Charles I

Charles I
Main aliases:	Charles Stuart
Species:	Human
Affiliated with:	Stuart
Place of origin:	Great Britain
Father:	James I
Sister:	Elizabeth Stuart
Brother:	Henry Stuart
Children:	Charles II
Spouse:	Henrietta Maria
First mentioned in:	Silver Nemesis [+]Loading...["Silver Nemesis (TV story)"]
Appearance:	The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"]

Charles I of the House Stuart was King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Biography

Charles was born circa 1600. He was a son of King James and had an elder brother Prince Henry who died too early to become a king himself. After Prince Henry's death, Charles was prepared for the throne by the George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. (PROSE: The Roundheads ^[+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"])

George Villiers was Charles' minister and close friend. Under the King's orders, he smuggled an English army into France to take Paris in 1626 but was defeated by the Fifth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Church and the Crown ^[+]Loading...["The Church and the Crown (audio story)"])

For eleven years, Charles ruled without regard for the Parliament, ultimately causing the English Civil War (1641-1651). The Civil War brought down the King and saw the rise of Oliver Cromwell. By December 1648, Charles Stuart was a prisoner on the Isle of Wight and then in the Hurst Castle. Despite his successful escape aided by Polly Wright under the coercion of John Copper and Christopher Whyte, he was soon recaptured and eventually executed. According to the Second Doctor, no mention of his escape was left in history and his trial was to happen on 20 January 1649 and he was executed on 30 January. (PROSE: The Roundheads ^[+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"]) Lady Peinforte was a supporter of Charles I. (TV: Silver Nemesis ^[+]Loading...["Silver Nemesis (TV story)"])

Upon seeing a painting of Charles' beheading, the Doctor remarked that the depiction was not how it actually happened. (PROSE: Child of Time ^[+]Loading...["Child of Time (novel)"])

Behind the scenes

• Charles was Duke of York before becoming King, the title merging with the crown through his reign.
• In the unproduced Doctor Who movie, Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, it is mentioned that the Doctor was present at the execution of Charles I.
• Charles was portrayed by Kenneth Colley in the Thirty-Minute Theatre episode Revolutions: Cromwell, Stephen Fry in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, Bill Paterson in The Return of the Musketeers and Peter Capaldi in The Devil's Whore.