Wolsey

Wolsey
Species:	Cat
Place of origin:	Earth
First appearance:	Prelude Human Nature
Appearances:	PROSE: Human Nature PROSE: Head Games PROSE: The Dying Days PROSE: Oh No It Isn't! PROSE: The Doomsday Manuscript AUDIO: The Mirror Effect PROSE: Something Changed
Main actor:	Nicholas Courtney

Wolsey was a cat from 1910s Earth that travelled with the Seventh Doctor. He later belonged to Bernice Summerfield.

Biography

Wolsey was a large tomcat with tabby markings. He was a capable hunter and utterly disdainful of human beings. He originally belonged to Joan Redfern who at first knew the Seventh Doctor only as the human John Smith. She gave Wolsey to the Seventh Doctor to "guard" him. (PROSE: Human Nature)

Following his regeneration and subsequent reunion with Bernice Summerfield, the Eighth Doctor passed Wolsey to Bernice so that she could watch over him. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

Wolsey was temporarily transformed into a "person" when a Perfecton missile hit the ship on which he and owner Bernice Summerfield were travelling. In the Perfecton-generated reality, Wolsey appeared as a seven-foot-tall, fully-clothed, talking, bipedal cat with a large cavalier hat. In this form Wolsey displayed passions for singing, dancing and rude jokes. He addresses Benny as "servant-woman," confirming her suspicions about human-cat relations. (PROSE: Oh No It Isn't!, AUDIO: Oh No It Isn't!)

Wolsey was present when Peter Summerfield said his first word. (AUDIO: The Mirror Effect)

As Wolsey got older, he became lame in his back leg. (PROSE: A Life Worth Living)

Though Wolsey was neutered, he nevertheless managed to sire several litters of kittens during his time at the Braxiatel Collection. Wolsey died in January 2606, at a very advanced age, and was buried on KS-159, in the gardens of the Braxiatel Collection. (PROSE: Something Changed)

Behind the scenes

• In Wolsey's single "speaking" role, the audio adaptation of Oh No It Isn't! in which he is temporarily transformed into a humanoid, he was voiced by Nicholas Courtney. He also "spoke" briefly in the short story Dead Mice, although this took place in an alternate timeline and was likely Braxiatel's hallucination.