Anneke Wills

British actress

Anneke Wills

Wills in 2018

Born|

Anna Katarina Willys

(1941-10-20) 20 October 1941 (age 83)

Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, England[1]

Occupation| Actress
Years active| 1952–1970, 1998–present
Television| Doctor Who (1966–1967)
Spouse|

Michael Gough

(m. 1965; div. 1979)​

Children| 2
Website| www.annekewills.com

Anneke Wills (/ˈænɪkə/; born Anna Katarina Willys, 20 October 1941) is an English actress, best known for her role as the companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.[2]

## Biography

[edit]

Wills's father, Alaric Willys, was a captain in the British Army. Her mother, Anna, was Dutch, born in Rotterdam.[3] Anneke is the granddaughter of Richard Raymond Willis VC.[4]

## Career

[edit]

Deciding she wanted to be an actress she studied drama at the Arts Educational School and RADA in London and quickly became one of the busiest actresses of her generation, early roles included an appearance as Roberta in the second TV version of The Railway Children in 1957.[5] Her other film roles included appearances in Some People (1962) and The Pleasure Girls (1965).[6]

Anneke Wills at Bournemouth Comic-Con in 2016.

Her other television credits include appearances in The Avengers[7] and as Evelyn in Strange Report (1969–70).[8]

### Doctor Who

[edit]

In 1966, she took the role of Polly in Doctor Who. She appeared in the show until 1967 alongside William Hartnell and then Patrick Troughton.[9] Her favourite story is The Smugglers.[10]

In October 2013, she recorded an abridged version of Who's There?, a biography of Hartnell written by his granddaughter, Jessica Carney.[11]

In November 2013, she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[12]

She has been a popular guest at Doctor Who conventions, and has been employed by the BBC and Big Finish to record various audio and DVD projects related to the show.[13][14][15]

### Writing

[edit]

The first volume of her autobiography, Self Portrait, was published in 2007[16] by Hirst Books and a second volume, Naked, followed in 2009. Her latest book, Anneke Wills - In Focus, was published in May 2012 by Fantom Films.[17]

## Personal life

[edit]

At 17, she began a relationship with Anthony Newley while working on the TV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade. Newley fathered Wills's first child, Polly, but left her to marry Joan Collins.[18] During the 1960s Wills spent much of her time at the famous Troubadour Coffee Shop[19] and the Establishment, and was part of the so-called "Chelsea Set".

Wills married actor Michael Gough[9] in 1965, who adopted her daughter Polly. The couple had one son, Jasper, and divorced in 1979. In 1970, she gave up acting and moved to Norfolk, dedicating herself to motherhood and gardening. Her daughter Polly died in a car crash in 1982[9] at the age of 19, believing that Gough was her biological father. Anneke left the UK in 1980 and lived in various places for 16 years afterwards, including in Belgium, Laos, Vietnam, and India in the early 1980s, in the US from 1983 to 1986, and in Canada from 1986 to 1996, before returning to the UK in 1996.[20] She remarried twice.[9]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1954 | Child's Play | Alice Nightingale |
1962 | Candidate for Murder | Jacqueline |
Some People | Anne |
1964 | Nothing but the Best | Girl |
1965 | The Pleasure Girls | Angela |

### Television

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1954 | Impostor's Gold | Sybil Hughes | TV film
The House with a Secret | Robina
1955 | Alibi Children | Molly Wilson
Remember Jane | Jane Eyre
The Prince and the Pauper | Lady Jane Grey | Episode: "Exchange"
Passage of Arms | Henriette de Chamborde | TV film
The Blakes | Jean Blake | All 4 episodes
1956 | African Holiday | Megs Wyndham | TV film
The Grove Family | Olive Green | Episode: "Olive Green"
1957 | The Railway Children | Roberta | All 8 episodes
1958 | From Cover to Cover | Girl | Episode: "#1.1"
1959 | Don't Tell Father | Diana | 2 episodes
1960 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Katrina Hoefler | Episode: "Glorious Morning"
Emergency-Ward 10 | Clarissa Wallace | 2 episodes
Probation Officer | Miss Shirley | Episode: "#1.27"
Miss Field | Episode: "#2.3"
Sheila | Episode: "#2.8"
No Hiding Place | Glenda Williamson | Episode: "The Final Chase"
The Strange World of Gurney Slade | Girl on Airfield | 2 episodes
1961 | ITV Television Playhouse | Woman in coffee bar | Episode: "Ben Spray"
Peggy | Episode: "Different Drum"
Golden Girl | Minty | Episode: "Ward of Court"
Winning Widows | Sheila | Episode: "The Young Niece"
Gamble for a Throne | Kaye Chance | 4 episodes
ITV Play of the Week | Kathleen Short | Episode: "The Primitive"
1962 | The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre | Jacqueline | Episode: "Candidate for Murder"
1963 | The Sentimental Agent | Sarah | Episode: "All That Jazz"
No Hiding Place | Dolly Fenson | Episode: "The Smoke Boys"
Our Man at St. Mark's | Dorothy Maxwell | Episode: "Know of Any Reason"
1963,

1967

| The Avengers | Pussy Cat/Judy | 2 episodes
1965 | The Likely Lads | Judith Francis | Episode: "Other Side of the Fence"
ITV Play of the Week | Chris Durley | Episode: "No Baby, No Baby at All"
1966 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Julia | Episode: "Keep on Running"
The Wednesday Play | Leda | Episode: "Toddler on the Run"
1966–1967 | Doctor Who | Polly | 36 episodes
1966 | The Saint | Fran Roeding | Episode: "The Helpful Pirate"
1967 | Beggar My Neighbour |  | Episode: "For Better, for Worse"
1969–1970 | Strange Report | Evelyn McLean | All 16 episodes
2013 | An Adventure in Space and Time | Party Guest | TV film
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot | Anneke Wills

### Audio drama

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1998 | Bernice Summerfield | Doctor Kitzinger | Big Finish Productions; Story: "Beyond the Sun"
2003-2006 | Doctor Who: The Monthly Range | Nrosha, Louisa Pollard | Big Finish Productions; 4 releases
2009-2019 | Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles | Polly | Big Finish Productions; 10 releases
2011 | The Five Companions | Big Finish Productions; Special release
2013 | The Light at the End
2014 | Charlotte Pollard | Doctor Kitzinger | Big Finish Productions; Story: "The Fall of the House of Pollard"
2015-2019 | Doctor Who: The Early Adventures | Polly | Big Finish Productions; 6 releases
2016-2022 | Big Finish Short Trips | Narrator | 3 releases

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wills, Anneke (2007). Self Portrait. Hirst Books. p. 15\. ISBN 978-0-9557149-0-0.
2. ^ "Anneke Wills". Archived from the original on 22 June 2018.
3. ^ Wills, Anneke (2007). Self Portrait. Hirst Books. p. 12\. ISBN 978-0-9557149-0-0.
4. ^ ’Self Portrait’ Anneke Wills, Autobiography 2007
5. ^ "Children's Television: The Railway Children: 3: The Old Gentleman". The Radio Times (1740): 12. 15 March 1957 - via BBC Genome.
6. ^ Profile, entertainment-focus.com; accessed 29 April 2015.
7. ^ "The Big Issue - Anneke Wills". Retrieved 9 June 2016.
8. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Strange Report (1968-69)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
9. ^ a b c d "Doctor Who companion Anneke Wills on achieving cultural immortality". Retrieved 9 June 2016.
10. ^ "Doctor Who The Power of the Daleks animation review". Radiotimes.com. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
11. ^ "Who's There? – Anneke Wills". annekewills.com. 15 October 2013.
12. ^ The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, bbc.co.uk; accessed 29 April 2015.
13. ^ "The War Machines, Season 3, Doctor Who - The Fourth Dimension - BBC One". BBC.
14. ^ "Anneke Wills and Terrence Hardiman are Charley's Family! - News - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com.
15. ^ "BBC One - Doctor Who, Season 4, the Underwater Menace - the Fourth Dimension".
16. ^ Profile, drwhointerviews.wordpress.com; accessed 29 April 2015.
17. ^ "fantom films :: anneke wills". www.fantomfilms.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
18. ^ Wills, Anneke. Self Portrait. Hirst Publishing 2007; ISBN 978-0-9557149-0-0
19. ^ Mentor, Toms (8 August 2011). "Anneke Wills: Gurney Slade, Anthony Newley and me | Features". The Stage. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
20. ^ "About Anneke - Anneke Wills". Retrieved 9 June 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Anneke Wills at IMDb
* Official website
* Details of Anneke Wills - In Focus

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced