Wanda Ventham

Wanda Ventham (born 5 August 1935) is an English actress with many roles on British television since beginning her career in the 1950s.

Ventham played Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970s science-fiction television series UFO and had a recurring role as Cassandra Trotter's mother Pamela Parry in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses between 1989 and 1992. Her many other television appearances include Danger Man, The Rag Trade, The Sweeney, The Avengers, The Saint, Doctor Who, The Gentle Touch, Minder, Heartbeat and Holby City, and she appeared in two Carry On films.

In April 2014, People magazine featured her in its "Most Beautiful People in the World" edition.

Early life Ventham was born in Brighton on 5 August 1935, the daughter of Gladys Frances (née Holtham) and Frederick Howard Ventham. Originally aspiring to become an artist, she attended art school for a year whilst working as a scenic painter for the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, West Sussex, during her school holidays. The exposure to professional theatre prompted her to leave art school and pursue a career in acting. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, as a contemporary of Judi Dench, graduating in 1956.

Career Ventham's first film role was in My Teenage Daughter (1956), with Dame Anna Neagle and Sylvia Syms. She also appeared as a debutante in 1962 with a ten-second talking role in the Norman Wisdom film On the Beat and in 1963 as a nurse in the Norman Wisdom film A Stitch in Time – both were uncredited.

She also appeared in Carry On Cleo (1964) and Carry On Up the Khyber (1968). She starred alongside Mark Burns in the mystery film Death Is a Woman (1966). Her best-known role was on television as Col. Virginia Lake, second-in-command to Commander Ed Straker (Ed Bishop), in the cult series UFO.

Ventham's numerous other TV credits include regular roles in Heartbeat as Fiona Weston, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates as Margaret Balshaw, and in Series 2 and 3 of The Rag Trade as Shirley. She also played a love interest for Arthur Daley in Minder, Susan's mother in Coupling, and Deborah's mother in Men Behaving Badly. She starred opposite Ian Hendry in the 15-part BBC series The Lotus Eaters (1972–73), had a recurring role in the final series of The Troubleshooters, and made a guest appearance in the fifth episode of the first season of the BBC Two sketch show Rutland Weekend Television. She was in an episode of Danger Man, and the series Patrick McGoohan completed immediately afterwards – the allegorical spy series The Prisoner – as well as the sitcoms Executive Stress and Next of Kin, and the sketch show The Two Ronnies.

She has appeared in Doctor Who on three occasions over three decades; as Jean Rock in The Faceless Ones (1967), as Thea Ransome in Image of the Fendahl (1977) and as Faroon in Time and the Rani (1987). Her appearance in Image of the Fendahl was opposite Denis Lill, with whom she would later act when they were cast as Pamela and Alan Parry in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1989–1992).

In 2014, she and her husband Timothy Carlton appeared in the BBC adaptation of Sherlock as the parents of Sherlock Holmes, who is played by their son Benedict Cumberbatch. Ventham appeared in Holby City as Sheilagh Chiltern, the grandmother of Lofty Chiltern.

Personal life Ventham married her first husband James Tabernacle in 1957 and they had one daughter, Tracy. They divorced on 12 November 1974. She met actor Timothy Carlton in 1970 while filming sequences for the drama series A Family at War and they have been married since April 1976. The couple appeared together in the second series of BBC drama The Lotus Eaters in 1973, and in the third and fourth series of BBC's Sherlock in 2014 and 2017, where they played the title character's parents, with their son, actor Benedict Cumberbatch starring in the title role of Holmes. Diana Reed Episode: "Thanks for the Offer" Department S Leila Rankin Episode: "The Man from 'X'" Dixon of Dock Green Debbie Franklin Episode: "Bobby" 1970 Z-Cars Mrs. Owen Episode: "By Bread Alone Part One"

A Family At War Jenny Graham 3 episodes UFO Col. Virginia Lake 9 episodes 1970 Doctor at Large Maggie Weston Episode: "Mr. Moon"

Thirty-Minute Theatre Jasmine Episode: "Walt, King of the Dumper" The Fenn Street Gang Elinor Episode: "Change Partners" 1972–1973 The Lotus Eaters Ann Shepherd Miniseries

The Sweeney Brenda Episode: "Abduction" Softly, Softly: Task Force Julie Brent Episode: "The Talking Doll" Rutland Weekend Television Various characters 2 episodes 1976 Emmerdale Farm Heather Bannerman 6 episodes 1977 Crown Court Sybil Halstead 2 serials 1978–1979 Fallen Hero Dorothy Hopkins Lead role; 11 episodes 1980 The Two Ronnies Jack 2 episodes

Minder Beryl Murdoch Episode: "Dreamhouse" Union Castle Ursula, Lady Thaxted 7 episodes The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim Veronica Allen Episode: "A Foot in the Door" The Brack Report Kate Randall Chapter 7 1982 Only When I Laugh Fiona Episode: "Conduct Unbecoming" 1984 Killer Contract Dorothy Routledge TV film 1986–1987 Executive Stress Sylvia Recurring; 4 episodes 1988 All Creatures Great and Small Mrs. Ridge Episode: "The Jackpot"

Capstick's Law Madge Capstick 6 episodes Boon Marion Kershaw Episode: "Of Meissen Men" 1989–1992 Only Fools and Horses Pamela Parry (Cassandra's Mum) 4 episodes 1993 Just a Gigolo Marge Payne 3 episodes 1995–1996 Next of Kin Rosie 6 episodes 1996–1997 Heartbeat Fiona Weston 4 episodes

Alas Smith and Jones Episode: "Cookery" Men Behaving Badly Penny (Deborah's Mum) Episode: "Ten"

The Vanishing Man Mrs. Braithwaite Episode: "Nothing Up My Sleeve" Hetty Wainthropp Investigates Margaret Balshaw 2 episodes Casualty Mrs. Seabrook Episode: "Everlasting Love" 2000 Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Alice Fullcup Episode: "Mental Apparition Disorder" 2001 Coupling Edna (Susan's Mum) Episode: "My Dinner in Hell" 2005 Midsomer Murders Romany Rose Episode: "Second Sight" 2007 Lewis Eleanor Mallory Episode: "Expiation" 2014–2017 Sherlock Mrs. Holmes (Sherlock Holmes' mother) Episodes: "The Empty Hearse", "His Last Vow" and "The Final Problem" 2014–2018 Holby City Sheilagh Chiltern Recurring; 10 episodes 2018 Father Brown Ellen Jennings Episode: "The Angel of Mercy" 2019 Departure Wendy 2 episodes 2020 Penance Fay 3 episodes

Theatre Year Title Role Venue 1960 Watch It, Sailor! Daphne Pink Apollo Theatre, London 1979 Julius Caesar Portia Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester 1990 Out of Order Pamela Shaftesbury Theatre, London 1992 It Runs in the Family Rosemary Mortimore Playhouse Theatre, London 2002 One for the Pot Amy Hardcastle Theatre Royal, Windsor 2012 Quartet Cissy Theatre-on-the-Bay, Cape Town 2014 Entertaining Angels Ruth