! 

The Fairy Circle is sitting outside, won't it just get broken in a nasty storm?!   

The ward spell is powerful enough to resist the effects of the elements. But an actual mortal interfering with it is too strong of a force for it to contend with. Even if the mortal damages it unintentionally. 

And ... there you go: my "two cents" on what I think happened in 73 Yards. It was such a compelling story that I had to discuss it as soon as possible in here. 

Now I'll get back to analyzing time loops....