Charles I

Charles I of the House Stuart was King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

He was a son of King James and had an elder brother Prince Henry who died too early to become a king himself. After Prince Henry's death, Charles was prepared for the throne by the George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. (PROSE: The Roundheads)

George Villiers was Charles' minister and close friend. Under the King's orders, he smuggled an English army into France to take Paris in 1626 but was defeated by the Fifth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Church and the Crown)

For eleven years he ruled without regard for the Parliament, ultimately causing the English Civil War (1641-1651). The Civil War brought down the King and saw the rise of Oliver Cromwell. By December 1648, Charles Stuart was a prisoner on the Isle of Wight and then in the Hurst Castle. Despite his successful escape aided by Polly Wright, he was eventually executed. According to the Second Doctor, no mention of his escape was left in history and his trial was to happen on 20 January 1649. (PROSE: The Roundheads) Lady Peinforte was a supporter of Charles I. (TV: Silver Nemesis)

Upon seeing a painting of his beheading, the Doctor remarked that the depiction was not how it actually happened. (PROSE: Child of Time)

Behind the scenes

 * In the unproduced Doctor Who movie, Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, it is mentioned that the Doctor was present at the execution of Charles I.
 * He was portrayed by Kenneth Colley in the Thirty-Minute Theatre episode Revolutions: Cromwell, Stephen Fry in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, Bill Paterson in The Return of the Musketeers and Peter Capaldi in The Devil's Whore.