Charles Banerjee

Charles Banerjee was a resident of Soho in 1925. He worked with John Logie Baird to create television.

Born in Cheltenham, Charles got the job as Baird's assistant. In 1925, Baird arranged for Charles to buy a dummy from Mr Emporium's toy store. He entered, where the store's clerk offered him the Stooky Bill ventriloquist’s dummy for six pence. Charles then took the dummy back to Baird, who tested it for his new invention, television, the following day. Baird and Banerjee place the dummy's head before the camera and begin the test - the first ever television recording. The camera’s wheels spin and the bright lights burn and to the accompaniment of a giggle, the dummy bursts into flames.

However, Charles begins suffering hallucinations of the doll and perpetually hears a giggle in his head. Disturbed, he returns to the shop the following day to confront the clerk. However, the man reveals himself as the Toymaker and challenges Charles to a game. Charles loses, leading the Toymaker to turn him into a life size dummy similar to Stooky Bill. The Fourteenth Doctor eventually finds Charles when trapped in the Toymaker's domain. Charles explains what happened to him but is controlled by the Toymaker, condemned to dance whenever the entity wants him to.

Later, when the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors defeat the Toymaker in a game of catch, Charles' human form is restored and he is freed, able to work for Baird again. (TV: The Giggle ^[+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"]