Haresh Chandra

Haresh Chandra was the husband of Gita Chandra and the father of Rani Chandra.

Early life
Haresh grew up in Nottingham. (PROSE: Day of the Clown) As a child, Haresh loved school. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to become a teacher. (TV: The Empty Planet) When Haresh got a job at the history department at a school in Camden he left his home and moved to London. (PROSE: Day of the Clown) He first met his future wife, Gita, in a museum; she was taking refuge from the rain. (TV: The Curse of Clyde Langer) When they married they honeymooned in Brussels, which Haresh enjoyed but Gita did not. (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) Later the family moved to Danemouth. (TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic)

Living in Ealing
Haresh and his family moved to Ealing and Haresh became the head teacher of Park Vale School. When Clyde Langer and Luke Smith first met him he was angry at their class' behaviour. Rani pretended not to know him; she did not want her friends to know her father was the head teacher. Later, when Clyde saw a clown, Haresh did not believe him and thought he was telling lies. The next day he was puzzled when students walked out of school with balloons. He put it down to a prank organised by Clyde. At first upset that his daughter had taken part in the "prank", he was pleased to discover she was with Luke and Clyde "studying at the library". He then offered to make them all tea. (TV: The Day of the Clown)

Like Sarah Jane Smith, he was a Taurus, and was one of the few not hypnotised by Martin Trueman. (TV: Secrets of the Stars)

He fell victim to the Berserker pendant twice: once when it was used by his daughter Rani, and again by Paul Langer after he had stolen it from Sarah Jane's attic. When Rani used it on him, he obeyed random, meaningless commands: hopping on one foot, believing the pendant was a hamster and doing an impression of a lion, but she soon stopped and had him forget when it began to scare her. When Paul used it on him, he started by jogging on the spot, then was told to do push-ups. It was this command that almost caused him to die of exhaustion; no matter what happened around him, he refused to stop until Paul removed the pendant. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker)

He was pushed into putting plants in the Genetec building by Gita. When they put the plants in the reception, they were arrested by security and locked in a room. Haresh attempted to pick the lock, until Gita pulled out the keys. While looking for a way out, they were stopped by a troop of Judoon, to whom Haresh tried to talk. As they were trying to escape the building they narrowly avoided bumping into the Judoon, who had just captured Androvax. On their return to Bannerman Road, Haresh and Gita told Sarah Jane and the others of their encounter, although Haresh doubted anyone would believe them. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon)

Haresh attended Sarah Jane's wedding to Peter Dalton, voicing his doubts about the hasty union. He was proven right, when Peter "disappeared" before the ceremony. (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) He agreed to look after Luke while Sarah Jane was investigating a "haunted house". He taught Luke how to play chess and ended up beaten six times. (TV: The Eternity Trap) He went on a schooltrip with Rani, Clyde and Luke's class. They went to Snowdonia where they slept in tents. (AUDIO: The Shadow People) He began to like Clyde when he won an art contest which let the school see the Mona Lisa, but was shocked when the painting disappeared. (TV: Mona Lisa's Revenge)

Haresh Chandra had an electric guitar. Once, Clyde borrowed it to destroy the Rakweed. The guitar sound broke the plants' communication methods and neutralised the Rakweed spores, killing them off. (WC: Sound)

In September 2009, Haresh and Gita stayed several days in Danemouth to visit relatives. (AUDIO: Wraith World)

In the same month, Haresh recommended Luke take his A Levels a year early and apply to the University of Oxford. Luke took Haresh's advice, and was accepted to Oxford the next year. (TV: The Nightmare Man) Before Luke left he threw two farewell parties. Haresh, Gita and Rani came together to Luke's second farewell party. (PROSE: The Nightmare Man)

Gita dragged him to BURPSS, where she told how they had seen two different alien species. When they got home, Gita saw Androvax in Sarah Jane's driveway and sent Haresh over to check. He did not find Androvax, as Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani interrupted him. Later, he went to play badminton. (TV: The Vault of Secrets)

When UNIT arrived at Sarah Jane's house to announce the Eleventh Doctor's death, Haresh asked if everything was all right. Rani later hugged him and told him never to go away. He believed that Sarah Jane was grieving and denying the Doctor's death. He told Clyde that he'd know about static electricity if he paid attention in class. (TV: Death of the Doctor)

One day, Haresh had not seen Rani all day, so visited her in her room. Rani, trying to read Great Expectations, asked him to leave so she could concentrate. The next day, along with most people, Haresh had disappeared. (TV: The Empty Planet)

Haresh was with Gita when Luke caused Mr White's hologram meteor to be seen by everyone on Earth which defeated Ruby White. (TV: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith)

In 2011, Haresh later enrolled Sky in Park Vale. (TV: Sky, The Curse of Clyde Langer) He was, like his daughter, one of the many to be affected by Hetocumtek's curse (he banned Clyde from seeing Rani, and also expelled him from school) but returned to normal after the curse had been lifted. (TV: The Curse of Clyde Langer) Haresh helped Gita to bring flowers to her now Bloomin' Lovely shop at the White Cross shopping mall. (AUDIO: Judgement Day)

Later life
Haresh attended the memorial for Sarah Jane. Because he went with Gita to collect sausage rolls from the kitchen, he missed the Trickster's attack on the service. (WC: Farewell, Sarah Jane)

Eventually, he became a grandfather to Rani's son, Shuresh, and a great-grandfather to Shuresh's children. (TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic)

Personality
Although Haresh was, when in his job as a headteacher, a very strict man, at home he was a loving, caring husband and father to Gita and Rani. He often showed fatherly concern for his daughter, especially when she began to befriend Clyde, whom Haresh at first disliked as he was a troublemaker in school. However, over time Haresh grew to tolerate, and even possibly like, Clyde. Haresh often had to compensate for his wife's constant chatter and tendency to panic and/or go over the top such when she tried to plant flowers in the Genetec Systems. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon) He was a good cook. (TV: The Day of the Clown)

Haresh liked Luke Smith because he was a well-behaved, high achieving student. He was happy when Rani befriended Luke, and was the one who recommended to Luke that he take his A-Levels a year early. When students began disappearing, Haresh showed genuine concern for all of his students, and was delighted when he discovered that Clyde had a talent for drawing. (TV: Mona Lisa's Revenge)

Rani worried about disappointing her parents, especially Haresh. (TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic)

Behind the scenes

 * Haresh's name was originally "Suresh Rakhit".