Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by
India Fisher
India Fisher (born 1974) is a British actress, narrator and presenter. Her father is the ex- MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play ''Other Lives''.
S ...
in a series of audio plays produced by
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
, many of which were broadcast on
BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British
science fiction television series ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''.
A young woman from 1930s England, she is a
companion of the
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.
The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...
.
Charley's final story with the
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.
The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...
was in the play ''
The Girl Who Never Was
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finish ...
'', however this play ended with the
Sixth Doctor's version of the theme tune. The play ''
The Condemned'' confirmed that Charley was rescued by the Sixth Doctor and she continued to travel with this incarnation until ''
Blue Forgotten Planet
''Blue Forgotten Planet'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''.
Plot
In the far future, the Earth is dying. And the Viyrans seem to have a vested interest ...
''. Big Finish continued the character's later traveling in her own audio series, ''Charlotte Pollard'', which had two volumes released in 2014 and 2017.
Character overview
Charley was born on 15 April 1912, the day the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' sank, and first appears in the play ''
Storm Warning'' (2001). ''Storm'' takes place in 1930, making her 18 years old at the time.
She is born into a well-to-do family; her mother is Lady Louisa Pollard and two sisters, Margaret and Cecelia, are mentioned. Charley and her siblings grow up in a
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, looked after by servants. However, Charley rebels against this existence and, styling herself an
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
adventuress, runs away from home seeking excitement. Making an appointment to meet a young man in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
on New Year's Day 1931, she stows away on board the
Airship R101 disguised as a male member of the crew. There, she meets
the Doctor and together they discover the secret mission the airship is on. At the conclusion of the story, she is rescued from the fated crash of the R101 by the Doctor and taken on board the
TARDIS as his newest companion.
There are consequences to the Doctor taking Charley on board, however. According to history, Charley was supposed to die in the R101 crash and the Doctor's rescue of her causes a temporal
paradox.
After a while, the Web of Time begins to break down as
anachronism
An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...
s seep into history and "anti-time" starts to infect the universe, with Charley as both focus and gateway. The
Time Lord
The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...
s of
Gallifrey
Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, The Doct ...
take notice, and Lord President
Romana gives orders to arrest Charley and the Doctor. Charley is willing to sacrifice herself to save the universe, but the Doctor is unable to sacrifice her, taking the forces of anti-time into himself instead. History is then altered so that the paradox of Charley's continued existence became part of established history – in other words, the paradox and the resulting consequences, including the change in the timeline, were supposed to happen.
However, having absorbed anti-time, the Doctor now is a danger to the universe, and so has to exile himself into a
parallel universe where time does not exist. He intended to do so alone, but Charley stows away aboard the
TARDIS and follows him into exile. Eventually, the Doctor discovers he is free of the anti-time infection and he and Charley manage to find their way back, accompanied by C'rizz, a native of that other universe.
It is the later death of C'rizz that prompts her decision to leave the TARDIS. She quickly changes her mind but, due to a series of events involving
Cybermen
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ...
, temporal shifts and memory loss, parts company with the Doctor. While he believes she has voluntarily left him, Charley actually ends up marooned on an island in the year 500002, believing that the Doctor had died in their confrontation with the Cybermen. She builds a makeshift crystal
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
and sends an
SOS
is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...
repeatedly into space, hoping that anyone, particularly the Doctor, would rescue her. When her message is finally answered, it turned out to be the
Sixth Doctor who saves her. Charley chose to continue travelling with this earlier incarnation, keeping the circumstances of her past and his future a secret from him. This leads the Doctor to grow suspicious of her secrecy and poorly devised lies.
Eventually she runs afoul of a secret TARDIS inhabitant named
Mila, who swaps places with her. Charley is infected with a virus rendering her invisible and non-corporeal while Mila pretends to be her. Of the dozens of companions Mila has secretly encountered, Charley is the only one she could infect, because she's the only companion the TARDIS refused to protect from infections. It is implied that the TARDIS hates Charley because of her multiple temporal paradoxes. Charley is cured by the mysterious
Viyrans and she spends years helping in their mission to rid the universe of certain viruses. Finally she finds the Sixth Doctor again, still traveling with Mila who is still pretending to be Charley. But Mila dies saving the Doctor's life and Charley takes the opportunity to finally set the Web of Time straight. She asks the Viyrans to alter the Doctor's memories so that all the adventures they shared would be remembered with Mila's name and true appearance. This way, years later, when the Eighth Doctor meets Charley, he'll believe it to be their first encounter. What happens to Charley after she leaves the Sixth Doctor is unclear, but it seems she continues to work for the Viyrans.
Charley's exuberant personality matched the Eighth Doctor's well. She embraced the wonders of the universe that travel with the Doctor showed her and helped the Doctor fight the evils he encountered with courage. She was not only loyal to the Doctor, but also developed romantic feelings for him and eventually confessed them. The Doctor was very fond of Charley, and admitted later that she was his friend and he loved her, but what that meant for a virtually immortal Time Lord was unclear, as the relationship between the two was not a physical one.
Other appearances
Charley has also appeared in the short story ''Repercussions...'' by
Gary Russell in the anthology ''Short Trips: Repercussions'', set a short time after she began travelling with the Doctor.
Members of Charley's family have also appeared in Doctor Who stories. Her mother, Lady Louisa (voiced by
Anneke Wills) featured in ''
Zagreus
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus ( grc-gre, Ζαγρεύς) was sometimes identified with a god worshipped by the followers of Orphism, the "first Dionysus", a son of Zeus and Persephone, who was dismembered by the Titans and reb ...
'', ''
The Next Life'', and ''
Memory Lane''. Her sister, Cecilia, (also voiced by India Fisher) featured in ''Gallifrey: A Blind Eye'', where she is presented as a member of the
League of English Fascists, committing suicide at the end of the audio after a complex encounter with Leela and Romana force her to recognize the monster that she has become. Her other sister, Margaret, appears – along with Lady Louisa and Charley's father – in the short story collection ''
The Centenarian''.
In the third issue of the ongoing ''Doctor Who'' comic book series from
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...
(2009), Charley is mentioned by the
Shadow Architect and the
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of the ...
as an instance where the Doctor has interfered with a static point in time.
In the bonus tracks to the Companion Chronicle ''Solitaire'', it was revealed that Charley would get her own series picking up from the events of ''Blue Forgotten Planet''. ''Charlotte Pollard'' was released in two series, in 2014 and 2017. A third series was announced,
but , it is yet to be released.
Before regenerating into the
War Doctor
The War Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by the English actor John Hurt. Although he precedes Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the sh ...
in "
The Night of the Doctor
"The Night of the Doctor" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was made available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube on 14 November 2013, as part of the BBC One lead-up to the show's 50th annivers ...
", the Eighth Doctor mentions Charley, marking the first time that any of the Big Finish audio series has been directly referenced in the television show.
She is also in the Big Finish 50th-anniversary multi-Doctor special ''
The Light at the End
''The Light at the End'' is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a ''New York Times'' bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.
Story
The book takes place in the 1980s punk su ...
'', briefly meeting the Fourth Doctor and Leela before the current threat temporarily erases the Fourth and Eighth Doctors from history.
List of appearances
Audio dramas
;
Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures
;Eighth Doctor
*''
Storm Warning''
*''
Sword of Orion
''Sword of Orion'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. This audio drama was broadcast on BBC 7 in four weekly parts starting from 3 September 2005, and w ...
''
*''
The Stones of Venice''
*''
Minuet in Hell
''Minuet in Hell'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Unlike the other Eighth Doctor audio plays from this "season", ''Minuet in Hell'' was not broadcast ...
''
*''
Invaders from Mars''
*''
The Chimes of Midnight''
*''
Seasons of Fear
''Seasons of Fear'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''.
Plot
When the Doctor finally manages to bring Charley to Singapore in 1930, they meet the immorta ...
''
*''
Embrace the Darkness''
*''
The Time of the Daleks
''The Time of the Daleks'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the last serial in the Dalek Empire arc, which began with ''The Genocide Machine'' and ...
''
*''
Neverland
Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live.
Altho ...
''
*''
Zagreus
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus ( grc-gre, Ζαγρεύς) was sometimes identified with a god worshipped by the followers of Orphism, the "first Dionysus", a son of Zeus and Persephone, who was dismembered by the Titans and reb ...
''
*''
Scherzo''
*''
The Creed of the Kromon
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...
''
*''
The Natural History of Fear
''The Natural History of Fear'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It is part of the "Divergent Universe" saga which continued until '' The Next Life''.
...
''
*''
The Twilight Kingdom
''The Twilight Kingdom'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It is part of the "Divergent Universe" saga which continued until '' The Next Life''.
Plot
T ...
''
*''
Faith Stealer
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...
''
*''
The Last The Last may refer to:
*The Last (band), Los Angeles power pop band active since 1976
* ''The Last'' (audio drama), a ''Doctor Who'' audio drama released in 2004
* ''The Last'' (album), 2009 album by Aventura
*"The Last", a song by The Replacemen ...
''
*''Caerdroia''
*''
The Next Life''
*''
Terror Firma
''Terror Firma'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The story follows on directly from the previous Eighth Doctor audio drama '' The Next Life'' and flash ...
''
*''
Scaredy Cat
''Scaredy Cat'' is a 1948 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 18, 1948 and stars Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat. The cartoon is notable in that it marks the first time the name "Sy ...
''
*''
Other Lives
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...
''
*''
Time Works
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...
''
*''
Something Inside''
*''
Memory Lane''
*''
Absolution''
*''
The Girl Who Never Was
''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finish ...
''
*''The End of the Beginning''
;Sixth Doctor
*''
The Condemned''
*''
The Doomwood Curse''
*''
Brotherhood of the Daleks
''Brotherhood of the Daleks'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was released in late 2008.
Plot
The Doctor and Charley land in an alien jungle filled wi ...
''
*''
Return of the Krotons
This is a list of audio productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' produced by Big Finish Productions.
Overview
These are the season and episode counts for all seasons and series released , ...
''
*''
The Raincloud Man
''The Raincloud Man'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''.
Plot
The Doctor and Charley return to Manchester and discover its complicated link to transient ali ...
''
*''
Patient Zero
The index case or patient zero is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study.
It can also refer to the first case of a condition or syndrome (not n ...
''
*''
Paper Cuts''
*''
Blue Forgotten Planet
''Blue Forgotten Planet'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''.
Plot
In the far future, the Earth is dying. And the Viyrans seem to have a vested interest ...
''
;
Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures
*''
Living Legend''
*''Charlotte Pollard - The Further Adventuress''
**''The Mummy Speaks!''
**''Eclipse''
**''The Slaying of the Writhing Mass''
**''Heart of Orion''
;
Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures
*''
The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure''
**''The Red House''
;
Doctor Who: Special Releases
*''
The Light at the End
''The Light at the End'' is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a ''New York Times'' bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.
Story
The book takes place in the 1980s punk su ...
''
*''The Legacy of Time: The Avenues of Possibility''
;
Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles
*''
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...
''
;Charlotte Pollard
*''The Lamentation Cipher''
*''The Shadow at the Edge of the World''
*''The Fall of the House of Pollard''
*''The Viyran Solution''
*''Embankment Station''
*''Ruffling''
*''Seed of Chaos''
*''The Destructive Quality of Life''
Big Finish audio series
''Charlotte Pollard''
Series 1 (2014)
Series 2 (2017)
Short Trips audios
*''Letting Go''
Short stories
*"Apocrypha Bipedium" by
Ian Potter
Sir William Ian Potter (25 August 190224 October 1994), known as Ian Potter, was an Australian stockbroker, businessman and philanthropist. Potter was knighted in 1962. The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants to ...
(''
Short Trips: Companions'')
*"A Good Life" by
Simon Guerrier
Simon Guerrier (born June 1976) is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of ''Doctor Who'' and its spinoffs. Although he has written three ''Doctor Who'' novels, for the BBC Books range, ...
(''
Short Trips: Steel Skies'')
*"Repercussions..." by
Gary Russell (''
Short Trips: Repercussions'')
*"Best Seller" by
Ian Mond
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John (given name), John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a ...
&
Danny Oz
Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to:
People
*Danny Altmann, British immunologist
*Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer
*Danny Baker (born 1957), English journalis ...
(''
Short Trips: Monsters'')
*"After Midnight" by
Andy Russell (''
Short Trips: A Day in the Life'')
*"The Heroine, The Hero and the Meglomaniac" by Ian Mond (''Short Trips: A Day in the Life'')
*"Before Midnight" by Andy Russell (''Short Trips: A Day in the Life'')
*"Venus" by
Stuart Manning
Stuart David Manning (born 27 May 1979) is an English actor and model. He is known for portraying the role of Russ Owen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2004 until 2009, and again in 2018.
Career
After leaving Art college where h ...
(''
Short Trips: The Solar System'')
*"War in a Time of Peace" by
Steve Lockley
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
Notable people with the name include:
steve jops
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people
* Steve ...
&
Paul Lewis (''
Short Trips: Destination Prague'')
*"Salva Mea" by
Joseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster is an English playwright and screenwriter, best known for his work on the '' Doctor Who'' spin-off series ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''.
Biography
His debut work was the audio play '' The Rapture'' for Big Finis ...
(''
Short Trips: Snapshots'')
*"They Fell" by
Scott Handcock
Scott Handcock (born 8 November 1984) is an English writer, director and producer who has been involved in a number of audio plays for Big Finish Productions, the audio production company perhaps best associated with the Doctor Who franchise.
...
(''
Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas'')
*"Doctor Who and the Adaptation of Death" by
Graeme Burk (''
Short Trips: Transmissions'')
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Charley
Literary characters introduced in 2001
Doctor Who audio characters
Audio plays based on Doctor Who
Doctor Who spin-off companions
Big Finish Productions