Felicity Finch

Last updated

Felicity Finch (born 14 March 1955) is a British actress, known for her Northumberland-accented portrayal of Ruth Archer in The Archers on BBC Radio 4.

Contents

Early life

Felicity Finch was born in the London Borough of Southwark and grew up in Eaglescliffe, Co. Durham. She has three brothers, born in 1953, 1957 and 1960. Felicity attended Grangefield Grammar School (now The Grangefield Academy) in Stockton-on-Tees. She became interested in drama after attending Billingham Technical College.

She moved London when aged 19. [1] She trained at the London Drama Centre (Drama Centre London).

Career

She has worked as an actress on TV dramas. She presented Something Understood on Radio 4 in Oct 2007 [2] and July 2014. [3]

The Archers

She joined The Archers in 1987 and has played Ruth Archer (née Pritchard) since then. When she joined The Archers, she lived in Brixton. When Ruth was 19, Felicity was 32. Felicity had been put forward for the role by theatre director John Blackmore.

For months, Felicity believed that her part was not to last long, until a script arrived in the post, containing the three words 'David kisses Ruth'. Felicity was totally shocked by the change in direction of the role, saying 'I nearly fell through the floor'. She thought that there had been some sort of mistake in the script, so she quickly phoned up the BBC in Birmingham, to be told by the female producer 'Congratulations, you are going to marry David Archer'. Only a few moments before, Felicity had thought that she would be playing the part for no more than a few weeks, perhaps. [4] [5]

The BBC recorded the marriage between Ruth and David on Thursday 17 November 1988, in a real church - St Mary the Virgin, Hanbury, and Felicity dressed as a bride as well; it was broadcast on Friday 16 December 1988. Her character Ruth originated from Tynedale in Northumberland. [6] [7] [8]

For her character Ruth giving birth, in February 1993, she visited the Sorrento Maternity Hospital in Moseley, for the birth, which was broadcast on Wednesday 17 February 1993. The actual baby was Elliot Davies, son of the producer Keri Davies. [9] [10]

Voice overs

Finch has also worked as a voice-over artist and reported for Woman's Hour , also on Radio 4. In August 2012 she hosted the Radio 4 Appeal for Health Poverty Action. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Archers</i> British radio soap opera

The Archers is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". Having aired over 20,000 episodes, it is the world's longest-running present-day drama by number of episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicity Kendal</span> English actress

Felicity Ann Kendal is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her career was that of Barbara Good in the 1975 television series The Good Life.

John Leslie is a Scottish former television and radio presenter. Debuting on the Music Box channel in 1987, he later presented BBC One's Blue Peter, and ITV's This Morning and the gameshow Wheel of Fortune. He was also the studio host for the first series of the UK version of Survivor.

BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham.

Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck of Waldeck Limpurg,, commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an English actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 series, The Archers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Wimbush</span> English actress

Mary Wimbush was an English actress whose career spanned sixty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicity Jones</span> English actress (born 1983)

Felicity Rose Hadley Jones is an English actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in The Treasure Seekers (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the television series The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College. On radio, she has played the role of Emma Grundy in the BBC's The Archers. In 2008, she appeared in the Donmar Warehouse production of The Chalk Garden.

Keri Davies is a radio drama writer and producer. He has been professionally associated with the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers since 1991. He has worked directly on the programme since 1992 as a producer, senior producer and web producer. Since 2003, he has been an Archers scriptwriter.

Ysanne Churchman is an English actress. She worked as an actress and narrator on British radio, TV and film for over 50 years (1938–1993). She gained prominence as Grace Archer, wife of Phil, in the long-running BBC radio drama series The Archers; the series attracted publicity when Grace died after a fire on the night that ITV launched in 1955.

Top of the Form was a BBC radio and television quiz show for teams from secondary schools in the United Kingdom which ran for 38 years, from 1948 to 1986.

Marjorie Yates is a British actress best known for her role as Carol Fisher in the Channel 4 drama Shameless.

Vanessa Victoria Whitburn is a British radio producer, and a former editor of The Archers.

Judith Ann Bentinck, Countess of Portland, Countess Bentinck und Waldeck Limpurg is a couture milliner based in Central London. She is married to actor Tim Bentinck, also a peer of the realm, by which marriage she holds her titles.

Daphne Ledward, known as Daffers when she appeared on Sir Jimmy Young's show on BBC Radio 2, is an English garden designer and author and former gardening presenter for the BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Archer</span> Fictional character in The Archers

Ruth Archer is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers, played by English actress Felicity Finch. She made her debut in the 15 July 1987 episode. The character was created and introduced to The Archers as a love interest for established character David Archer, whose then girlfriend was deemed unsuitable for the role of mother to the next generation of the Archer family by the editor of the show Liz Rigbey. Finch was cast as Ruth after a successful audition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald O'Hanrahan</span> English actress

Emerald O'Hanrahan is an English actress known for playing Emma Grundy in The Archers on BBC Radio 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Archer</span> Soap opera character

Jill Archer is a fictional character from the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers. She has been portrayed by Patricia Greene since 1957. Writers for the show paired Jill with Phil Archer, their marriage lasting until Phil's death in 2010. Greene is one of the world's longest-serving actors in a soap opera, in any medium. In 2018, Jill was featured in 37 of the show's almost 300 episodes for the year and continues to play a prominent role in the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursula O'Leary</span> English actress

Ursula O'Leary was an English stage, radio and television actor. O'Leary graduated in stage management from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1948. Her stage performances were broadcast live nationwide; on radio she played siren art teacher Jane Petrie in The Archers.

References

  1. ↑ The Stage Thursday 1 June 1995, page 10
  2. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, the Dance of Life".
  3. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Independently Dependent". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Newcastle Evening Chronicle Friday 13 July 1990, page 14
  5. ↑ Newcastle Journal Friday 13 July 1990, page 19
  6. ↑ Daily Mirror Friday 18 November 1988, page 3
  7. ↑ Birmingham Mail Friday 18 November 1988, page 9
  8. ↑ Birmingham News Friday 18 November 1988, page 1
  9. ↑ Sandwell Evening Mail Monday 15 February 1993, page 27
  10. ↑ Birmingham Daily Post Monday 15 February 1993, page 3
  11. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 Appeal, Health Poverty Action". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.