Polly Wright

Polly Wright
Place of origin:	Earth
Appearances:	Full List of Appearances
Main actor:	[[actor::Anneke Wills|Anneke Wills]]

Polly Wright worked for Professor Brett before meeting The Doctor. She was the Professor's secretary, and was unhappy that WOTAN's typing was faster, and more accurate, than hers. Polly was a typical 1960s 20-something, and enjoyed her time out of work. She met Ben Jackson at the Inferno nightclub, where she was chatting him up, and together they joined The Doctor. Their relationship was close from the start.

Biography

Polly was sophisticated, and had an upper-class accent - implying that she was from a good background. Her accent led to her being nicknamed "Duchess" by Ben. She was also often called "Poll", which was adapted to "Paul" when she was pretending to be a boy in 17th Century Cornwall (DW: The Smugglers). Ben has also described Polly as "our little dolly-rocker duchess."

Polly was confident, and not afraid to use her feminine wiles. She used her femininity, and attractiveness, to enlist the help of Red Coat Algernon Ffinch while the travellers were in the Scottish Highlands (DW: The Highlanders). Polly also encouraged Kirsty, and the other Scots girls, to use their femininity to lure Algernon into a pit, where they then took his money, identity disc and a lock of his hair. She struck up a relationship with finch, and teased him whenever they met. Calling him 'Algy', she realised that he had developed an admiration for her. This type of teasing banter was a typical way for Polly to treat those she was close to. She hid her affection for others - particularly Ben - behind this façade. The teasing and banter with Ben was part of an ongoing development of their relationship. She was chatting him up when she met him, and she was still chatting him up when they left the TARDIS together.

Despite her beauty, and her femininity, Polly was more than just a pretty face. When the travellers arrived on the Moonbase, and had to face the Cybermen, Polly soon realised that the plastic parts of the Cybermen could be attacked using a mixture of solvents. She instantly thought of the way that nail polish is dissolved by nail varnish remover, and concocted mixture including acetone, benzene, ether and epoxy propane. Named 'Cocktail Polly' by Ben, the mixture was shot at the Cybermen using adapted fire extinguishers. When her friends are in trouble, Polly was completely serious - particularly if Ben was one of those in trouble. In those circumstances Polly would drop the banter and flippancy, and work towards practical solutions.

Although Polly enjoyed her adventures, she couldn't hide her desire to stay at home when she got the chance. With Ben, Polly left the TARDIS, and returned to her life having never appeared to be missing.

Mysteries and Discrepancies

• It is pointed out that her last name is Wright. In what way is she related to Barbara Wright? She isn't related to Barbara, presumably. She had her last name included in the original notes for the character but was never fully named on screen, for unknown reasons. Her surname is given, however, in Invasion of the Cat-People.

Quotes

• Polly - Quotes

Behind the scenes

Like Vicki before her, Polly's surname is never uttered in any televised episode, but came to be Wright based upon the novel Invasion of the Cat-People. prior to this, the name was the subject of speculation with some reference works giving her the last name Lopez.