Louise Jameson

Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is an English actress, with a wide variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in Doctor Who, Dr. Anne Reynolds in The Omega Factor, Blanche Simmons in Tenko, Susan Young in Bergerac and Rosa di Marco in EastEnders.

Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson (left) with Janet Dibley (right) in May 2009
Born
Louise Marion Jameson

(1951-04-20) 20 April 1951
Wanstead, Essex, England
OccupationActress
Spouse(s)Martin Bedford
Partner(s)David Warwick
Robert Ashby
Children2
Websitelouisejameson.com

Biography

Career

Jameson was born in Wanstead, Essex and grew up in nearby Woodford Green.[1] She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art[1] and spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, King Lear, Summerfolk, and Blithe Spirit. In 1995, she appeared in the RSC production of Botho Strauß's The Park. Other stage appearances include the first production of Peter Nichols's Passion Play produced at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in 1981.

She appeared opposite Mike Raven in the low budget British horror film Disciple of Death (1972). Her early TV career highlights included appearances on Emmerdale in 1973 (as Sharon Crossthwaite), as Leela, the leather-clad warrior companion of the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1977–78), and in The Omega Factor (1979) as Dr. Anne Reynolds.[2]

The character of Leela is a warrior of the fictional Sevateem people, and was introduced in the 1977 Doctor Who serial The Face of Evil. Jameson's inspirations for the way that she played the character included her dog, for "her instinctive nature and tendency to slightly cock her hear when she perceives something", and a neighbour's child, for "openness and naïveté".[3] Pop culture author Valerie Estelle Frankel characterises Leela as "a classic warrior woman" but says that the seriousness of the character is undermined because "her provocatively cut hunting leathers and cleavage are offered to the male gaze in every episode."[4] Jameson was initially paid £120 an episode for Doctor Who, later increasing to £150 an episode.[5]

She later had a leading role as Blanche Simmons in the first two series of Tenko, before starring for five years in the late 1980s in Bergerac as Susan Young, Jim Bergerac's girlfriend. In the mid-1980s, she played Tania Braithwaite, Pandora's mother, in both 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4' and 'The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole' for Thames Television. In the early 1990s she starred in the two series of Rides, and made numerous one-off appearances in various TV drama series, as well as numerous Doctor Who spin-off projects including the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time.

In 1998, Jameson began a long run in the BBC soap EastEnders as Rosa di Marco, appearing in over 200 episodes over two and a half years until August 2000. Later, she has appeared in episodes of the BBC Scotland soap River City as Viv Roberts, as a guest artist in episodes of Doctors, Holby City and The Bill, and as a regular in Doc Martin.[6]

Jameson continues to reprise the characters of Leela and Anne Reynolds in audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions and has also starred in Sapphire & Steel and Dark Shadows audio dramas for the same company. She has also appeared in documentaries and commentaries accompanying numerous BBC DVD releases of her Doctor Who serials. She is the subject of MJTV's The Actor Speaks Volume 5, where she discusses herself, her acting career and the various series she has been in.

In 2007, Jameson toured nationally in her one-woman show, Face Value.

Sophie Aldred, Louise Jameson and Katy Manning at a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary event in 2013

In 2013, Louise starred in the play Gutted by Rikki Beadle-Blair and has been nominated for Best Female Performance at the 2013 Off West End Theatre Awards (Offies). In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[7]

In 2016, she toured in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap,[8] the longest running show in British theatre.

Personal life

Jameson attended the independent Braeside School, Buckhurst Hill.

She was married to Martin Bedford. She is also good friends with her Big Finish Productions co-star Lalla Ward.[9] For many years she has lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Jameson was a regular prison visitor, monitoring prisoners' welfare, during the first few years of her career; and, during the early 1970s, she met Leslie Grantham at Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire, where he was serving 12 years of a life sentence for murder. She encouraged Grantham to become an actor.[10] By 1985 he had secured the role of Den Watts in EastEnders.

Jameson also works as a teacher of drama, directing youth productions of Shakespeare for local festivals.

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
1972Disciple of DeathBetty
1998After CeliaCorinne
2005Big Night OutLynne
2012Run for Your WifeReceptionist
2017Crossing OverAngela Winters
2018Modern LoveMum

Television
YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
1971The Marty Feldman Comedy MachineGirlEpisode #1.2
1971 Tom Brown's Schooldays Mary Arnold TV Series; 5 episodes [2]
1972 Cider With Rosie Junior teacher [2]
1973 Emmerdale Farm Sharon Crossthwaite 4 episodes [2]
1975 Space: 1999 Survivor (uncredited) Episode: "Mission of the Darians"
1976Play for TodayStellaEpisode: "The Peddler"
1976DominicHarriet4 episodes
1977The GameElsie Whitworth
1977–1978 Doctor Who Leela 40 episodes
1979 The Omega Factor Dr. Anne Reynolds All 10 episodes [2]
1981–1982 Tenko Blanche Simmons All 13 episodes [11]
1984The Gentle TouchEmma SaundersEpisode: "Mad Dog"
1985The Secret Diary of Adrian MoleTania Braithwaite3 episodes
1985–1990 Bergerac Susan Young All 35 episodes [11]
1987The Growing Pains of Adrian MoleTania BraithwaiteEpisode #1.5
1990–1995 Casualty Janet Tolchard / Judy 2 episodes
1991, 2004 The Bill Julie Willets / Irene Harris 3 episodes [2]
1992–1993 Rides Janet 6 episodes [2]
1992 My Friend Walker Joan Throckmorton
1993 Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time Leela
1995 Wycliffe Tilly Rawle Episode: "Wild Oats" [2]
1998–2000 EastEnders Rosa di Marco 229 episodes
2006–2019 Doctors Celeste / Shirley Carter / Joanna Chippington / Andrea Dodson / Geraldine Woods 5 episodes in total
2008 River City Viv Roberts 3 episodes
2011 The Vessel Kim's Mum 2 episodes
2011 Doc Martin Eleanor Glasson 5 episodes
2012 Holby City Mary Thorne 1 episode: "Fault Lines"
2013 The Dumping Ground Angel Episode: "The Truth Is Out There"
2013 The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Louise Jameson
2013 The Tractate Middoth Mary Simpson
2014 Toast of London Wendy Nook Episode: "Match Fit"
2015Guin and the DragonMelinda the Dragon Lady
2019 Secret Life of Boys Granny Bob 3 episodes
2020 Silent Witness Sue Marshall 2 episodes
2020 Bumps Barbara
gollark: Also, even if you could do this it would only work on your home network...
gollark: Many messaging apps are end to end encrypted now, which should make doing that at the network level impossible.
gollark: That's even less practical. Though I guess you could do it in the app receiving them itself.
gollark: Since HTTPS is pretty good, you would need to install root certificates on all devices connecting to this thing to make it okay with you intercepting their traffic, and MITM it.
gollark: They do *not* have all traffic routed through then.

References
  1. Lewis, Roz (28 February 2016). "Louise Jameson: 'I was paid £120 a show on Doctor Who – it was a lot more on EastEnders'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  2. "Jameson, Louise (1951- ) Film & TV credits". screenonline.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. Graeme Burk; Robert Smith (1 October 2013). "The Face of Evil (1977)". Who's 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die. ECW/ORIM. ISBN 978-1-77090-475-0.
  4. Valerie Estelle Frankel (4 March 2018). Women in Doctor Who: Damsels, Feminists and Monsters. McFarland. pp. 70–72. ISBN 978-1-4766-3154-7.
  5. Lewis, Roz (28 February 2016). "'I was paid £120 a show on Doctor Who - it was a lot more on EastEnders'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  6. Jameson, Louise. "Louise Jameson | The Official Website". Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  7. "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013
  8. "The Mousetrap - On tour". mousetrapontour.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  9. Ward, Lalla (19 November 2013). "Lalla Ward Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Interview" (Interview). Interviewed by Gilbert, Jan. Flicks And The City. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  10. McCaffrey, Julie (27 February 2020). "EastEnders Rosa di Marco was axed after refusing to play a racist". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  11. Duguid, Mark. "Jameson, Louise (1951- )". screenonline.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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