Anneke Wills

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

Biography

Wills's father, Alaric Willys, was a captain in the British Army. Her mother, Anna, was a housewife.

Career

Wills gained her first role at the age of 11 while she was living on a houseboat in Bray, Berkshire. The film was called Child's Play (1954) and she gave the £9 fee to her mother. Deciding she wanted to be an actress she then 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. Her other film roles included appearances in Some People (1962) and The Pleasure Girls (1965).

In 1966 she took the role of Polly in Doctor Who. She appeared in the show into 1967 alongside William Hartnell and then Patrick Troughton. Her other television credits include appearances in The Avengers and as Evelyn in Strange Report (1969–70). She left the latter series when it was planned to switch filming to Hollywood (though that plan fell through). In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.