Written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams.

The Doctor accidentally steps into a fairy ring in Wales, and Ruby is cursed to live a life of solitude (apart from the ominous figure who remains the titular distance from her at all times). Combining elements of alternate realities, folk horror, dystopia and the uncanny, “73 Yards” gives Millie Gibson a chance to shine as Ruby.

Fresh in the mind, and yet to settle, “73 Yards” contains both familiar and new territory for Doctor Who. It’s gripping and tense throughout, and well-performed. Its ending – in which an older Ruby is revealed to have been the figure haunting her younger self, and the words she used to drive everybody away so from Ruby were never revealed – has proven divisive. With solid momentum though, I’m happy with the choice to leave aspects of the story unexplained.

6. The Massacre (Season 3, 1966, First Doctor)

Written by John Lucarotti, directed by Paddy Russell.

This historical, of which only the audio and still images survive, takes place in the build-up to the Huguenot massacre of 1572, and the Doctor only appears in the first and fourth episodes. William Hartnell appears throughout, though, also playing the Abbot of Amboise. Companion Steven (Peter Purves) is left alone in Paris and isn’t sure if the Abbot is really the Doctor or not, as tensions between Catholics and Protestants rise.