Josh Townsend

Joshua Richard "Josh" Townsend (previously Wakefield) was a friend and companion to Sarah Jane Smith.

Early life
Josh was raised in London as the only child of billionaire Sir Donald Wakefield and his wife, Townsend. After their divorce, he remained in touch with his father and was strongly influenced by him, although their connection was unknown to most and he used his mother's maiden name. Like his father, he was a member of the White Chapter of the Orphans of the Future. (AUDIO: Dreamland)

His mother and stepfather were hoteliers who ran a ski resort near the Swiss Alps. Despite their wealth, Josh refused any financial assistance from them, preferring to find his own way in life. (AUDIO: Comeback) He visited them by boat rather than by aeroplane. (AUDIO: Ghost Town)

As a young man, Josh set several buildings afire until he got caught. He later became involved with some unsavoury fringe groups and spent eight months in Feltham. He moved from one dead-end job to another, including McDonald's, Waterstones and a printing press. He lost three mobile phones in the five weeks before his meeting Sarah Jane Smith. (AUDIO: Comeback)

Early adventures
In 2002, at the age of twenty-four, Josh was arrested under suspicion of being involved in a bank robbery, but was cleared thanks to Sarah Jane Smith's eyewitness testimony. He joined her investigation to Cloots Coombe where they uncovered Rechauffe's attempts to create clones. (AUDIO: Comeback) He later told her of Toby Davenport's death and went with her to the Huang Ti Clinic to investigate, where his blood was almost used as part of their operations. (AUDIO: The Tao Connection)

Posing as a journalist for the Metropolitan, Josh looked around Bioguard's medical research facility and was later trapped with Ellie Martin by Harris to act as bait. He helped Sarah thwart a plot to unleash sarin gas in the London Underground. (AUDIO: Test of Nerve) He and Sarah went on holiday to Romania where they resolved a supposed haunting which he initially did not believe in as his equipment did not detect any ghosts. (AUDIO: Ghost Town)

Josh was attacked by men in Hilda Winters' employ as they stole K9 Mark III from Sarah's flat, resulting in him being hospitalised. He went after Sarah in India and saved her by shooting a man in the head. (AUDIO: Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre)

Later adventures and death
In 2006, Josh expressed glee at Hilda Winters' death. He killed Natalie Redfern's boyfriend, Luca Parenti, after he attempted to kill Sarah. (AUDIO: Buried Secrets) Josh and Sarah visited Nikita Base after receiving an invitation from Will Sullivan, solving a murder. (AUDIO: Snow Blind) The pair investigated Rechauffe at Pangbourne Scientific Lab where they and the White Chapter prevented them from wiping out humanity with a deadlier version of the Marberg virus. He shot and killed Will Sullivan to save Sarah from him. (AUDIO: Fatal Consequences)

Aboard the Dauntless on the first space tourism flight, Sarah was attacked by a member of the Crimson Chapter. Josh shot and killed the agent, but suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the stomach. He used his dying words to ask for forgiveness from Sarah, for not revealing his identity as an undercover agent for the White Chapter beforehand. She did forgive him and he died shortly after. (AUDIO: Dreamland)

Personality
Josh wanted to make his own way in the world, which meant that he spurned his mother's offer of financial assistance in favour of taking dead-end jobs, none of which he committed to for long. He had a habit of losing his mobile phones (AUDIO: Comeback) or leaving them turned off (AUDIO: Test of Nerve, etc.) and was afraid of flying, choosing to travel by boat rather than aeroplane. (AUDIO: Ghost Town)

Appearance
Josh was described by Reverend Gosforth of Cloots Coombe as being stocky and dark-haired. (AUDIO: Comeback) Will Sullivan observed that his hair was long enough to wear in a ponytail. (AUDIO: Fatal Consequences)