Patsy Byrne
Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne (13 July 1933 – 17 June 2014) was an English actress, best known for her role as "Nursie" in Blackadder II as well as Malcolm's domineering Mother, Mrs Stoneway in all seven series of the ITV comedy Watching between 1987 and 1993.
Also recorded as Patricia Byrne · Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne
Patsy Byrne
- Name
- Patsy Byrne
- Occupation
- Actress
- Education
- Rose Bruford College
- Birth Name
- Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne
- Born
- 13 July 1933
- Birthplace
- Bexhill, Sussex, England
- Died
- 17 June 2014
- Place of death
- Denville Hall, Northwood, London, England
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Patsy Byrne. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7148227 · wikipedia · Patsy Byrne
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Patsy Byrne • Occupation — Actress • Education — Rose Bruford College • Birth Name — Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne • Born — 13 July 1933 • Birthplace — Bexhill, Sussex, England • Died — 17 June 2014 • Place of death — Denville Hall, Northwood, London, England
Biography
Biography
Byrne was educated at Ashford County Grammar School. She studied drama at Rose Bruford College before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company playing parts such as Maria in Twelfth Night and Gruscha in The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Aldwych Theatre in the early 1960s. In the 1980s she also worked at Chichester Festival Theatre. Byrne appeared alongside Tony Robinson in a Series 3 episode of Maid Marian and her Merry Men. She played Betty the Tea Lady on the BBC children's programme Playdays. She also played Marge Stoneway, mother of Malcolm, in TV series Watching which ran from 1987 to 1993. Other roles included appearances in I, Claudius (1976), Stealing Heaven (1988), Inspector Morse (1989), 2point4 Children (1991), Les Misérables (1998), David Copperfield (1999) and Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), as well as numerous radio plays. Byrne performed in the 1990 BBC production of C. S. Lewis' The Silver Chair as the giant nanny in the city of the giants. In 1998 she played Martha Coutts in episode 19 of series 7 of Heartbeat.
Death
Death
Byrne died at Denville Hall, a retirement home for performers, on 17 June 2014.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1957 — BBC Sunday Night Theatre — Susan Barwell — "The Mayor's Nest" • 1962 — The Cherry Orchard — Dunyasha, the maid • 1963 — Espionage — Maid — "The Frantic Rebel" • 1970 — The Wednesday Play — Markenka — "The Cellar and the Almond Tree" • Z Cars: "Lost" — Bessie Laidlaw — 2 episodes • 1971 — Doomwatch — Mary Franklin — Episode: "By the Picking of My Thumbs" • 1972 — The Alf Garnett Saga — Mrs. Frewin • The Ruling Class — Mrs. Pamela Treadwell • 1973 — Z Cars — Mary Walker — Episode: "Nuisance" • 1974 — The Gathering Storm — Cook — TV movie • 1976 — I, Claudius — Martina — Episode: "Some Justice" • 1977 — Eleanor Marx — Lenchen — 3 episodes (TV mini-series) • Just William — Mrs. Coombe — Episode: "The Great Detective" • 1978 — All Creatures Great and Small — Mrs. Hammond — Episode: "A Dog's Life" • The Class of Miss MacMichael — Mrs. Green • The Devil's Crown — Florence — 3 episodes (TV mini-series) • Hazell — Mrs. Dobson — Episode: "Hazell Settles the Accounts" • 1979 — My Son, My Son — Mrs. O'Riordan — 1 episode • 1979–1980 — The Old Curiosity Shop — Mrs. Nubbles — 4 episodes (TV mini-series) • 1980 — A Little Silver Trumpet — Mrs. Cleaver — 5 episodes • 1980–1984 — The Setbacks — Lily Setback — 17 episodes • 1982 — Britannia Hospital — Nurse • Educating Marmalade — MP's Nanny — Episode: "Nanny" • The Return of the Soldier — Mrs. Plummer • Tales of the Unexpected — Jean — "The Absence of Emily" • 1983–1984 — Miracles Take Longer — Betty Hackforth — 36 episodes • 1984 — Danger, Marmalade at Work — Miss Peach — Episode: "Social Worker" • 1985 — Bleak House — Mrs. Blinder — 1 episode (TV mini-series) • 1986 — Blackadder II — Nursie — 6 episodes • Mr. Love — Mrs. Lunt • Screen Two — Mrs. Dempster — "Hotel du Lac" • 1987 — A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery: "Strong Poison" — Mrs. Pettican — 2 episodes (TV mini-series) • 1987–1993 — Watching — Mrs. Stoneway — 50 episodes • 1988 — A Taste for Death — Millicent Gentle — 2 episodes (TV mini-series) • Hanna's War — Rosie • Stealing Heaven — Agnes • Blackadder's Christmas Carol — Nursie, Bernard — TV special • 1988–1997 — Playdays — Betty the Tealady — Series regular • 1989 — Inspector Morse — Mrs. Maltby — Episode: "The Ghost in the Machine" • 1990 — The Silver Chair — Giant Nanny — 2 episodes (TV mini-series) • 1992 — 2point4 Children — Peggy — Episode: "Thank You Lucky Stars" • In Sickness and in Health — Mrs. Jones — 1 episode • Emily's Ghost — Mrs. Crabtree • Screen One — Sarah Stone — "Adam's Bede" • 1993 — The Higher Mortals — Matron • Maid Marian and Her Merry Men — Marian's Mum — Episode: "Keeping Mum" • 1994 — Hard Times — Old Woman — 1 episode (TV mini-series) • The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries — Mrs. Mitchell — Episode: "Hand in Glove" • 1995 — Casualty — Grace Kent — Episode: "Halfway House" • 1996 — The Treasure Seekers — Mrs. Nesbit — TV movie • 1997 — Bramwell — Mrs. Mills — 1 episode • Peak Practice — Mrs. Burns — Episode: "Lost Feelings" • 1998 — Heartbeat — Martha Coutts — Episode: "Appearances" • Les Misérables — Toussaint • The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — Daisy Panick — Episode: "Road Rage – Part Two" • 1999 — Blackadder: Back & Forth — Nursie • David Copperfield — Mrs. Gummidge — 2 episodes (TV mini-series) • 2000 — Kevin & Perry Go Large — Old lady • 2006 — Holby City — Esme Taylor — Episode: "Into Your Own Hands"
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ashford.
Birth place
Denville Hall.
Death place
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 Patsy Byrne, revision 1372250361 (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.Slide, Anthony (1996) Some Joe You Don't Know: American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities, Greenwood Press; , p. 11
- 2.BBC. Blackadder 'Nursie' actress Patsy Byrne dies aged 80. BBC News. 2014-06-22.
- 3.BYRNE – Deaths Announcements. The Telegraph. 21 June 2014.
- 4.British Film Institute. Blackadder Back & Forth (1999). Bfi.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
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 14 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,713 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Patrick WilsonPerson
- Patrick WymarkPerson
- Patrik HartlPerson
- Patrizia WebleyPerson
- Patsy KensitPerson
- Patsy Ruth MillerPerson
- Patsy SwayzePerson
- Pattabhirama Reddy TikkavarapuPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Patsy Byrne?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.