Charles I

Charles I of the House Stuart was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his death.

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 Duke of Buckingham. (PROSE: The Roundheads)

For eleven years he ruled without regard for the Parliament, ultimately causing the English Civil War (1641-1651). The Second Doctor played a role in the Civil War which brought down the King and led to his imprisonment on the Isle of Wight and then in the Hurst Castle and eventually his execution, as well as the rise of Oliver Cromwell. (PROSE: The Roundheads) Lady Peinforte was a supporter of Charles I. (TV: Silver Nemesis)

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 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)

He was the father of James II, who was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution in November 1688, and the great-grandfather of Bonnie Prince Charlie. (AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution)

Behind the scenes

 * In the unproduced Doctor Who movie, Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, it is mentioned that the Doctor was seen at the execution of Charles I.
 * He was portrayed by Kenneth Colley in the Thirty-Minute Theater 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.