Anneke Wills (born Anna Katarina Willys on 20 October 1941 in Berkshire) 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).
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 TV: 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.
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