Wendy Craig

Season 1Episode 690 minNov 6, 2022
Wendy Craig

Wendy was born in County Durham in 1934 as Anne Gwendolyn Craig. She reveals that she first set her sights on an acting career at the age of three after seeing a pantomime in Newcastle. At drama school in London in the early 1950s, a performance she gave alongside fellow trainee and future Sherlock Holmes star Jeremy Brett was so impressive that she picked up both her first professional acting job and an agent in the same evening. By the 1960s, Wendy was carving out a career playing fragile and vulnerable women in British movie classics such as The Servant and The Nanny, and sharing the screen with luminaries such as Dirk Bogarde, Bette Davis and Oliver Reed. After 1967, her shift into TV sitcoms such as Not in Front of the Children and And Mother Makes Three marked a sea change in her career. Her friends and fans agree that 1978's Butterflies is her greatest success, giving her an opportunity to blend the fragility and daffiness of her previous screen work to create an exciting new character: the bored housewife Ria Parkinson — famously unlucky in the kitchen and tempted to have an affair to spice up her unfulfilled home life. Wendy soon found herself receiving sackloads of fan mail from viewers who believed that their own unhappy lives were being charted on screen, in what series creator Carla Lane described as a ‘situation tragedy'. Few realized that Lane was initially overwhelmed by memories of Craig's earlier work as ditzy mothers and unhappy about the idea of casting her as Ria. Fortunately, BBC comedy executive John Howard Davies changed her mind. Wendy's work on comedies such as Butterflies, and dramas like Nanny and The Royal, earned her a reputation for playing sympathetic characters with a strong maternal streak. But in 2017, the creators of ITV's Unforgotten drama series turned that on its head by casting her as a mother who had allowed her husband to abuse their children in one of the year's most upsetting TV moments. Wendy is joined by her family, friends and co-stars such as Michael Starke, David Parfitt and Bruce Montague sharing affectionate memories from their time on set with an actor they describe as being very like Ria Parkinson — except that she really can cook.

Wendy Craig has aired on Nov 6, 2022 at 9:00 PM
Previous Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Yes, Chef!
Running

Yes, Chef!

Yes, Chef! blends the high-stakes thrill of a cooking competition with the raw emotion of personal transformation as it delves into the powerful personalities attracted to the chaotic culinary lifestyle. The series puts 12 highly skilled chefs, who have been nominated by their bosses, co-workers, friends and even family, through the ultimate test. These rising stars all have natural talent, but their egos, intensity, stubbornness or short fuses are holding them back from reaching their full potential. The chefs will have to prove they have the culinary chops and the right attitude to make it to the end. The chef who handles the heat, impressing with both their food and teamwork while improving their behavior, will take home the $250,000 grand prize, provided by granola brand Purely Elizabeth.

GenreFood
The Bold and the Beautiful
Running

The Bold and the Beautiful

They created a dynasty where passion rules, they are the Forresters, the first name in Fashion. The Bold and the Beautiful, a world of fashion, glamor and romance. A place where power, money and success are there for the taking in a city where dreams really do come true. Follow the lives and loves of the Forresters on The Bold and the Beautiful...

And Just Like That...
Running

And Just Like That...

Picking up the story of Sex and the City, And Just Like That… follows Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan
Running

Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan

Freddy Dodge is no stranger when it comes to gold mining. With nearly 40 years of mining under his belt, he's known around the world as the "Gold Guru" and the person struggling mine owners call when they're striking out. Now he's going on the road to help struggling mine owners to hit the motherlode in Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan. To help him turnaround the operations, Freddy has teamed up with expert mechanic and fellow Gold Rush miner Juan Ibarra. At each location, the mining duo will use their knowledge of geology, prospecting, drilling and testing to get back on the paydirt. But it isn't just running their dirt faster. It's about making the operations better, and more importantly, running cheaper.

Grimsburg
Running

Grimsburg

Marvin Flute may be the greatest detective ever to catch a cannibal clown or correctly identify a mid-century modern armoire. But there's one mystery he still can't crack - his family. Now that he's back in Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, Flute will follow every lead he's got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, even if it means hanging out with the son he never bothered to get to know.