Owain Peter Vine was among the chain of individuals whose soul would eventually be reincarnated into the Great Intelligence. He was the reincarnation of James Lethbridge-Stewart. Because of this, Owain treated Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart as his uncle. (PROSE: The Forgotten Son)
History
Owain was born a couple of minutes after midnight on 16 April 1951, technically making him a day younger than his twin, who was born a couple of minutes before midnight on 15 April. He lived with his parents, George and Shirley, and his twin, Lewis, in Bledoe. His father decided to move there when his boys were very young, hoping the country life would be better for his family than the big city. Owain was a supporter of Arsenal Football Club, but not much of a reader.
In March 1969, the Great Intelligence appeared to Owain as a ghostly boy called Gordon. It used Owain to fight Alistair at Remington Manor in Cornwall, but Owain discovered he was the reincarnated soul of James Lethbridge-Stewart, the soul that would one day evolve into the Intelligence. He used his connection with the Intelligence to help Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. His twin, Lewis, was killed by the Intelligence, and following the final battle, Owain decided to leave Bledoe and travel. Neither Owain nor Lethbridge-Stewart were quite show how to explain the connection between them, and settled on looking at it as an uncle/nephew relationship. (PROSE: The Forgotten Son)
Owain spent the next couple of months travelling the UK, and hooked up with several people. For a short time he lived in the back of a VW van with Mike and Daisy and others. During that time he became a part of the counter culture movement, and a supporter of CND. He became interested in Buddhism, and the teachings of guru Paramahansa Yogananda. He spoke to his mother every now and then on the phone, but wasn't ready to return home until he had dealt with the death of his twin.
In April 1969, Owain was travelling with Jennie Rudge, who was teaching him guitar, when he came to the grand re-opening of the Fang rock lighthouse. While there he befriended BBC3 cameraman Jim Saunders and witnessed the arrival of a Rutan shuttle pod. He called in Lethbridge-Stewart, and assisted him, Anne Travers and William Bishop in uncovering the mystery of the Fang Rock ghosts. With Bishop, he used Om-Tsor to astral project back in time to 1902 and witness both the Rutan and the Doctor's TARDIS arriving at Fang Rock. After returning to the present, he helped kill the remaining Rutan. (PROSE: Beast of Fang Rock)
In October 1969, Owain visited New York City with Lethbridge-Stewart and Sally Wright. While there he encountered a fellow seeker, an American called Simon. They connected immediately, but Simon was wounded when the Yeti attacked. Owain used his connection to the Great Intelligence to help defeat the Yeti, and at the end of the story he chose to continue his travels, having lost contact with Simon. (PROSE: Times Squared)
By November he ended up on the Greek island of Santorini and hooked up with some activists, and joined them to fight their cause. He assisted Lethbridge-Stewart and the Corps against the living rock, Metalith, and witnessed the death of his new friends. At the end of the adventure, no longer feeling it wise to develop friendships, Owain decided to track down the parents of his friends to give them the bad news, before continuing on his travels in the hope of finding some peace. (PROSE: Blood of Atlantis)
By Christmas, Owain had arrived in Japan after spending a few weeks in Thailand. He gave Alistair a quick Christmas call. (PROSE: Home for Christmas)
In January 1970, while still in Japan looking into various Buddhist teachings, he reunited with Simon and decided to go on a pilgrimage to Shikoku, along with fellow seekers, Rhys Rubery and Jody "Jipps" Phillips. But before reaching Shikoku, Owain was kidnapped by Vault operatives and returned to the UK, where he discovered that Simon was really the son of General James Gore, Dylan Lethbridge-Stewart. The General attempted to use Owain as a bridge into the void between worlds, from where the Great Intelligence heralded. Owain encountered Padmasambhava on the astral plane, and together they trapped the Great Intelligence in the vacant body of Professor Travers. As a result, Owain was lost for some time on the astral plane, his body seemingly in a coma. Simon sat by Owain throughout that time, the two lads having developed a complicated, but close, relationship. Owain eventually returned to his body, and once his surname was officially changed to Lethbridge-Stewart (and Simon officially became Dylan Lethbridge-Stewart again), the two "cousins" chose to return to Japan to complete their pilgrimage, before continuing their globe-trotting. (PROSE: Night of the Intelligence)
He continued travelling with Dylan, visiting such places as New Mexico. In the summer of 1970, in Australia, he came across the dream eggs, and as a result fell a little into contact with Dylan. Owain wanted to investigate, call in their uncle, but Dylan wanted nothing to do with it as he was worried it may attract the attention of his father. In any event, the dream egg attacked Dylan and put him a coma, while Owain assisted Lethbridge-Stewart, Bishop and Anne in uncovering the truth behind the eggs. Due to his connection to the Intelligence, he was unaffected by the telepathic influence of the eggs. But with all the psychic energy building up in one particular egg, when it exploded it cast Owain's mind out of his body. This resulted in Owain retreating to the astral plane, and while on the plane he visited Dylan in a dream, telling Dylan that he had no intention of returning to his body for some time. This woke Dylan up. (PROSE: The New Unusual) His body was returned to Scotland, and Anne determined she would find a way to restore Owain's mind and body. (PROSE: The Playing Dead)
He was still in the coma by 1990, and was still under the care of Anne. The Brigadier didn't like talking about it and hoped that he would recover. (PROSE: The Enfolded Time)
Alternate timeline
In an alternative timeline in which the Intelligence was not beaten by the Doctor, Owain was targeted by the Intelligence once it discovered its earlier soul within him. He was rescued by the Royal Green Jackets, but the Intelligence subsumed their minds. Before the timeline was restored, he was being taken to London by Rifleman Bishop. (PROSE: Legacies)
Sexuality
Being a teenage in the late 1960s/early 1970s, Owain feels the need to hide that fact that he is gay. He pretends to like girls while living in Bledoe (PROSE: The Forgotten Son), and shows a sexual attraction to Bishop while on Fang Rock - they even share a bunk together, and later he demonstrates a bit of jealousy over Bishop's budding relationship with Anne. (PROSE: Beast of Fang Rock) He is immediately attracted to Simon when they first meet in New York, and Simon appears to reciprocate. (PROSE: Times Squared) When they're reunited a few months later, Owain immediately kisses Simon, momentarily forgetting himself. Simon is cool with it (suggesting he is bi-sexual himself). They eventually talk about their attraction, and come to realise that their connection is deeper, as Simon is the son of James Gore, an alternative version of the boy who died in Owain's timeline and was reincarnated as Owain. They eventually decide to look at each other as "cousins", although even Lethbridge-Stewart recognises they have a complicated relationship that he doesn't understand. (PROSE: Night of the Intelligence) By this point it appears that several people know about Owain's sexuality (including Bishop, Anne, Jipps, and Simon), and he is not bothered by it, although he still recognises the cultural imperative to keep it close to his chest.
Behind the scenes
Illustration of Owain Vine by Adrian Salmon.
The Lethbridge-Stewart website contains a character profile on Owain Vine which includes an illustration of him. [1]
Footnotes
- ↑ The Cast of Lethbridge-Stewart. lethbridgestewartnovels.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 11/01/17.