Conrad’s Connection To Doctor Who’s Albion Party & “73 Yards” Explained

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 4, “Lucky Day.”Doctor Who season 15, episode 4, “Lucky Day,” introduces Jonah Hauer-King as Conrad Clark and connects him to a key piece of lore from Doctor Who season 14, episode 4, “73 Yards.” The piece of worldbuilding in question is the Albion Party, a fictitious right-wing UK political body. Fronted by Roger ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard), the Albion Party took an extremist stance on some very sensitive subjects, including nuclear war. Ruby’s alternate timeline in “73 Yards” reveals that the divisive political figure stood down thanks to something that was whispered to him on stage by a future version of Ruby.

The Albion Party received more references toward the end of Doctor Who season 14, but has since remained on the outskirts of the show’s lore. “Lucky Day” doesn’t exactly bring the organization to the foreground again, but its origin story is briefly mentioned when Doctor Who‘s new UNIT team is running a background check on one of its employees. As an addition to the catalog of Doctor Who‘s Doctor-lite episodes, “Lucky Day” serves as a sort of prequel to “73 Yards,” but is more of a spiritual successor that shares several elements.

The Albion Party Is “Albion TV” In Doctor Who’s 2020s Timeline

An alternate Ruby Sunday has crossed paths with the Albion Party before

Jordan Lang (Kareem Alexander) turns out to be the mole within UNIT who has leaked the names and addresses of the organization’s employees to Conrad and his group of conspiracy theorists, known as Think Tank. During the reveal, it’s established that Jordan has some worrying interests, including a subscription to Albion TV. In the 2020s, if the Albion Party even exists, it’s still in its earliest stages. It won’t be until the 2040s that the service to which Jordan is subscribed exists as an established political party, which allows Roger ap Gwilliam to run for Prime Minister.

So, “Lucky Day” essentially gives the Albion Party an origin story by softly confirming it began as a subscription service for individuals with a political ideology similar to that of Jordan, Conrad, and the other members of Think Tank. Extrapolating from what we know about those associated with the Albion Party, Albion TV likely features programming revolving around nationalism, and even touching on subjects such as a proclivity for nuclear war, which was a strongly implied desire of Roger ap Gwilliam in “73 Yards.”

Conrad’s Podcast & The Albion Party Are Thematically Connected

Doctor Who made sure to make the similarities clear

Conrad enters the story as a podcast host. The show flaunts a pro-Doctor message to lure people in, but really, Conrad despises the Doctor. Paradoxically, Conrad ultimately ends up spreading his theory that alien life does not exist, despite meeting the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in 2007. The following that Conrad gathers with his deceptive rhetoric is, in his opinion, for the good of the country. He has all of his allies believing that UNIT is a money-grabbing front that was set up by the government to make UK residents pay more tax, and that extraterrestrial life is a myth.

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It’s quite clear that all Conrad is really after is attention, after “Lucky Day” reveals in the episode’s introduction that Hauer-King’s character didn’t have the most loving childhood in the world. Similarly, Roger ap Gwilliam claims that all of his policies are in the country’s best interests, but they ultimately turn out to be incredibly self-serving and satisfy his need for more control and power, potentially even for his bloodlust. In this way, Conrad’s podcast running alongside Albion TV may have contributed to ap Gwilliam’s eventual rise to power.

Doctor Who’s “Lucky Day” & “73 Yards” Carry Very Similar Messages

Pete McTighe penned a brilliant script that intertwines with Russell T. Davies’ 2024 story

Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday leads both “73 Yards” and “Lucky Day,” with Gatwa having incredibly muted roles in both installments. As such, the theme of Ruby being left behind by the Doctor is prevalent in the two stories. In each of the two Gibson-led installments, Ruby is shown trying to adapt to life after traveling in the TARDIS, and ending up stepping in to quash the rise of a far-right movement. Neither the villain in “73 Yards” nor “Lucky Day” is particularly conventional for a show like Doctor Who, with the problematic figureheads both primarily threatening the UK’s safety.

Although sci-fi serves as a narrative vehicle for both episodes, “73 Yards” and “Lucky Day” are both brilliant examples of Doctor Who thriving at grounded storytelling. They also make it clear that threats to the Earth within the show’s canon aren’t always extraterrestrial, and that humans with loaded agendas can be just as dangerous as a fleet of Daleks or other Doctor Who villains – just in different ways.

Doctor Who

5/10

Release Date

December 25, 2023

Directors

Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie

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