George Ratcliffe
George Ratcliffe (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks, The Scales of Injustice) was a London builder's merchant and head of a clandestine fascist group known as the Association. He later became a slave to the Renegade Dalek faction during the Shoreditch Incident.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Early activism[[edit] | [edit source]]
Ratcliffe considered himself a full patriot of England, an ideology he took to the extremes. He harboured racist and anti-Semitic prejudices and fascist sympathies, hoping to keep England pure by excluding outsiders.
In the 1930s, Ratcliffe and members of the Shoreditch Association took part in a march down Cable Street, espousing their patriotism and their pride in fighting against Bolsheviks, Jews and other minority groups, (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks) in demonstrations mirroring those that were taking place in Adolf Hitler's Germany, (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)
Ratcliffe viewed Nazi Germany as an example of the kind of strong government England should emulate. To him, the Third Reich represented the logic of his own worldview:
... people need a firm hand. It's in their nature. They feel more comfortable with a strong leader, someone who knows when to be lenient and when to be harsh
Wartime imprisonment and post-war activities[[edit] | [edit source]]
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Ratcliffe spoke out against the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany. He believed Germany was the only nation on Earth that could have proved a worthy ally and for England to fight any war running counter to this was senseless. As a result, Ratcliffe was imprisoned for the duration of the war under Regulation 18b and was designated a quisling. Even his former allies who had marched with him in the 1930s abandoned him, which Ratcliffe blamed on Zionist propaganda. During his imprisonment, he learned the value of patience, which he considered a reward for his long confinement.
After his release from prison in the immediate post-war years, Ratcliffe spoke to a young Mike Smith in the London bombsites and handed him a German chocolate bar which friends of his had acquired towards the end of the war. Ratcliffe met with Mike many times over the years and imparted his ideology. He warned Mike the bankers and communists were in league with each other, and that the British government planned to reduce wages by forcing white people out of work and replacing them with "negroes" from abroad.
In the 1950s, Ratcliffe made use of his contacts to gain work aiding in the post-war reconstruction efforts around London's East End which had been ravaged by the Blitz. His builder's merchant career prospered as a result. He also turned his efforts to the challenging prospect of rebuilding the Association. He made use of an influx of immigrants to recruit other like-minded individuals to the Association, including Mike Smith, by then a sergeant in the Royal Air Force. Ratcliffe found immigrants had become an easier target than Jews were in this endeavour, as they were "more obvious" and "more different." In the longer term, Ratcliffe hoped to stage a coup and bring the Association to power. However, as the economic conditions weren't as severe as the 1930s, he despaired that not enough people required scapegoats and the Association couldn't recruit as many people as it used to. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks)
The Shoreditch Incident[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Main article: Shoreditch Incident
In 1963, Ratcliffe returned to his office down Pullman's Road to find the space having been occupied by the Renegade Daleks' battle computer. The computer's hidden occupant promised him power and shared secrets; Ratcliffe learned about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy before it took place. Seeing his chance to achieve the goals of the Association, he agreed to aid the Renegade Daleks during "the Shoreditch Incident" in late November. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Ratcliffe was enlisted by the Renegade faction to help retrieve the Hand of Omega. Reconnaissance work by Mike Smith confirmed the Hand had been interred by the Seventh Doctor in the local graveyard. Ratcliffe discovered the grave and oversaw his men as they dug up the Hand, after which is was transported back to Pullman's Road. Ratcliffe believed his "difficult struggle" was now winding down. However, with the Hand now in their possession, the Daleks saw no further use for Ratcliffe's men and slaughtered them. Ratcliffe demanded they stop but he was slapped down by the Dalek Supreme and Judith Winters, revealed as the battle computer's occupant, who informed him he was no more than a slave who had been "born to serve the Daleks."
Ratcliffe was kept alive while the Renegades repaired their Time Controller. After he was joined in captivity by Mike, Ratcliffe hatched a plan to steal the machine and strand the Daleks on Earth, giving him something to bargain with. When the repairs were completed and the Daleks prepared to depart, the Dalek Supreme ordered Ratcliffe and Mike exterminated. They were saved by a raid by the Imperial Daleks including a Special Weapons Dalek who sought to capture the Hand for Davros's master plan against the Time Lords. In the chaos, Ratcliffe attempted to abscond with the Time Controller, but was killed by death-rays fired by Winters before he could escape with the device. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) His office subsequently blew up when the Dalek Supreme set the battle computer to self-destruct. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks)
His body was recovered by C19 and stored in the Vault. The Pale Man knew of him as the "right-wing leader of a post-war pro-segregationist group" and wondered if the Third Doctor knew of him. (PROSE: The Scales of Injustice)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Ratcliffe's first name, George, was never given on-screen, only in the novels. The character would appear to have been named after George Sewell, who played the part on television.
- The character was originally called Gummer in the first draft of the script. (INFO: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- Ratcliffe may be inspired by Sir Oswald Mosley or Arnold Leese, real-world politicians who led two different fascist movements in England in the 1930s and were imprisoned during the Second World War. Ratcliffe's profession as a small businessman may indicate his primary inspiration was Leese. Mosley himself is mentioned in further Doctor Who stories, with Timewyrm: Exodus mentioning that he was also imprisoned during the war. He briefly appears in Players. The Mosley from the Inferno Earth is mentioned in I, Alastair as having been assassinated by a government conspiracy, an event which radicalised public opinion against the democratic regime.
- Joss Ackland, George Baker, Keith Barron, Steven Berkoff, John Carson, Kenneth Colley, Kenneth Cope, Peter Gilmore, Del Henney, Bernard Hill, Glyn Houston, Stratford Johns, Ronald Lacey, T. P. McKenna, David Warner and Frank Windsor were considered for the role before George Sewell was cast.
