Misplaced Pages

#668331

27-507: Raisin has been played by Penelope Keith on BBC Radio 4 , and by Ashley Jensen in the television series Agatha Raisin . The pilot aired on Sky 1 in December 2014. A full 8-part series, filmed during 2015, began airing on Sky 1 in June 2016. For series 2, the format was changed from 45-minute episodes to two 90-minute TV movies. Series 3 premiered on 28 October 2019 and the four stories retained

54-628: A Lady (1990–92) and Next of Kin (1995–97). Since 2000, she has worked mainly in the theatre, with her roles including Madam Arcati in Blithe Spirit (2004) and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest (2007). Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born in Sutton in 1940. Her father, an army officer who was a Major by the end of the Second World War , left her mother Connie when Keith

81-447: A Lady , Law and Disorder and Next of Kin . She also had the starring role in a TV adaptation of Agatha Christie 's play Spider's Web . She won a second BAFTA award as " Best Actress " in 1978 for The Norman Conquests . In 1982, Keith starred in a TV production of Frederick Lonsdale's On Approval . In 1988, she hosted one series of the ITV panel show What's My Line? , following

108-526: A quiche competition. She promptly bought a spinach quiche in London from a famous quiche shop and entered it as her own. She was outraged she did not win but later the judge, Reg Cummings-Browne, took another slice and died from cowbane poisoning. Frustrated, Agatha set out to find the poisoner and clear her own name. Agatha's character in the TV series, as played by Ashley Jensen , is notably different to her depiction in

135-510: A rare family vacation to the Cotswolds (her parents preferred going to a casino/holiday camp) and she never forgot that golden holiday or the beauty of the countryside. Agatha went to the local comprehensive, then saved enough from her biscuit factory wages to run off to London. After an evening secretarial course she worked as a secretary in a public relations firm, moved into public relations work and saved enough to start her own firm. She lives in

162-770: Is an award given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at their annual BAFTA Television Awards ceremony. This category has had minor name changes: Prior to the 1994 ceremony, acting performances in comedy roles were included in this category. Since 1994 they have been recognised in the Best Comedy Performance category. The following people have been awarded the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance multiple times: 6 wins 4 wins 3 wins 2 wins The following people have been nominated for

189-490: Is occasionally repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra . Keith was President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund from 1990 to 2022, taking over after the death of Laurence Olivier . She was a Trustee of Brooklands Museum from 2009 to 2018. On 2 April 2002, her 62nd birthday, Keith began a one-year term as High Sheriff of Surrey , the third woman to hold the post. She has also served in the past as a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey . Keith

216-719: The British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born . She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity. Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, and went on to win the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for

243-634: The Channel 4 series Village of the Year with Penelope Keith . It was announced in February 2018 that Keith would be starring as Mrs St Maugham in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Enid Bagnold 's The Chalk Garden from 25 May to 16 June 2018. In 1978, the year The Good Life ended, she married Rodney Timson, a policeman. They had met while he was on duty at Chichester Theatre where Keith

270-560: The Savoy Theatre . In 2004, Keith starred in the first of ten full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of M.C. Beaton 's Agatha Raisin novels, playing the title role. Two years later, she appeared at the Chichester Festival in the premiere of Richard Everett 's comedy Entertaining Angels , which she later took on tour. In 2007, she played the part of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest on tour, which transferred to

297-665: The 90-minute format. Agatha Raisin is a frustrated, yet endearing, middle-aged public-relations agent who moved from London to Carsely in the Cotswolds when she sold her public-relations firm in Mayfair and took early retirement. She solves murders in each of the earlier books, but in the fifteenth book Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (2004) Agatha sets up her own detective agency. The police, and even some of her acquaintances, insist that she solves crimes through accident and luck. In

SECTION 10

#1732868826669

324-752: The Hyde Park Hotel in the evenings. Keith began her career working in repertory theatre around Britain, including Lincoln , Manchester , and Salisbury . Keith's earliest appearances were in The Tunnel of Love , Gigi , and Flowering Cherry . In 1963, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and acted with them in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London. Keith began her television career in programmes such as The Army Game , Dixon of Dock Green , Wild, Wild Women and The Avengers . In

351-650: The Manor Born . In 2003, she appeared opposite June Brown in the television film Margery & Gladys . In 2007, she starred in a one-off To the Manor Born Christmas Special, Keith also voiced The Bear with Brown Fuzzy Hair in Teletubbies . In 2009 she presented Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady , a one-off documentary for BBC Four about Dorothy Levitt , the Edwardian motoring pioneer. She presented

378-596: The West End in 2008, at the Vaudeville Theatre . She has voiced adverts including ones for Pimm's , Lurpak , Tesco and most famously, The Parker Pen Company , which was named one of the 100 Greatest Adverts in a Channel 4 programme. In 2012, she starred in Keith Waterstone's Good Grief , having previously appeared in the play's premier production in 1998. In 1997, she starred in the radio adaptations of To

405-577: The West End with her mother. When she was eight years old, her mother remarried and she adopted her stepfather's surname, Keith. While she did not get on with her stepfather, her mother was a "rock of love" to her. She was rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama , on the grounds that, at 5'10" (1.78 m), she was too tall. However, she was then accepted at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and spent two years there while working at

432-603: The death of its former presenter, Eamonn Andrews . She had a featured role in the 1998 ITV serial Coming Home . Keith has regularly appeared on stage, taking the classics and new plays across the UK. These include Shakespeare, Shaw, Sheridan, Wilde, Rattigan and Congreve. She played Lorraine in Noël Coward 's Star Quality , while in 2004 she played Madame Arcati in Coward's Blithe Spirit at

459-553: The early 1970s, she appeared in The Morecambe & Wise Show , Ghost Story and The Pallisers . Her film appearances during this time included Every Home Should Have One , Take A Girl Like You , Rentadick and Penny Gold . In 1967, she had a minor role in Carry On Doctor , but the scene was cut from the final edit. She appeared as a nurse in A Touch of Love 1969. Her best known theatre appearance, in 1974,

486-446: The episodes and series went on, the scope of her role increased. In 1977, Keith won a BAFTA award for "Best Light Entertainment Performance" for her role of Margo Leadbetter. From 1979 to 1981, she played the lead role of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the TV series To the Manor Born . Following To the Manor Born , Keith has appeared in the lead role in six other sitcoms: Sweet Sixteen , Moving , Executive Stress , No Job for

513-517: The first book, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992), Agatha is 53. (She remains 'in her early fifties' throughout the series, even in the novels set during the late 2000s / early 2010s recession.) She was born Agatha Styles in a tower block slum in Birmingham to Joseph and Margaret Styles, both unemployed drunks living on benefits and occasional bouts of shoplifting. She went for one glorious week on

540-527: The four-part BBC documentary The Manor Reborn in 2011. Since 2014, she has presented all three series of the More4 / Channel 4 programme Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages and in June 2016 she presented Penelope Keith at Her Majesty's Service again for Channel 4. In December 2017, she presented Penelope Keith's Coastal Villages , a continuation of the Hidden Villages series. In early 2018, she presented

567-488: The novels: she is less bitter and more vulnerable than the version in the books. Other characters from the novels and some of the relationships between them are also notably different in the TV series, making the cast more of an ensemble. Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith , DBE , DL ( née Hatfield ; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in

SECTION 20

#1732868826669

594-599: The play Donkeys' Years . She became a household name in the UK playing Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life (1975–78), winning the 1977 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance . In 1978, Keith won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for The Norman Conquests . She then starred as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the sitcom To the Manor Born (1979–81), a show that received audiences of more than 20 million. She went on to star in another six sitcoms, including Executive Stress (1986–88), No Job for

621-508: The village of Carsely, but her detective agency Raisin Investigations and the police headquarters where Bill Wong is based are in the nearby town of Mircester. Even though Carsely and Mircester are fictional, they are based on true places; she does, however frequent Evesham , Moreton-in-Marsh , Stow-on-the-Wold , Chipping Campden and other nearby villages quite often. Agatha's first case came when she first moved to Carsely and heard about

648-689: Was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea , Essex and Clapham , south London. Her great uncle, John Gurney Nutting, was a partner in the coachbuilding firm of J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited , and Keith recalls sitting in the Prince of Wales 's car. Although not a Roman Catholic, at the age of six she was sent to a Catholic convent boarding school , run by French nuns, in Seaford , East Sussex , with Judy Cornwell . Here she became interested in acting, and she frequently went to matinées in

675-568: Was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1989 New Year Honours. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for "charitable services". In the 2014 New Year Honours , she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to the Arts and to Charity. British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance The British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance

702-699: Was performing. In 1988, ten years after their wedding, they adopted two boys, who were brothers. Keith and Timson now live in Milford, Surrey . Keith has a great passion for gardening. In 1984, she had a rose named after her. She is president of the South West Surrey chapter of the National Trust . In 2014, she presented 4 Extra Goes Gardening in which she celebrated the work of garden designer Gertrude Jekyll at her former home, Munstead Wood in Godalming . It

729-568: Was playing Sarah in The Norman Conquests , alongside Felicity Kendal , her co-star in The Good Life . Keith and Kendal would often film The Good Life during the day and perform on stage in the West End in the evening. Keith achieved popular fame in 1975 when the BBC sitcom The Good Life began. In the first episode, she was only heard and not seen in her role as Margo Leadbetter, but as

#668331