The cast list for the fourth 2024 Doctor Who series episode 73 Yards, was released on the BBC One listing for the programme.
In the episode, described as Welsh folk horror, the TARDIS lands on a clifftop on the Welsh coast. The Doctor and Ruby embark on the strangest journey of their lives. In the rain-lashed village pub, Y Pren Mawr (The Dead Wood in Welsh), the locals sit in fear of ancient legends coming to life. “The Spiteful One” is mentioned by the local wise woman and a mysterious scroll bears the words “Rest in peace, Mad Jack.”
The official cast list:
The Doctor: Ncuti Gatwa
Ruby Sunday: Millie Gibson
Enid Meadows: Siân Phillips
Roger ap Gwilliam: Aneurin Barnard
Lowri Palin: Maxine Evans
The Woman: Hilary Hobson
Hiker: Susan Twist
Joshua Steele: Sion Pritchard
Ifor Jones: Gwion Morris Jones
Thin Lucy: Elan Davies
Eddie Jones: Glyn Pritchard
In the episode, local wise woman Enid Meadows says (via Total TV Guide), “Witchcraft is a very strong word.” and “It’s said that he walks through the gaps. The Spiteful one,” via Doctor Who Magazine.
Dame Siân Phillips has lent her voice to several Big Finish audio adventures including the Fourth Doctor adventure The World Traders with Tom Baker.
Roger ap Gwilliam is a candidate for the Albion party which employs the slogan, “Bigger Better Bolder Britain.” Ruby goes undercover to investigate Albion headquarters.
Some additional cast names have appeared in Doctor Who Magazine 604, possibly connected to scenes involving Roger ap Gwilliam’s Albion party. They are Miles Yekinni, Shane David-Joseph, Amanda Walker and Sophie Ablett, who plays Marti Bridges, possibly related to the fictional Prime Minister Edward Lawn Bridges from The Giggle.
Susan Twist makes another mysterious appearance as a hiker after after appearing as comms officer Comms Officer Gina Scalzi in Episode 1 Space Babies, Tea Lady in Episode 2, The Devil’s Chord and as Ambulance in Episode 3 Boom. Twist previously appeared in the Doctor Who specials, playing Sir Isaac Newton’s housekeeper Mrs. Merridew in Wild Blue Yonder and the hippie lady who heckles Ruby’s band in The Church on Ruby Road. Twist will appear later in the series as Susan Triad.
Even more mysterious in 73 Yards is The Woman, a mysterious mumbling figure who shows up in several places, including the ocean clifftop and Minto Road in Notting Hill where Ruby lives.
Also announced during the the time 73 Yards was filmed and spotted at location filming for the episode are Jemma Redgrave as UNIT Chief Scientific Officer Kate Stewart, Anita Dobson as Ruby’s neighbour Mrs Flood and Michelle Greenidge as Ruby’s mother Carla Sunday.
Written by Russell T Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, 73 Yards will stream on 25 May 2024 midnight, 00:00 BST (24 May 7:00pm ET) on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Ireland and Disney+ everywhere else, where available. 73 Yards will also broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 25 May at 6:50pm. The remaining episodes will stream on subsequent Saturdays on iPlayer and Disney+ at 00:00 BST and will broadcast in the evening on BBC One.