Grey (The Highlanders)

Solicitor Grey was an employee of the British government who was made Royal Commissioner of Prisons during the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He abused his position to illegally sell captured Jacobite rebels to Caribbean plantations as slave labour.

On 16 April 1746, Grey acquired the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson, Jamie McCrimmon and Colin McLaren from Lt. Algernon Ffinch, then handed them over to Trask for transporting, except the Doctor, who escaped. After the Doctor freed the prisoners, he had Ffinch arrest Grey for slave trading. (TV: The Highlanders)

Behind the scenes
Solicitor Grey is the only real-world historical person to actually appear in The Highlanders, although Prince Charles Edward Stuart a.k.a. "Bonnie Prince Charlie", King George II and the Duke of Cumberland a.k.a. "the Butcher" are all mentioned. Grey, who was Solicitor Hume's clerk, was mentioned in a contemporary account. After one of the Highlanders had ripped up the contract, he put the names on himself. Nineteen were transported to His Majesty's colonies and the twentieth was put on trial and sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering. The prisoners waited three years for transport aboard the prison ships and many died (some from being drowned during duckings off the yard-arm along with the lice and vermin). Amongst the names of the ships were Pamela, Jane of Leith and Margaret & Mary, similar to the fictitious Annabelle.

Grey is notable for being the first character in the show to be played by an actor who would later play a Time Lord. David Garth would go on to play the Time Lord messenger in Terror of the Autons.