Katy Manning is an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress best known for her part as the
companionIn the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Jo GrantJosephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
in the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. She has also made many theatre appearances, and is now a citizen of
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She is myopic. In 2009 Manning moved back to the UK to pursue new acting work and currently lives in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Early life
Manning's father was sports columnist
J. L. ManningJames L. Manning was a 20th Century sports columnist for the Daily Mail. Born in Bristol, Gloucestershire in 1914, Manning was the eldest son of Lionel Victor Manning, and the elder half-brother of Brian Stuart Manning a leading British Marxist historian.- Career :In 1954, as a member of the...
OBE. As the result of a car accident she spent a year in hospital at sixteen. At eighteen she went to America where she was offered a five-year contract with MGM. Returning to Great Britain, Manning trained at the
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...
, then joined a Wolverhampton repertory company and made her debut in
Man At The Top (1970).
Doctor Who
She played the part of
Jo GrantJosephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
1971–73 alongside
Jon PertweeJohn Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
's
incarnationThe Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
of the
DoctorThe Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
. Manning struck up an immediate rapport with her co-stars, Pertwee,
Nicholas CourtneyWilliam Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
(The Brigadier),
John LeveneJohn Levene is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who.He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England....
(
Sergeant BentonSergeant Benton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by John Levene. He was the senior NCO of the British contingent of UNIT , an international organisation that defends the Earth...
),
Richard FranklinRichard Franklin is a British actor.He has had various roles in different television programmes including Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm...
(
Captain Mike YatesCaptain Mike Yates is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Richard Franklin. He was adjutant of the British contingent of UNIT , an international organisation that defends the Earth...
), and
Roger DelgadoRoger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
(
the MasterThe Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
). Fans of
Doctor Who often refer to these characters as the UNIT family — UNIT, the
United Nations Intelligence TaskforceUNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
, being the fictional United Nations organisation that the Doctor worked for. Manning moved to Australia and was also seen in a famous
Ruby WaxRuby Wax is a BAFTA nominated American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
television segment with childhood friend
Liza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
.
Manning's connection with "Doctor Who" continues: she voices
Jo GrantJosephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
in the Companion Chronicles Audio Adventures, and she is also the voice of the
Time LadyThe Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
Iris WildthymeIris Wildthyme is a fictional character created by writer Paul Magrs, who has appeared in short stories, novels and audio dramas from numerous publishers...
in several of the
Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio plays. In 2005 Manning also appeared in
Doctor Who — Inside The TARDIS with two of the doctors,
Sylvester McCoySylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
and
Colin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
, who spoke of their experiences with the long-running show.
In October 2010 Manning appeared in the fourth series of Doctor Who spin-off
The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
's with Matt Smith as the eleventh doctor. The two-part story, entitled 'Death of the Doctor', was written by former executive producer of the programme Russell T Davies.
Later career
Katy Manning wrote the TV series
Private Wives and has been involved in other writing and directing projects. In 1980, she toured in
Peter TersonPeter Terson is a British playwright whose plays have been produced for stage, television and radio. His early work in the 1960s focused on growing up in the dead-end working-class culture of industrial England. He was born as Peter Patterson. He was a schoolteacher for 10 years before writing...
's 'VE Night' alongside
Ian CullenIan Cullen is a British actor born on 20 October 1939 with numerous roles in British television, including regular roles in Emergency - Ward 10 , Z-Cars , When the Boat Comes In , and five's soap opera Family Affairs...
and Jane Goddard. In Australia she appeared in the play
Run for Your Wife (1987–1988), and the production toured the country. Other members of the cast in the production were
Jack SmethurstJack Smethurst is an English TV and film comic actor whose career dates back to the 1950s.-Career:Smethurst made his film debut in 1958's Carry On Sergeant...
,
David McCallumDavid Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
, and
Eric SykesEric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
. She has also appeared in the low budget film noir
When Darkness Falls.
In June and July 2007, she appeared as Yvette in the stage show
'Allo 'Allo alongside
Gorden KayeGorden Kaye is a BAFTA-nominated English comic actor, best known for playing René Artois in the British TV comedy Allo 'Allo!.-Early life:...
as Rene Artois at
Twelfth Night Theatrethumb|250px|Twelfth Night TheatreThe Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Australian actors such as Rowena Wallace, Sigrid Thornton, Judith McGrath, Jon English, June Salter, Penny Downie, Carol Burns, Kate Wilson,...
in
BrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
Guy SinerGuy Siner is an American-born English actor known for his role as Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!.-Early life:...
and
Sue HodgeSue Hodge is a British actress, best known for her role as the waitress Mimi Labonq in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!...
also reprised their original roles from the television series, and the other characters were portrayed by famous Australian television actors including
Steven TandySteven Tandy is an Australian stage, television and film actor, best known for playing Tom Sullivan, the second eldest son in the classic Australian television series The Sullivans.-Biography:...
and
Jason GannJason Gann is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, director, producer, writer, screenwriter, musician, singer, and comedian. He is best known for his role as Wilfred in the Australian comedy series of the same name and its U.S...
. She appeared in 2 episodes of the new series of
The Sarah Jane Adventures (Series 4), as Jo Jones (Grant). She meets the doctor again, and stars with her grandchild (1 of 12, soon to be 13) Santiago Jones.
In 2011, she appeared as Blodwyn Morgan, a Welsh busybody and clairvoyant, in the stage play 'Death by Fatal Murder'. This was a Peter Gordon play, and part of the 'Inspector Pratt' trilogy, currently on its Summer 2011 UK tour.
Me and Jezebel at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe
In 2009 Katy returned to the UK as part of her one-woman show
Me and Jezebel. The play is based on a true 1985 story about
Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
inviting herself to a fan's house for a night and staying for a month, with Manning playing all the parts. It toured through March and April in England and also played at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe at the Gilded Balloon Wine Bar in August. The show received a five-star review in the
Edinburgh Evening NewsThe Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...
, which described Manning as "one of Britain's best actresses". Manning also received two other four-star reviews and appeared on STV news promoting the show. The posters of
Me and Jezebel proved so popular due to the cartoon drawing of Bette Davis that most of them went missing during the run of the Fringe.
External links
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