Doctor Who's latest episode polarises fans by ditching Ncuti Gatwa

What did you miss?

Doctor Who aired its latest episode on BBC One this weekend, but the action completely sidelined Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Time Lord.

Written by showrunner Russell T Davies, "Welsh folk horror" 73 Yards caught audiences cold less than two minutes in by having The Doctor mysteriously disappear on a clifftop as he and companion Ruby Sunday (played by Millie Gibson) were taking in their picturesque new surroundings.

We then waited a whole 40+ minutes for Ruby's orange-jacketed pal to return, leaving the Doctor Who fanbase a little torn over whether it was too early in the series to put such an intense spotlight on her.

What, how and why?

The Doctor had just finished telling Ruby all about "the most dangerous Prime Minister in history" when he stepped on the border of a fairy circle.

"No, no, no, no, no, no... what is this?" said the time-traveller. "Ohhhh it's a circle! Someone made this, I'm sorry man."

Equally baffled by its odd placement on the hill, Ruby suggested kids might've made it. Holding up the lucky charms, bird skulls and scrolls that lay there, she noted: "Hey there's little messages look; 'I miss you' is all it says. 'Rest in peace Mad Jack'. Oh, poor old Mad Jack. It looks like some sort of memorial."

As she turned to get The Doctor's thoughts, though, he'd vanished into thin air. "Alright... don't be doing that to me," Ruby smiled, believing him to be pranking her, but this was no playful trick.

Cue Ruby's journey to solve The Doctor's disappearance, all while being relentlessly followed by an old woman in black who caused anyone who spoke to her to scream and run away.

What was the temperature on social media following this twist?

In the end, Ruby's solo mission proved to be polarising amongst Doctor Who viewers, who posted their reactions to the episode on social media.

"Amazed they did a doctorless episode this early on but it finally distinguished Ruby for me from previous companions," wrote one person.

Firmly on the other side of the argument was this message on X: "A brave experiment that... didn't work. Sorry. It's way too soon to do a Doctorless episode - back in the 2000s that would have been ep10."

"Best episode yet. How brave to have a Doctorless story only four shows in. Millie Gibson is amazing as Ruby Sunday. Superstar" and "73 Yards worst/most boring episode so far ... Ruby cannot carry an episode on her own sorry!!" read two more mixed responses.

Doctor Who continues next Saturday (1 June) on BBC One.

Read more:

• Who is The One Who Waits in Doctor Who? All the best theories

• Doctor Who fans question why Ruby has only just visited an alien planet

• Doctor Who fans go wild for double Strictly Come Dancing cameo

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/doctor-who-73-yards-ditches-ncuti-gatwa-145729349.html