Billy Rutlidge

Major-General Billy Rutlidge was an old friend of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's at Sandhurst Military School.

Biography
In later years, Rutlidge got "a nice cushy job" (as the Brigadier described it) at the Ministry of Defence. He ended up as the Brigadier's immediate superior but, due to their long ties, Lethbridge-Stewart called him "Billy" in meetings.

Unknown to UNIT, Rutlidge had been taken over by Tobias Vaughn, who used him to obstruct UNIT's investigation into International Electromatics. After a fruitless meeting, the Brigadier coldly called him "sir" before announcing he was going over Rutlidge's head to Geneva. (TV: The Invasion)

After Vaughn made Rutlidge shoot himself to death, (PROSE: The Invasion) Major-General Scobie replaced him. (PROSE: The Scales of Injustice)

Behind the scenes

 * In the novelisation, Billy Rutlidge is renamed William Routledge.
 * In a scene later in the novelisation, Routledge attempts to shoot Vaughn, but Vaughn convinces Routledge to shoot himself. This scene was filmed, but was cut before transmission, and is now lost. (INFO: The Invasion)