Rees was a psychopathic human who was born with latent psychic abilities that eventually developed to became a grave threat to the future of Earth.
Biography[]
As a young boy, Rees not only realised that he enjoyed the idea of making others suffer and seeing them in pain, but that he could also "push" his thoughts onto others, influencing their actions. At first he used his ability on animals, and made them jump to their deaths down a well in the family home's garden. After the death of his mother, while he was still young, Rees became obsessed with a music box that once belonged to her, despite it being broken, which only served to irritate his grief stricken father. One day, his father lashed out and struck Rees, who then turned his blossoming abilities on him, and forced him to jump to his death down the well. (AUDIO: Mind Games, Second Sight)
Years later, Rees took to performing a hypnotism act, and was hired to work at the New Regency Theatre in the 1890s for Henry Gordon Jago, using the now-fixed music box as a medium to help influence people. During this time, he would use his ability to not only humiliate people on stage for fun, but also to occupy the minds of others and use them to kill people. He enjoyed not only the act of killing, but also forcing others to live with the nightmares his "possession" left them with. He was finally stopped by Jago, along with Professor George Litefoot, during his attempt to have them kill each other. Jago was able to help Litefoot break free, and in the ensuing struggle, a crucial distraction by Ellie Higson and Inspector Quick allowed Jago and Litefoot to send Rees falling down the same well he had forced his father down, apparently killing him. (AUDIO: Mind Games)
During his time trapped in the well, Rees was able to transfer a portion of his mind into his music box, not wanting to possess an animal that would have eventually died, while another part of his consciousness remained tied to his skull. Eventually the well was exposed after World War II and both Rees' skeleton and music box were found by Stephanie and James Wilton in 1950. Stephanie kept the music box, which actually possessed a portion of Rees' consciousness and ability and Rees spoke to her through her mind for years, influencing her and using her as a puppet. In 1964, Stephanie followed Rees' orders and attempted to once again find Rees' body at the bottom of the well, having used his ability through her to secure the property by taking out key civil servants and property developers. This attracted the attention of the Counter-Measures team, and thanks to their efforts, they were able to stop Rees reuniting with his decayed corpse, now only a skeleton, after Rachel Jensen created a device that would disrupt the mental imprint of Rees's consciousness in others, but at the cost of Stephanie's life. Sir Toby Kinsella placed both Rees' music box, and his skull, the only intact piece of his body recovered, under guard in a secure facility, with the suggestion to keep them apart. (AUDIO: The Reesinger Process)
However, during the early 21st century, when both the music box and the skull came to be together at the UNIT Vault underneath of the Angel of the North, their proximity to each other awakened and strengthened what remained of Rees' consciousness. He took control of Lieutenant Jane Lucas, the UNIT officer in charge, and although she was able to activate a security alert, Rees also reanimated the corpses of people present in the Vault and began to assemble a new body from available organs. His efforts were stopped by Mike Yates, Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato, who infiltrated the Vault and were able to destroy the music box when Matheson helped Yates resist Rees's control before he could have Sato vivisected for new organs, which caused the skull to disintegrate. However, Rees channelled his completely formed consciousness into Lucas and escaped with the remains of the box before he could be stopped, and went on the run from UNIT, killing all the personnel waiting outside the Vault before fleeing in a jeep. (AUDIO: The Screaming Skull)
Mere hours after leaving the Vault, Rees encountered the time-travelling Leela, who had been dispatched by Lady President Romana II to investigate the strange goings on which had come to Gallifrey's attention. He was able to possess her as well, and left Lucas' to be killed by jumping in front of a train, before moving on and using Leela as a pawn to possess a recently widowed man named Tom O'Linne. Under Rees' influence, O'Linne accepted a job in Peru with "Oversight", which was publicly a satellite project designed to send a message to the stars, but was also a UNIT-controlled global surveillance system. Rees' consciousness intended to use the specially designed UNIT systems to transmit itself into the minds of anyone and everyone across the planet, but his final scheme was thwarted by the Sixth Doctor, summoned by Mike Yates, and Romana, who was looking for Leela. They were able to penetrate a telepathic environment that the consciousness had constructed inside the last remaining piece of the music box, where Rees had trapped Leela's consciousness before she was freed by the Doctor and Romana, forcing her to witness the murder of Rees' father. There, they were able to convince Rees to let go of his hatred, and fool him into thinking he was getting a chance to live his life over again, whereas in reality, it was all a telepathic projection. As a result, Rees' influence over O'Linne ended and his plan failed, and Romana confiscated the music box fragment. However, when the Oversight message came online, a possible fragment of Rees may have somehow survived. (AUDIO: Second Sight)