73 Yards

Season 1, Episode 4. First broadcast on Saturday 25 May 2024.

Episode 7 · Monday 27 May 2024.

This week, Brendan, Todd and Nathan found ourselves completely unable to connect and terrified of being abandoned by everyone we’ve ever cared about. Fortunately there was an excellent episode of Doctor Who to cheer us up.

Recorded on Monday 27 May 2024 · Download (29.8 MB)
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Transcript

Hello, dear listener, and welcome back to the 2nd great and bountiful Human Empire, the only Doctor Who flash cast, which is beginning to wonder if this anti-perse print is quite as effective as it says on the tin. I'm Nathan. Hi, no, the stuff never works for me. I am Brendan. And I'm Todd. This week we watched Russell T. Davis's episode 73 yards, and it's our 1st Dr. Light episode of the new era, and I guess we'll get on to that. But before we do, let's just give our initial impressions. What did you think of this one, Todd? Well, if I gave 8.75 out of 10 to last week. This week, I'll give it a 9.75 out of 10. Wow, that's a big call from space to this. What about you, Brendan? Look, I'm with Todd. I don't do decimals as the listener, longtime listener knows, but I've given it a provisional nine. Um, sort of when I get to the end of this season. I going to watch them all again and reassess my scores. So it's on par with last week for me and slightly ahead of the other 2 episodes. And yeah, I just, I really enjoyed it. I question the wisdom of having Dr. Light episodes in an 8 episode season, but entirely on its own merits. I think this was fantastic. Uh, I have to agree. I really love this one. I have enjoyed basically all of the episodes since the show came back in November and what I'm really appreciating is just the range of different things the show can do and how much more strange and experimental it is than the initial RTD run. You know, I think we had friends who fear that he was just going to do the same old stuff and he's absolutely not doing that. And there's some things about his 1st era that I definitely miss because I love that era. But I'm really, really enjoying this. So I thought this was a particularly strong one. So it turns out we're doing a Dr. Light episode because shooting is it's kind of down the road doing sex education, I think, at this point. And so he's barely in it. This is, I think, maybe the 1st thing that Millie shoots, although I'm not sure about that. It is one of the 1st things. She's only 18 at the time of filming this. And I think for that, it's absolutely extraordinary. I mean, you can say what you want about the character of Ruby, and I certainly have put a bit of criticism into the fact that perhaps we don't really know her or there's not much substance there, but I really enjoyed Millie's performance this week, and I was totally captivated by everything that was going on and where she was heading. And I have to say, I did not see it coming, the 73 yards to get rid of the Prime Minister. Like the moment that penny dropped. I just thought, 0 my gosh. And she just sold the whole thing. And old Ruby was fantastic as well. Yeah, I actually also found myself. just mesmerised and not missing shooty. I love Shooty as the doctor. I'm really, really enjoying his performance, but I wasn't sitting there going, where's shooty? She did have me completely absorbed in the episode, which is pretty amazing. But I think each of those sequences that are in the episode, which always will talk about. There was just characters and who was going on that kept you involved all the way through. Brendan Yep, absolutely. No, he holds the whole thing together. I wasn't looking at my watch thinking where shooting, but there were a couple of points where I thought, oh, this could be a point where, you know, the doctor sticks his head out of a portal or it's like Wesley Crusher shouting to his mother at the other end of a maelstrom. Um, but it didn't need it. And I love that it had the confidence to say, We are giving an entire episode to Millie, and I think she does carry it with a plomb. I kind of get what I see people saying about, you know, she's not a character isn't massively, solidly defined. And I have to wonder if that's a conscious choice from Russell getting away from sort of the high concept characters we've had or dare I say it, the no concept companions we've had, to just give us the person next door. And, you know, reestablishing this idea that, It's not being a special child of destiny that makes you travel with the doctor. It's your temperament and your character, which is the big focus of this episode. And I think her character was actually proven in this episode because once she turns up, like she gets freaked out at the beginning, obviously, and then she ends up in that pub with all those people who are winding her up and you're thinking, where the where is this going? And when that tension breaks, you can think this poor girl and she's got this woman outside that everybody's screaming out running away and all those characters in the pub like that bitch of a landlady. But I love the woman at the bar and the way she sold all the hocus pocus witchcraft. So the woman at the bar was Sian Phillips, a Welsh actor, who is 91 years old, and she played Livia, the wife of Augustus, in I Claudius in the early 1970s at the age of 42, and also starred in David Lynch's Dune, and she was in all sorts of things, you know how green was my valley and and under Milkwood and stuff. She's a very, very well-known Welsh actor and she is just fabulous. She was so wonderfully evil in i Claudius. She poisons everyone. She's magnificent. Great. wonderful. Just sort of posh, scary lady. I thought she was really good. I think like, I found this as an exploration of her character really, really interesting, but, you know, the character isn't sort of quite as as kind of well-defined as, you know, Billy or Freema or Catherine were. And, you know, we've had a long time to get to know them and think about them and they've been characters who've been with us for kind of a long time. And Millie's character isn't, I think, as clearly defined as that in that sort of soap opera way. You know how, you know, rose is going to react. You know how you certainly know how Don is going to react. So you don't quite quite know Millie quite well enough yet. But what we do learn is this sort of weird abandonment thing that's going on. And that's the most interesting thing about this season for me is that every season has kind of abandoned children. And even, even the Moffatt one last week ended with a child being orphaned, and you can see the doctor and Ruby's reaction to that you know, like everything is about children, even the space babies thing where they arrive on a space station full of abandoned babies, which is so ridiculous and makes so much fun of that concept. And here we get it properly examined where she, it connects with no one over the, over the kind of, over the 15 years that we see and then at the end, you know, 55, 65 years later, she has basically no one. And in fact, the only person that she has is the mysterious woman 73 yards away. And whenever anyone gets close enough to her to find out what she's like, they abandon her. And it's so terrifying and bleak and strange, but it's so on point you know, so on point for what this season is doing. It's so terrifying and it just builds. And from the moment you have Susan Twist running away at the beginning and she was hilarious. just hilarious. like her whole scream and everything. I just burst out laughing. But then I got, you know, very serious, but all of that was beautifully shot on the cryptops and that. But then to go from the village into with her mum. And then, then her mum, the look that her mum gave her and what she said and been locked out of the flat and all that, you know, I think it's testament to the character, the character didn't have a complete and utter breakdown. You get that, you get a bit outside the door at the flat when she's locked out. And then when Peter's favourite, Kate, lift with Stuart turns up like, you know, when when she turns and you get that moment of rage, you know, it's it's, but she manages to then, you know, bring it back and and keep soldering on and come to terms with living with this woman who's just, you know, over there while she's waking up with the boyfriends or having the parties every 5 years. I'm going to have to say this, like, you know, I wish I had her skin routine for authority. I would have bought it a bit more if they just aged it a 33 because I think she looked really good up to that and after that I went, okay, that's fine. They're doing everything, but, you know, that's my little quibble and you know, now, I like to also have everything answered, and initially that was a problem for me, but now having watched it again, if something gets tied in at the end, season wide, it's 73 yards or something gets answered, you know, I'm happy for it to us to never really find out what that woman was saying, you know. I just want to say, I think I think Ruby probably has the best skincare routine known to man, which is not living in Australia you know, because here's the whole thing, right? The internet has been full of people going, well, look at Amy in the girl who waited and Ruby should look like that. And other people going, she's meant Amy's meant to be about 55 to 60 there at a bunch of 40 year olds, including myself going, how old do you think we look? Do you know, I think that they did learn a valuable lesson about ageing makeup and it is a lesson that they didn't learn in the 1st run through and that they certainly didn't learn in the muffin era. And I was just thinking about how ridiculous poor old what's a phase looks at the end of last Christmas in like her horrible horrible ageing makeup is so bad. And so they've just said, no, that doesn't work. We have much better cameras now. They're not going to forgive anything that looks this stupid. We will cast an old woman and we will just make Millie dress frumpier when she's 40. And I think that that's that's perfect. That's fine. See, what I really liked was the accommodation that she makes with the woman, like, I think the woman is gesturing and she's saying the things, the speech that we hear her say from kind of behind her hands, you know, the speech about how long it takes and how she waited and all of that. I think that's what she's saying all the way through. And we never see her speak to those people. She never actually turns and speaks to them. She's always looking at Ruby and gesticulating the way that she keeps gesticulating. So she doesn't appear to turn to them and tell them anything, but then they run off. So it's not sort of quite clear what what that is. But what I really like is her going to the window. Ruby going to the window at her birthday and just raising a glass to this woman and then, you know, eventually learning that that's the person that's kind of kept her from being lonely for 65 years towards the end. All that stuff is great. The other thing that I think is great is that we keep seeing points in the story that we think are an escape. And if we think about it, we know it's too early in the story. But you sort of think once, once they all kind of start laughing at her about the, about the magic in the pub in Wales, everything's going to be okay. Once she gets on the train to go back to London, she's going to be fine. Oh, Kate's here, it's all right. She's going to be okay. Oh, she's defeated the prime minister. It's all right. It's all over. It's going to be okay. And of course, you know, at no point does it end? And I think the story is so wildly unpredictable. And one of the reasons, I think, that it works so well is that each concept only lasts a short period of time and nothing outstays its welcome. I'd agree with you. I, I like that, they, they, they don't outstay their welcome. And uh, The prime minister coming in, like bringing all that back like, obviously at the beginning, you think, oh, yes, it's going to come into play, but then you sort of, I was just so engrossed before what was going on and the freakiness of that woman and and the time of events that I didn't see her coming until suddenly his name's on the screen and he's getting elected and I'm going, oh my goodness, they're bringing this in. You know, this is, yes, as you said, our way out, Nathan. But then just seeing that unfold and that poor woman from the office, like whatever he did to her, the number on her, and then she laughs when he got run, it was so funny with him running out of the stadium, like, you know, it was going well. But I just didn't see that coming. I did not see that coming. And it really, it's something about, I think, the show had missed for a while is that the companion is really taking charge and seeing how common they are and actually solving the problem or what's in front of them. Yeah, yeah. I agree. I think it really is something that even Millie hadn't had the chance to do, even Ruby hasn't been able to save the day yet until this episode and I'd been waiting for it and I'm really glad it happened. I thought it was, it was really something. Something that I thought was particularly noticeable with, um, uh Roger Ab William is, When Russell has sort of done political commentary in the past, He's either made jokes directly at existing world leaders or he's created analogues for existing world leaders, and here, I don't think he is specifically referring to any one world leader, but he's referring to the popularist. Warmonger. Archetype. And I think that's a very clever idea, especially with the show more globally available than it has ever been before in that we're no longer saying we're angry at Tony Blair. We're no longer saying we're angry at George W. Bush. We're saying we are angry at this type of leader. which I think is very powerful and also that you have all these people around him who are like, oh, he says he'll press the button, but we know he won't. You know, and it is the kind of support that these leaders get of these people going, oh, no, no, no. He's not really going to do that. He's just saying that to get elected and then when it happens, it's like, 0 yeah, but it's not really that bad. And Ruby even says, like, the catalyst for her finally taking action is finding out about the nukes, but also finding out how badly Marty's been treated. And she apologises to Marty for not acting sooner. And again, it's just, It's showing that even though maybe you can't summarise Ruby in 3 words, um, It's demonstrating intelligence and compassion and a sense of self-sacrifice. And something that I think is so important in her character is a lack of self-pity. Yeah. She goes through all this stuff and while she is upset in the moment, uh, you find by the end of her life that she's quite content, despite everything she's been through. And I suppose, you know, saving the world will do that for you, but still, like 40 more years of no significant other, no children. Oh, it breaks your heart. The character could have been portrayed as been quite bitter, but she wasn't that. She embraced, embraced her life and what it was and, and, and, you know, just making statements like I could make it snow once upon a time and stuff like that. You know, there wasn't any, she wasn't really upset or, you know it was just, you know, that's what's been dealt, you know, and she can, has come to terms with that, you know? I think watching it a 2nd time for me was really good because, as you know, I like to have answers to everything. And I wasn't going to get them, you know. And so coming to terms with that was, um, has helped me, you know in terms of my liking of this episode. And I think Kate's saying this time I might be suspended along your event is an explanation of all sorts and you can blink and miss that, you know what I mean? And Russell said, you're never going to find out what that woman has said. You know, you've got to come to terms with whatever is getting said or the gestures, you know, and what's causing those people to run away. That's up to you to sort of, to work out, which I think is very very clear. I really love the whole Kate conversation. I really thought it was really beautifully delivered on both of the actresses' parts despite what beat up my saying. I don't know. Sorry, Peter. But I like cake. That be true, and it's good to see her, and it certainly came out of the blue. I wasn't expecting her at all. No, it's nice to link in there in that episode, in this episode. Yeah, so I was just mesmerised by the whole thing. all the way through. You know, I think every explanation is there because there's there's the initial explanation that it's the fairy circle, which is given to us by the people in the pub. Then there's the explanation that obviously it's not the fairy circle also given to us by the people in the pub. Then you get Kate talking about perception filters, which Ruby corroborates as a possibility. You get the theory that maybe the TARDIS landing on the thing and a perception filter interacting with the um, the circle on a liminal space, you know, between the land and the sea, which is what um, Sian Phillips's character mentions. But what you get is you get Kate saying, it's a thing and we just make up whatever rules in our head we need to make it work. And it's absolutely, uh, Russell saying, you're not getting a cut and dried explanation here, uh, what you are going to get is something that's resonant and interesting and that you can play with and think about, um, but, uh, we're not going to have a, a speech at the end saying exactly what it was and and trying to pin it down. Um, and, and you know, that's a longtime criticism of Russell's writing is that a lot of people just, you know, I've heard just lots of times where people have said, that would have worked for me if there had been one more line of dialogue in there explaining it. And Russell knows that. And he knows what exposition is, but he just doesn't want to do that. And here I think he's very definitely kind of just saying, this time I'm really going for it. I'm not only going to not give you an explanation, but I'm going to comment in the script about not giving you an explanation. I just feel like there's still going to be something at the end of the season. I just think there'll be something, some throwaway thing when kids do get wrapped. And if that happens, if it's, that could be the icing on cake that that gives me a 10, a one, 0.0 blister. But I also like the idea that maybe it's this sort of strange thing that happens just on the perimeter of Doctor Who that never quite gets roped in. Do you know what I mean? That never gets quite brought into the episode. Because, you know, there's that thing, and I did think of you, Todd when there's no opening crowd. Oh, no, no, no, no. Because I kind of thought, there's no opening credits because the names came up and I thought, when they do that, it's going to be something special. Right? And it's either going to be special, wonderful, or perhaps not so much, but I just kind of thought, okay, we're into a ride here and what a wonderful journey. I thought it made it look more filmmick. You know, the last time we had credits like that, I think, was maybe in the day of the doctor over that incredible scene with the TARDIS being kind of lowered, you know, into Trafalgar Square. And so it did make it filming, particularly given the way all of that coastline was shot. And of course, you know, I think when it comes time to talk about this on flights through entirety, uh, in 2032 or whatever, um, I'll have, I'll have a tight 5 minutes about what the purpose of the opening titles is and why they'd be inappropriate. But maybe that's not for today. I have to ask Brendan something. I've been seeing all this speculation on the internet now about where this season is going and I want to hear your series because last week you talked about season one of Doctor Who and how it relates and I want to know how this relates to Marco Polo. because I haven't worked it out. Right. I've been seeing some other people speculating that all the Russell episodes are linking in with what was going to be the final season of the Sarah Jane adventures. And I'm not going to say anything more about that. You can go and read about that, but that's by the bye. But I'd love to hear from you, Brendan, now on your Marco Polo experience. Well, Todd, I have 2 answers for that, in fact. and I'll start with the one that's going to enrage you. They both take place over a very long period of time. Well, that is true. Now, the 2nd one is that throughout the story, you have a male leader, who is constantly jockeying for power, and who 2 female characters are constantly saying this guy's bad news and no one will listen to them. But in the end, he is revealed, because you have Roger Apwilliam and you have Tagana. Ah, there we go. You have, uh, you have Ruby and Marty, and you have Susan and Pincho. And you have Susan Twist screaming at somebody running off. We'll start screaming at the cave of 500 eyes or something like that. Right? Well, Barbara is taken prisoner in the cave of 500 eyes. And there is a superstition surrounding that. So there you go. There we go. Oh, I think that's brilliant. That's brilliant, Brandon. Can I just say MVP is Susan Twist. God, I love it. She's so great. What is she going to be next? you know? What's going to be next? I actually I actually watched the Devil's Court again last night because it's really great. And I thought she was, she absolutely stole the scene that she was in like, shamelessly stole that scene. Oh, she did, she was great. here. Pay attention to me. It was really great. I just, I just love that scene with her on the cliff, like, just just, some of the things that the character said and I can't even remember it now, but I was just laughing my head off, like, she's going, oh, I hope I haven't stumbled into anything, you know? and then she's going up there so gung ho and then I just just to scream. That was just, I just... I think that the incredibly bad job she does of running away with us. You know, when the other guy, when the other guy runs away, you know, he does a really proper solid job of running away, but she's you know, trying to use those sticks to get up the heath or whatever. pretty hilarious. All right, I think that's it. Is there anything more anyone wanted to add? I just wanted to chuck in the theory of maybe it's not something so much the woman said as if we're working on perception filters the rules of Doctor Who, Blenovic limitation effect, it's realising you have just met the same person at 2 different points in their life and that breaks your brain a little. Yeah, could be. Although it is, you know, like certainly Carla plays it like she's learned something horrible about Ruby and that's, yeah, that's why she rejects her. And so, I mean, but that just works on the thematic level, doesn't it? Where Ruby's scared if anyone gets to know her very well. They'll abandon her the way her mother did. All right. Well, in that case, it's time to plug some stuff. So, as I mentioned last week, the entire 1st season of 500 year diary is up, that 6 episodes where we talk about new beginnings in Doctor Who and its spinoffs. So that's at 500yearDiary.com. So sign up and listen to that if you haven't done that already. And I also wanted to say that yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the 1st episode of Flight Through Entirety. Episode 0, a little queer was released on the 26th of May 2014. And so to commemorate on the flight through entirety website, I posted a short history of the 1st 10 years of flights or entirety. So if you enjoy our ramblings or want to hear how all of this came to be, then take a look at that. Please do. It's a great read and a testament to both Brendan and Nathan and all that they've done and we wouldn't be here without them, so thank you both. Thank you, dear. Thanks Todd. So that's flightthroughentirety.com slash tense. And of course, Untitled Star Trek Project continues unabated. But this week, I can't wait. Is Sabosa or was that, is that you've done that one previous? No, we did sub rose and we did sub rose way back when I had COVID. I'm actually struggling to remember what it is this week, but I have a terrifying feeling it's an episode of Enterprise series 3 called Chosen Realm. Well, since I'm struggling through COVID this week, I'll go and listen to Sub Rosa. Yeah, do that. do that. You'll be able to sympathise. Um, Brendan, what do you have to plug? Well, 1st of all, I'd just like to mention, with all this talk of orphans, it triggered a memory in me and our May 23rd 2016 episode of Flight Through Entirety. So 8 years ago. Full of orphans. is full of orphans. All 3 episodes are on that, along with Richard. As for what I have to plug, I do have a new video up on my YouTube channel, which is retro game shopping tips in Japan. I'm currently working on 2 new videos on the game and watch series and also everything I've learned about collecting retro games. Which one will be up first, whichever one I can edit faster. On the video game front as well, the latest episode of the BGBJ game show, Catquest is now out. And we are inviting comments on the games, the tourist and the Talos principal, as they are our next 2 games that will be playing. Brilliant. I'm already playing the tourist and I'm really crap at it. All right. Well, in that case, all that remains is for me to say, until next time, let's all agree to stop dating fascist British Prime Ministers, it never ends well. Thank you very much for listening and good night. So Moorish. Good night. See you soon.