Dr Boycott

*"It's not* intended *to drown."*
*"Not this time, anyway; and I think probably not the next time either, depending on results of course."*

Dr James Robert Boycott is one of the three main antagonists alongside Digby Driver and William Harbottle of Richard Adams`s 1977 book The Plague Dogs, and its 1982 animated film adaptation of the same name by Martin Rosen.

He is the chief scientist of a research station known as ARSE where he tortures animals for experiments, including two dogs named Rowf and Snitter.

In the 1982 animated film adaptation, he was voiced by the late Nigel Hawthorne, who also played Campion in *Watership Down*, Raymond Cocteau in *Demolition Man*, and Sir Humphrey Appleby in *Yes, Minister.*

## **Personality:**

*Besides, who in his senses could reasonably expect Dr Boycott to ask himself, on behalf of the human race, not "How much knowledge can I discover?" but "How much knowledge am I justified in seeking?".*
*Experimental science is the last flower of asceticism and Dr Boycott was indeed an ascetic, an observer of events upon which he passed no value judgments.*
*He represented, in fact, a most ingenious paradox, noble in reason, express and admirable in action, his undemonstrative heart committed with the utmost detachment to the benefit of humanity.*
*Something too much of this.*

Dr Boycott is portrayed as an extremely inhumane, ruthless, sadistic, brutal, unethical, apathetic, unpleasant, unsympathetic and egotistical scientist who is obsessed with experimenting on animals, performing thousands of torturous experiments on them.

It is explained that he is nothing like any other known scientist and that no real-life experimental station would cover so much a wide range as animal research.

Despite the cruel experiments that he has conducted on his animals, he makes it clear that they are usually commercial.

For example, he made a television commercial on a poison that is immune to humans and fatal to rabbits.

It is made clear that Boycott is only motivated by experimenting on animals to satisfy his curiosity, rather than to solve or discover any useful information beneficial to society. Boycott also has an assistant named Mr Lubbock, who is in charge of the homing pigeon experiment, which was used to test their homing exercise with their damaged sensory organs.

Boycott also seems to be a reputable scientist, with Cambridge showing interest in his research in social deprivation.

Dr Boycott and the other whitecoats have also experimented on many of Rowf and Snitter`s friends that led to their deaths, such as Kiff who was sentenced to death as part of an electrocution experiment, Clusker who died after being experimented on a cosmetic fatal to fleas, Brot who was put to sleep and blinded before being euthanized, Jimjam died after going blind as a result of receiving narcotics in his stomach, Lodo who was forced to smoke cigarettes, Licker who was restrained in a mental harness as he witnessed another dog being clubbed to death, and Zigger who was forced to work on a treadmill before tiring.

After Ann Moss sold Snitter to their lab, Boycott had Dr Fortescue perform numerous unethical vivisection experiments on the poor terrier, primarily motivated by his curiosity to discover if Snitter`s hallucinations would have similar effects to the titular character from Pincher Martin by William Golding and in addition to Ann Moss claiming that Snitter had a vicious nature.

It is also made clear that his subjects have no legal rights and that he is intentionally cruel to his subjects, particularly his act of confining a monkey in an isolated cylinder for a deprivation experiment.

He also emotionally abuses his subordinate, Stephen Powell for being unprofessional and emotional, which he claims has no place in science.

This eventually leads to Powell quitting his job and taking the confined monkey to look for a new career.

In the film, Boycott acts more polite than in the book and is pragmatic enough to not be a jerk to his subordinates.

Most of the experiments depicted in the movie are generally simply brutal than pointless and nonsensical.

When Boycott hears about Rowf and Snitter`s escape, he keeps it a secret from the public and denies any awareness of their escape, hoping that the two dogs will eventually die of starvation or get shot.

By ignoring his dog`s escape, this shows that he`s willing to avoid any accountability for his actions and responsibility in order to save animal research`s image, despite the dogs wreaking havoc across the Lake District.

His inept handling of the situation arising from the dog`s escape serves both to antagonize the locals and to provide grist to Digby Driver`s mill, despite his efforts to mitigate the rise of public anxiety in order to avoid any precedence towards animal research.

While Boycott tried to ignore the fact that the dogs have escaped from his lab, he hired a bounty hunter named Ackland in the film to take down Rowf and Snitter; he tells Ackland that he works at the research station, but doesn't mention that the dogs were lab experiments that came from the laboratory.

When he received news from the under secretary of the department of the environment recommending a reduction of laboratory personnel and suspending work completely, he becomes shocked to hear the news and reluctantly agrees.

## **History:**

### **Backstory:**

*"Rowf drowns and sinks to the bottom of the tank".*
**Dr Boycott:** *"Now, Stephen."*
*"Rowf is pulled out of the tank."*
**Stephen Powell:** "*Two hours, twenty minutes, fifty-three and two fifth seconds."*
*"Six and a half minutes longer than Wednesday`s test, and about twelve minutes longer than the one before that."*
**Dr Boycott*:*** *"It's remarkable how regular the increase appears to be, isn't it? It'll be interesting to see what happens when its expectation of removal is countered by its physical limits."*
*"Shouldn't wait too much longer."*
**Stephen Powell:** *"Shall I schedule the tank for Monday, doctor?."*
**Dr Boycott:** *"Same procedure as last time."*
*"And oh yes, Stephen, Cambridge are anxious for us to go ahead with the social deprivation series."*
*"We do have a monkey set aside for that, don`t we?".*
**Stephen Powell:** *"Just waiting for the go-ahead."*
**Dr Boycott:** *"Right."*
*"Then, get it into the cylinder this evening."*
*"Oh, and that tank, Stephen...*
*"Better clean it out a little bit."*

Ever since ARSE had been approved and established at Lawson Park after a political battle, Dr Boycott got a job there and began performing thousands of torturous experiments on animals.

When a black labrador named Rowf was born, Boycott began testing his endurance throughout his lifetime by systematically drowning him for survival expectation experiments.

Five years later, Boycott hired a man named Stephen Powell to take the job as a scientist.

In addition, a fox terrier named Snitter was sold to the research station by Ann Moss after he accidentally caused a traffic accident on her brother, Alan Wood, leaving him to believe that he killed his master.

Ann Moss claimed that Snitter had a vicious attitude and the whitecoats namely Dr Fortescue have been performing unethical vivisection experiments by plaguing his conscious and subconscious mind, causing him to have hallucinations and seizures.

Kiff, Rowf and Snitter`s friend, was later taken away by the whitecoats and died as part of an electrocution experiment.

### **Rowf And Snitter`s Escape:**

*"I still can't quite understand how it happened."*
**Stephen Powell:** *"As far as I can make out, there was a length of wire netting loose, and 815 must`ve got under sometime that night."*
**Dr Boycott:** *"But if the door had been fastened, it wouldn`t open of its own accord, would it?".*
**Stephen Powell:** *"It is possible that Tyson didn`t shut the door properly, of course."*
**Dr Boycott:** *"They couldn't have gotten into Dr Goodner`s section, could they?".*
**Stephen Powell:** *No, no, no.*
*"Uh, we're quite sure of that."*
*"That was the first place I checked."*
*"I've spoken to Dr Goodner, and he's sure that...*
*"***Dr Boycott:** *"Yes."*
*"Well, that's something, anyway."*

One day, the station`s janitor, Harry Tyson, accidentally leaves Rowf`s door open after returning him to his pen when he left in a hurry to do an errand.

The following evening, Snitter sneaks into Rowf`s cage and they discover that the door is unlatched.

They explore the facility while passing by other experimental animals until they climb into an incinerator.

Snitter eventually finds an opening and the two dogs narrowly manage to escape in time before Tyson ignites the incinerator.

This leaves the two dogs to roam across the Lake District in search of a kind-hearted master before being forced to survive in the wilderness with the help of a local fox known as The Tod.

Tyson and Powell eventually notice that the dogs have escaped, but Tyson has already concealed his mistake by shutting the kennel.

Dr Boycott and Powell wonder how the dogs could have escaped and Powell informs him that they couldn`t have gotten into Dr Goodner`s section.

Powell figured that the two dogs must be starving and attacking sheep, to which Boycott replies that the farmers will either shoot the dogs or call the research station once they realize where the dogs came from, while also expressing pity for the information lost on the two dogs.

### **Shifting The Blame:**

**Stephen Powell:** *"He's gonna think that's very suspicious."*
*"And what about Tyson?".*
**Dr Boycott:** *"I've already had a word with Tyson, and the most he can say, if he's asked, is that two pens were found empty."*
**Stephen Powell:** *"Do you think Williamson`s going to accept that?".*
**Dr Boycott:** *"I don't think we're under any obligation to answer that farmer`s questions.*
*"If he thinks evil, let him prove evil, if he can."*

When the farmers realize that their livestock is being attacked and set out to kill the two dogs, The Tod comes to warn the dogs about their presence.

Rowf considers turning himself in for the whitecoats, but Snitter convinces him that his idea is insane and that dogs were not meant to be abused.

The farmers arrive at the mine after the trio managed to escape and realize that the two dogs must have come from the research station.

One of the farmers, Dennis Williamson, calls Powell and inquires if the research station lost any dogs, but Powell refuses to give a straight answer.

Powell informs Dr Boycott about the call he received from Williamson and his superior decides to hide any awareness of the dog`s escape from the public.

In the film, Boycott phones a bounty hunter named Ackland and hires him to exterminate the dogs after Snitter accidentally killed a Jewish businessman named David Ephraim Pierce Chetwynd in the film.

Later, when the two dogs scavenge the Dawson`s dustbins, the owners drive Rowf away and lock Snitter in a shed before phoning the police.

The police inform Powell about Snitter`s capture and he heads out to retrieve him, while also leaving a note for Boycott.

When Powell and the police arrive at the Dawson`s residence, The Tod manages to help Snitter escape before the authorities could capture him.

Meanwhile, a reporter named Digby Driver arrives and takes Powell back to the research station, while Powell chats about Dr Goodner`s defence work on bubonic plague.

Upon returning to the station, Boycott chastises Powell for going out with the police, as they probably revealed that they are indeed the owners of the dogs and Boycott states that he would have had Snitter killed had the police caught him.

At the station, Digby Driver blackmails Dr Goodner about his defence work and publishes an article about the two dogs carrying the bubonic plague.

Boycott becomes suspicious about the media reporting the dogs carrying the plague and Powell claims that he didn`t know anything about Goodner`s work on the plague.

Boycott says that the dogs can`t be carrying the plague and that the under secretary thinks it's unlikely.

Later, Boycott informs Powell about Goodner`s meeting with the director and reminds him of the experiment on beagles with radiation sickness.

Powell informs Boycott that he hardly knew Goodner`s defence work and his chief immediately ends his shift.

The next day, Powell is forced to suspend his job after catching a severe cold.

After Driver tries to call Powell, Boycott offers to interview with him in two days once Powell is back to work.

Powell eventually returns and they continue their experiments on the dogs, while Dr Boycott tells Powell the news about the two dogs raiding a car owned by a bank clerk named Geoffrey Westcott.

Dr Boycott asks Powell about how the assistant secretary knew about the plague carrying dogs and he assures his boss that he didn`t reveal any secrets, as they`re scientists and don`t get involved politics.

Boycott then informs Powell about another defence project a refrigeration unit where animals are forced to travel for miles in search for food and shelter.

Powell asks Dr Boycott about hiring someone else and Boycott notices the tears in Powell`s eyes.

Boycott immediately tries to comfort Powell and informs him that one of his assistants already finished the experiment on rabbits with hairspray before they had to be euthanized.

On a snowy day, Geoffrey Westcott Ackland in the film follows the dog`s trail.

The hunter arrives at the Dow Crag and takes aim at the two dogs.

As the hunter prepares to shoot Rowf, he falls off the crag to his death, but not before he shoots off Rowf`s collar.

The two starving dogs then devour the hunter`s corpse and his body is later found.

Driver arrives at the research station and interviews with Boycott and Powell.

They chat about the two dog`s experimental uses and Driver asks why there is no specific purpose of these experiments, to which Boycott justifies this by claiming that it`s always the advancement of knowledge to benefit men and animals.

They discuss about the dogs wreaking havoc across the countryside and Driver lashes out at Dr Boycott for his negligence and complicity.

Boycott and Powell argue with Driver about his false plague rumours and Driver reminds Powell about how he told him about Goodner`s defence work, to which Powell denies it.

Dr Boycott then receives a call and Powell picks the phone.

Powell is shocked as he learns about the incident of Westcott`s death as well as Rowf`s severed collar and sends someone to the station.

Powell then informs Boycott that they should discuss about the incident in private and Driver heads to the police station.

Driver then posts an article about Westcott`s death and how Boycott refused to comment about their missing dogs.

### **Reduction Of Laboratory Staff:**

*"The Under Secretary? Well, yes, of course I'll speak to him."*
*"Good afternoon, sir."*
*"It has been, uh, inconvenient."*
*"I've taken steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again."*
*"Suspend work completely, sir? Couldn't we perhaps..."*
*"No, of course not, minister."*
*"I understand completely."*

After receiving a letter from an exhibition company requesting to purchase the two dogs from Dr Boycott, he rejects the offer and informs Powell that there will be drastic changes within the research station.

Boycott then asks Powell about the deprivation experiment and Powell begins to worry about the monkey, to which Boycott replies that it`s been fed in accordance with the schedule.

Boycott then receives a letter from the department of the environment recommending reductions in laboratory staff, including Stephen Powell, to which Boycott signs the decree.

Later, Powell begins to wonder why he`s being dismissed from his job, to which Boycott replies that he`s actually being transferred in his grade and tells him to talk to the director about the issue, while also planning to use another dog for endurance experiments as a replacement for Rowf.

Powell thanks him and then leaves before quitting his job and taking the confined monkey to look for a new career.

In the film, Boycott receives a call from the under secretary recommending a complete suspension of work, while William Harbottle`s operation to hunt down Rowf and Snitter fails when the two dogs escape the 3rd battalion of the parachute regiment to the Irish sea.

In the book`s ending, Rowf and Snitter are rescued by two naturalists named Peter Scott and Ronald Lockley and happily reunite with Snitter`s long lost master after Digby Driver redeems himself and helps him find them, thus ending their suffering at the hands of the whitecoats.

## **Quotes:**

*"Suppose they start worrying sheep?".***Dr Boycott:** *"Well, then some farmer will shoot them, or realize where they're from and get onto us."*
*"In which case, we'll only have to pacify one local instead of the whole district.""Damn shame though.""All that work on those dogs gone for nothing."*

**Dr Boycott*:*** *"Mr Ackland."*
*"I wonder if you'd consider doing a small job for me."*
**Ackland:** *"Uh, who's this I'm talking to?".*
**Dr Boycott:** *"Boycott, Dr Robert Boycott."*
*"I'm with the Lawson Park experimental station in Coniston."***Ackland*:*** *"Alright."*
*"What kind of job?".***Dr Boycott:** *"Well, I understand that there are two dogs that have been worrying sheep up near Thirlmere."*
*"If you have the time, I'd..."*
*"I'd be most grateful if you could...*
*"See your way clear to ensuring that they..."*
*"They don't do any more damage."*

## **Gallery:**

Dr Boycott with Stephen Powell.Dr Boycott with Stephen Powell.Dr Boycott with Stephen Powell.Dr Boycott with Stephen Powell.Dr Boycott with Stephen Powell.Dr Boycott.The whitecoats at a lab.Dr Boycott and Stephen Powell.