Doctor Who: Could Roger ap Gwilliam return in Season Two?

One of the most intriguing episodes from Doctor Who this year was the Doctor-lite "73 Yards". Beginning with the Doctor's very sudden disappearance after stepping on a "fairy circle", the episode saw Ruby followed by a mysterious old woman - a woman who always remained exactly 73 yards away from Ruby. Anyone who tried to talk to the woman ran away and never wanted to speak to Ruby again.

This would be a good setup for a Doctor Who story already, but then came what happened next. Or rather, what didn't happen. While situations like this tend to be resolved quickly in Doctor Who, in Ruby's case, we saw the woman remain with her for years and years. (In fact, the episode was very reminiscent of Russell T Davies's excellent series "Years and Years", which I heartily recommend to anyone who enjoys his best Doctor Who stories.)

Eventually, Ruby sees that Roger ap Gwilliam is a candidate for Prime Minister. Considering the Doctor warned Ruby about him before he disappeared, Ruby knows she has to stop Gwilliam before he becomes too dangerous. Especially when it becomes clear how much he wants a nuclear war.

Changed future, changed history

As we remember, Ruby was able to stop Roger by having the old woman talk to him. That was enough to make him resign and for a more sensible Prime Minister to replace him. Ruby eventually grew old, became the woman she had seen her whole life, and then changed history by warning her younger self of the fairy circle before the Doctor stepped into it. At this point, history completely changed and Ruby had no idea of her other life. Well, almost no idea.

But this is the key point: history changed. While this ensured that Ruby has a better life - one which eventually saw her reunited with her biological mother - this likely also means that her older self doesn't stop Roger ap Gwilliam.

So, the big question is: is this a thread Russell T Davies will revisit at some point? This could go either way. Maybe the trigger happy Prime Minister was simply created just for this episode, especially as his key role in it takes place about twenty years into the future. At the very least, it could be left for another showrunner to pick up, or time could even be "rewritten", and Gwilliam doesn't become Prime Minister at all.

But I can't help but think that the character is worth exploring more. Perhaps time will be rewritten, but only as a result of the Doctor and Ruby encountering a younger version of Roger. Perhaps they'll arrive in 2044 and have to prevent nuclear armageddon another way. Either way, it's worth exploring in a later episode.

"73 Yards" left a lot of questions open, and that was clearly intentional. But the question of how someone as dangerous as Roger ap Gwilliam will be stopped in the Whoniverse is one question that perhaps should be answered. If not in Season Two, then perhaps beyond.