Polly travelled with the Doctor between The War Machines and The Faceless Ones.

Polly was the secretary of Professor Brett, who had developed a malevolent computer called WOTAN, though she knew nothing of his plans and narrowly escaped being a victim of it. At a nightclub run by a friend of hers she had befriended a young sailor, Ben Jackson, who also became caught up in the strange events.

The Doctor defeated WOTAN and the tank-like mobile War Machines it commanded, with help from Ben and Polly. When he left London in the TARDIS he didn’t realised they were still on board. Polly proved a loyal friend, enthusiastic, with a bright, strong-willed personality, coping well with unusual circumstances and not letting even Cybermen to deter her.

Polly was present when the Doctor regenerated for the first time and soon came to terms with the new Doctor. When their travels eventually returned them to contemporary Earth, Ben and Polly took the opportunity to leave, returning to their ordinary lives.

Anneke Wills was born 20 October 1941 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Hollan. She was the daughter of a Dutch-born Parisian catwalk model and a Harrow educated artist descended from Elizabethan sea lord Sir Richard Grenville. Her parents Anna and Alaric Willys (she later changed her name to Wills) had planned to buy a house in the South of France but World War II ended that idea. Alaric was a gambler whose severe debts forced Anna to take on a string of jobs while he became a captain in the British army and an absent figure. Anna worked as a companion to a blind aristocrat, gardener, teacher - moving Anneke and her brother Robin around the country several times. At the end of the war Anna had managed to accrue some savings, which she gave to Alaric who promptly fled to South Africa with his new lover, leaving a 10 shilling note on Anneke's pillow.

Anneke won her first acting role at the age of 11 while she was living on a houseboat in Bray, Berkshire. The film was called Child's Play 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 in London and quickly became one of the busiest child actress of her generation, early roles included an appearance as Roberta in the first TV version of The Railway Children in 1957. At the age of 17 she was thrown out of RADA for 'behaving badly' with Edward Fox.

At 18 she was pregnant with Anthony Newley's child and forced to abort it when he left her for Joan Collins. She later had another child by Anthony Newley, a daughter whom she named Polly.

The role in Doctor Who seemed like a big break for her acting career. She played the role she is best known for from 1966 to 1967 alongside William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and Michael Craze as her seaman boyfriend. She left the role believing there were other parts to stretch her talents, but in fact only a few parts came along. The best of them was as Evelyn in the 1970s series, Strange Report. However she left the latter series when it was planned to switch filming to Hollywood.

Anneke appeared in Doctor Who from 1966 to 1967 alongside William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor.

She has played several other characters in the Big Finish audio plays.

Divorce and personal tragedy made life difficult for her. Her daughter died in a car accident when she was a teenager, never even knowing who her real father was.

After the funeral, Anneke went to America where she tried several business ideas and was involved in several abortive relationships. In 1996 she declared herself finished with love and returned to England, first moving to a little cottage in Purbeck, Dorset belonging to Edward Fox (with whom she is still friends), then to Devon where she lives a reclusive and quiet life and has said she is finally happy.

Her son, Jasper, from her marriage to actor Michael Gough, is a photographer for Sothebys.

Film and TV

"Doctor Who" (19 episodes)
The War Machines: Episode 1 (25 June 1966) - Polly Wright
The War Machines: Episode 2 (2 July 1966) - Polly Wright
The War Machines: Episode 3 (9 July 1966) - Polly Wright
The War Machines: Episode 4 (16 July 1966) - Polly Wright
The Smugglers: Episode 1 (10 September 1966) - Polly Wright
The Tenth Planet: Episode 1 (8 October 1966) - Polly
The Tenth Planet: Episode 2 (15 October 1966) - Polly
The Tenth Planet: Episode 3 (22 October 1966) - Polly
The Tenth Planet: Episode 4 (29 October 1966) - Polly
The Power of the Daleks: Episode 1 (5 November 1966) - Polly Wright
The Highlanders: Episode 1 (17 December 1966) - Polly Wright
The Underwater Menace: Episode 1 (14 January 1967) - Polly Wright
The Underwater Menace: Episode 3 (28 January 1967) - Polly
The Moonbase: Episode 1 (11 February 1967) - Polly Wright
The Moonbase: Episode 2 (18 February 1967) - Polly
The Moonbase: Episode 3 (25 February 1967) - Polly
The Moonbase: Episode 4 (1 March 1967) - Polly
The Macra Terror: Episode 1 (11 March 1967) - Polly Wright
The Faceless Ones: Episode 1 (8 April 1967) - Polly

"Strange Report" .... Evelyn McLean (16 episodes, 1969-1970)
"The Avengers" .... Judy / ... (2 episodes, 1963-1967)
- The £50,000 Breakfast (1967) TV Episode .... Judy
- Dressed to Kill (1963) TV Episode .... Pussy Cat
"The Saint" .... Fran Roeding (1 episode, 1966)
- The Helpful Pirate (1966) TV Episode .... Fran Roeding
"The Wednesday Play" .... Leda (1 episode, 1966)
- Toddler on the Run (1966) TV Episode .... Leda
"Thirty-Minute Theatre" .... Julia (1 episode, 1966)
- Keep on Running (1966) TV Episode .... Julia
The Pleasure Girls (1965) .... Angela
"ITV Play of the Week" .... Chris Durley / ... (2 episodes, 1961-1965)
... aka Play of the Week (UK: short title)
- No Baby, No Baby at All (1965) TV Episode .... Chris Durley
- The Primitive (1961) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Kathleen Short
"The Likely Lads" (1 episode, 1965)
- The Other Side of the Fence (1965) TV Episode
Nothing But the Best (1964) .... Girl
"No Hiding Place" .... Dolly Fenson / ... (2 episodes, 1960-1963)
- The Smoke Boys (1963) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Dolly Fenson
- The Final Chase (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Glenda Williamson
"The Sentimental Agent" .... Sarah (1 episode, 1963)
- All That Jazz (1963) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Sarah
Some People (1962) (as Annika Wills) .... Anne
"The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre" .... Jacqueline (1 episode, 1961)
- Candidate for Murder (1961) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Jacqueline
Gamble for a Throne (1961) (TV) .... Kaye Chance
"Winning Widows" .... Sheila (1 episode, 1961)
- Episode #1.4 (1961) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Sheila
"ITV Television Playhouse" .... Woman in coffee bar (1 episode, 1961)
- Ben Spray (1961) TV Episode .... Woman in coffee bar
"The Strange World of Gurney Slade" (2 episodes, 1960)
- Episode #1.6 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills)
- Episode #1.2 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills)
"Probation Officer" .... Miss Field / ... (3 episodes, 1960)
- Episode #2.8 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Sheila
- Episode #2.3 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Miss Field
- Episode #1.27 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Miss Shirley
"Emergency-Ward 10" .... Clarissa Wallace (2 episodes, 1960)
... aka Calling Nurse Roberts (UK)
- Episode dated 17 May 1960 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Clarissa Wallace
- Episode dated 19 April 1960 (1960) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Clarissa Wallace
"Don't Tell Father" .... Diana (2 episodes, 1959)
- Episode #1.4 (1959) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Diana
- Episode #1.3 (1959) TV Episode (as Annika Wills) .... Diana
"The Railway Children" .... Roberta (1 episode, 1957)
- The Pride of Perks (1957) TV Episode (as Anneke Willys) .... Roberta
"The Blakes" (1955) (mini) TV Series .... Jean Blake
Passage of Arms (1955) (TV) (as Anneke Willys) .... Henriette de Chamborde
Child's Play (1953) (as Anneke Willys) .... Alice Nightingale