John Williams

General John Williams (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Space War) was an Earth military officer and aide to President Dora in the year 2540.

Biography
When Williams was twenty years old, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Space War) he was friends with the future President of Earth, (TV: Frontier in Space) Dora. (AUDIO: The Transcendence of Ephros)

In 2520, tensions were escalating between Earth and Draconia when young Lieutenant John Williams, then a communications officer, accompanied many important human politicians on a last-ditch peace initiative. Dora was onboard as a Senator's aide. During the ship's final approach to a neutral planet, they encountered a neutron storm, and the resultant casualties made Williams the ranking officer. He took command of the ship just as a Draconian battlecruiser came into view. Believing it was poised to attack, he used the ship's engines to enflame the Draconian ship. The Draconian ship was completely destroyed.

The Draconians immediately responded by declaring the Human-Draconian War. Williams immediately became a high-ranking officer. However, his relationship with Dora was ended.

Some time later, after the resolution of the first Draconian war, Williams and Dora campaigned against each other for the position of President of Earth. Williams publicly supported Dora's opponent, who had a much more aggressive interstellar policy. To heal political wounds, Dora appointed Williams as her military advisor after her victory. She still wore a silver locket around her neck with a picture of the twenty-year-old Williams. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Space War)

In 2540, tried to start a war between Earth and the Draconians. Williams favoured swift retaliation. The Draconians, meanwhile, believed Williams was faking Draconian raids on cargo ships to force the Earth government into another war. Williams tried to push the President into stricter action, thinking that if she did not, she would be deposed by her opponents, including a group of military officers who wanted to install a dictatorship.

Williams was particularly stubborn. For instance, he refused to believe the results of mind probes even when all factors proved the subject was telling the truth. He attempted to get the Third Doctor to "admit" to being a Draconian spy, but as this was a lie, it broke the machine.

After learning the truth about his original encounter with the Draconians, a remorseful Williams apologised to the Draconian Prince and agreed to help the Doctor prove that the Master and the Organs were behind the raids. He led a fact-finding mission to the Ogron homeworld, where it was discovered that the Daleks were the main force behind the attempt to provoke war between the humans and Draconians. Williams and the Draconian Prince subsequently warned their respective governments and avert the war. (TV: Frontier in Space)

Behind the scenes

 * Williams' first name, John, is mentioned only in Malcolm Hulke's novelisation of Frontier in Space, Doctor Who and the Space War; it is never used in the televised version.