Showrunner, Russell T Davies, has teased an explanation for events that went on in 73 Yards, the fourth episode of the previous series of Doctor Who.

The story saw Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) stranded on contemporary Earth, followed by a mysterious woman who scares everyone away with a few simple words. What are those words? Davies says that’s the wrong question:

“You’re literally asking the wrong question because there’s nothing a woman could say to you in 10 seconds that would make you run away from your own daughter. That sentence doesn’t exist. So, therefore, what is happening with the woman is far deeper and graver and malevolent and dangerous than a simple sentence.”

And, uhm, isn’t that obvious? Surely it was always what that woman represents?

(For anyone who hasn’t seen the story, Carla, Ruby’s mum, runs away from Ruby after talking to the woman.)

Either way, 73 Yards is an enigmatic episode, and Davies is determined not to expand too much on its unsolved mysteries. He says:

“I say I don’t explain things, but you are then suddenly given that clue in episode eight that it’s connected to the TARDIS perception filter, and suddenly that starts to make sense. But I’m not gonna go into any more detail. What everyone leaves out of the equation is that, actually, we’re now in a universe in which fairy circles are real and have power. I will tell you that Mad Jack was just a dog. There is no Mad Jack. I love people making up theories about Mad Jack.”

Mad Jack was mentioned at the start of the episode, then was the nickname given to the local MP, Roger Ap Gwilliam.

So might we infer that the TARDIS’ perception filter is affected by the fairy circle and is then turning Ruby into something devastatingly timey-wimey. But we don’t know.

You can rewatch 73 Yards on iPlayer now, and leave your theories in the comments section below!