Polly Wright Polly Wright was companion to the first and second incarnations of the Doctor , and was one of the very first people to witness the Doctor regenerating . She travelled in the TARDIS with her future husband Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon . She also became acquainted with Dodo Chaplet although the latter would leave the Doctor ' s company soon after . Biography . Early life . Polly was born in 1942 in London , England . ( PROSE : " The Murder Game " ) She spent much of her early life in Devon . ( PROSE : " Invasion of the Cat - People " ) She had brown eye s . ( AUDIO : " Lost and Found " ) She was the only daughter of Dr Edward Wright and his wife , the former Miss Bettingham - Smith . Polly ' s father , Edward , was the second of three sons , younger than Charles and older than Randolph . He and his wife married in August 1939 and had a son soon after . Polly was their second child . At this time , Dr Wright and his family lived " in a big , old house in the country . " Polly ' s paternal grandmother and her two paternal uncles were still alive at the time of her birth . By 1944 , her father ' s younger brother , Randolph , had been imprisoned in a Nazi prisoner of war camp , where he died . In contrast , Edward survived World War II . He fathered three more sons and told Polly stories of her uncle . In young adulthood , Polly reflected on her parents and said that she had always " taken them for granted " while she was away from home enjoying herself , but that they were always there for her when she needed them . ( AUDIO : " Resistance " ) In 1948 , when Polly was six , she was separated from her mother on a shopping trip to Fortnum & Mason . ( PROSE : " Invasion of the Cat - People " ) In the same year , Polly saw baked beans for the first time on a visit to the department store Henrik ' s . During the same trip , she lost her teddy bear . On that day , she briefly met the Second Doctor , Ben and her future self , though she remained ignorant as to her identity . ( AUDIO : " Lost and Found " ) In 1952 , when she was ten , she attended a fair with her uncle Charles and had her fortune told by a gypsy , who warned her of a tall , dark stranger . ( PROSE : " Invasion of the Cat - People " ) As a child , Polly lived in Hampshire and a Golden Retriever named Belle . ( AUDIO : " Lost and Found " ) Joining the Doctor . Before meeting the Doctor , Polly was a typical 1960s London twenty - something living in Chelsea . She had a budding career as a model but left when she began to feel exploited by the industry . ( PROSE : " The Murder Game " ) She also fell in love with a boy named Roger who did not love her the way she loved him . Eventually , Roger broke off the relationship . Shortly after , Polly caught him in a new relationship with Lucy Miller . Tired of being exploited , she accepted an offer from her uncle Charles , a supporter of WOTAN and Professor Brett , of a job at the Post Office Tower , ( PROSE : " Invasion of the Cat - People " ) although a part of her regretted leaving the modelling industry for such a monotonous alternative . ( PROSE : " The Murder Game " ) < nowiki > < / nowiki > Polly began working as Professor Brett ' s personal assistant and was unhappy that WOTAN ' s typing was faster and more accurate than hers . She had an active social life and enjoyed her time off work . On 20 July , 1966 , she took Dodo Chaplet to one of her favourite haunts , the Inferno nightclub , where they met Ben Jackson , who later saved Polly from a drunken patron . They were later joined by the First Doctor , who expected to find Dodo there . Dodo later arrived back at the club , but was now under the control of WOTAN . < nowiki > < / nowiki > Polly ' s mind later fell under WOTAN ' s control . She was sent to work at the warehouse , where she was assigned to watch over Ben , who had been captured . However , Polly ' s mind resisted WOTAN ' s control long enough for Ben to escape . For punishment , Major Green sent her to Brett ' s office , where she assisted Brett and Krimpton with running WOTAN . Ben later freed her just as WOTAN was destroyed by one of its own War Machine s . < nowiki > < / nowiki > When Ben and she found the Doctor beside an old police box , Polly told him Dodo would be staying in England . Miffed , the Doctor bid the couple " adieu " . As they walked away , Polly turned to see the Doctor had used a key to enter the police box . Remembering that Ben had found a key that had earlier fallen out of the Doctor ' s cloak , she dragged Ben back to the police box to see if it would fit . They ended up inside the ship just as it took off . ( TV : " The War Machines " ) In his investigation of reports of a series of " agent provocateurs " known as " the Doctor " who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents , the journalist James Stevens discovered evidence of Polly ' s involvement in the C - Day fiasco . ( PROSE : " Who Killed Kennedy " ) Early travels with the Doctor . The Doctor first took Polly and Ben to 17th century Cornwall , where they ran into smugglers . ( TV : " The Smugglers " ) The Doctor , Polly and Ben later arrived in New York City in the 1890s where four Ovid s — being of pure thoughts who travel from world to world in crystal spheres — had become trapped . Their presence caused people ' s dreams and nightmares to manifest in reality . The time travellers were able to free the Ovids with the assistance of Harry Houdini . ( AUDIO : " Smoke and Mirrors " ) In Antarctica in December 1986 , Polly helped fight off an invasion by Cybermen from Mondas . After these events , the Doctor , exhausted , asked Polly and Ben to get him back to the TARDIS . As the trio took off , the Doctor collapsed and went through his first regeneration . ( TV : " The Tenth Planet " ) On the planet Vulcan , Polly adjusted quickly to the Doctor ' s having changed into a new and younger persona , while Ben was less accepting the change , speculating that an imposter had replaced the Doctor . On Vulcan , Polly and Ben encountered the Doctor ' s archenemies , the Dalek s . ( TV : " The Power of the Daleks " ) Later travels . Polly was confident and not afraid to use her feminine wiles to enlist the help of Redcoat Algernon Ffinch while the travellers were in the Scottish Highlands . Polly also encouraged Kirsty McLaren to lure Algernon into a pit , where they took his money , identity disc and a lock of his hair . She struck up a relationship with Ffinch and teased him whenever they met , calling him " Algy " . She realised that he admired her and gave him a kiss goodbye . Polly asked for the young Jacobite piper , Jamie McCrimmon , to come with them in the TARDIS , as she feared for his safety . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) She and Ben came to see Jamie as a younger brother . ( AUDIO : " The Forbidden Time " ) When Polly found herself in Atlantis , she was initially slated to be converted into a Fish Person . The Doctor interrupted the power supply as her operation was about to begin , allowing her to escape Damon ' s medical bay and rejoin her friends . She took on the disguise of an Atlantean in a seashell dress . She and Jamie escaped the rising water that flooded Atlantis , fearing that the Doctor and Ben had perished . They were relieved to find that they too had survived . The Doctor then promised them a trip to Mars . Taking off , the TARDIS went out out of control . ( TV : " The Underwater Menace " ) The TARDIS had brought them to the Moon . When the TARDIS crew arrived on the Moonbase in 2070 and faced the Cybermen , Polly soon realised the Cybermen ' s plastic parts could be attacked with a mixture of solvents . She thought of the way nail polish was dissolved by nail varnish remover and concocted a mixture including acetone , benzene , ether and epoxy propane to make a substance , called " Cocktail Polly " by Ben , which was shot at the Cybermen with adapted fire extinguisher s . ( TV : " The Moonbase " ) After seeing a giant claw as warning about their next destination on the Time scanner the TARDIS landed on what appeared to be a peaceful Colony planet . There Polly and her friends had a makeover much to Polly ' s delight and much to the Doctor ' s displeasure . However all was not well as the next day Ben became brainwashed and hostile towards his fellow travellers . Polly and the others soon discovered crab like creatures called the Macra had infested the colony and were using the people for their own ends to harvest gas deep underground . Polly and Jamie were also pressganged into harvesting this gas until the Doctor found a way to defeat the Macra . ( TV : " The Macra Terror " ) She was interested in the fact that the TARDIS used many different calendars . The TARDIS had landed near a train station , and she met with Frances who told her about the unknown soldier . After the train that carried the soldier back to stopped at the station she tried to stop Frances but couldn ' t and ended up on the train . ( AUDIO : " The Mouthless Dead " ) The Doctor decided to teach Ben and Polly how to teach them how to pilot the TARDIS . After the TARDIS faltered in the vortex , they landed in New Houston . She noticed that what they had been watching on a screen was a funeral . Polly realised that Meg Carvossa was manipulating the figures in order to get more funding from Earth which could be shared out more equally . ( AUDIO : " The Yes Men " ) She became distressed when she realised that the TARDIS had brought her and her friends to Nazi occupied France , this was because her uncle , Randolph Wright , died in the war . The Doctor and Polly met with the resistance who wanted to get them to escape to Spain . ( AUDIO : " Resistance " ) She warned Jamie about touching the forcefield that surrounded the TARDIS . The Doctor managed to organise her release as a hostage after the Selachians attacked the bank . ( AUDIO : " The Selachian Gambit " ) She didn ' t like Casinos when the Doctor landed them in one . She was threatened by a member of the Sidewinder Syndicate when she was found with a time band . ( AUDIO : " House of Cards " ) Arriving in 1648 just after the Roundhead s victory in the English Civil War and being separated from her friends , Polly found herself inveigled in a plot to rescue King Charles I from captivity . This plot was ultimately unsuccessful and the King was recaptured by the Roundheads and Polly was reunited with her friends . ( PROSE : " The Roundheads " ) Polly , Ben , Jamie and the Doctor landed in Kenga , Singapore during World War II . Soon after arriving she saw something the looked like the Grim Reaper . Clive Freeman found them looking around and took them to the local hotel . She got annoyed when the Doctor told her to stay behind when they went to search for the killer in the hotel . After Maggie Bishop was killed she helped the Doctor search for clues . When the Forsaken was attacking her she started chucking the contents of the hotel ' s bar at it and ran away from it . ( AUDIO : " The Forsaken " ) Although Polly enjoyed her adventures , she couldn ' t hide her desire to return home . After an adventure with the alien Chameleons in 1966 , the travellers found the TARDIS had returned to London just before they had departed . With Ben , Polly left the TARDIS and returned to her life , appearing never to have been missing . ( TV : " The Faceless Ones " ) Edward Waterfield , forced by the Daleks to track down the Doctor , originally targeted Polly as part of the plan . He had a photograph of her to identify her . However , when his agent informed him that Polly , as well as Ben , had left the Doctor ' s company , Waterfield decided not to involve them further . ( PROSE : " The Evil of the Daleks " ) Life after the Doctor . At some point , Polly was taken to the Black Archive by UNIT to have her record as a companion of the Doctor taken . Her memories of the visit were subsequently erased and she was sent on her way . ( TV : " The Day of the Doctor " ) Polly brought home Ben , much to the horror of her parents . Of particular note was her father ' s face . ( AUDIO : " The Five Companions " ) Ben proposed to Polly in 1966 at the top of the Post Office Tower , which was witnessed unbeknownst to them by the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler . ( COMIC : " The Love Invasion " ) When the time came that Polly and Ben were to move house , Polly feared letting go of the past . After she recalled a time during her travels with the Doctor , Polly spoke to Ben and told him she was ready to let go , and told him she loved him . Afterwards , green feathers fell from the sky , notably from the Angel encountered in the adventure she had previously recalled . ( AUDIO : " Falling " ) Their relationship did not last . They eventually married other people . On New Year ' s Eve 1986 , Ben and Polly reunited . Having visited the year 1986 , they anticipated the arrival of Mondas , the planet of the Cybermen . ( PROSE : " Mondas Passing " ) In 1999 , Polly had been manipulated into travelling through time and interfering in history . However , the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon resolved these disturbances , and helped Ben meet Polly once more . They were now both widowed , and admitted their love for each other . ( PROSE : " That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress " ) By 2009 , she worked in a government office . At that time , Polly went onto the Internet to search for others who had known the Doctor . However , Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart had had all information about the Doctor deleted . Nevertheless , they corresponded by e - mail and were joined by another former companion , Thomas Brewster . At first , Polly did not believe that their " respective " Doctors were the same person when she saw a UNIT party photo with the Doctor in his third incarnation . Then they realised they had known him during his first and second incarnations . The three former companions rescued the TARDIS from Garry Lendler and saved the Earth from dying and from a Coffin - Loader s , a beast which fed on dying worlds . ( AUDIO : " The Three Companions " ) Polly gave a presentation on her experiences with time travel to a disbelieving audience . She hung on to her secretarial Dictaphone recordings of Jamie , which had chronicled their adventure with the Vist . ( AUDIO : " The Forbidden Time " ) Still married to Ben , Polly was later transported to an alternative version of the Death Zone on Gallifrey by Borusa using a Time Scoop . She came into contact with the Fifth Doctor , Ian Chesterton , Steven Taylor , Sara Kingdom and Nyssa . She was soon caught in the middle of a fight between the Dalek s , the Sontaran s and a Tyrannosaurus rex . She killed a Sontaran by stabbing her stiletto heel point into his probic vent . Polly voiced her feelings of inadequacy and called herself not courageous , until the Doctor reminded her of having stood up to the Cyber - Leader Krail . Polly and the others expressed their hopes that the Doctor might visit them some day , though they doubted if he ever would . ( AUDIO : " The Five Companions " ) In 2010 , Sarah Jane Smith said that Ben and Polly were running an orphanage together in India . ( TV : " Death of the Doctor " ) Polly remained friends with the Doctor on Bookface . She liked some of the Eleventh Doctor ' s status updates . ( COMIC : " Timeliney Wimey " ) Personality . Polly teased and bantered with those she cared for . She hid her affections , particularly for Ben , behind this façade . She chatted him up when they met and she was still chatting him up when they left the TARDIS . When her friends were in trouble , Polly was completely serious — particularly if Ben was in trouble . Polly would drop the banter and flippancy to work towards practical solutions . Like the earlier Wright to travel in the TARDIS , she hoped to find her way back to her own time period , thinking , " Please let it be Chelsea , 1966 , " when guessing what would be outside the TARDIS doors after it landed on the extinct volcanic island where Atlantis was located . ( TV : " The Underwater Menace " ) On the first landing in mid - 1960s London , Polly left the Doctor with Ben , just as Barbara had left with Ian Chesterton . ( TV : " The Faceless Ones " ) During their travels together , she and Ben thought of Jamie as being like their " baby brother . " ( AUDIO : " The Forbidden Time " ) In the 2000s , she described Jamie as being " brawny and reckless but lovely " and " a bit slow on the uptake " to Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart . ( AUDIO : " The Three Companions " ) Polly had an aptitude for languages , being able to speak Spanish , French and German . ( TV : " The Underwater Menace " ) Nicknames . She was also often called " Poll " by Ben ; this was adapted to " Paul " when she was pretending to be a boy in 17th century Cornwall . ( TV : " The Smugglers " ) He also described Polly as " our little dolly - rocker Duchess " ( TV : " The Smugglers " ) or simply " the Duchess " . Behind the scenes . Is " Polly Wright " right ? Like Vicki Pallister before her , Polly ' s surname never appeared in any televised episode . " Wright " only came to Polly in stories in other media . The name " Wright " does date back to the character ' s creation . The name first appeared in the character breakdown created by Gerry Davis and Innes Lloyd . The audition script read by Anneke Wills and others included the character identifying herself as " Polly Wright " in a telephone conversation with the Doctor . However , the name never made it into the recording of " The War Machines " . ( REF : " The First Doctor Handbook " ) It ' s unclear why the surname was dropped , but it could have been because a previous companion , Barbara , had the same last name . Had she been called " Polly Wright " in 1966 , viewers might well have wondered whether she was related to Barbara , last seen on television just a year earlier . The matter became more complicated during the early days of organised fandom in the late 1970s , when the surname " Lopez " was applied to the character . This surname was the result of not one but " two " misunderstandings , both having to do with Episode 2 of " The Faceless Ones " . As the cliffhanger to Episode 1 suggested , Anneke Wills was not then playing Polly , but a duplicate of her created by the alien Chameleons . At the start of Episode 2 , the Doctor asked Anneke Wills ' s character her name . She replied , " Michele Leuppi from Zurich " . This name was later confirmed in the serial ' s novelisation . Fans listening to off - air audio recordings of " The Faceless Ones " Episode 2 transcribed the name as " Lopez " and believed , for reasons obscure , this was the surname of the " real " Polly . Subsequently this surname was used by " Doctor Who " non - fiction author Jean - Marc Lofficier in 1992 ' s " The Universal Databank " , in which he referred to her as " Polly Lopez " . In this way , the name " Polly Lopez " came to be used in one of the most prominent " Doctor Who " reference works at the start of the 1990s . Then , in a 1993 " Myth Makers " interview with Nick Briggs , Anneke Wills confided that Polly ' s surname was actually " Bettingham - Smith " . However , in her 2007 autobiography " Self - Portrait " , Wills changed her mind and said that her character had no surname and was simply " Polly " . The first story to give Polly a surname was Gary Russell ' s 1995 Virgin Missing Adventures novel " Invasion of the Cat - People " . Russell decided to reuse " Wright " from the original audition scripts and character outlines . Since then , " Polly Wright " has been universally used for the character . When Polly next appeared in the 1997 BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels " The Murder Game " and " The Roundheads " , both used " Wright " . The 2009 Big Finish Productions audio story " Resistance " expanded upon the business of Polly ' s surname by revealing that " Bettingham - Smith " was her mother ' s maiden name . The story also references the possible relationship to former companion Barbara by having the Second Doctor say that " Wright was a very common name " . Most Big Finish audio stories to feature Polly have listed the character as " Polly Wright " in their cast lists .