  In this exposition, we seek solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell field equations
in the presence of a massive scalar field cast in the Brans-Dicke (BD)
formalism which describes charged anisotropic strange stars. The interior
spacetime is described by a spherically symmetric static metric of embedding
class I. This reduces the problem to a single-generating function of the metric
potential which is chosen by appealing to physics based on regularity at each
interior point of the stellar interior. The resulting model is subjected to
rigorous physical checks based on stability, causality and regularity. We show
that our solutions describe compact objects such as PSR J1903+327; Cen X-3; EXO
1785-248 \& LMC X-4 to an excellent approximation. Novel results of our
investigation reveal that the scalar field leads to higher surface charge
densities which in turn affects the compactness and upper and lower values
imposed by the modified Buchdahl limit for charged stars. Our results also show
that the electric and scalar fields which originate from entirely different
sources couple to alter physical characteristics such as mass-radius relation
and surface redshift of compact objects. This superposition of the electric and
scalar fields is enhanced by an increase in the BD coupling constant,
$\omega_{BD}$.
