Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple. She also narrated a number of Miss Marple stories on audiobooks.
Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of students through medical school.
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden was a British actor.
Heavens Above! is a 1963 British satirical comedy film starring Peter Sellers, directed by John and Roy Boulting, who also co-wrote along with Frank Harvey, from an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge. It is in a similar vein to the earlier collaboration between Sellers, Harvey and the Boultings, I'm All Right Jack.
Carry On Nurse is a 1959 British comedy film, the second in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). Of the regular team, it featured Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey, with Hattie Jacques and Leslie Phillips. The film was written by Norman Hudis based on the play Ring for Catty by Patrick Cargill and Jack Beale. It was the top-grossing film of 1959 in the United Kingdom and, with an audience of 10.4 million, had the highest cinema viewing of any of the "Carry On" films. Perhaps surprisingly, it was also highly successful in the United States, where it was reported that it played at some cinemas for three years. The film was followed by Carry On Teacher 1959.
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, Bad Girls, and Australian series, Prisoner, and Wentworth (2013–2021), Within These Walls tended to centre its story-lines around the prison staff rather than the inmates.
Carry On Constable is a 1960 British comedy film, the fourth in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was released in February 1960. Of the regular team, it featured Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, and Hattie Jacques. Sid James makes his debut in the series here, while early regulars Leslie Phillips, Eric Barker, and Shirley Eaton also turn up, although Phillips did not appear again in the series for 32 years. It was the first "Carry On..." film to include some nudity with Connor, Hawtrey, Williams, and Phillips baring their behinds during a shower scene. The film was followed by Carry On Regardless 1961.
Bachelor Father is a British sitcom starring Ian Carmichael that aired for two series from 1970 to 1971. It was written by Richard Waring.
Gwendoline Watford, professionally known after the mid-1950s as Gwen Watford, was an English actress.
Miss Marple, titled Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the series, is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie, starring Joan Hickson in the title role. It aired from 26 December 1984 to 27 December 1992 on BBC1. All twelve original Miss Marple Christie novels were dramatised. The adaptations were written by T. R. Bowen, Julia Jones, Alan Plater, Ken Taylor and Jill Hyem, and the series was produced by George Gallaccio. In addition to its availability on VHS and DVD, the series began to be released on Blu-ray Disc in October 2014, marking its 30th anniversary.
Raising the Wind is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas. It starred James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser, Eric Barker and Sid James. The storyline, screenplay and musical score of the film were the work of Bruce Montgomery.
No Kidding is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas featuring Leslie Phillips, Geraldine McEwan and Irene Handl, Noel Purcell and Julia Lockwood. The film is adapted from Verily Anderson's 1958 memoir Beware of Children, under which title the film was released in the US. Anderson also wrote the screenplay.
The Doctor films were developed from the series of comic novels by British physician Richard Gordon covering the antics of a group of young doctors. The early films featured Dirk Bogarde in the lead as Doctor Sparrow and Donald Sinden as Benskin. Later films starred Leslie Phillips.
Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse is a 1978 British comedy film directed by Justin Cartwright and starring Debbie Ash, Carolyne Argyle, Beryl Reid and John Le Mesurier. It is based on a novel by Christopher Wood. The plot revolves around a new student nurse at a hospital, who attracts interest from the staff with comic consequences.
The Body in the Library is a 3-part 1984 television film adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1942 detective novel The Body in the Library, which was co-produced by the BBC and the A&E Network. The film uses an adapted screenplay by T. R. Bowen and was directed by Silvio Narizzano. Starring Joan Hickson in the title role, it was the first film presented in the British television series Miss Marple and premiered in three parts from 26 to 28 December 1984 on BBC One. In the United States the film was first broadcast on 4 January 1986 as a part of PBS's Mystery!. In his review in The New York Times, critic John J. O'Connor wrote:
Miss Christie would no doubt approve of Joan Hickson, the veteran British character actress who plays Miss Marple... This BBC/Arts & Entertainment co-production offers an especially good example of Agatha Christie in adaptation. The characters are nicely realized and the suspense holds. Miss Hickson is lovely, neither as awesome as Miss Rutherford nor as overly cute as Helen Hayes. And the supporting cast is admirable, particularly Gwen Watford as Dolly and David Horovitch as Inspector Slack. As someone notes about the case, "you'll have to admit it has all the bizarre elements of a cheap thriller." Once hooked, you won't be able to turn it off.
Barnaby Rudge is a British drama television series which originally aired on the BBC in thirteen episodes between 30 September and 23 December 1960. It was an adaptation of the 1841 novel Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens set against the backdrop of the 1780 Gordon Riots. The series survived the BBC's purge of the archives and was released on DVD in the USA around 2010, and later in the UK in 2017 by Simply Media. As well as being the only BBC adaptation, it remains the latest on-screen adaptation of the novel on film or television to date.
Joan and Leslie was a British television situation comedy series which aired from 1955 to 1958, starring Noel Dyson, Leslie Randall, Joan Reynolds, and Harry Towb. Produced by Associated Television (ATV), all episodes are missing, believed to be lost.
In the Doghouse is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Leslie Phillips and Peggy Cummins. Shot in black-and-white, the film was based on the bestselling novel It's a Vet's Life by Alex Duncan.
