Barbara Flynn
Birthday: Born in 1948-08-05 in Hastings, East Sussex, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
Barbara Joy Flynn (born 5 August 1948) is an English actress. She first came to prominence playing Freda Ashton in the ITV drama series A Family at War (1970–1972). She went on to play the milk woman in the BBC comedy Open All Hours (1976–1985), Jill Swinburne in The Beiderbecke Trilogy (1985–1988), Dr. Rose Marie in the BBC series A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988), Judith Fitzgerald in the ITV drama Cracker (1993–1995), and Mrs. Jamieson in Cranford (2007–2009). In 2021, she appeared in Doctor Who: Flux as Tecteun, a founder of Time Lord society and The Doctor's adopted mother. Starting in 2023, she acted in Beyond Paradise, playing the mother of the detective's girlfriend. This included some episodes in 2024 where she was reunited with Peter Davison, her A Very Peculiar Practice co-star. In her own words, she tends to play "feisty, strong women"
TV Credits
Cracker
Character:
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind....
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Character: Maureen Finnegan
DS Barbara Havers is assigned to work with the upper-crust DI Thomas Lynley to solve murders....
Death in Paradise
Character: Patti Grenson
A brilliant but idiosyncratic British detective and his resourceful local team solve baffling murder mysteries on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie....
Inspector Morse
Character: Monica Height
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses....
The Beiderbecke Connection
Character: Jill Swinburne
The Beiderbecke Connection is a four-part British television serial written by Alan Plater and broadcast in 1988. It is the third and final part of The Beiderbecke Trilogy and stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne. Now with a baby in tow, Jill and Trevor are asked by Big Al to look after a refugee called "Ivan"....
The Beiderbecke Tapes
Character: Jill Swinburne
The Beiderbecke Tapes is a two-part 1987 British television comedy-drama serial written by Alan Plater. The second installment in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, it stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne. When a tape recording of a conversation about nuclear waste inadvertently falls into Chaplin's hands, he and Swinburne find themselves being pursued by national security agents....
The Beiderbecke Affair
Character: Jill Swinburne
Trevor Chaplin teaches woodwork and likes to listen to jazz. Jill Swinburne teaches English and wants to help save the planet. Trevor tries to buy some jazz records but this leads to meeting a 'dazzlingly beautiful platinum blond'....
Malice Aforethought
Character: Julia Bickleigh
Malice Aforethought is a 2005 ITV drama based on Anthony Berkeley Cox’s 1931 novel of the same name, made by Granada Television. There was an earlier BBC television adaptation of this novel in 1979. Dr. Edmund Bickleigh is married to a particularly overbearing woman who reminds him at every turn that he is living in her house. But the good doctor has outside interests to help him cope....
Wives and Daughters
Character: Miss Browning
The life of doctor's daughter Molly Gibson changes gradually after her widowed father chooses to remarry. The union brings into her once-quiet life an ever-proper stepmother and flirtatious stepsister, Cynthia, while a friendship with the local squire brings about an unexpected romance....
Pat & Cabbage
Character: Pat
With Pat suddenly widowed and Cabbage newly divorced, they find themselves single for the first time in decades. Barbara Flynn (Pat) and Cherie Lunghi (Cabbage) lead the cast as the friends with new found freedom, exploring new adventures, in a series about family and friendship....
The Barchester Chronicles
Character: Mary Bold
The Barchester Chronicles is a 1982 BBC television serial produced by Jonathan Powell and dramatised by Alan Plater, based on Anthony Trollope's first two Chronicles of Barsetshire, The Warden (1855) and Barchester Towers (1857). Against the sumptuous background of Peterborough Cathedral and its environs, one is carried into Trollope's world of the intriguing machinations of the clerical establishment of Barchester. Backed by the authenticity of the period detail, the portrayal of all the chara...
Cranford
Character: Mrs Jamieson
A rich and comic drama about the people of Cranford, a small Cheshire town on the cusp of change in the 1840s. Adapted from the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell....
The Forsyte Saga
Character: Emily Forsyte
The Forsyte Saga is a British-American drama television serial based on John Galsworthy's novel series of the same name. Taking place from the 1870s to the 1920s, three generations of the upper-middle-class Forsyte family are explored....
Maigret
Character:
Based on the novels by Georges Simenon, Michael Gambon plays the eponymous detective from the Sûreté in this 1992 revival of the 1960s BBC drama series. Maigret is an intuitutive detective, who investigates his cases by watching and listening, getting to know everyone on his list of suspects until someone makes a slip or breaks down and confesses....
Hornblower
Character: Mrs Mason
Set during the 18th century Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, a young and shy midshipman, rises through the ranks to become an admiral....
Cracker
Character: Judith Fitzgerald
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind....
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings
Character: Narrator (voice)
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4, that explores the lives and traditions of several Irish Traveller families as they prepare to unite one of their number in marriage. The series also featured Romanichal in several episodes, and has been criticised for not accurately representing England’s Romani and Travelling community. It was first broadcast in February 2010 as a one-off documentary called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, filmed as part of the Cutting Edge...
The Queen
Character: The Queen
The Queen was a 2009 British drama-documentary showing Queen Elizabeth II at different points during her life. Broadcast on Channel 4 over five consecutive nights from 29 November 2009, the Queen was portrayed by a different actress in each episode. The Queen was portrayed by Emilia Fox, Samantha Bond, Susan Jameson, Barbara Flynn and Diana Quick. Katie McGrath played Princess Margaret in the first episode and Lesley Manville played Margaret Thatcher in the third episode. The series was co-funde...
Performance
Character: Goneril
An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances....
Moving On
Character: Carol
Moving On is a British television series set in contemporary Britain consisting of standalone dramas all sharing the theme of someone going through some kind of change in their life and moving on. ...
Doctor Who
Character: Awsok
The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it....
1864
Character: Queen Victoria
When Prussia and Austria declare war on Denmark, two brothers are called to serve in the bloodiest battle in Denmark's history....
Perfect
Character: Imogen
A serial bigamist, Julie Harding (Michelle Collins) is a compulsive flirt with a wicked sense of humour. She loves a good wedding - especially her own - but Julie is a perfectionist, and the reality of married life doesn't always mirror the magic of the big day....
Sea of Souls
Character: Lt Col Petra Summers
Sea of Souls follows para-psychologist Monaghan and his two sidekicks from a fictitious Scottish University that investigates paranormal activity....
The Line of Beauty
Character: Sally Tipper
Crawl deep under the skin of Thatcher's Britain, seen through the eyes and experiences of a young, gay man, from the euphoria of falling in love to the tragedy of AIDS. A story of love, class, sex and money....
Elizabeth I
Character: Mary Queen of Scots
The reign of Elizabeth I of England and her relationships with the Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Essex....
Cracker
Character: Judith
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind....
Lorna Doone
Character: Sarah Ridd
Passionate love story set in 17th century rural England, charting the young John Ridd's search for revenge after his father's murder, and the chance encounter with beautiful Lorna Doone that changes the course of his life....
He Knew He Was Right
Character: Mrs. French
An adaptation of the novel of the same name which follows the breakdown of a young couple's marriage, due to the husband's insecurity and jealousy....
Play for Today
Character: Monica Potter
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration....
Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies
Character: Herself - Narrator
Series which celebrates an unlikely story of outstanding British aviation achievement at a time of national austerity, the breathtaking planes that were built and the remarkable men who flew them....
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Character: Self - Participant
Antiques experts accompany celebrities on a road trip around the UK searching for treasures and competing to make the most money at auction...
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Character: Mrs Allerton
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions....
Killing Eve
Character: Julia
A security consultant hunts for a ruthless assassin. Equally obsessed with each other, they go head to head in an epic game of cat-and-mouse....
Beyond Paradise
Character: Anne Lloyd
After leaving paradise and seeking a quieter life, Humphrey has taken a job as Detective Inspector in his fiancée Martha's hometown. But with the high crime rate, maybe things will be louder than expected....
Play for Today
Character: Margaret Hanson
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration....
Play for Today
Character: Jill
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration....
The Durrells
Character: Aunt Hermione
In 1935, financially strapped widow Louisa Durrell, whose life has fallen apart, decides to move from England, with her four children (three sons, one daughter), to the island of Corfu, Greece. Once there, the family moves into a dilapidated old house that has no electricity and that is crumbling apart. But life on Corfu is cheap, it's an earthly paradise, and the Durrells proceed to forge their new existence, with all its challenges, adventures, and forming relationships....
Murder in Mind
Character: Grace Fisher
Murder in Mind is a British television thriller drama anthology series of self-contained stories with a murderous theme seen from the perspective of the murderer....
Playhouse
Character: Heather
A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC....
A Very Peculiar Practice
Character: Dr Rose Marie
A young and idealistic Doctor Stephen Daker arrives at Lowlands University to work at the Health Centre, but has to cope with an eccentric set of colleagues....
Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle
Character: Pauline Sutton
Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle (often referred to simply as Murder Most English) is a seven-part British detective miniseries based on Colin Watson's Flaxborough novel series. While Martin Lisemore receives billing on all episodes, he died midway through filming, and was replaced by Bill Sellars, who refused credit. Flaxborough, near the sea, near the countryside, seems such a nice town, so quiet, so charming. But underneath its placid surface, all kinds of scandalous things go on...
Silent Witness
Character: Carol Fisher
A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible....
Secrets of the Royals: Births, Marriages and Deaths
Character: Narrator
Royal Births, Marriages, and Death is a captivating new ten-part documentary series featuring a dynamic and fresh cast of contributors with specialist expertise, extraordinary archive, ancient documents that reveal incredible insight. This stunning new series tells the story of a thousand years of monarchy through these powerful and pivotal moments....
A Family at War
Character: Freda MacKenzie
A Family at War is a British drama series created by John Finch and produced by Granada Television for ITV. It broadcast from 14 April 1970 to 16 February 1972. 52 episodes were made, all but eight in colour. Episodes numbers 25 to 32 were recorded in black and white because of the ITV Colour Strike (November 1970 — February 1971). The Ashton family struggles to deal with the harsh realities of the Second World War as their sons are sent away to fight. Those who remain at home in Liverpool live...
A Family at War
Character: Freda Ashton
A Family at War is a British drama series created by John Finch and produced by Granada Television for ITV. It broadcast from 14 April 1970 to 16 February 1972. 52 episodes were made, all but eight in colour. Episodes numbers 25 to 32 were recorded in black and white because of the ITV Colour Strike (November 1970 — February 1971). The Ashton family struggles to deal with the harsh realities of the Second World War as their sons are sent away to fight. Those who remain at home in Liverpool live...
Chandler & Co
Character: Dee Tate
Chandler and Co is a British television programme written by Paula Milne and produced by Ann Skinner for the BBC. Aired with two series from 1994 to 1995, it follows private detective Elly Chandler, alongside her sister-in-law Dee Tate. In the second series, Tate is replaced by Kate Phillips, a former client turned employee....
The Vanishing Man
Character: Dr Jeffries
The Vanishing Man is a 1998 British television programme created by Anthony Horowitz for ITV, and starring Neil Morrissey as Nick Cameron, wrongly imprisoned for smuggling plutonium, who used it for medical research – it turns him invisible when in contact with water. Having escaped from prison, his powers are then utilised by a government agency. The six-episode series is a sequel to the 1997 TV movie of the same name....
The Forsyte Saga
Character: Emily
The Forsyte Saga is a British-American drama television serial based on John Galsworthy's novel series of the same name. Taking place from the 1870s to the 1920s, three generations of the upper-middle-class Forsyte family are explored....
Open All Hours
Character: The Milk Woman
Open All Hours is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke, starring Ronnie Barker as penny-pinching corner-shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, and David Jason as his nephew and assistant Granville. The programme originated as a 1973 episode of Barker’s comedy anthology Seven of One, and later ran for 26 episodes; the first series broadcast on BBC2, the remaining three series broadcast on BBC1....
Centre Play
Character: Angie
Anthology series of half hour plays produced in BBC's Television Centre's studios....
The Borgias
Character: Isabella
Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family....
Guarding The Queen
Character: Narrator
Guarding the Queen is an ITV documentary series about the Grenadier Guards as cameras are allowed behind-the-scenes at the Royal Palaces for the first time. The series reveals the enormous amount of training and work that goes into a royal ceremony and the cruel reality of war as the Grenadiers go off to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight for their country....
Movie Credits
Miss Potter
Character: Helen Potter
Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved children's book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", struggles for love, happiness and success....
The Escort
Character: Kim's Mother
Fleeing from his wife in France to London, 45-year-old Pierre is barely able to support himself. He meets friendly Tom, who offers to help him make ends meet by working as a male escort....
Christmas at the Riviera
Character: Rita
The assistant manager of a seaside hotel is left to run the building over the Christmas period....
Dear Nobody
Character: Chris' Mother
...
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
Character: Aunt Bella
England, 1932. Today is Dolly Thatcham's wedding day, and her family is arriving at the manor house with all the cheerfulness, chaos and grievances that accompany such gatherings. Trouble soon appears in the shape of Joseph, Dolly's lover from the previous summer, who throws her feelings into turmoil. But Dolly's mother will not allow her carefully laid plans for her daughter's future to be threatened......
Just Henry
Character: Mrs Beaumont
Prompted by horrific nightmares, Henry delves into the mystery of his past and begins to uncover the truth about his father's death, triggering a series of revelations that will change his family forever....
Diana: The Curse of the Spencers
Character: Narrator
This powerful documentary delves deep into Diana's difficult upbringing, exploring how her parents' explosive relationship shaped the child that would become a Princess....
King Lear
Character: Goneril
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one....
The Christmas Candle
Character: Lady Camdon
Deep in the heart of the English countryside lies the enchanting village of Gladbury. Legend has it every 25 years an angel visits the village candlemaker and touches a single candle. Whoever lights this candle receives a miracle on Christmas Eve. But in 1890, at the dawn of the electric age, this centuries old legend may come to an end....
The Flying Scotsman: A Rail Romance
Character: Narrator (Voice)
Built in 1923, the Flying Scotsman was the first steam locomotive to run at 100 miles an hour and to star in its own feature film. This is the untold story of the iconic Flying Scotsman-the very best in the engineering of its time....
Season's Greetings
Character: Belinda
Adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's black comedy about eight adults trying to have a happy family Christmas and failing dismally....
Hornblower: Loyalty
Character: Mrs. Mason
Hornblower must deliver a French nobleman to a secret rendezvous near Brest, all while coping with enemy agents in his own ranks....
You're Dead...
Character: Prof. Corner
A veteran bank robber and his sidekicks plan a heist that goes awry....
Rosalind Franklin: DNA's Dark Lady
Character: Narrator
A documentary about Rosalind Franklin, the scientist who first photographed and discovered the shape of DNA....
Lorna Doone
Character: Sarah Ridd
The year is 1675. England is threatened by religious and political rivalries. King Charles II's Catholic brother, James, is next in line for the throne, but many Protestants put their faith in Charles' illegitimate son, The Duke of Monmouth. On the king's death, conflict is inevitable... Over seven days journey from London, Exmoor is a primitive and lawless area. Here, farmer Jack Ridd lives with his wife Sarah, son John, and two daughters. The only shadow over their simple life is cast by the n...
The Man Who Would Be Kubrick
Character: Self - Narrator
The documentary recounts Alan Conway's deception as Stanley Kubrick, exploiting misconceptions about Kubrick's appearance and people's desire for contact with a celebrity. It features an interview with Conway from 1996 and Alexander Walker's insights, aiming for objectivity. The narrator also addresses Conway's criminal past and allegations of sexual misconduct, linked to Kubrick's name. Conway died shortly before Kubrick. Cook and Frewin later made "Colour Me Kubrick," a comedy starring John Ma...
The Flight Fund
Character: Angie
Angie, Tony and their son Farnley go to stay with Uncle Edward. The routine of Edward and his companion servant, Blades, becomes unsettled when Edward and Angie develop a close bond....
Hornblower: Duty
Character: Mrs. Mason
Admiral Pellew interrupts Hornblower's wedding reception and tasks him to locate a British ship which has disappeared off the French coast, where Napoleon's troops are engaged in covert activities....
George Orwell: A Life In Pictures
Character: Narrator
Dramatised biography of writer George Orwell....
Burlesque Fairytales
Character: Mrs. Argyle
A fairytale thriller film set one night in a 1930's London theatre where all is not what it seems....
Cracker: Nine Eleven
Character: Judith Fitzgerald
After living in Australia for the past decade, Fitz and Judith return to Manchester in 2004 for their daughter Katie's wedding. Drinking too much at the reception, Fitz stumbles through a rambling toast, which only embarrasses the bride. Instead of spending time with his grandson, son of his married son Mark, Fitz opts to join in the investigation of a serial killer who has an apparent dislike of Americans in the wake of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq....
Love on a Gunboat
Character: Monica Potter
In 1956 Britain staggers through crises in Suez and Cyprus while Leslie Potter pursues and marries Monica Dobbs. Twenty years later the nation has still not recovered. Neither has Leslie....
The Vanishing Man
Character: Me Jeffries
While Nick Cameron is returning to England from the continent with mysterious cargo in the cabin section of his small aircraft, he is thrown off-course by a severe electrical storm and loses radio contact. To his surprise and horror, he is arrested upon landing and accused of being a traitor in connection with the cargo he has been carrying - which, unknown to him, contained plutonium. Although he pleads innocent, Nick is not believed and is sentenced to a long term in prison. While in prison, h...
No Visible Scar
Character: Margaret Hanson
A wounded member of a rebel terrorist organisation is tended by an English nurse. She is imprisoned, interrogated, then released to face another form of interrogation....
A Mother Like Him
Character: Jill
A family of five orphaned children are going to be split up into different homes. What will happen if the eldest is officially made their foster parent?...
Britannia Hospital
Character: Private Nurse
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments....
Standing in for Henry
Character: Heather
At an advertising agency in Nottingham, young graphic designer Graham is recruited as a temporary replacement for the iconic Henry. The agency are desperate to be part of the Swinging Sixties but not without Henry. Can Graham replace him?...
Bosses From Hell
Character:
John Cleese training video about bosses....
A Lion Called Christian
Character: Self - Narrator(voice)
In 2008, a clip posted on YouTube featuring an emotional reunion between a young lion and his owners became an internet sensation. Overnight people wanted to know more about what lay behind this clip. The two men in question, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall, have published an updated best-selling version of their account of how they came to buy Christian the lion from a London department store in the late 60s. They explain how they lived with the lion whilst working in a furniture shop dow...