Wolsey
Wolsey was a cat from 1910s Earth that travelled with the Seventh Doctor. He later belonged to Bernice Summerfield.
Biography
Wolsey was a large tomcat with tabby markings. He was a capable hunter and utterly disdainful of human beings. He originally belonged to Joan Redfern who at first knew the Seventh Doctor only as the human John Smith. She gave Wolsey to the Seventh Doctor to "guard" him. (PROSE: Human Nature)
When the Doctor's TARDIS was de-rationalised by the Carnival Queen, Chris Cwej and Marielle Duquesne saw Wolsey on a floating grandfather clock. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet)
Following his regeneration and subsequent reunion with Bernice Summerfield, the Eighth Doctor passed Wolsey to Bernice so that she could watch over him. (PROSE: The Dying Days)
Wolsey was temporarily transformed into a "person" when a Perfecton missile hit the Winton on which he and Bernice were travelling. In the Perfecton-generated reality, Wolsey appeared as a seven-foot-tall, fully-clothed, talking, bipedal cat with a large cavalier hat. In this form, Wolsey displayed passions for singing, dancing and rude jokes. He addressed Benny as "servant-woman," confirming her suspicions about human-cat relations. (PROSE: Oh No It Isn't!, AUDIO: Oh No It Isn't!)
Benny waved to Wolsey before going to work in the morning. (PROSE: Dragons' Wrath) He greeted her when she returned from Stanturus Three (AUDIO: Dragons' Wrath) and ran when Mappin Gilder entered. (PROSE: Dragons' Wrath)
When she travelled away from Dellah on missions and expeditions, Tameka Vito looked after him. (AUDIO: Just War)
Wolsey resented Clarence when he woke him and Benny up one night. Some days later, Benny realised that her datapad might have been useful, but she had left it at home on a pile of clothes guarded by Wolsey. (PROSE: Where Angels Fear)
Benny returned to Dellah to save Wolsey. (PROSE: Tears of the Oracle)
Benny told the purring Wolsey about Jason Kane's coma. Shortly after, Peter said his first word, "daddies". (AUDIO: Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Mirror Effect)
As Wolsey got older, he became lame in his back leg. (PROSE: A Life Worth Living)
Though Wolsey was neutered, he nevertheless managed to sire several litters of kittens during his time at the Braxiatel Collection. Wolsey died in January 2606, at a very advanced age, and was buried on KS-159, in the gardens of the Braxiatel Collection. (PROSE: Something Changed)
Behind the scenes
- In Wolsey's single "speaking" role, the audio adaptation of Oh No It Isn't! in which he is temporarily transformed into a humanoid, he was voiced by Nicholas Courtney. He also "spoke" briefly in the short story Dead Mice, although this took place in an alternate timeline and was likely Braxiatel's hallucination. Jason talked to Wolsey in Head Games, although this was only in his imagination.
- Wolsey was featured on the cover of The Cat Who Walked Through Time II, a 2003 charity publication for The United Coalition for Animals.
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