Doctor Who season 14 has seen Russell T. Davies once again assume the role of showrunner, and the most unconventional episode of the new batch is oddly reminiscent of one of the writer’s most acclaimed TV shows. Starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as his companion, Ruby Sunday, Doctor Who season 14 has, thus far, featured a snot monster, the Beatles, and a deadly ambulance. However, the weirdest episode of the season so far might just be the best, in part because it borrows from a previous Russell T. Davies masterpiece.

Russell T. Davies first helmed Doctor Who between 2005 and 2010, and oversaw the sci-fi show’s return to screens after a 16-year hiatus. His time in charge saw the series reaching a kind of popularity it hadn’t experienced since at least the 1970s. 2023 brought about Russell T. Davies’s return to Doctor Who and a new era of the six-decade-old show. In the time between Doctor Who stints, however, Davies created several highly acclaimed TV dramas, including one with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89% that had a clear influence on a recent Doctor Who episode.

Doctor Who’s “73 Yards” Is An Altered Version Of RTD’s Years And Years

The Characters Of Roger Ap Gwilliam And Viv Rooke Share A Lot In Common

Season 14, episode 4, “73 Yards”, revolves around Ruby Sunday being stalked by a mysterious figure after the Doctor seemingly vanishes into thin air. The story takes place over the course of 65 years and portrays Ruby’s quest to discover who the strange figure is. Eventually, she discovers that her purpose is to stop Roger ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard) or “Mad Jack”, Doctor Who‘s evil Prime Minister and folkloric entity come to life who has a penchant for nuclear weapons. The character shares many things in common with Vivienne Rook from Davies’s 2019 dystopian drama Years and Years.

Like “73 Yards”, Years and Years is set over the course of a number of years and depicts how the lives of one family are affected by the rise to power of a fascist politician named Vivienne Rook. Played by Emma Thompson, Viv Rook is the leader of the Four Star Party. During her premiership, she enforces voter suppression via mandatory IQ tests and has anyone who opposes her arrested. Overall, Years and Years paints a bleak picture of the future. Roger ap Gwilliam is made in the same mould as Viv; his charismatic persona hides monstrous and dangerous intentions.

Years And Years May Hint At What’s In Store For Doctor Who’s Mad Jack

Dark And Disturbing Events Might Be On The Horizon

As “73 Yards” reaches its climax, Ruby is successful in stopping Roger ap Gwilliam before it’s too late. Nevertheless, the episode hints at Mad Jack’s return, and, indeed, filming for Doctor Who season 15 suggests Aneurin Barnard’s character will be back in the near future. The way the story ends means the events of “73 Yards” never actually happened. It’s possible, therefore, that Mad Jack’s second appearance could involve him causing more trouble than his first. He might even go down the same route as Viv Rook.

In Years and Years, Rook’s obsession with power and disregard for human life results in her setting up death camps. It’s possible that when Roger ap Gwilliam/Mad Jack returns, he’ll be used to allow Doctor Who to explore similarly weighty themes of power, corruption, and the collapse of civilization. After all, like Viv, there seems to be no limit to Roger’s monstrosity. The series also hints that Rook is merely the face of a far bigger conspiracy. Roger, too, could be revealed to be the puppet of an even more powerful puppet master.

The main difference between the two shows is that Year and Years is aimed at adults, while Doctor Who attracts an audience of all ages. Consequently, it’s unlikely that, with its Mad Jack storyline, Doctor Who would go quite as dark as Years and Years did with its Viv Rook plot. However, the nature of “73 Yards” meant that Davies was unable to bring the same kind of nuance and sophisticated storytelling to the episode’s political subplot as he previously had with Years and Years. Mad Jack’s return should allow the series to explore the character’s motives in greater depth.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes