Zienia Merton

Zienia Merton (11 December 1945 – 14 September 2018) was a British actress born in Burma. She was known for playing Sandra Benes in Space: 1999.

Early career Merton was the daughter of Minny and Cecil Burton. Her mother was Burmese, and her father was a half-English, half-French merchant. She was raised in Singapore, Portugal and England. She was educated at first in Portugal, but was later sent to Arts Educational school (today the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts) in Hertfordshire. long since lost in its original form. Her other early television appearances included Strange Report (1968), The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Jason King (1971). She was a lead actress as Christina in the 1971 Dennis Potter TV adaptation of Casanova with Frank Finlay, in Los Angeles, California, US on 13 September 1999; the date on which the moon is blasted out of Earth orbit in the pilot episode of the original series.

Other performances Following Space: 1999, Merton appeared in many popular television series including Grange Hill, Return of the Saint (1979), Bergerac (1983), Angels (1983), Tenko (1984), Dempsey & Makepeace (1985), Lovejoy (1986), Crime Traveller (1997), Doctors (2001), Dinotopia (2002), Casualty (1986–2002), EastEnders (1998–2003), The Bill (1999–2005), Judge John Deed (2006), Coronation Street (2008) and Wire in the Blood (2008).

In December 2008, Merton filmed a guest role for the eighth episode ("Samaritan") of the ITV drama Law & Order: UK. Although the series premiered on 23 February 2009, some episodes were held over for broadcast as "Series Two". "Samaritan" was first transmitted on ITV1 on 11 January 2010.

In May 2009, Merton returned to the world of Doctor Who, 45 years after her appearance in Marco Polo, to record a special episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures in the two-part episode The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, broadcast on BBC One on 29 and 30 October 2009. She played the registrar during Sarah Jane's wedding.

In 2018, Merton narrated BBC Audio's release of the novelisation of Marco Polo. This turned out to be her final professional engagement.

Death Merton was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017, and died 14 September 2018.

Books

Filmography

Film

Television