73 Yards

"She's scared them out of my life."

Writer: Scott Hancock

Format: Novel

Released: August 2024

Series: Target 183

Featuring: Fifteenth Doctor, Ruby

Synopsis

How long is 73 yards?

Haunted by a sinister presence, Ruby must cope with losing the Doctor and the life she once knew. With her new life without her best friend becoming bleaker by the day, something terrifying is unleashed, and it's up to Ruby to stop it.

Verdict

73 Yards was a great novelisation of the televised episode of the same name! I had mixed feelings about this story when it aired on screen but the mysterious and enigmatic nature made it the novelisation I was most excited about when the three from the recent series were announced. I was fascinated to read how the story would be taken in prose as I thought it might actually be difficult to portray, but the author did a stellar job. It was a very faithful retelling whilst also delivering in traditional Target style by expanding on what we saw on screen. That's the very point of the novelisation in my opinion! I loved the additional scene with Ruby going into UNIT Tower and having a meeting with Ace! Modern viewers would also be familiar with her from her appearance in The Power of the Doctor so to get a few pages with these companions was an utter delight. I liked how Ace was surprised to hear the Doctor was a him again and I liked that she got to touch on her own history with the Doctor. It was also quite fun for the author to avoid details when it came to Ace's departure. There have been a few depictions of that! I was impressed with the scene in the pub especially as that was expanded very well in giving each of the five inhabitants a backstory. It was definitely good to get to know them better and learn about their respective pasts, but it still felt like Ruby was gone a little quickly. The mobile phone gag is still fun though and the moment they get a knock on the door and they play a group prank regarding Mad Jack was fantastic. I liked how that and the Doctor's warning of the Welsh Prime Minister came to click together for the older Ruby when saw Roger ap Gwilliam getting interviewed ahead of the election. Her ageing journey was depicted well and whilst it was perhaps quick to venture from age milestone to the next, the pace was exciting and that was good reading. There was no messing about. I thought it was fun for Ruby to have the same old story with numerous boyfriends, but of course when it came to being distant in bed that wasn't her. I thought the moment where Ruby comes home but then Carla speaks with the Woman was so powerful and whilst that look in the cab was incredible on screen, it was equally shocking in prose! The way the book starts makes no messing about and there are no wasted introductions, this is for the fans and we get stuck right in. Wales at its wondrous best and then a few pages in the Doctor vanishes. It happens suddenly which I like and it's good that we get an entire chapter with Ruby encountering the hiker who would be a herald of Sutekh. The reference to Boom was great and I liked that we also got some fun moments with Mrs Flood. Learning how Ruby came into some money from Cherry's inheritance was good to explain how she got her own flat and it was shocking that she wouldn't be able to attend the funeral. I liked that she got a private moment at the gravestone though afterwards. The description of Cardiff City Stadium had me laughing because I'm a regular visitor. I was there two days ago as I write this blog to watch my country in a brand new era, and hearing how Roger ap Gwilliam was a Cardiff fan despite growing up in Swansea was a fine detail in my book. That would take some balls. As a Cardiff fan myself and having gone to school eight miles away from Swansea in Neath, I know how much that rivalry means. I got booed on the yard for wearing a Cardiff top once! Some of the information about the CCS was inaccurate like the capacity and referring to the rows numerically, but that's just me being pedantic. Ruby feeling the power of the moment she gets the Woman to interact with Gwilliam and send him packing before he can orchestrate nuclear war was brilliant. Had it all been to reach this point? She wasn't sure but she felt like she had achieved something. I thought it was depicted well that Ruby had grown to live with the Woman and the importance being placed on the events involving the Doctor disappearing causing a suspension of the timeline was excellent. It was a good explanation for the lack of other alien activity and that meant UNIT could retire. The tower became known locally as the Unit which is just fun and Ruby was left to grow old. Her reaction when the Woman came closer at her moment of death was strong, and I liked that it was described how the forbidden words killed Ruby. Except they also saw her reborn as her alternate future self could warn Ruby and the Doctor about breaking the fairy circle. I still find it strange that there's no apparent reason why these events happen and it is a little annoying to experience the story twice and get no answers about the Woman and what she is saying, but I think I enjoyed it in prose form more than on screen. That might be because I was prepared for what was coming though. Overall, a terrific little read! 

Rating: 8/10