Barbara Flynn
Barbara Joy Flynn (born Barbara Joy McMurray, 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.
Barbara Flynn

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- Name
- Barbara Flynn
- Birth Name
- Barbara Joy McMurray
- Born
- 5 August 1948
- Birthplace
- St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England
- Occupation
- Actress
- Education
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
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Barbara Flynn, actrice, naquit le 5 août 1948 à Hastings.
Vie
La naissance est enregistrée par la Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Institutions citées
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Non précisé par les sources citées: nationalité
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q4858886 · wikipedia · Barbara Flynn
In this article
Biography
Biography
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 adoptive 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".
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Barbara Flynn • Birth Name — Barbara Joy McMurray • Born — 5 August 1948 • Birthplace — St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England • Occupation — Actress • Education — Guildhall School of Music and Drama • Years Active — 1970–present • Children — 1
Personal life
Personal life
Flynn was born as Barbara Joy McMurray, in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. Her Irish father, Dr James McMurray, was a pathologist. Her mother was Joy (or Joyce) Crawford Hurst. Flynn attended St Mary's Convent School, Hastings. She then trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (where she was awarded the Gold Medal in 1968) before appearing in repertory theatre. Flynn married television producer and science writer Jeremy Taylor in 1982. The couple had a son, born in 1990. Taylor died on 17 July 2017.
Television
Television
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1970–1972 — A — Freda MacKenzie (née Ashton) — Main role, 40 episodes • 1972 — Thirty Minutes Worth — Various characters — Episode: "1.6" • Z-Cars — Jane Wardle — Episode: "Old Acquaintance" • 1975 — Centre Play — Angie — Episode: "The Flight Fund" • 1976 — Couples — Sally Mackworth — Episodes: "1.58", "1.59", "1.60" • ITV Sunday Night Drama — Beryl — Episode: "Afternoon Dancing" • 1977 — Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle — Pauline Sutton — Episode: "The Flaxborough Crab: Part 2" • 1977, 1981, 1982 — Play for Today — Monica Potter, Margaret Hanson, Jill — Episodes: "Love on a Gunboat", "No Visible Scar", "A Mother Like Him" • 1980 — Keep It in the Family — Marlene — Episode: "Phoney Business" • BBC2 Playhouse — Heather — Episode: "Standing in for Henry" • 1981 — Second Chance — Sarah Fletcher — Episode: "October" • The — Sue — Episode: "Absolute Zero: Part 2" • Maybury — Dorothy Kemp — Episodes: "Mary", "Hugo" • The Last Song — Shirley — 6 episodes • The — Sandy — Episode: "Protection" • 1981–1982, 1985 — Open All Hours — The Milk Woman — Guest role (series 2–4), 11 episodes • 1982 — The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim — Joanna Lassiter — Episodes: "The Big Smoke", "A Foot in the Door", "Scoop", "The Ties That Bind" • The — Mary Bold — Miniseries, 6 episodes • 1985 — The — Jill Swinburne — Miniseries, 6 episodes • 1986 — Day To Remember — Judy — TV film • Season's Greetings — Belinda — TV film • 1986–1988 — A — Dr. Rose Marie — Main role, 14 episodes • 1987 — The — Jill Swinburne — Miniseries, 2 episodes • Inspector Morse — Monica Height — Episode: "The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn" • 1988 — The — Jill Swinburne — Miniseries, 4 episodes • 1989 — Theatre Night — Jane — Episode: "Benefactors" • 1990 — The — Eleanor Goodchild — Episodes: "The Lady from Rome: Parts 1–3" • 1991 — Joshua Jones — Fiona Cashmore, Dakasha Karia, Daphne Peacock, Additional voices — 12 episodes • 1992 — Boon — Sheila Green — Episode: "Queen's Gambit" • 1993 — Maigret — Madame Maigret — Episodes: "Maigret on the Defensive", "Maigret's Boyhood Friend", "Maigret and the Minister" • 1993–1995 — Cracker — Judith Fitzgerald — Main role, 20 episodes • 1994 — Chandler & Co — Dee Chandler Tate — Main role, 6 episodes • 1997 — Scene — (unknown) — Episode: "A Man of Letters" • The — Ms. Jeffries — TV film • 1998 — Dear Nobody — Chris's Mother — TV film • Performance — Goneril — Episode: "King Lear" • 1999 — Wives and Daughters — Miss Browning — Miniseries, 4 episodes • 2000 — Lorna Doone — Sarah Ridd — TV film • 2001 — Perfect — Imogen — TV film • 2002 — The — Eleanor Kimbrough — TV film • Night Flight — Moira — TV film • The — Emily Forsyte — Regular role, 6 episodes • 2003 — Hornblower: Loyalty — Mrs. Mason — TV film • Murder in Mind — Grace Fisher — Episode: "Stalkers" • Sweet Medicine — Jane Frampton — Episode: "1.3" • Hornblower: Duty — Mrs. Mason — TV film • 2004 — The — Maureen Finnegan — Episode: "If Wishes Were Horses" • Poirot — Mrs. Allerton — Episode: "Death on the Nile" • He Knew He Was Right — Mrs. French — Miniseries, 3 episodes • 2005 — Sea of Souls — Lt. Col. Petra Summers — Episodes: "Omen: Parts 1 & 2" • Malice Aforethought — Julia Bickleigh — TV film • Elizabeth I — Mary, Queen of Scots — Miniseries, 2 episodes • 2006 — The — Sally Tipper — Episode: "To Whom Do You Beautifully Belong" • Cracker — Judith Fitzgerald — TV special of the main TV series • 2007 — Dalziel and Pascoe — Narrator of TV Documentary — Episode: "Project Aphrodite: Part 1" (uncredited role) • The — Eileen Dallaglio — TV film • Christmas at the Riviera — Rita — TV film • 2007–2009 — Cranford — Mrs. Jamieson — Main role, 8 episodes • 2008 — 10 Days to War — Clare Short — Miniseries, Episode: "These Things Are Always Chaos" • Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures — Croc Trooper / Sister Chalice (voice) — Episode: "The Skull of Sobek" • 2009 — New Tricks — Carole Milburn — Episode: "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" • The — Queen Elizabeth II — Episode: "The Enemy Within" • 2011 — Silent Witness — Carol Fisher — Episodes: "Lost: Parts 1 & 2" • Midsomer Murders — Millie Bullard — Episode: "The Oblong Murders" • Just Henry — Mrs. Beaumont — TV film • 2012 — The — Isabella — Episode: "The Choice" • 2013 — Moving On — Carol — Episode: "The Shrine" • Pat & Cabbage — Pat — Main role, 6 episodes • 2014 — 1864 — Queen Victoria — Episode: "1.3" • 2016–2019 — The — Aunt Hermione — 5 episodes • 2019 — Killing Eve — Julia — Episode: "Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?" • 2020 — Death in Paradise — Patti Grenson — Episode: "A Murder in Portrait" • 2020–2022 — Kate & Koji — Councillor Lavinia Bone — Main role, 10 episodes • 2021 — Doctor Who — Awsok / Tecteun — Episodes: "Once, Upon Time", "Survivors of the Flux" • 2022 — Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Adventures — Professor Vansom (voice) — Episode: "Secrets of Telos" • 2023–present — Beyond Paradise — Anne Lloyd — Main role, 20 episodes
Narration
Narration
In addition to her acting work, Flynn has provided voice-overs for numerous TV documentaries, including: • Body Styles (1989) • Time of Her Life (1993) • Network First (1 episode; 1997) • The Lost Gardens of Heligan (1997) • The Real... (1 episode; 1999) • The Man Who Would be Kubrick (1999) • Deaf Century (3 episodes; 1999) • The 1900 House (1999) • Horizon (8 episodes, 1999–2008) • When Pat Phoenix Met Tony Booth (2002) • Rosalind Franklin: DNA's Dark Lady (2003) • The 50s and 60s in Living Colour (2003) • George Orwell: A Life in Pictures (2003) • Diana Mosley: Adolf, Oswald and Me (2003) • Your Life in Their Hands (1 episode; 2004) • From Here to Paternity (2004) • The Monastery (2005) • The Ghost in Your Genes (2005) • Timeshift (2 episodes; 2005) • The Queen's Castle (2005) • You Don't Know You're Born (3 episodes; 2007) • There's Something About... Morse (2007) • Queen Camilla (2007) • Guarding the Queen (2007) • The Restaurant (1 episode; 2008) • The Lion Cub from Harrods (2009) • Cutting Edge (1 episode; 2010) • Big Fat Gypsy Weddings (14 episodes; 2011–2013) • Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (2 episodes; 2012) • Hillsborough: The Search for the Truth (2012) • The Flying Scotsman: A Rail Romance (2013) • The Planners (8 episodes; 2013) • Permission Impossible: Britain's Planners (8 episodes; 2014) • Countdown to Murder (8 episodes; 2021) • 1978: The Winter of Discontent (2022) • Diana: the Curse of the Spencers (2022) • The Kardashians: Billion Dollar Dynasty (2 episodes; 2023) • Morse and the Last Endeavour (2023)
Video games
Video games
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2020 — The Waylanders — (voice)
Theatre work
Theatre work
Flynn appeared in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of Pythagoras in 1976. This was a new play by Danny Abse. In 2016, she appeared in the world premiere production of Elegy at the Donmar Warehouse.
Film
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1982 — Britannia Hospital — Private Nurse • 1990 — Quick Change — Hostage • 1999 — You're Dead — Professor Corner • The Escort — Kim's Mother • 2006 — Miss Potter — Helen Potter • 2009 — Burlesque Fairytales — Mrs. Argyle • 2012 — Cheerful Weather for the Wedding — Aunt Bella • 2014 — The — Lady Camdon
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Barbara Flynn, revision 1372335972 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.BFI Screenonline: Family at War, A (1970-72). www.screenonline.org.uk.
- 2.Barbara Flynn. BFI.
- 3.BBC. BBC – Press Office – Sea of Souls Barbara Flynn. 8 December 2004.
- 4.Barbara Flynn | Theatricalia. theatricalia.com.
- 5.Flynn Taylor, Barbara. Jeremy Taylor obituary. The Guardian. 17 October 2017.
- 6.Nesse, Randolph. In Memory of Jeremy Taylor, Associate Editor The Evolution and Medicine Review. evmedreview.com. 2 August 2017.
- 7.Shenton, Mark. Casting for Donmar Warehouse Premiere of Elegy; to Include Zoë Wanamaker. Playbill. 15 January 2016.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
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