Sarah Sutton
Encyclopedia
Sarah Sutton is a British actress best known for her role as Nyssa in the BBC
science fiction
television series Doctor Who
. Nyssa was a companion
of Tom Baker
and Peter Davison
's Doctors
from 1981 to 1983. She was the youngest female actor to play a companion in the series (Matthew Waterhouse
who played Adric
being the youngest male actor to have played a companion).
Sutton was born in Basingstoke
, Hampshire
, England. Sutton studied ballet
as a little girl and went on as an actress to be the youngest British actress to have played Alice
in a television or sound film production of Alice in Wonderland
, Natalie Gregory
being the youngest actress to have played Alice in an American television or sound film.
Her final full serial of Doctor Who was Terminus
(1983, written by Stephen Gallagher
and directed by Mary Ridge
), in which, famously, she removed her skirt, effectively playing out the rest of the serial in her undergarments (the scripted reason for this was that she was feeling unwell and feverish; in an interview, Sutton described it as "a parting gesture to [the] fans". Gallagher believes that his script had Nyssa loosening the collar of her original costume, dropping the brooch which closed it for the Doctor to find in a later scene, and that the lost skirt replaced this as a plot device).
After Terminus, she made a brief appearance in Peter Davison's final serial, The Caves of Androzani
, but aside from that since leaving Doctor Who she has done very little acting, instead focusing on raising her daughter, Hannah, with her GP husband. She has made appearances as Sarah Dryden in the BBC's medical soap opera Casualty
(the 1989 episode "Charity"), and as Wendy in the serial Unnatural Pursuits (1991, written by Simon Gray
and starring Alan Bates
).
Sutton reprised the role of Nyssa in 1993, in the Doctor Who Children in Need
special Dimensions in Time
, and subsequently in several of the Big Finish Productions
Doctor Who spin-off audio plays
from 1999 onwards.
She has appeared in various other television programmes including Alice Through the Looking Glass (1974) as Alice, The Moon Stallion
(1978) as Diana Purwell and The Crucible
(1980) as Susannah Walcott.
BBC
The 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 fiction
Science fiction
Science 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 Who
Doctor Who
Doctor 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...
. Nyssa was a companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In 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...
of Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
and Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
's Doctors
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The 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....
from 1981 to 1983. She was the youngest female actor to play a companion in the series (Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse is an English actor and writer best known for his role as Adric in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
who played Adric
Adric
Adric is a fictional character played by Matthew Waterhouse in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a young native of the planet Alzarius, which exists in the parallel universe of E-Space. A companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, he was a regular in the...
being the youngest male actor to have played a companion).
Sutton was born in Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England. Sutton studied ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
as a little girl and went on as an actress to be the youngest British actress to have played Alice
Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
Alice is a fictional character in the literary classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There. She is a young girl from Victorian-era Britain.-Development:...
in a television or sound film production of Alice in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, Natalie Gregory
Natalie Gregory
Natalie Gregory is an American film and television actress.-Career:She starred as Alice in the television film Alice in Wonderland...
being the youngest actress to have played Alice in an American television or sound film.
Her final full serial of Doctor Who was Terminus
Terminus (Doctor Who)
Terminus is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 15 to 23 February 1983...
(1983, written by Stephen Gallagher
Stephen Gallagher
Stephen Gallagher is an English writer.He has written several novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who — for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate and Terminus — as well as for the series Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs, for two seasons of...
and directed by Mary Ridge
Mary Ridge
Mary Ridge was a member of BBC television production staff who served as Associate Producer on The Duchess of Duke Street. She directed episodes of The Wednesday Play, Blake's 7, Doctor Who , and Z Cars.-External links:...
), in which, famously, she removed her skirt, effectively playing out the rest of the serial in her undergarments (the scripted reason for this was that she was feeling unwell and feverish; in an interview, Sutton described it as "a parting gesture to [the] fans". Gallagher believes that his script had Nyssa loosening the collar of her original costume, dropping the brooch which closed it for the Doctor to find in a later scene, and that the lost skirt replaced this as a plot device).
After Terminus, she made a brief appearance in Peter Davison's final serial, The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8–16 March 1984. It was Peter Davison's last regular appearance as the Doctor, and marks the first appearance of Colin Baker in the role...
, but aside from that since leaving Doctor Who she has done very little acting, instead focusing on raising her daughter, Hannah, with her GP husband. She has made appearances as Sarah Dryden in the BBC's medical soap opera Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
(the 1989 episode "Charity"), and as Wendy in the serial Unnatural Pursuits (1991, written by Simon Gray
Simon Gray
Simon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
and starring Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
).
Sutton reprised the role of Nyssa in 1993, in the Doctor Who Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
special Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and the soap opera EastEnders that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on the EastEnders Albert Square set, and features several of the stars of that programme...
, and subsequently in several of the Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
Doctor Who spin-off audio plays
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
from 1999 onwards.
She has appeared in various other television programmes including Alice Through the Looking Glass (1974) as Alice, The Moon Stallion
The Moon Stallion
The Moon Stallion is a British children's television serial made by the BBC in 1978 and written by Brian Hayles, who also authored its novelization....
(1978) as Diana Purwell and The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
(1980) as Susannah Walcott.