Captain Jack Harkness witnessed the dematerialisation of the TARDIS on the southern face of Moel y Gest, a rocky hill in northern Wales. He felt that he needed the Doctor's help, especially in a crisis that he could not begin to comprehend.
Captain Jack is in command of Torchwood Three, the Welsh branch of the Torchwood Institute. Under his command was the technician Toshiko Sato (a daughter of Japanese immigrants), the team's medical officer Doctor Owen Harper, Jack's lover Ianto Jones, and his second-in-command Gwen Cooper. The team was sent to a village in North Wales to investigate sightings of a mysterious creature that resembled the Adar Llwch Gwin from ancient Welsh mythology.
"What the fuck is an Adar Llwch Gwin," Owen asked.
"Some bird-like monster," Ianto replied, "looks like a Griffin."
While interviewing a witness of the monster, Toshiko disappeared right in front of Ianto. She collapsed onto the floor below and complained of feeling ill. There was a look of terror-stricken on her face, and Owen thought that she looked as if she could vomit at any moment. To the horror of the team, Toshiko crumbled into dust. At the same time, Gwen and Owen both collapsed, and like Toshiko, they transformed into dust. Ianto and Jack glanced at each other in horror, trying to comprehend what they witnessed. They turned to find that their witness had run away in terror.
They walked out of the witness's home and turned to find panic-stricken villages, who had witnessed similar events happen to their friend and loved ones. The local authorities tried to maintain order and investigate, but some of the officers themselves had disappeared into dust. The two men ran away from the village, believing that some alien entity was responsible, but to Jack's horror, Ianto fell onto the grassy field. He looked as if he was ill, and he tried to reach for Jack, but he crumbled into dust, like everyone else in the village.
Jack desperately ran as fast as he could from the chaos in the village, sprinting for what felt like ten minutes or more. He collapsed out of exhaustion, and he felt he was done for. When Jack saw the TARDIS dematerialise, he found a sense of hope. His old friend, the Doctor, had returned, and hopefully, he can be here to help.
"Where are we Doctor," Vicki asked upon dematerialisation.
Steven was personally surprised that this wasn't a usual question Vicki would ask during their travels. The Doctor was busy at his controls, reviewing the scanner to determine if the outside environment was safe. The temperature outside was around nine degrees Celsius with a mild breeze, and it also appeared to be sometime during the autumn season. The atmosphere was breathable, and there were no deadly toxins detected by the TARDIS.
The image on the scanner depicted a field of trees in front of a mountain. It was raining heavily, and the Doctor implied that the fields were muddy landscapes. The Doctor theorised that the ship had landed in the Welsh mountain range of Snowdonia. He had visited this place during the reign of King Edward the Seventh when he was still with Susan, Ian, and Barbara.
"We're in Wales my dear," said the Doctor in response to Vicki's question.
"Where is Wales," asked Steven sarcastically and jokingly.
The Doctor, who was unable to interept Steven's cheeky tone, attempted to ignore his foolishness, but it was too frustratingly hard for him not to be astonished by the young man's supposed ignorance. The Doctor turned to Steven in disgust, and prepared to berate him.
"I was kidding," said Steven, "I was just provoking a reaction."
"I sure hope so dear boy," the Doctor responded, "ignorance such as that would be unacceptable! Goodness gracious young man, you're English, you should know what Wales is, yes indeed, you should!" Vicki chuckled as Steven left the console room for the living quarters in frustration.
With his remaining strength, Captain Jack Harkness began racing towards the TARDIS. Whatever was happening, he believed that he had very little time left. The world was in danger, and as far as he knew, more and more people were disappearing. Was this the experiment of a hostile alien empire hellbent on world domination? To Jack only the Doctor would know.
"Doctor," he cried. From the scanner, Steven saw Jack running towards the TARDIS like a madman.
"Doctor," he said, "someone's running towards us!"
The Doctor and Vicki walked over to the scanner and the entire trio found Captain Jack sprinting down the wet Welsh field toward the TARDIS. His face was panic-stricken, which in turn caused the trio to feel a state of unease.
"What's wrong with him Doctor," Steven asked.
"How the devil could I know," the Doctor retorted.
"We should help him," Vicki pleaded.
"We can't help, he looks mad," Steven snapped.
"Enough young ones," shouted the Doctor, "we'll be safe in here, he can't get us."
Steven began to breathe a sigh of relief while began to develop a sense of curiosity over the man who was running straight toward them. The Doctor went to the food machine to get a drink of water when a familiar sound began to play. The three of them could hear the winding and grinding of the TARDIS. The ship was dematerialising, and the Doctor was not even at the controls.
"How did you do that," Vicki demanded.
"I didn't my dear," the Doctor replied, "the ship is performing a self-dematerialisation. I don't know..."
Before the Doctor could finish, the ship began to quake violently. Vicki and Steven held on to each other while the Doctor grabbed hold of the console, calling for his companions to stay calm. Outside the TARDIS, Captain Jack Harkness grabbed the sides of the ship and held on for dear life. As the TARDIS was flying through the vortex, he keep crying for the Doctor.