Polly Wright: Difference between revisions

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<!---Because of the scarcity of existing episodes with Polly, care must be taken not to confuse publicity pictures of Anneke Wills with in-universe pictures of Polly. Per our Manual of Style, only pictures from episodes or telesnaps can be used to illustrate in-universe articles like this one-->{{Infobox Individual
{{subpage tabs}}
|name= Polly Wright
{{ImageLink}}
|image=PollyFO.jpg  
<!---Because of the scarcity of existing episodes with Polly, care must be taken not to confuse publicity pictures of Anneke Wills with in-universe pictures of Polly. Per our Manual of Style, only pictures from episodes or telesnaps can be used to illustrate in-universe articles like this one-->
|alias=
{{Infobox Individual
|species=Human  
|image        =  
|origin=[[London]]  
<gallery>
|first=The War Machines (TV story)
PollyFO.jpg|Wills
|appearances= [[Polly Wright - list of appearances|'''''see list''''']]
Polly_twice_upon_a_time.jpg|Travers
|actor= Anneke Wills
</gallery>
|clip = Get me Geneva - Quick! - Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet - BBC
|alias       = Paul
|job          = Secretary
|job2        = model
|job3        = personal assistant
|job4        = music manager
|affiliation  = GEZ
|affiliation2 = Family Smith
|species     = Human
|origin       = [[London]] or [[Devon]]
|grandparent  = Polly Wright's grandfather{{!}}Grandfather
|grandparent2 = Randolph Wright's mother{{!}}grandmother
|father      = Edward Wright
|mother      = Bettingham-Smith
|brother      = Polly Wright's older brother{{!}}Older brother
|brother2    = Polly Wright's younger brothers{{!}}two younger brothers
|brother3    = Miles Wright
|spouse      = Simon (Graham Dilley Saves the World)
|spouse2      = Polly Wright's husband{{!}}husband
|spouse3      = Ben Jackson
|birth date  = [[1942]]
|child        = Mikey (That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress)
|first cs    = The War Machines (TV story)
|appearances = {{appears}}
|actor       = Anneke Wills
|other actor  = Lily Travers
|clip         = Get me Geneva - Quick! - Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet - BBC
|clip2        = The Second Doctor's First Scene The Power of the Daleks Doctor Who
|clip3        = Don't Drink That - Doctor Who - The Moonbase - BBC
}}
}}
'''Polly Wright''' was a [[companion]] to the [[First Doctor|first]] and [[Second Doctor|second incarnations]] of [[the Doctor]], and was one of the very first people to witness the Doctor [[regenerating]]. She travelled in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] with her future husband [[Ben Jackson]] and [[Jamie McCrimmon]].
'''Polly Jackson''' (née '''Wright''') was a [[companion]] of the [[First Doctor|First]] and [[Second Doctor]]s.
 
She was one of the very first people to witness the Doctor [[regenerating]] but she was initially unsure in believing that the Doctor was still the same man. She travelled in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] with [[Ben Jackson]], whom she would later marry, and [[Jamie McCrimmon]]. She also became acquainted with [[Dodo Chaplet]] before she left the Doctor's company.


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
=== Early life ===
Polly was born in [[1942]] in [[London]], [[England]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Murder Game]]'') She spent much of her early life in [[Devon]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Invasion of the Cat-People]]''). She was the only daughter of Dr. [[Edward Wright]] and his wife, the former Miss Bettingham-Smith.  
Polly was born in [[London]] in [[1942]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Murder Game (novel)}}) She was the second child of [[Edward Wright|Dr Edward Wright]] and [[Bettingham-Smith|his wife]] and had four brothers, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Resistance (audio story)}}) the youngest of whom was [[Miles Wright|Miles]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) The family lived in a "big, old house in the country" ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Resistance (audio story)}}) in [[Hampshire]] ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Lost and Found (audio story)}}) or in [[Devon]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) They had a [[Golden Retriever]] named Belle. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Lost and Found (audio story)}}) Dr Wright told Polly stories of her uncle [[Randolph Wright|Randolph]], who died after being imprisoned in a [[Nazi]] prisoner of war camp in [[1944]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Resistance (audio story)}})


Polly's father, Edward, was the second of three sons, younger than Charles and older than [[Randolph Wright|Randolph]]. He and his wife married in around [[August]] [[1939]] and had a son soon after. Polly was their second child. At this time, Dr. Wright and his family lived "in a big, old house in the country." Polly's paternal grandmother and her two paternal uncles were still alive at the time of her birth.
In [[1948]], when she was six, Polly was separated from her mother on a shopping trip to [[Fortnum & Mason]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) In the same year, Polly saw [[bean|baked beans]] for the first time on a visit to [[Henrik's]]. During the same trip, she lost her [[teddy bear]] and, later that day, she briefly met the [[Second Doctor]], [[Ben Jackson]] and her future self, although she remained ignorant as to their identities. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Lost and Found (audio story)}}) At seven years old, she was given a [[vaccine]] for [[polio]] by the school doctor, who lied and told her that it would not hurt. She screamed. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (novelisation)}})


By [[1944]], her father's younger brother, Randolph, had been imprisoned in a [[Nazi]] prisoner of war camp, where he died. In contrast, Edward survived [[World War II]]. He fathered three more sons and told Polly stories of her uncle.
When Polly was seven or eight, she saw ''[[Stabbed Time]]'' in a [[book]] and had a [[nightmare]] about it. She was once locked in a [[basement]] by a girl during a birthday party and screamed until an adult found her. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Dead Star (audio story)}}) In [[1952]], when she was ten, she attended a fair with her uncle [[Charles Wright|Charles]] and had her fortune told by a [[gypsy]], who warned her of a tall, dark stranger. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) She also visited the [[Tower of London]] when she was a child but otherwise only saw it through train windows. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Roundheads (novel)}})


In young adulthood, Polly reflected on her parents and said that she had always "taken them for granted" while she was away from home enjoying herself, but that they were always there for her when she needed them. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Resistance (audio story)|Resistance]]'')
As a girl, Polly went on school trips to the [[British Museum]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (novelisation)}}) and slept through [[Latin]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Slave War (short story)}}) later going to [[finishing school]] where she studied [[French (language)|French]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (novelisation)}}) She was proud when the [[United Kingdom]] effectively abolished the [[death penalty]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Murder Game (novel)}})


In [[1948]], when Polly was six, she was separated from her mother on a shopping trip to [[Fortnum & Mason]]. In [[1952]], when she was ten, she attended a fair with her uncle Charles and had her fortune told by a [[gypsy]], who warned her of a tall, dark stranger. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Invasion of the Cat-People]]'')
In young adulthood, Polly reflected on her parents and said that she had always "taken them for granted" while she was away from home enjoying herself, but that they were always there for her when she needed them. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Resistance (audio story)}}) She attended [[Leeds University]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) In [[1963]], she made it her [[New Year's resolution]] to work in a [[charity shop]] for [[cancer]] research in [[Notting Hill]]. However, she left after only a week - pleasing her mother - and instead chose to donate some of her expensive clothes which were in fashion the previous year. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Ten Little Aliens (novel)}})
 
=== Building a career ===
In the mid-[[1960s]], Polly was living in [[Chelsea]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Murder Game (novel)}}) [[Polly Wright's flat|Her flat]] in Chelsea was located above a fancy [[shoe shop]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sleeper Agents (audio story)}}) She had a budding career as a [[model]] before leaving the industry, feeling that she was being exploited. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Murder Game (novel)}}) She later worked at an office in [[Bond Street]], where she became good friends with a woman named [[Rosie (The Roundheads)|Rosie]], who was a little older than her. Rosie, who was involved in the [[Women's Liberation Movement]] had transformed Polly into a "swinger". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Roundheads (novel)}})
 
At age 20, she had a relationship with [[Roger (Invasion of the Cat-People)|Roger]] who later broke up with her as he did not love her the way that she loved him, quickly entering into a new relationship with [[Lucy Miller]]. Subsequently, Polly accepted a job offer fixed for her by her Uncle Charles at the [[Post Office Tower]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}) On her first day at the tower, Rosie walked her to the tower. Polly would late recall that day with fondness. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Roundheads (novel)}}) Part of her later regretted leaving the modelling industry for such a monotonous alternative. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Murder Game (novel)}}) Henceforth, Polly began working as [[Brett (The War Machines)|Professor Brett]]'s [[personal assistant]]. She maintained an active social life and enjoyed her time off work. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Machines (TV story)}})


=== Joining the Doctor ===
=== Joining the Doctor ===
[[File:PollyKittyInTheInferno.jpg|thumb|left|Polly in the [[Inferno]] with her friend [[Kitty]], the proprietress. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]'')]] Before meeting the Doctor, Polly was a typical [[1960s]] [[London]] twenty-something. She lived in [[Chelsea]], worked as Professor [[Brett]]'s personal assistant and was unhappy that [[WOTAN]]'s typing was faster and more accurate than hers. She had an active social life and enjoyed her time off work. On [[20 July]], [[1966]], she met [[Ben Jackson]] at one of her favourite haunts, the [[Inferno]] nightclub, where they were joined by the [[First Doctor]], who expected to find [[Dodo Chaplet]] there.
[[File:PollyKittyInTheInferno.jpg|thumb|left|Polly in the [[Inferno (club)|Inferno]] with her friend [[Kitty (The War Machines)|Kitty]], the proprietress. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Machines (TV story)}})]]
On [[12 July]], [[1966]], Polly took [[Dodo Chaplet]] to one of her favourite haunts, the [[Inferno (club)|Inferno]] nightclub, where they met [[Ben Jackson]], who later saved Polly from a [[Flash (The War Machines)|drunken patron]]. They were later joined by the [[First Doctor]], who expected to find Dodo there. Dodo later arrived back at the club, but was now under the control of WOTAN.
 
Polly's mind later fell under WOTAN's control. She was sent to work at the warehouse, where she was assigned to watch over Ben, who had been captured. However, Polly's mind resisted WOTAN's control long enough for Ben to escape. For punishment, Major [[Green (The War Machines)|Green]] sent her to Brett's office, where she assisted Brett and [[Melvin Krimpton|Krimpton]] with running WOTAN. Ben later freed her just as WOTAN was destroyed by one of its own [[War Machine]]s.
 
When Ben and she found the Doctor beside an old [[police box]], Polly told him Dodo would be staying in [[England]]. Miffed, the Doctor bid the couple ''adieu''. As they walked away, Polly turned to see the Doctor had used [[TARDIS key|a key]] to enter the police box. Remembering that Ben had found a key that had earlier fallen out of the Doctor's cloak, she dragged Ben back to the police box to see if it would fit. They ended up inside [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the ship]] just as it took off. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Machines (TV story)}})
 
In his investigation of reports of a series of ''agent provocateurs'' known as "the Doctor" who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents, the journalist [[James Stevens]] discovered evidence of Polly's involvement in the [[C-Day]] fiasco. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Who Killed Kennedy (novel)}})
 
According to some accounts, Polly and Ben joined the Doctor in the [[1970s]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (novelisation)}}, {{cs|Doctor Who and the Cybermen (novelisation)}})
 
=== Travels with the First Doctor ===
{{Section stub|Info from ''[[Food for Thought (comic story)|Food for Thought]]'', ''[[Ten Little Aliens (novel)|Ten Little Aliens]]'' and ''[[Falling (audio story)|Falling]]'' and further info from ''[[The Smugglers (TV story)|The Smugglers]]'' needs to be added}}
[[File:Ben and Polly Smugglers.jpg|thumb|right|Polly with Ben after exiting the TARDIS for the first time. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Smugglers (TV story)}})]]
The Doctor first took Polly and Ben to [[17th century]] [[Cornwall]], where they ran into smugglers. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Smugglers (TV story)}})
 
The Doctor, Ben and Polly landed on Earth but were all dressed up for snow not rain. She chastised some boys for trying to frighten an ailing Doctor. They heard from the local librarian that the local gangs were worse this year. After one of the local gangs invaded the library and left a set of Guys in the reading room, she went to inspect that everything was locked to stop them coming in again. The Guys later attacked her. The Doctor asked her to do some research on the Bonfire gangs. She was later attacked by a cloaked creature which the later discovered to be a machine. She went to the town hall with her friends to confront what was causing the mischief. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Bonfires of the Vanities (audio story)}})


When Dodo failed to show by closing time, the three went out into the night together and soon became embroiled in the fight against WOTAN. Polly's mind fell under WOTAN's control. Ben freed her just as WOTAN was destroyed by one of its own [[War Machine]]s. When Ben and she found the Doctor beside an old [[police box]], Polly told him Dodo would be staying in [[England]]. Miffed, the Doctor bid the couple ''adieu''. As they walked away, Polly turned to see the Doctor had used [[TARDIS key|a key]] to enter the police box. Remembering that Ben had found a key that had earlier fallen out of the Doctor's cloak, she dragged Ben back to the police box to see if it would fit. They ended up inside [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the ship]] just as it took off. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]'')
After the TARDIS crashed, Polly was injured and was looked after by [[Continuity (The Crumbling Magician)|Continuity]]. She kept experiencing the accident and flitting back to the hospital as she became agitated. She became worried when she couldn't see Ben. Continuity intentionally harmed her. Continuity transplanted Polly into the Doctor's mind and her mind was stored in the computer's memory. The Doctor negotiated for her mind to be returned to her body. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Crumbling Magician (audio story)}})


In his investigation of reports of a series of ''agent provocateurs'' known as "the Doctor" who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents, the journalist [[James Stevens]] discovered evidence of Polly's involvement in the [[C-Day]] fiasco. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Who Killed Kennedy (novel)|Who Killed Kennedy]]'')
[[The Player (The Plague of Dreams)|The Player]] later got her to narrate a previous adventure with him in [[Wild Heath]]. He told him that they needed to tell the story to get people to survive. In Wild Heath they were told by a local that they were suffering from the illness that brought them devils. She thought the disease was bringing the dreams to life. She saw a dragon brought to life as part of it. Back in the theatre she wanted to know what is and observed how strange it was. She observed the Doctor apparently dying. The Player infected Polly so that they could influence the dream, which was the theatre they were in. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Plague of Dreams (audio story)}})


=== Early travels with the Doctor ===
The Doctor, Polly and Ben later arrived in [[New York City]] in the [[1890s]] where four [[Ovid (species)|Ovid]]s — being of pure thoughts who travel from world to world in crystal spheres — had become trapped. Their presence caused people's dreams and nightmares to manifest in reality. The time travellers were able to free the Ovids with the assistance of [[Harry Houdini]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Smoke and Mirrors (audio story)}})
[[File:PollyProfileSmugglers.jpg|thumb|right|Polly desperately searches for the [[First Doctor]] in [[Cornwall]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Smugglers (TV story)|The Smugglers]]'')]]
The Doctor first took Polly and Ben to [[17th century]] [[Cornwall]], where they ran into smugglers. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Smugglers (TV story)|The Smugglers]]'')  


The Doctor, Polly and Ben later arrived in [[New York City]] in the [[1890s]] where four [[Ovid]]s - being of pure thoughts who travel from world to world in crystal spheres - had become trapped. Their presence caused people's dreams and nightmare to manifest in reality. The time travellers were able to free the Ovids with the assistance of [[Harry Houdini]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Smoke and Mirrors (audio story)|Smoke and Mirrors]]'')
=== Witnessing regeneration ===
In [[Antarctica]] in [[December]] [[1986]], Polly helped fight off an invasion by [[Cyberman (Mondas)|Cybermen]] from [[Mondas]]. After these events, the Doctor, exhausted, asked Polly and Ben to get him back to the TARDIS. As the trio took off, the Doctor collapsed and went through his first [[regeneration]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Tenth Planet (TV story)}})


In [[Antarctica]] in [[December]] [[1986]], Polly helped fight off an invasion by [[Cyberman (Mondas)|Cybermen]] from [[Mondas]]. After these events, the Doctor, exhausted, collapsed and went through his first [[regeneration]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]'')  
On the [[planet]] [[Vulcan (The Power of the Daleks)|Vulcan]], Polly adjusted quickly to the Doctor's having changed into [[Second Doctor|a new and younger persona]] though occasionally she had moments of doubt, while Ben was less accepting of the change, speculating that an imposter had replaced the Doctor. On Vulcan, Polly and Ben encountered the Doctor's archenemies, the [[Dalek]]s. The encounter with the Daleks helped prove the Doctor was who he said he was. They helped him defeat the Daleks when they tried to conquer the Human colony there, which was already in the grip of a civil revolt. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Power of the Daleks (TV story)}})


On the [[planet]] [[Vulcan (The Power of the Daleks)|Vulcan]], Polly adjusted quickly to the Doctor's having changed into [[Second Doctor|a new and younger persona]], while Ben was less accepting the change, speculating that an imposter had replaced the Doctor. On Vulcan, Polly and Ben encountered the Doctor's archenemies, the [[Dalek]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Power of the Daleks (TV story)|The Power of the Daleks]]'')
=== Early travels with the Second Doctor ===
{{Section stub|Info from ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]'', ''[[The Chameleon Factor (comic story)|The Chameleon Factor]]'', ''[[Pluto (short story)|Pluto]]'', ''[[The Dead Star (audio story)|The Dead Star]]'', ''[[The Sour Note (short story)|The Sour Note]]'', ''[[The Dream Masters (short story)|The Dream Masters]]'', ''[[The Tests of Trefus (comic story)|The Tests of Trefus]]'', ''[[Only a Matter of Time (short story)|Only a Matter of Time]]'', ''[[Planet of Bones (short story)|Planet of Bones]]'', ''[[When Starlight Grows Cold (short story)|When Starlight Grows Cold]]'', ''[[World Without Night (comic story)|World Without Night]]'', ''[[H.M.S. Tardis (short story)|H.M.S. Tardis]]'', ''[[The King of Golden Death (short story)|The King of Golden Death]]'', ''[[The Feast (short story)|The Feast]]'', {{cs|Lost and Found (audio story)}}, {{cs|Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)}}, ''[[The Murder Game (novel)|The Murder Game]]'', ''[[Dying in the Sun (novel)|Dying in the Sun]]'' and ''[[Wonderland (novel)|Wonderland]]'' needs to be added}}
The Doctor, Ben and Polly landed on the English coast in the [[23rd century]] and spotted a [[Brontosaurus]] nearby. She was worried that [[Zoltan Clarkson]] was commercialising the dinosaurs. The Doctor asked her to spy on the Globe chamber to try and work out why the dinosaurs were escaping. She was later attacked by a [[Pterodactyl]]. With [[Andrew Clarkson]] she observed that one of the dinosaurs was talking. Zoltan wanted to eat Polly in his dinosaur form. Polly told Andrew to trust in his knowledge and in himself to help him find a solution. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Curator's Egg (audio story)}})


=== Later travels ===
=== Jamie joins ===
[[File:PollyAndKirstyHighlanders.jpg|thumb|left|Polly and [[Kirsty McLaren|Kirsty]] in the [[Scottish]] Highlands. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Highlanders (TV story)|The Highlanders]]'')]]
{{Section stub|Info from ''[[Something at the Door (short story)|Something at the Door]]'', ''[[The Slave War (short story)|The Slave War]]'', ''[[The Three Companions (audio story)|The Three Companions]]'', ''[[The Forbidden Time (audio story)|The Forbidden Time]]'' and ''[[Card Conundrum (comic story)|Card Conundrum]]'' needs to be added}}
Polly was confident and not afraid to use her feminine wiles to enlist the help of Redcoat [[Algernon Ffinch]] while the travellers were in the [[Scottish]] Highlands. Polly also encouraged [[Kirsty McLaren]] to lure Algernon into a pit, where they took his money, identity disc and a lock of his hair. She struck up a relationship with Ffinch and teased him whenever they met, calling him "Algy". She realised that he admired her and gave him a kiss goodbye. Polly asked for the young Jacobite piper, [[Jamie McCrimmon]], to come with them in the TARDIS, as she feared for his safety. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Highlanders (TV story)|The Highlanders]]'') She and Ben came to see Jamie as a younger brother. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Forbidden Time (audio story)|The Forbidden Time]]'')
[[File:PollyAndKirstyHighlanders.jpg|thumb|left|Polly and [[Kirsty McLaren|Kirsty]] in the [[Scottish]] Highlands. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Highlanders (TV story)}})]]
Polly was confident and not afraid to use her feminine wiles to enlist the help of Redcoat [[Algernon Ffinch]] while the travellers were in the [[Scottish]] Highlands. Polly also encouraged [[Kirsty McLaren]] to lure Algernon into a pit, where they took his money, identity disc and a lock of his hair. She struck up a relationship with Ffinch and teased him whenever they met, calling him "Algy". She realised that he admired her and gave him a kiss goodbye. Polly asked for the young Jacobite piper, [[Jamie McCrimmon]], to come with them in the TARDIS, as she feared for his safety. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Highlanders (TV story)}}) She and Ben came to see Jamie as a younger brother. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Forbidden Time (audio story)}})


When Polly found herself in [[Atlantis]], she was initially slated to be converted into a [[Fish Person]]. The Doctor interrupted the power supply as her operation was about to begin, allowing her to escape [[Damon (The Underwater Menace)|Damon]]'s [[hospital|medical bay]] and rejoin her friends. She took on the disguise of an Atlantean in a seashell dress. She and Jamie escaped the rising water that flooded Atlantis, fearing that the Doctor and Ben had perished. They were relieved to find that they too had survived. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'')
When Polly found herself in [[Atlantis]], she was initially slated to be converted into a [[Fish Person]]. The Doctor interrupted the power supply as her operation was about to begin, allowing her to escape [[Damon (The Underwater Menace)|Damon]]'s [[medical bay]] and rejoin her friends. She took on the disguise of an Atlantean in a seashell dress. She and Jamie escaped the rising water that flooded Atlantis, fearing that the Doctor and Ben had perished. They were relieved to find that they too had survived. The Doctor then promised them a trip to Mars. Taking off, the TARDIS went out out of control. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (TV story)}})
[[File:Moonbase-2 Cyberman zaps Polly.jpeg|thumb|Polly, being attacked by a [[CyberTelosian|Cyberman]] on the [[Moonbase Laika|Moonbase]] in [[2070]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Moonbase (TV story)}})]]
The TARDIS had brought them to the Moon. When the TARDIS crew arrived on the [[Moonbase (The Moonbase)|Moonbase]] in [[2070]] and faced the Cybermen, Polly soon realised the Cybermen's plastic parts could be attacked with a mixture of solvents. She thought of the way nail polish was dissolved by nail varnish remover and concocted a mixture including acetone, benzene, ether and epoxy propane to make a substance, called "[[Polly Cocktail]]" by Ben, which was shot at the Cybermen with adapted [[fire extinguisher]]s. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Moonbase (TV story)}})


[[File:PollyMoonbase.jpg|thumb|right|Polly on the [[Moonbase]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Moonbase (TV story)|The Moonbase]]'')]]
After seeing a giant claw as warning about their next destination on the [[time scanner]], the TARDIS landed on what appeared to be a peaceful [[colony]] planet. There Polly and her friends had a makeover much to Polly's delight and much to the Doctor's displeasure. However all was not well as the next day Ben became brainwashed and hostile towards his fellow travellers. Polly and the others soon discovered crab like creatures called the [[Macra]] had infested the colony and were using the people for their own ends to harvest gas deep underground. Polly and Jamie were also pressganged into harvesting this gas until the Doctor found a way to defeat the Macra. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Macra Terror (TV story)}})
Beautiful Polly was more than just a pretty face. When the TARDIS crew arrived on the [[Moonbase]] in [[2070]] and faced the Cybermen, she soon realised the Cybermen's plastic parts could be attacked with a mixture of solvents. She thought of the way nail polish was dissolved by nail varnish remover and concocted a mixture including acetone, benzene, ether and epoxy propane to make a substance, called "[[Cocktail Polly]]" by Ben, which was shot at the Cybermen with adapted [[fire extinguisher]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Moonbase (TV story)|The Moonbase]]'')


Although Polly enjoyed her adventures, she couldn't hide her desire to return home. After an adventure with the [[alien]] [[Chameleon (humanoid)|Chameleons]] in [[1966]], the travellers found the TARDIS had returned to London just before they had departed. With Ben, Polly left the TARDIS and returned to her life, appearing never to have been missing. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Faceless Ones]]'')
When the TARDIS had landed near a train station, Polly met with [[Frances (The Mouthless Dead)|Frances]], who told her about an unknown soldier. After the train that carried the soldier back stopped at the station, she tried to stop Frances but couldn't and ended up on the train. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Mouthless Dead (audio story)}})


=== Life after the Doctor ===
The Doctor decided to teach Ben and Polly how to pilot the TARDIS. After the TARDIS faltered in the vortex, they landed in [[New Houston]]. She noticed that what they had been watching on a screen was a funeral. Polly realised that [[Meg Carvossa]] was manipulating the figures in order to get more funding from Earth which could be shared out more equally. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Yes Men (audio story)}})
[[File:Ben_&_Polly_the_Love_Invasion.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Ninth Doctor]] witnesses Ben propose to Polly. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Love Invasion (comic story)|The Love Invasion]]'')]]
Ben proposed to Polly in [[1966]] at the top of the Post Office Tower, which was witnessed unbeknownst to them by the [[Ninth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Love Invasion (comic story)|The Love Invasion]]'')  Polly brought home Ben, much to the horror of her parents. Of particular note was her father's face. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Five Companions (audio story)|The Five Companions]]'')


Their relationship did not last. They eventually married other people. On [[New Year's Eve]] [[1986]], Ben and Polly reunited. Having visited the year 1986, they anticipated the arrival of [[Mondas]], the planet of the [[Cybermen (Mondas)|Cybermen]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Mondas Passing]]'') In [[1999]], Polly had been manipulated into travelling through time and interfering in history. However, the [[Second Doctor]] and Jamie McCrimmon resolved these disturbances, and helped Ben meet Polly once more. They were now both widowers, and admitted their love for each other. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress]]'')
When the TARDIS landed on a planet that resembled an English Village, {{Dreyfus}} brainwashed Polly to believe she was married to Jamie, and the pair joined the [[home guard]] believing that there was a war on. The Master told them that they needed to defeat the Doctor as part of the war effort. Polly handcuffed the Doctor to a pipe thinking he had caused the invasion and was pivotal in the attack against the indigenous population of the planet they were on. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Home Guard (audio story)}})


By [[2009]], she worked in a government office.
[[File:Ben and Polly Card Conundrum.jpg|thumb|Ben and Polly face an alien resembling a playing card. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Card Conundrum (comic story)}})]]
She became distressed when she realised that the TARDIS had brought her and her friends to [[Nazi]] occupied [[France]], this was because her uncle, [[Randolph Wright]], died in the war. The Doctor and Polly met with the resistance who wanted to get them to escape to Spain. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Resistance (audio story)}})


At that time, Polly went onto the [[Internet]] to search for others who had known the Doctor. However, [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] had had all information about the Doctor deleted. Nevertheless, they corresponded by e-mail and were joined by another former companion, [[Thomas Brewster]]. At first, Polly did not believe that their "respective" Doctors were the same person when she saw a [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] party photo with the Doctor in his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]]. Then they realised they had known him during his [[First Doctor|first]] and [[Second Doctor|second incarnations]]. The three former companions rescued the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] from [[Garry Lendler]] and saved the Earth from dying and from a [[Coffin-Loader]]s, a beast which fed on dying worlds. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Three Companions (audio story)|The Three Companions]]'') Polly gave a presentation on her experiences with time travel to a disbelieving audience. She hung on to her secretarial [[Dictaphone]] recordings of Jamie, which had chronicled their adventure with the [[Vist]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Forbidden Time (audio story)|The Forbidden Time]]'')
She warned Jamie about touching the [[force field]] that surrounded the TARDIS. The Doctor managed to organise her release as a hostage after the Selachians attacked the bank. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Selachian Gambit (audio story)}})


Eventually, she reconciled with Ben Jackson and they married. Polly was later transported to an alternative version of the [[Death Zone]] on [[Gallifrey]] by [[Borusa]] using a [[Time Scoop]]. She came into contact with the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Ian Chesterton]], [[Steven Taylor]], [[Sara Kingdom]] and [[Nyssa]].
She didn't like casinos when the Doctor landed them in one. She was threatened by a member of the [[Sidewinder Syndicate]] when she was found with a time band. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|House of Cards (audio story)}})


She was soon caught in the middle of a fight between the [[Dalek]]s, the [[Sontaran]]s and a [[Tyrannosaurus rex]]. She killed a Sontaran by stabbing her stiletto heel point into his [[probic vent]]. Polly voiced her feelings of inadequacy and called herself not courageous, until the Doctor reminded her of having stood up to the [[Cyber-Leader (Mondas)|Cyber-Leader]] [[Krail]]. Polly and the others expressed their hopes that the Doctor might visit them some day, though they doubted if he ever would. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Five Companions (audio story)|The Five Companions]]'')
Arriving in [[1648]] just after the [[Roundhead]]s victory in the [[English Civil War]] and being separated from her friends, Polly found herself inveigled in a plot to rescue [[King]] [[Charles I]] from captivity. This plot was ultimately unsuccessful and the King was recaptured by the Roundheads and Polly was reunited with her friends. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Roundheads (novel)}})


In [[2010]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]] said that Ben and Polly were running an orphanage together in [[India]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Death of the Doctor (TV story)|Death of the Doctor]]'')
Polly, Ben, Jamie and the Doctor landed in [[Kenga]], [[Singapore]] during [[World War II]]. Soon after arriving she saw something the looked like the Grim Reaper. [[Clive Freeman]] found them looking around and took them to the local hotel. She got annoyed when the Doctor told her to stay behind when they went to search for the killer in the hotel. After [[Maggie Bishop]] was killed she helped the Doctor search for clues. When the [[Forsaken]] was attacking her she started chucking the contents of the hotel's bar at it and ran away from it. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Forsaken (audio story)}})
 
The Doctor allowed Polly to pilot the TARDIS to their next destination, which was supposed to be Russia in the [[18th century]], but they landed in [[1942]] instead, arriving shortly before a battle between the German army and the Soviet air force. Polly discovered that she was a doppelganger for [[Tatiana Kregki]], who asked her details of her life and then left her to die in the snow whilst she went to impersonate her. However, Polly managed to find her way back to the camp. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Night Witches (audio story)}})
 
On an asteroid in [[7691]], Polly was able to use her computer skills to show [[Barbara Goro]] that the data she was using had been manipulated to artificially lower the true missing-persons rate. After the Doctor went missing, she was assigned to data management where she found out that everybody had shares in the mine and that's why they were ignoring the disappearances. The Doctor and his friends were taken to a cell deep under water. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Outliers (audio story)}})
 
Planning to take Ben and Polly home, the Doctor landed the TARDIS in the [[1860s]] instead of the [[1960s]]. Upon visiting [[Josiah Morton]]'s museum, Polly became intrigued with a strange necklace. She was kidnapped by [[Copeland]] and was forced to tell them about Mortan's house for them to steal from it. Ben and Jamie rescued her. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Morton Legacy (audio story)}})
 
=== Leaving the Doctor ===
[[File:Polly leaves.jpg|thumb|right|Polly saying goodbye to the Doctor. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Faceless Ones (TV story)}})]]
Although Polly enjoyed her adventures, she couldn't hide her desire to return home. After an adventure with the [[alien]] [[Chameleon (humanoid)|Chameleons]], the travellers found the TARDIS had returned to London the day they had departed, on [[20 July]] [[1966]]. With Ben, Polly left the TARDIS and returned to her life, appearing never to have been missing. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Faceless Ones (TV story)}})
 
[[Edward Waterfield]], [[Blackmail|forced]] by the Daleks to track down the Doctor, originally targeted Polly as part of the plan. He had a [[photograph]] of her to identify her. However, when his agent informed him that Polly, as well as Ben, had left the Doctor's company, Waterfield decided not to involve them further. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)}})
 
As it turned out, Polly and Ben were still the subject of interest for their association with the Doctor. Polly returned to [[Polly Wright's flat|her flat]] that day, and the following day, on [[21 July]], she returned to work at the [[Post Office Tower]], now reassigned to work for a [[Tobias Harmer|Angus Harmer]] at the ''[[Penumbra]]'' [[magazine]], which she found dull. Later that day, she was kidnapped along with Ben by Harmer and his associate [[Angela Leamann]] and taken to [[Island (Sleeper Agents)|an island]] in the [[Arctic Circle]], where they attempted to extract their knowledge of the Doctor and implant commands into their minds related to future events (making them [[sleeper agent]]s). The pair managed to escape, however, in a [[submarine]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sleeper Agents (audio story)}})
 
=== Failed relationship ===
At some point, Polly was taken to the [[Black Archive]] by [[UNIT]] to have her record as a [[companion]] of the Doctor taken. Her memories of the visit were subsequently erased and she was sent on her way. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Day of the Doctor (TV story)}})
 
[[File:Ben & Polly the Love Invasion.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Ninth Doctor]] witnesses Ben propose to Polly. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Love Invasion (comic story)}})]]
Polly brought home Ben, much to the horror of her parents. Of particular note was her father's face. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}}) Ben proposed to Polly in [[1966]] at the top of the Post Office Tower, which was witnessed unbeknownst to them by the [[Ninth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Love Invasion (comic story)}})
 
When the time came that Polly and Ben were to move house, Polly feared letting go of the past. After she recalled a time during her travels with the Doctor, Polly spoke to Ben and told him she was ready to let go, and told him she loved him. Afterwards, green feathers fell from the sky, notably from the Angel encountered in the adventure she had previously recalled. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Falling (audio story)}}) Their relationship did not last. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Mondas Passing (short story)}}, {{cs|That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)}})
 
=== Marriages and career ===
Polly was a glamour girl during the '60s, "Queen of the Disco" in the '70s and gave up [[smoking]] in the '80s. She married [[Simon (Graham Dilley Saves the World)|Simon]] and, by [[December]] [[1981]], was [[pregnancy|pregnant]] with his child. During her pregnancy, she and Simon watched [[the Ashes]] and she realised that she was unhappy with her life. She gave birth to a son, [[Mikey (That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress)|Mikey]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)}}) On [[New Year's Eve]] [[1986]], Polly met with Ben in a hotel room - something that she kept secret from Simon - and reminisced about [[Snowcap]] and their time with [[the Doctor]]. They almost kissed but, after a distraction, Polly decided to leave. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Mondas Passing (short story)}})
 
Following Simon's death, Polly had a difficult relationship with Mikey, who refused to speak to her for three months after he walked in on her with a [[sailor]] that she met whilst drinking in [[Soho]]. In [[1992]], she was hired as [[John Maurice]]'s [[personal assistant]] at [[GEZ]] and became a [[socialite]], being given the company by [[John Maurice's wife|his wife]] after Polly found him dead on top of a nineteen-year-old in [[1996]]. She became a public figure, resumed smoking and struggled with [[bulimia]], something that was well-publicised. She also had a brief marriage with "[[Polly Wright's husband|the gay one]] out of [[Boyzzzz]]".
 
Polly often attended the [[funeral]]s of celebrities to get her face in the [[newspaper]]s: she went to [[Gianni Versace|Versace]]'s, where she comforted [[Diana Spencer]], and Diana's, where she comforted [[Elton John]]. She once had a [[stalker]] whom she described as "a lovely young estate agent from [[Tunbridge Wells]]".
 
At [[Jane Vapid]]'s funeral in [[1999]], Polly was manipulated into travelling through time and interfering in history. However, the [[Second Doctor]] and [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]] were able to resolve the disturbances and reunited her with Ben. The four of them drank [[Sauvignon]] and reminisced about their adventures together. With [[Ben Jackson's wife|his wife]] "gone", Ben admitted his love to Polly and they kissed. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)}})
 
=== Later life ===
By [[2009]], Polly was working in a government office. At that time, Polly went onto the [[Internet]] to search for others who had known the Doctor. However, [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] had had all information about the Doctor deleted. Nevertheless, they corresponded by [[e-mail]] and were joined by another former companion, [[Thomas Brewster]]. At first, Polly did not believe that their "respective" Doctors were the same person when she saw a [[UNIT]] party photo with the Doctor in his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]]. Then they realised they had known him during his [[First Doctor|first]] and [[Second Doctor|second incarnations]]. The three former companions rescued [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] from [[Garry Lendler]] and saved the Earth from dying and from a [[Coffin-Loader]], a beast which fed on dying worlds. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Three Companions (audio story)}}) Polly gave a presentation on her experiences with time travel to a disbelieving audience. She hung on to her secretarial [[Dictaphone]] recordings of Jamie, which had chronicled their adventure with the [[Vist]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Forbidden Time (audio story)}})
 
Still married to Ben, Polly was later transported to an alternative version of the [[Death Zone]] on [[Gallifrey]] by [[Borusa]] using a [[Time Scoop]]. She came into contact with the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Ian Chesterton]], [[Steven Taylor]], [[Sara Kingdom]] and [[Nyssa]].
 
She was soon caught in the middle of a fight between the [[Dalek]]s, the [[Sontaran]]s and a [[Tyrannosaurus rex]]. She killed a Sontaran by stabbing her stiletto heel point into his [[probic vent]]. Polly voiced her feelings of inadequacy and called herself not courageous, until the Doctor reminded her of having stood up to the [[Cyber-Leader (Mondas)|Cyber-Leader]] [[Krail]]. Polly and the others expressed their hopes that the Doctor might visit them some day, though they doubted if he ever would. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}})
 
In [[2010]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]] said that Ben and Polly were running an orphanage together in [[India]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Death of the Doctor (TV story)}})
 
Polly remained friends with the Doctor on [[Bookface]]. She liked some of the [[Eleventh Doctor]]'s status updates. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Timeliney Wimey (comic story)}})
 
Ben and Polly attended [[Sarah Jane Smith]]'s memorial on a "bright, cold [[Spring]] day", where they discussed Sarah Jane with other guests, and helped fight the [[Jackals of the Backwards Clock]] to foil [[the Trickster]]'s revenge plot. ([[WC]]: {{cs|Farewell, Sarah Jane (webcast)}})
 
== Alternate timeline ==
[[File:Prologue The Second Doctor.jpg|thumb|Polly finds that the Doctor has been converted. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Prologue: The Second Doctor (comic story)}})]]
When the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] allied with [[Rassilon]] to take over history, they manipulated the encounter at the [[Moonbase (The Moonbase)|Moonbase]] leading to the Second Doctor being partially [[cyber-converted]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Prologue: The Second Doctor (comic story)}})
 
In an aborted timeline created by {{Pratt}}, the Doctor, Ben, and Polly were taken to the same date and location as the Doctor’s other selves and companions. Soon, Polly’s first encounter with the Doctor, as well as her adventures, were erased. This timeline was later negated primarily by the Fifth, [[Sixth Doctor|Sixth]], [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]], and First Doctors. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Light at the End (audio story)}})


== Personality ==
== Personality ==
Polly teased and bantered with those she cared for. She hid her affections, particularly for Ben, behind this façade. She chatted him up when they met and she was still chatting him up when they left the TARDIS. When her friends were in trouble, Polly was completely serious — particularly if Ben was in trouble. Polly would drop the banter and flippancy to work towards practical solutions.
The [[Fifth Doctor]] admitted that Polly was not the bravest, but she had a strong sense of right and wrong which meant that she was capable of courageous feats on occasion. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}}) She teased and bantered with those she cared for. She hid her affections, particularly for Ben, behind this façade. She chatted him up when they met and she was still chatting him up when they left the TARDIS. When her friends were in trouble, Polly was completely serious — particularly if Ben was in trouble. Polly would drop the banter and flippancy to work towards practical solutions.
 
Like the [[Barbara Wright|earlier Wright]] to travel in the TARDIS, she hoped to find her way back to her own time period, thinking, "Please let it be [[Chelsea]], [[1966]]," when guessing what would be outside the TARDIS doors after it landed on the extinct volcanic island where [[Atlantis]] was located. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (TV story)}}) On the first landing in mid-[[1960s]] [[London]], Polly left the Doctor with Ben, just as Barbara had left with [[Ian Chesterton]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Faceless Ones (TV story)}})


Like the [[Barbara Wright|earlier Wright]] to travel in the TARDIS, she hoped to find her way back to her own time period. She was heard to be thinking "Please let it be [[Chelsea]], [[1966]]," when guessing what would be outside the TARDIS doors after it landed on the extinct volcanic island where [[Atlantis]] was located. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'') On the first landing in mid-[[1960s]] [[London]], Polly left the Doctor with Ben, just as Barbara had left with [[Ian Chesterton]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Faceless Ones (TV story)|The Faceless Ones]]'')
During their travels together, she and Ben thought of Jamie as being like their "baby brother." ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Forbidden Time (audio story)}}) In the [[2000s]], she described Jamie as being "brawny and reckless but lovely" and "a bit slow on the uptake" to [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Three Companions (audio story)}})


During their travels together, she and Ben thought of Jamie as being like their "baby brother." ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Forbidden Time (audio story)|The Forbidden Time]]'') In the [[2000s]], she described Jamie as being "brawny and reckless but lovely" and "a bit slow on the uptake" to [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Three Companions (audio story)|The Three Companions]]'')
Polly had an aptitude for languages, being able to speak [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[French language|French]] and [[German language|German]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Underwater Menace (TV story)}})


Polly had an aptitude for languages being able to speak Spanish, French and German. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'')
== Appearance ==
Polly was a tall and pretty girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes and a shapely figure. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (novelisation)}}) She was about a head taller than [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] and had a number of [[filling]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Highlanders (novelisation)}}) Her feet were size 6. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}})


== Nicknames ==
== Nicknames ==
She was also often called "Poll" by Ben; this was adapted to "Paul" when she was pretending to be a boy in [[17th century]] [[Cornwall]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Smugglers (TV story)|The Smugglers]]'') He also described Polly as "our little dolly-rocker Duchess" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Smugglers (TV story)|The Smugglers]]'') or simply "the Duchess".
She was also often called "Poll" by Ben; this was adapted to "Paul" when she was pretending to be a boy in [[17th century]] [[Cornwall]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Smugglers (TV story)}}) He also described Polly as "our little dolly-rocker Duchess" ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Smugglers (TV story)}}) or simply "the Duchess".


== Behind the scenes ==
== Behind the scenes ==
=== Is "Polly Wright" right? ===
=== Is "Polly Wright" right? ===
Like [[Vicki Pallister]] before her, Polly's surname never appeared in any televised episode. "Wright" only came to Polly in stories in other media. The first story to give her the surname was the [[1995]] novel by [[Gary Russell]], ''[[Invasion of the Cat-People]]'', one of the earlier [[Virgin Missing Adventures]]. Once [[BBC Books]] took back the original novel license from Virgin, it became effectively "house policy" of the [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]] line to call her "Polly Wright", as evidenced by [[Steve Lyons]] and [[Mark Gatiss]]' use in their [[1997]] novels ''[[The Murder Game]]'' and ''[[The Roundheads]]'' respectively. Prior to this, the name was the subject of speculation.
Like [[Vicki Pallister]] before her, Polly's surname never appeared in any televised episode. "Wright" only came to Polly in stories in other media. The name "Wright" does date back to the character's creation. The name first appeared in the character breakdown created by [[Gerry Davis]] and [[Innes Lloyd]]. The audition script read by Anneke Wills and others included the character identifying herself as "Polly Wright" in a telephone conversation with the Doctor. However, the name never made it into the recording of ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]''. ([[REF]]: ''[[The First Doctor Handbook]]'') It's unclear why the surname was dropped, but it could have been because a previous [[companion]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]], had the same last name. Had she been called "Polly Wright" in 1966, viewers might well have wondered whether she was related to Barbara, last seen on television just a year earlier.
 
[[File:Polly Lopez card.jpg|thumb|Polly Lopez trading card]]
The matter became more complicated during the early days of organised [[fandom]] in the late 1970s, when the surname "Lopez" was applied to the character. This surname was the result of not one but ''two'' misunderstandings, both having to do with Episode 2 of ''[[The Faceless Ones (TV story)|The Faceless Ones]]''. As the [[cliffhanger]] to Episode 1 suggested, Anneke Wills was not then playing Polly, but a duplicate of her created by the alien [[Chameleon (humanoid)|Chameleons]]. At the start of Episode 2, the Doctor asked Anneke Wills's character her name. She replied, "Michele Leuppi from [[Zurich]]". This name was later confirmed in [[The Faceless Ones (novelisation)|the serial's novelisation]].
 
Fans listening to off-air audio recordings of ''The Faceless Ones'' Episode 2 transcribed the name as "Lopez" and believed, for reasons obscure, this was the surname of the ''real'' Polly. Subsequently this surname was used by ''Doctor Who'' non-fiction author [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] in 1992's ''[[The Universal Databank]]'', in which he referred to her as "Polly Lopez". In this way, the name "Polly Lopez" came to be used in one of the most prominent ''Doctor Who'' reference works at the start of the 1990s.


In the introduction to ''Invasion of the Cat-People'', Gary Russell made his case for the surname, claiming that "Wright" was used in the audition script read by Anneke Wills and others. Indeed, [[David J. Howe]], [[Mark Stammers]] and [[Stephen James Walker]] unearthed the original audition script for their ''[[The First Doctor Handbook|First Doctor Handbook]]''. It does indeed include the character identifying herself as "Polly Wright" in a telephone conversation with the Doctor. However, the name never made it into the recording of ''[[The War Machines]]''. It's unclear why the surname was dropped, but it could have been because a previous [[companion]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]], had the same last name. Had she been called "Polly Wright" in [[1966]], viewers might well have wondered whether she was related to Barbara, last seen on television just a year earlier.
In 1996, the ''[[Doctor Who: The Collectible Trading Card Game]]'' included a "Polly Lopez" card.


The matter became more complicated during the early days of organised [[fandom]] in the late 1970s, when the surname "Lopez" was applied to the character. This surname was the result of not one but ''two'' misunderstandings, both having to do with Episode 2 of ''[[The Faceless Ones]]''. As the [[cliffhanger]] to Episode 1 suggested, Anneke Wills was not then playing Polly, but a duplicate of her created by the alien [[Chameleon (humanoid)|Chameleons]]. At the start of Episode 2, the Doctor asked Anneke Wills's character her name. She replied, "Michele Leuppi from [[Zurich]]". This name was later confirmed in [[The Faceless Ones (novelisation)|the serial's novelisation]].  
Then, in a 1993 ''[[Myth Makers]]'' interview with [[Nick Briggs]], Anneke Wills confided that Polly's surname was actually "Bettingham-Smith". However, in her 2007 autobiography ''[[Self-Portrait]]'', Wills changed her mind and said that her character had no surname and was simply "Polly". This matched ''[[The Cyber Files (novel)|The Cyber Files]]'', where her name was given as simply "Polly" on her fact file in the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]'s databanks, in contrast to other companions whose last names were stated.


Fans listening to off-air audio recordings of ''The Faceless Ones'' Episode 2 transcribed the name as "Lopez" and believed, for reasons obscure,  this was the surname of the ''real'' Polly. Subsequently this surname was used by ''Doctor Who'' non-fiction author [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] in [[1992]]'s ''[[The Universal Databank]]'', in which he referred to her as "Polly Lopez". In this way, the name "Polly Lopez" came to be used in one of the most prominent ''Doctor Who'' reference works at the start of the [[1990s]].
The first story to give Polly a surname was [[Gary Russell]]'s 1995 [[Virgin Missing Adventures]] novel ''[[Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)|Invasion of the Cat-People]]''. Russell decided to reuse "Wright" from the original audition scripts and character outlines. Since then, "Polly Wright" has been universally used for the character. When Polly next appeared in the 1997 [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]] novels ''[[The Murder Game (novel)|The Murder Game]]'' and ''[[The Roundheads (novel)|The Roundheads]]'', both used "Wright".


Then, in a [[1993]] ''[[Myth Makers]]'' interview with [[Nick Briggs]], Anneke Wills confided that Polly's surname was actually "Bettingham-Smith". However, in her [[2007]] autobiography ''[[Self-Portrait]]'', Wills changed her mind and said that her character had no surname and was simply "Polly".
The 2009 [[Big Finish Productions]] audio story ''[[Resistance (audio story)|Resistance]]'' expanded upon the business of Polly's surname by revealing that "Bettingham-Smith" was her mother's maiden name. The story also references the possible relationship to former companion Barbara by having the [[Second Doctor]] say that "Wright was a very common name". Most Big Finish audio stories to feature Polly have listed the character as "Polly Wright" in their cast lists.


These questions have been resolved by the [[2009]] [[Big Finish Productions]] audio story, ''[[Resistance (audio story)|Resistance]]''. In ''Resistance'', Polly encounters what she believes is her patrilineal uncle, [[Randolph Wright]]. The [[Second Doctor]] dispenses with the possible relationship to his former companion Barbara by revealing that, in independently deducing Randolph was her uncle, he considered the fact that "Wright was a very common name". Later, it is revealed that "Bettingham-Smith" is actually her mother's maiden name. Finally, she is directly called "Polly Wright" in the play, several times by the Doctor himself.
=== Other matters ===
* In April 2015, Polly was added as a playable character to the game ''[[Doctor Who: Legacy]]''. Notably, her initial costume was never actually worn by Polly, it was instead taken from Anneke Wills' guest appearance as Fran Roeding in the 1966 episode of [[ITV]] spy thriller television series, ''[[The Saint (series)|The Saint]]'', entitled ''"The Helpful Pirate"'', which was broadcast in colour in [[America]] due to the show being picked up by {{w|NBC}}.
* She was originally supposed to stay on with the Doctor and [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]], but [[Anneke Wills]] decided to leave along with [[Michael Craze]].
* She and [[Ben Jackson]] were supposed to make a cameo in ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', but [[Anneke Wills]] was outside the UK at the time and couldn't be contacted, so the idea was abandoned.
*She was supposed to be part of the companions group in ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]]'', but [[Anneke Wills]] wasn't available.
* A line cut in ''Twice Upon A Time'' was the Twelfth Doctor telling the First Doctor that Ben and Polly had gotten married after leaving the TARDIS, and were now running a pub in [[Weston-super-Mare]], a town in [[Somerset]]. <ref>http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/serials/2017m.html</ref>
*Anneke Wills had a daughter named Polly.
*Her character was created to reflect Swinging London and was modelled on popular actresses like [[Julie Christie]] and [[Marianne Faithfull|Marianne Faithful]].


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Latest revision as of 13:20, 1 October 2024

Polly Wright
Appearances

Polly Jackson (née Wright) was a companion of the First and Second Doctors.

She was one of the very first people to witness the Doctor regenerating but she was initially unsure in believing that the Doctor was still the same man. She travelled in the TARDIS with Ben Jackson, whom she would later marry, and Jamie McCrimmon. She also became acquainted with Dodo Chaplet before she left the Doctor's company.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Early life[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly was born in London in 1942. (PROSE: The Murder Game [+]Loading...["The Murder Game (novel)"]) She was the second child of Dr Edward Wright and his wife and had four brothers, (AUDIO: Resistance [+]Loading...["Resistance (audio story)"]) the youngest of whom was Miles. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) The family lived in a "big, old house in the country" (AUDIO: Resistance [+]Loading...["Resistance (audio story)"]) in Hampshire (AUDIO: Lost and Found [+]Loading...["Lost and Found (audio story)"]) or in Devon. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) They had a Golden Retriever named Belle. (AUDIO: Lost and Found [+]Loading...["Lost and Found (audio story)"]) Dr Wright told Polly stories of her uncle Randolph, who died after being imprisoned in a Nazi prisoner of war camp in 1944. (AUDIO: Resistance [+]Loading...["Resistance (audio story)"])

In 1948, when she was six, Polly was separated from her mother on a shopping trip to Fortnum & Mason. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) In the same year, Polly saw baked beans for the first time on a visit to Henrik's. During the same trip, she lost her teddy bear and, later that day, she briefly met the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson and her future self, although she remained ignorant as to their identities. (AUDIO: Lost and Found [+]Loading...["Lost and Found (audio story)"]) At seven years old, she was given a vaccine for polio by the school doctor, who lied and told her that it would not hurt. She screamed. (PROSE: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (novelisation)"])

When Polly was seven or eight, she saw Stabbed Time in a book and had a nightmare about it. She was once locked in a basement by a girl during a birthday party and screamed until an adult found her. (AUDIO: The Dead Star [+]Loading...["The Dead Star (audio story)"]) In 1952, when she was ten, she attended a fair with her uncle Charles and had her fortune told by a gypsy, who warned her of a tall, dark stranger. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) She also visited the Tower of London when she was a child but otherwise only saw it through train windows. (PROSE: The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"])

As a girl, Polly went on school trips to the British Museum (PROSE: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (novelisation)"]) and slept through Latin, (PROSE: The Slave War [+]Loading...["The Slave War (short story)"]) later going to finishing school where she studied French. (PROSE: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (novelisation)"]) She was proud when the United Kingdom effectively abolished the death penalty. (PROSE: The Murder Game [+]Loading...["The Murder Game (novel)"])

In young adulthood, Polly reflected on her parents and said that she had always "taken them for granted" while she was away from home enjoying herself, but that they were always there for her when she needed them. (AUDIO: Resistance [+]Loading...["Resistance (audio story)"]) She attended Leeds University. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) In 1963, she made it her New Year's resolution to work in a charity shop for cancer research in Notting Hill. However, she left after only a week - pleasing her mother - and instead chose to donate some of her expensive clothes which were in fashion the previous year. (PROSE: Ten Little Aliens [+]Loading...["Ten Little Aliens (novel)"])

Building a career[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the mid-1960s, Polly was living in Chelsea. (PROSE: The Murder Game [+]Loading...["The Murder Game (novel)"]) Her flat in Chelsea was located above a fancy shoe shop. (AUDIO: Sleeper Agents [+]Loading...["Sleeper Agents (audio story)"]) She had a budding career as a model before leaving the industry, feeling that she was being exploited. (PROSE: The Murder Game [+]Loading...["The Murder Game (novel)"]) She later worked at an office in Bond Street, where she became good friends with a woman named Rosie, who was a little older than her. Rosie, who was involved in the Women's Liberation Movement had transformed Polly into a "swinger". (PROSE: The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"])

At age 20, she had a relationship with Roger who later broke up with her as he did not love her the way that she loved him, quickly entering into a new relationship with Lucy Miller. Subsequently, Polly accepted a job offer fixed for her by her Uncle Charles at the Post Office Tower. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Cat-People (novel)"]) On her first day at the tower, Rosie walked her to the tower. Polly would late recall that day with fondness. (PROSE: The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"]) Part of her later regretted leaving the modelling industry for such a monotonous alternative. (PROSE: The Murder Game [+]Loading...["The Murder Game (novel)"]) Henceforth, Polly began working as Professor Brett's personal assistant. She maintained an active social life and enjoyed her time off work. (TV: The War Machines [+]Loading...["The War Machines (TV story)"])

Joining the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly in the Inferno with her friend Kitty, the proprietress. (TV: The War Machines [+]Loading...["The War Machines (TV story)"])

On 12 July, 1966, Polly took Dodo Chaplet to one of her favourite haunts, the Inferno nightclub, where they met Ben Jackson, who later saved Polly from a drunken patron. They were later joined by the First Doctor, who expected to find Dodo there. Dodo later arrived back at the club, but was now under the control of WOTAN.

Polly's mind later fell under WOTAN's control. She was sent to work at the warehouse, where she was assigned to watch over Ben, who had been captured. However, Polly's mind resisted WOTAN's control long enough for Ben to escape. For punishment, Major Green sent her to Brett's office, where she assisted Brett and Krimpton with running WOTAN. Ben later freed her just as WOTAN was destroyed by one of its own War Machines.

When Ben and she found the Doctor beside an old police box, Polly told him Dodo would be staying in England. Miffed, the Doctor bid the couple adieu. As they walked away, Polly turned to see the Doctor had used a key to enter the police box. Remembering that Ben had found a key that had earlier fallen out of the Doctor's cloak, she dragged Ben back to the police box to see if it would fit. They ended up inside the ship just as it took off. (TV: The War Machines [+]Loading...["The War Machines (TV story)"])

In his investigation of reports of a series of agent provocateurs known as "the Doctor" who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents, the journalist James Stevens discovered evidence of Polly's involvement in the C-Day fiasco. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"])

According to some accounts, Polly and Ben joined the Doctor in the 1970s. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (novelisation)"], Doctor Who and the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Cybermen (novelisation)"])

Travels with the First Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Info from Food for Thought, Ten Little Aliens and Falling and further info from The Smugglers needs to be added

Polly with Ben after exiting the TARDIS for the first time. (TV: The Smugglers [+]Loading...["The Smugglers (TV story)"])

The Doctor first took Polly and Ben to 17th century Cornwall, where they ran into smugglers. (TV: The Smugglers [+]Loading...["The Smugglers (TV story)"])

The Doctor, Ben and Polly landed on Earth but were all dressed up for snow not rain. She chastised some boys for trying to frighten an ailing Doctor. They heard from the local librarian that the local gangs were worse this year. After one of the local gangs invaded the library and left a set of Guys in the reading room, she went to inspect that everything was locked to stop them coming in again. The Guys later attacked her. The Doctor asked her to do some research on the Bonfire gangs. She was later attacked by a cloaked creature which the later discovered to be a machine. She went to the town hall with her friends to confront what was causing the mischief. (AUDIO: The Bonfires of the Vanities [+]Loading...["The Bonfires of the Vanities (audio story)"])

After the TARDIS crashed, Polly was injured and was looked after by Continuity. She kept experiencing the accident and flitting back to the hospital as she became agitated. She became worried when she couldn't see Ben. Continuity intentionally harmed her. Continuity transplanted Polly into the Doctor's mind and her mind was stored in the computer's memory. The Doctor negotiated for her mind to be returned to her body. (AUDIO: The Crumbling Magician [+]Loading...["The Crumbling Magician (audio story)"])

The Player later got her to narrate a previous adventure with him in Wild Heath. He told him that they needed to tell the story to get people to survive. In Wild Heath they were told by a local that they were suffering from the illness that brought them devils. She thought the disease was bringing the dreams to life. She saw a dragon brought to life as part of it. Back in the theatre she wanted to know what is and observed how strange it was. She observed the Doctor apparently dying. The Player infected Polly so that they could influence the dream, which was the theatre they were in. (AUDIO: The Plague of Dreams [+]Loading...["The Plague of Dreams (audio story)"])

The Doctor, Polly and Ben later arrived in New York City in the 1890s where four Ovids — being of pure thoughts who travel from world to world in crystal spheres — had become trapped. Their presence caused people's dreams and nightmares to manifest in reality. The time travellers were able to free the Ovids with the assistance of Harry Houdini. (AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors [+]Loading...["Smoke and Mirrors (audio story)"])

Witnessing regeneration[[edit] | [edit source]]

In Antarctica in December 1986, Polly helped fight off an invasion by Cybermen from Mondas. After these events, the Doctor, exhausted, asked Polly and Ben to get him back to the TARDIS. As the trio took off, the Doctor collapsed and went through his first regeneration. (TV: The Tenth Planet [+]Loading...["The Tenth Planet (TV story)"])

On the planet Vulcan, Polly adjusted quickly to the Doctor's having changed into a new and younger persona though occasionally she had moments of doubt, while Ben was less accepting of the change, speculating that an imposter had replaced the Doctor. On Vulcan, Polly and Ben encountered the Doctor's archenemies, the Daleks. The encounter with the Daleks helped prove the Doctor was who he said he was. They helped him defeat the Daleks when they tried to conquer the Human colony there, which was already in the grip of a civil revolt. (TV: The Power of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Power of the Daleks (TV story)"])

Early travels with the Second Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor, Ben and Polly landed on the English coast in the 23rd century and spotted a Brontosaurus nearby. She was worried that Zoltan Clarkson was commercialising the dinosaurs. The Doctor asked her to spy on the Globe chamber to try and work out why the dinosaurs were escaping. She was later attacked by a Pterodactyl. With Andrew Clarkson she observed that one of the dinosaurs was talking. Zoltan wanted to eat Polly in his dinosaur form. Polly told Andrew to trust in his knowledge and in himself to help him find a solution. (AUDIO: The Curator's Egg [+]Loading...["The Curator's Egg (audio story)"])

Jamie joins[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Info from Something at the Door, The Slave War, The Three Companions, The Forbidden Time and Card Conundrum needs to be added

Polly and Kirsty in the Scottish Highlands. (TV: The Highlanders [+]Loading...["The Highlanders (TV story)"])

Polly was confident and not afraid to use her feminine wiles to enlist the help of Redcoat Algernon Ffinch while the travellers were in the Scottish Highlands. Polly also encouraged Kirsty McLaren to lure Algernon into a pit, where they took his money, identity disc and a lock of his hair. She struck up a relationship with Ffinch and teased him whenever they met, calling him "Algy". She realised that he admired her and gave him a kiss goodbye. Polly asked for the young Jacobite piper, Jamie McCrimmon, to come with them in the TARDIS, as she feared for his safety. (TV: The Highlanders [+]Loading...["The Highlanders (TV story)"]) She and Ben came to see Jamie as a younger brother. (AUDIO: The Forbidden Time [+]Loading...["The Forbidden Time (audio story)"])

When Polly found herself in Atlantis, she was initially slated to be converted into a Fish Person. The Doctor interrupted the power supply as her operation was about to begin, allowing her to escape Damon's medical bay and rejoin her friends. She took on the disguise of an Atlantean in a seashell dress. She and Jamie escaped the rising water that flooded Atlantis, fearing that the Doctor and Ben had perished. They were relieved to find that they too had survived. The Doctor then promised them a trip to Mars. Taking off, the TARDIS went out out of control. (TV: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (TV story)"])

Polly, being attacked by a Cyberman on the Moonbase in 2070. (TV: The Moonbase [+]Loading...["The Moonbase (TV story)"])

The TARDIS had brought them to the Moon. When the TARDIS crew arrived on the Moonbase in 2070 and faced the Cybermen, Polly soon realised the Cybermen's plastic parts could be attacked with a mixture of solvents. She thought of the way nail polish was dissolved by nail varnish remover and concocted a mixture including acetone, benzene, ether and epoxy propane to make a substance, called "Polly Cocktail" by Ben, which was shot at the Cybermen with adapted fire extinguishers. (TV: The Moonbase [+]Loading...["The Moonbase (TV story)"])

After seeing a giant claw as warning about their next destination on the time scanner, the TARDIS landed on what appeared to be a peaceful colony planet. There Polly and her friends had a makeover much to Polly's delight and much to the Doctor's displeasure. However all was not well as the next day Ben became brainwashed and hostile towards his fellow travellers. Polly and the others soon discovered crab like creatures called the Macra had infested the colony and were using the people for their own ends to harvest gas deep underground. Polly and Jamie were also pressganged into harvesting this gas until the Doctor found a way to defeat the Macra. (TV: The Macra Terror [+]Loading...["The Macra Terror (TV story)"])

When the TARDIS had landed near a train station, Polly met with Frances, who told her about an unknown soldier. After the train that carried the soldier back stopped at the station, she tried to stop Frances but couldn't and ended up on the train. (AUDIO: The Mouthless Dead [+]Loading...["The Mouthless Dead (audio story)"])

The Doctor decided to teach Ben and Polly how to pilot the TARDIS. After the TARDIS faltered in the vortex, they landed in New Houston. She noticed that what they had been watching on a screen was a funeral. Polly realised that Meg Carvossa was manipulating the figures in order to get more funding from Earth which could be shared out more equally. (AUDIO: The Yes Men [+]Loading...["The Yes Men (audio story)"])

When the TARDIS landed on a planet that resembled an English Village, the Master brainwashed Polly to believe she was married to Jamie, and the pair joined the home guard believing that there was a war on. The Master told them that they needed to defeat the Doctor as part of the war effort. Polly handcuffed the Doctor to a pipe thinking he had caused the invasion and was pivotal in the attack against the indigenous population of the planet they were on. (AUDIO: The Home Guard [+]Loading...["The Home Guard (audio story)"])

Ben and Polly face an alien resembling a playing card. (COMIC: Card Conundrum [+]Loading...["Card Conundrum (comic story)"])

She became distressed when she realised that the TARDIS had brought her and her friends to Nazi occupied France, this was because her uncle, Randolph Wright, died in the war. The Doctor and Polly met with the resistance who wanted to get them to escape to Spain. (AUDIO: Resistance [+]Loading...["Resistance (audio story)"])

She warned Jamie about touching the force field that surrounded the TARDIS. The Doctor managed to organise her release as a hostage after the Selachians attacked the bank. (AUDIO: The Selachian Gambit [+]Loading...["The Selachian Gambit (audio story)"])

She didn't like casinos when the Doctor landed them in one. She was threatened by a member of the Sidewinder Syndicate when she was found with a time band. (AUDIO: House of Cards [+]Loading...["House of Cards (audio story)"])

Arriving in 1648 just after the Roundheads victory in the English Civil War and being separated from her friends, Polly found herself inveigled in a plot to rescue King Charles I from captivity. This plot was ultimately unsuccessful and the King was recaptured by the Roundheads and Polly was reunited with her friends. (PROSE: The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"])

Polly, Ben, Jamie and the Doctor landed in Kenga, Singapore during World War II. Soon after arriving she saw something the looked like the Grim Reaper. Clive Freeman found them looking around and took them to the local hotel. She got annoyed when the Doctor told her to stay behind when they went to search for the killer in the hotel. After Maggie Bishop was killed she helped the Doctor search for clues. When the Forsaken was attacking her she started chucking the contents of the hotel's bar at it and ran away from it. (AUDIO: The Forsaken [+]Loading...["The Forsaken (audio story)"])

The Doctor allowed Polly to pilot the TARDIS to their next destination, which was supposed to be Russia in the 18th century, but they landed in 1942 instead, arriving shortly before a battle between the German army and the Soviet air force. Polly discovered that she was a doppelganger for Tatiana Kregki, who asked her details of her life and then left her to die in the snow whilst she went to impersonate her. However, Polly managed to find her way back to the camp. (AUDIO: The Night Witches [+]Loading...["The Night Witches (audio story)"])

On an asteroid in 7691, Polly was able to use her computer skills to show Barbara Goro that the data she was using had been manipulated to artificially lower the true missing-persons rate. After the Doctor went missing, she was assigned to data management where she found out that everybody had shares in the mine and that's why they were ignoring the disappearances. The Doctor and his friends were taken to a cell deep under water. (AUDIO: The Outliers [+]Loading...["The Outliers (audio story)"])

Planning to take Ben and Polly home, the Doctor landed the TARDIS in the 1860s instead of the 1960s. Upon visiting Josiah Morton's museum, Polly became intrigued with a strange necklace. She was kidnapped by Copeland and was forced to tell them about Mortan's house for them to steal from it. Ben and Jamie rescued her. (AUDIO: The Morton Legacy [+]Loading...["The Morton Legacy (audio story)"])

Leaving the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly saying goodbye to the Doctor. (TV: The Faceless Ones [+]Loading...["The Faceless Ones (TV story)"])

Although Polly enjoyed her adventures, she couldn't hide her desire to return home. After an adventure with the alien Chameleons, the travellers found the TARDIS had returned to London the day they had departed, on 20 July 1966. With Ben, Polly left the TARDIS and returned to her life, appearing never to have been missing. (TV: The Faceless Ones [+]Loading...["The Faceless Ones (TV story)"])

Edward Waterfield, forced by the Daleks to track down the Doctor, originally targeted Polly as part of the plan. He had a photograph of her to identify her. However, when his agent informed him that Polly, as well as Ben, had left the Doctor's company, Waterfield decided not to involve them further. (PROSE: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)"])

As it turned out, Polly and Ben were still the subject of interest for their association with the Doctor. Polly returned to her flat that day, and the following day, on 21 July, she returned to work at the Post Office Tower, now reassigned to work for a Angus Harmer at the Penumbra magazine, which she found dull. Later that day, she was kidnapped along with Ben by Harmer and his associate Angela Leamann and taken to an island in the Arctic Circle, where they attempted to extract their knowledge of the Doctor and implant commands into their minds related to future events (making them sleeper agents). The pair managed to escape, however, in a submarine. (AUDIO: Sleeper Agents [+]Loading...["Sleeper Agents (audio story)"])

Failed relationship[[edit] | [edit source]]

At some point, Polly was taken to the Black Archive by UNIT to have her record as a companion of the Doctor taken. Her memories of the visit were subsequently erased and she was sent on her way. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"])

The Ninth Doctor witnesses Ben propose to Polly. (COMIC: The Love Invasion [+]Loading...["The Love Invasion (comic story)"])

Polly brought home Ben, much to the horror of her parents. Of particular note was her father's face. (AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"]) Ben proposed to Polly in 1966 at the top of the Post Office Tower, which was witnessed unbeknownst to them by the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler. (COMIC: The Love Invasion [+]Loading...["The Love Invasion (comic story)"])

When the time came that Polly and Ben were to move house, Polly feared letting go of the past. After she recalled a time during her travels with the Doctor, Polly spoke to Ben and told him she was ready to let go, and told him she loved him. Afterwards, green feathers fell from the sky, notably from the Angel encountered in the adventure she had previously recalled. (AUDIO: Falling [+]Loading...["Falling (audio story)"]) Their relationship did not last. (PROSE: Mondas Passing [+]Loading...["Mondas Passing (short story)"], That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress [+]Loading...["That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)"])

Marriages and career[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly was a glamour girl during the '60s, "Queen of the Disco" in the '70s and gave up smoking in the '80s. She married Simon and, by December 1981, was pregnant with his child. During her pregnancy, she and Simon watched the Ashes and she realised that she was unhappy with her life. She gave birth to a son, Mikey. (PROSE: That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress [+]Loading...["That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)"]) On New Year's Eve 1986, Polly met with Ben in a hotel room - something that she kept secret from Simon - and reminisced about Snowcap and their time with the Doctor. They almost kissed but, after a distraction, Polly decided to leave. (PROSE: Mondas Passing [+]Loading...["Mondas Passing (short story)"])

Following Simon's death, Polly had a difficult relationship with Mikey, who refused to speak to her for three months after he walked in on her with a sailor that she met whilst drinking in Soho. In 1992, she was hired as John Maurice's personal assistant at GEZ and became a socialite, being given the company by his wife after Polly found him dead on top of a nineteen-year-old in 1996. She became a public figure, resumed smoking and struggled with bulimia, something that was well-publicised. She also had a brief marriage with "the gay one out of Boyzzzz".

Polly often attended the funerals of celebrities to get her face in the newspapers: she went to Versace's, where she comforted Diana Spencer, and Diana's, where she comforted Elton John. She once had a stalker whom she described as "a lovely young estate agent from Tunbridge Wells".

At Jane Vapid's funeral in 1999, Polly was manipulated into travelling through time and interfering in history. However, the Second Doctor and Jamie were able to resolve the disturbances and reunited her with Ben. The four of them drank Sauvignon and reminisced about their adventures together. With his wife "gone", Ben admitted his love to Polly and they kissed. (PROSE: That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress [+]Loading...["That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)"])

Later life[[edit] | [edit source]]

By 2009, Polly was working in a government office. At that time, Polly went onto the Internet to search for others who had known the Doctor. However, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had had all information about the Doctor deleted. Nevertheless, they corresponded by e-mail and were joined by another former companion, Thomas Brewster. At first, Polly did not believe that their "respective" Doctors were the same person when she saw a UNIT party photo with the Doctor in his third incarnation. Then they realised they had known him during his first and second incarnations. The three former companions rescued the TARDIS from Garry Lendler and saved the Earth from dying and from a Coffin-Loader, a beast which fed on dying worlds. (AUDIO: The Three Companions [+]Loading...["The Three Companions (audio story)"]) Polly gave a presentation on her experiences with time travel to a disbelieving audience. She hung on to her secretarial Dictaphone recordings of Jamie, which had chronicled their adventure with the Vist. (AUDIO: The Forbidden Time [+]Loading...["The Forbidden Time (audio story)"])

Still married to Ben, Polly was later transported to an alternative version of the Death Zone on Gallifrey by Borusa using a Time Scoop. She came into contact with the Fifth Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Steven Taylor, Sara Kingdom and Nyssa.

She was soon caught in the middle of a fight between the Daleks, the Sontarans and a Tyrannosaurus rex. She killed a Sontaran by stabbing her stiletto heel point into his probic vent. Polly voiced her feelings of inadequacy and called herself not courageous, until the Doctor reminded her of having stood up to the Cyber-Leader Krail. Polly and the others expressed their hopes that the Doctor might visit them some day, though they doubted if he ever would. (AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"])

In 2010, Sarah Jane Smith said that Ben and Polly were running an orphanage together in India. (TV: Death of the Doctor [+]Loading...["Death of the Doctor (TV story)"])

Polly remained friends with the Doctor on Bookface. She liked some of the Eleventh Doctor's status updates. (COMIC: Timeliney Wimey [+]Loading...["Timeliney Wimey (comic story)"])

Ben and Polly attended Sarah Jane Smith's memorial on a "bright, cold Spring day", where they discussed Sarah Jane with other guests, and helped fight the Jackals of the Backwards Clock to foil the Trickster's revenge plot. (WC: Farewell, Sarah Jane [+]Loading...["Farewell, Sarah Jane (webcast)"])

Alternate timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly finds that the Doctor has been converted. (COMIC: Prologue: The Second Doctor [+]Loading...["Prologue: The Second Doctor (comic story)"])

When the Cybermen allied with Rassilon to take over history, they manipulated the encounter at the Moonbase leading to the Second Doctor being partially cyber-converted. (COMIC: Prologue: The Second Doctor [+]Loading...["Prologue: The Second Doctor (comic story)"])

In an aborted timeline created by the Decayed Master, the Doctor, Ben, and Polly were taken to the same date and location as the Doctor’s other selves and companions. Soon, Polly’s first encounter with the Doctor, as well as her adventures, were erased. This timeline was later negated primarily by the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and First Doctors. (AUDIO: The Light at the End [+]Loading...["The Light at the End (audio story)"])

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Fifth Doctor admitted that Polly was not the bravest, but she had a strong sense of right and wrong which meant that she was capable of courageous feats on occasion. (AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"]) She teased and bantered with those she cared for. She hid her affections, particularly for Ben, behind this façade. She chatted him up when they met and she was still chatting him up when they left the TARDIS. When her friends were in trouble, Polly was completely serious — particularly if Ben was in trouble. Polly would drop the banter and flippancy to work towards practical solutions.

Like the earlier Wright to travel in the TARDIS, she hoped to find her way back to her own time period, thinking, "Please let it be Chelsea, 1966," when guessing what would be outside the TARDIS doors after it landed on the extinct volcanic island where Atlantis was located. (TV: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (TV story)"]) On the first landing in mid-1960s London, Polly left the Doctor with Ben, just as Barbara had left with Ian Chesterton. (TV: The Faceless Ones [+]Loading...["The Faceless Ones (TV story)"])

During their travels together, she and Ben thought of Jamie as being like their "baby brother." (AUDIO: The Forbidden Time [+]Loading...["The Forbidden Time (audio story)"]) In the 2000s, she described Jamie as being "brawny and reckless but lovely" and "a bit slow on the uptake" to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. (AUDIO: The Three Companions [+]Loading...["The Three Companions (audio story)"])

Polly had an aptitude for languages, being able to speak Spanish, French and German. (TV: The Underwater Menace [+]Loading...["The Underwater Menace (TV story)"])

Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]

Polly was a tall and pretty girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes and a shapely figure. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (novelisation)"]) She was about a head taller than Ben and had a number of fillings. (PROSE: The Highlanders [+]Loading...["The Highlanders (novelisation)"]) Her feet were size 6. (AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"])

Nicknames[[edit] | [edit source]]

She was also often called "Poll" by Ben; this was adapted to "Paul" when she was pretending to be a boy in 17th century Cornwall. (TV: The Smugglers [+]Loading...["The Smugglers (TV story)"]) He also described Polly as "our little dolly-rocker Duchess" (TV: The Smugglers [+]Loading...["The Smugglers (TV story)"]) or simply "the Duchess".

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Is "Polly Wright" right?[[edit] | [edit source]]

Like Vicki Pallister before her, Polly's surname never appeared in any televised episode. "Wright" only came to Polly in stories in other media. The name "Wright" does date back to the character's creation. The name first appeared in the character breakdown created by Gerry Davis and Innes Lloyd. The audition script read by Anneke Wills and others included the character identifying herself as "Polly Wright" in a telephone conversation with the Doctor. However, the name never made it into the recording of The War Machines. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook) It's unclear why the surname was dropped, but it could have been because a previous companion, Barbara, had the same last name. Had she been called "Polly Wright" in 1966, viewers might well have wondered whether she was related to Barbara, last seen on television just a year earlier.

Polly Lopez trading card

The matter became more complicated during the early days of organised fandom in the late 1970s, when the surname "Lopez" was applied to the character. This surname was the result of not one but two misunderstandings, both having to do with Episode 2 of The Faceless Ones. As the cliffhanger to Episode 1 suggested, Anneke Wills was not then playing Polly, but a duplicate of her created by the alien Chameleons. At the start of Episode 2, the Doctor asked Anneke Wills's character her name. She replied, "Michele Leuppi from Zurich". This name was later confirmed in the serial's novelisation.

Fans listening to off-air audio recordings of The Faceless Ones Episode 2 transcribed the name as "Lopez" and believed, for reasons obscure, this was the surname of the real Polly. Subsequently this surname was used by Doctor Who non-fiction author Jean-Marc Lofficier in 1992's The Universal Databank, in which he referred to her as "Polly Lopez". In this way, the name "Polly Lopez" came to be used in one of the most prominent Doctor Who reference works at the start of the 1990s.

In 1996, the Doctor Who: The Collectible Trading Card Game included a "Polly Lopez" card.

Then, in a 1993 Myth Makers interview with Nick Briggs, Anneke Wills confided that Polly's surname was actually "Bettingham-Smith". However, in her 2007 autobiography Self-Portrait, Wills changed her mind and said that her character had no surname and was simply "Polly". This matched The Cyber Files, where her name was given as simply "Polly" on her fact file in the Celestial Intervention Agency's databanks, in contrast to other companions whose last names were stated.

The first story to give Polly a surname was Gary Russell's 1995 Virgin Missing Adventures novel Invasion of the Cat-People. Russell decided to reuse "Wright" from the original audition scripts and character outlines. Since then, "Polly Wright" has been universally used for the character. When Polly next appeared in the 1997 BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels The Murder Game and The Roundheads, both used "Wright".

The 2009 Big Finish Productions audio story Resistance expanded upon the business of Polly's surname by revealing that "Bettingham-Smith" was her mother's maiden name. The story also references the possible relationship to former companion Barbara by having the Second Doctor say that "Wright was a very common name". Most Big Finish audio stories to feature Polly have listed the character as "Polly Wright" in their cast lists.

Other matters[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In April 2015, Polly was added as a playable character to the game Doctor Who: Legacy. Notably, her initial costume was never actually worn by Polly, it was instead taken from Anneke Wills' guest appearance as Fran Roeding in the 1966 episode of ITV spy thriller television series, The Saint, entitled "The Helpful Pirate", which was broadcast in colour in America due to the show being picked up by NBC.
  • She was originally supposed to stay on with the Doctor and Jamie, but Anneke Wills decided to leave along with Michael Craze.
  • She and Ben Jackson were supposed to make a cameo in The Five Doctors, but Anneke Wills was outside the UK at the time and couldn't be contacted, so the idea was abandoned.
  • She was supposed to be part of the companions group in The Power of the Doctor, but Anneke Wills wasn't available.
  • A line cut in Twice Upon A Time was the Twelfth Doctor telling the First Doctor that Ben and Polly had gotten married after leaving the TARDIS, and were now running a pub in Weston-super-Mare, a town in Somerset. [1]
  • Anneke Wills had a daughter named Polly.
  • Her character was created to reflect Swinging London and was modelled on popular actresses like Julie Christie and Marianne Faithful.

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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  1. ↑ http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/serials/2017m.html
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