73 Yards revieWHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT

OK, first of all, I’m feeling very vindicated in writing about The Massacre because the two stories have more in common than just being Doctor-lite stories where the companion chills in a pub. They are both TOTALLY unique in Who history, feeling totally removed from every other story. Not even Turn Left really feels this weird, because that revolves around past continuity and events whilst this doesn’t. Believe me, I was going WHAT many times.

The “Doctor-lite” story was quietly invented in 1966

This Saturday’s Doctor Who episode, 73 Yards, looks set to be a major deviation from most Who episodes – the Doctor doesn’t seem to play a huge role at all. This is due to Ncuti Gatwa finishing his other projects, but in-universe, it means that in contrast to Boom, this week will focus entirely on Millie Gibson and Ruby Sunday.

The “Doctor-lite” was a recurrence during Russell T Davies’ first era, with Love and Monsters and Blink removing the main cast entirely, whilst Midnight and Turn Left split the regulars up into their episodes. This was so other episodes could be filmed at the same time, and they’re certainly memorable episodes (if not entirely successful in Love and Monsters’ case!)

Since then, there have been some “mild” examples of double banking the regular casting, such as The Girl Who Waited and Flatline locking the Doctor up in the TARDIS whilst Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi filmed Closing Time and Mummy on the Orient Express respectively, and it’s this type of Doctor lite I THINK might be happening. Even the spin-offs did these types of episodes – Sarah Jane Adventures gave Elisabeth Sladen a story off every season, Torchwood split episodes between Gwen and the rest of the team as a double bank… even Class did it! Welcome to British TV!

BUT… what if I told you that removing the Doctor from the story, as a narrative device to overcome production difficulties, did NOT start in 2006? 40 years previously, a quietly revolutionary story became the template for the revival… or at least it would if a single frame of it survived.