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Roger ap Gwilliam was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by 2046. The Fifteenth Doctor considered him to be "the most dangerous prime minister in history", as he had led the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Life and political career[[edit] | [edit source]]
Though his hometown was in Swansea, Roger ap Gwilliam went to watch the Bluebirds play football once a month as a child, finding Cardiff more exotic than Swansea City, for which his father hated him. (PROSE: 73 Yards [+]Loading...{"page":"124","1":"73 Yards (novelisation)"}) Growing up, he was known for doing various odd jobs, which earned him the nickname "Mad Jack" as he was a jack of all trades. He started off as a pizza delivery boy, worked on a fruit stall in Swansea Market, and then as a hospital porter, in a steel mill, and as a security guard.
In 2046, he ran for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as leader of the Albion Party. During his campaign, Gwilliam was interviewed by Amol Rajan. Gwilliam won the election. (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"], Empire of Death [+]Loading...["Empire of Death (TV story)"]) During his short tenure as Prime Minister, Gwilliam made DNA testing mandatory for residents of the United Kingdom. Louise Miller was among those who were required to give samples. (TV: Empire of Death [+]Loading...["Empire of Death (TV story)"])
Gwilliam led the world to the brink of nuclear war, (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"]) and was subsequently overthrown. The Doctor was present for Gwilliam's overthrow, and afterwards created a security system to prevent access to the database of DNA samples compiled at Gwilliam's orders. (TV: Empire of Death [+]Loading...["Empire of Death (TV story)"])
Alternate timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]
In 2024, an alternate timeline was created when the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday interfered with a fairy circle on the Welsh coast. The Doctor disappeared and Ruby was left alone, locked out of the TARDIS and followed by a mysterious woman who always stayed precisely 73 yards away from her. Everyone who spoke to the woman ran away in fear, and Ruby's adoptive mother Carla Sunday abandoned her daughter entirely after an experiment to try and speak to the woman. UNIT was also turned against Ruby by an interaction with the woman after Kate Lethbridge-Stewart attempted to help her.
Shortly after the Doctor's disappearance, Ruby had encountered locals at the pub Y Pren Marw who pranked her about a spirit called "Mad Jack", as she had read the name off a scroll left at the fairy circle. In 2046, Ruby was on a date with Sanjay Miah when she saw Gwilliam on a leaders' debate on television, where he mentioned his old nickname. Believing she had discovered her purpose in life after the events in Wales, Ruby departed the date and volunteered for Gwilliam's Albion Party.
At an interview with Amol Rajan, Gwilliam expressed a desire to launch a nuclear missile, which unsettled Rajan, but Gwilliam ensured the moment was cut out of the broadcast interview. Afterwards, Gwilliam talked briefly to Ruby, asking her about the identity of Marti Bridges, another aide with the campaign.
Gwilliam subsequently won the election with a majority of 92 seats. At the party in campaign headquarters, Ruby spoke with Marti, who agreed that he was a "monster". At his victory speech, Gwilliam discussed speaking to the King.
After taking office, Gwilliam made a deal to purchase nuclear missiles from Pakistan, intending to launch a strike against NATO and declare Britain's independence. His team made plans for a speech in Cardiff where he would announce his intentions. Ruby and Marti went along as part of Gwilliam's team to help set up. When Ruby heard from Rufus Bray what Gwilliam's intentions were, she decided to act, walking out onto the stadium's turf, which had been expressly forbidden, and moving so that she was 73 yards away from Gwilliam. He spoke to the woman who had been following Ruby, and immediately fled, resigning from office and offering only the explanation "Ask her." Gwilliam was succeeded in office by his Deputy Prime Minister, (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"]) Iris Cabriola. (PROSE: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (novelisation)"])
Ruby lived for another forty-three years before dying, always accompanied by the woman. Upon her death, she appeared back in 2024 on the cliff's edge as the woman, and was able to nudge her younger self into preventing the Doctor from breaking the fairy circle, erasing the timeline from existence. Ruby, however, still retained some memory of its existence. (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"])
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
After arriving on the Welsh coast in 2024, the Fifteenth Doctor cited Gwilliam as "a bad example of the Welsh"; he recounted how Gwilliam had almost plunged the world into war, but realising that Ruby Sunday was from an earlier period of history, he stopped himself from continuing to prevent spoilers. (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"])
Later on, when the Doctor and Ruby found themselves up against the god Sutekh, the Time Window powering the remembered TARDIS showed glimpses of Gwilliam's interview with Rajan in which he discussed making DNA testing mandatory. Ruby, having never met him as far as she was aware, was confused, but the Doctor deduced that it was a clue they could use to identify Ruby's birth mother, Louise Miller. (TV: Empire of Death [+]Loading...["Empire of Death (TV story)"])
Personality and traits[[edit] | [edit source]]
Gwilliam had a charming and personable exterior, which concealed a ruthless warmonger. He made a point of individually greeting everyone he met. (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"]) He hated his father. (PROSE: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (novelisation)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The true logic behind the events seen in 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"] is left wholly ambiguous within the story and its novelisation, including the extent to which Ruby Sunday's guesses were correct. Although wishing to keep up the mystery, Russell T Davies would go on to comment in an interview that as far as his authorial intent was concerned, "Mad Jack was just a dog. There is no Mad Jack", ostensibly debunking any literal connection between the breaking of the fairy circle and the rise of Roger "Mad Jack" ap Gwilliam. However, he added that he did "love people making up theories about Mad Jack".[1]
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Doctor Who Showrunner RTD Dishes on "73 Yards," Mad Jack Theories. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024.