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Anneke Wills (born Anna Katarina Willys in Berkshire on 20 October 1941[1]) played the First and Second Doctor's companion Polly from The War Machines to The Faceless Ones. She is sometimes credited in her dramatic works as Annika Wills and Anneke Willys.
She appeared in the show from 1966 to 1967 alongside William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. (According to the DVD featurette Doctor Who: Origins, she was also one of the actresses considered for the Doctor's first companion, Susan Foreman.) Other television credits include appearances in The Avengers episodes, "Dressed to Kill" and "The £50,000 Breakfast," The Saint episode The Helpful Pirate and as Evelyn in Strange Report. She also appeared in an episode of The Sentimental Agent called All That Jazz.
Though Wills has recreated Polly for the Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, (AUDIO: Resistance, AUDIO: The Three Companions) she is also notable for the role of Lady Louisa Pollard, mother of companion Charley Pollard. (AUDIO: Zagreus, The Next Life, Memory Lane, The Fall of the House of Pollard)
During her time as Polly on television, she was married to Michael Gough. He made memorable appearances in Doctor Who as the Celestial Toymaker and the renegade Time Lord Hedin. They have two children, Jasper and Polly. Her daughter was not, however, named after the Doctor Who companion, as she was born in 1963.
Wills has published her autobiography in two volumes: Self-Portrait and Naked, both published by Fantom Films.
According to The Handbook: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Production of Doctor Who, Wills was a candidate for the role of Susan Foreman in 1963, but did not audition.
In the 1990s, she filmed scenes for a fan-made production titled Devious, which also featured Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. While Pertwee's scenes were released with the DVD issue of The War Games, Wills' scenes have yet to be released, and the film remains "in production" in the 2010s.
She has a cameo appearance as an unidentified BBC staffer in the 2013 docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time. An uncredited actress also portrays Wills in two scenes.
She also contributed to the charity reference book Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who.
Also, in order to promote the release of The Power of the Daleks , Wills was interviewed about her memories on the set and her time working with Patrick Troughton.
Credits
Television
Doctor Who
- The War Machines
- The Smugglers
- The Tenth Planet
- The Power of the Daleks
- The Highlanders
- The Underwater Menace
- The Moonbase
- The Macra Terror
- The Faceless Ones (also as Chameleon Polly)
Audio dramas
Bernice Summerfield
- Beyond the Sun as Doctor Kitzinger
Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories
- The Sandman as Director Nrosha
- Zagreus as Lady Louisa Pollard
- The Next Life as Lady Louisa Pollard
- Memory Lane as Lady Louisa Pollard
- Resistance
- The Forbidden Time
- The Three Companions
- The Five Companions
- The Selachian Gambit
- House of Cards
- The Light at the End
- The Yes Men
- The Forsaken
- Lost and Found
- The Mouthless Dead
- Falling
- The Bonfires of the Vanities
- The Plague of Dreams
- The Night Witches
- The Outliers
- The Morton Legacy
Charlotte Pollard
Audiobooks
Documentary
- Lust in Space
- Myth Makers: William Hartnell
- Adventures in Space and Time
- The Story of Doctor Who
- The Dalek Tapes
- Girls! Girls! Girls!
- The End of the Line?
- Second Time Around
- Tomorrow's Times
- Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor
- Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty
- Lunar Landing
- A Fishy Tale
Other
- An Adventure in Space and Time as a party guest
- The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot