Brian Rutherford was appointed as the Minister responsible for the Preternatural Research Bureau (PROBE). He was more sceptical than his predecessor, Sir Richard, and among his first moves was the cost-cutting transfer of Lou Bayliss to another department, leaving Liz Shaw alone in the Bureau. For a time it seemed that he might close PROBE altogether, as it didn't get called out very often.
Some time later, Rutherford took a more personal involvement in one of PROBE's cases - the deaths surrounding Julius Quilter's 'BEAGLE' project. Rutherford revealed that he and Quilter had been friends once, and Rutherford had been involved in closing down the original project in 1975. After Quilter's death while under questioning, Rutherford called at the home of Quilter to pay his respects, unaware that Quilter's assistant, Alfred Emerson, was in fact a product of that same experiment. Emerson held Rutherford captive while he revived the body of Quilter, perhaps intending to harvest Rutherford's organs to help the process. Only the intervention of Liz and Col. Ackroyd saved the life of Rutherford and killed Emerson. Rutherford resigned his position shortly after.