Sarah Sutton (born 12 December 1961)[1] is a British actress. She played the role of Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Sarah Sutton | |
|---|---|
 Sutton at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013 | |
| Born | 12 December 1961 Basingstoke, Hampshire, England |
| Alma mater | Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Known for | Nyssa in Doctor Who |
| Spouse |
Michael Bundy (m. 1985) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life
editSutton was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Sutton studied ballet as a child[2] and was only 11 when she became the youngest British actress to have played Alice on screen, in a 1973 television film of Alice Through the Looking Glass.
She began acting at the age of nine in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.[3] She made her first appearance as Baby Roo[4] just five days after her ninth birthday at the Phoenix Theatre[5] in the West End of London, 1970–1972.
Besides her performance as Alice, Sutton appeared in a number of television programmes before Doctor Who, including The Moon Stallion (1978) as Diana Purwell and The Crucible (1980) as Susannah Walcott.[2]
Career
editSutton portrayed the character of Nyssa, a Trakenite aristocrat, in Doctor Who. She is exactly one week older than her co–star, fellow companion Matthew Waterhouse. Her first appearance in the role was in the 1981 serial The Keeper of Traken. Initially, Nyssa was intended to appear only in one story, the production team later deciding to keep her as a continuing character. After joining the Fourth Doctor in the subsequent story Logopolis, her final full Doctor Who serial was with the Fifth Doctor, in 1983's Terminus.
Sutton took a break from acting after Doctor Who, focusing for a number of years on raising her daughter.[6] She made a brief appearance in Peter Davison's final Doctor Who serial, The Caves of Androzani (1984), played Sarah Dryden in a 1989 episode of the BBC medical drama series Casualty and Wendy in a 1992 episode of Unnatural Pursuits.[citation needed]
Sutton reprised the role of Nyssa in the 1993 Doctor Who Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, and subsequently in several of the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who spin-off audio plays[7] from 1999 onwards. In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[8] In 1997 she starred in a special episode of the BBC's dramatic reconstruction series 999 marking 10 years since the great storm of 1987.
Sutton also appeared in several episodes of MJTV's original audio sci-fi CD series Soldiers of Love as Colonel Franklyn. She also played Sharon in the Take 1 Productions educational video drama TravelWise (2000).[citation needed]
In 2001 Sutton starred as Sarah in Wirrn: Race Memory, a BBV audio reusing concepts from Doctor Who.
In 2006 Sutton played Asaria, a role written specifically for her in the original science fiction audio monologue The Jarillion Mercy.[9]
Personal life
editIn 1985, Sutton married Michael Bundy, a general practitioner. They have a daughter, Hannah (born 1991).[10]
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Menace | Belinda | Episode: "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play" |
| Play for Today | Little Lavina | Episode: "Baby Blues" | |
| Alice Through the Looking Glass | Alice | TV film | |
| 1975 | Late Call | Myra Longmore | 3 episodes |
| Ten from the Twenties | Ina | Episode: "Aunt Tatty" | |
| Oil Strike North | Amanda Fraser | Episode: "Time of Hazard" | |
| 1976 | Westway | Sue Harvey | 5 episodes |
| 1978 | The Moon Stallion | Diana Purwell | All 6 episodes |
| 1981 | The Crucible | Susannah Walcott | TV film |
| Byron: A Personal Tour | Mary Chaworth | TV film | |
| 1981–1984 | Doctor Who | Nyssa | 48 episodes |
| 1982 | Ann Talbot | Serial: "Black Orchid" - 2 episodes | |
| 1989 | Casualty | Sarah Dryden | Episode: "Charity" |
| 1992 | Unnatural Pursits | Wendy | Episode: "I'm the Author" |
| 1993 | Doctor Who | Nyssa | Episode: "Dimensions in Time" (two charity special mini-episodes) |
Radio and CD audio drama
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2002 | Soldiers of Love | Colonel Franklyn | MJTV; 7 episodes |
| 2000–2021 | Doctor Who: The Monthly Range | Nyssa | Big Finish Productions; 64 releases |
| 2001 | Race Memory | Sarah | BBV Productions |
| 2006 | The Jarillion Mercy | Asaria | The Jarillion Productions |
| 2008 | Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles | Nyssa | Story: "The Darkening Eye" |
| 2011 | Doctor Who: The Lost Stories | Nyssa | 3 releases |
| 2011 | The Five Companions | Nyssa | Special release |
| 2013 | The Light at the End | Nyssa | Special release |
| 2014 | Dark Shadows: The Devil Cat | Emma Simon | Big Finish Productions |
| 2014–present | Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Adventures | Nyssa | 8 releases |
| 2015–present | Big Finish Short Trips | Nyssa | 6 releases |
| 2016 | Cold Fusion | Nyssa | Novel Adaptation |
| 2018 | Star Cops: Mother Earth 2 | Mary Ward | Big Finish Productions |
| 2020 | Timeslip: The Age of the Death Lottery | Charlotte Trent | Big Finish Productions |
| 2020 | Timeslip: The War That Never Was | Charlotte Trent | Big Finish Productions |
| 2021 | The War Master | Nyssa | Story: "The Orphan" |
| 2022 | Tenth Doctor Classic Companions | Nyssa | Story: "The Stuntman" |
References
edit- ^ Scott, Cavan; Wright, Mark (2013). Who-Ology: The Official Miscellany. BBC Books. p. 120. ISBN 9781849906197. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ a b Eramo, Steve. "Doctor Who's Sarah Sutton - A Touch of Nobility". SciFi and TV Talk. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ A.A. Milnes Winnie-the-Pooh
- ^ Baby Roo
- ^ The Phoenix Theatre
- ^ "The Galactic Orphan". Doctor Who Magazine (218): 7–10. 26 October 1994 – via Amazon.co.uk.
- ^ Gallagher, William (23 November 2013). "Doctor Who 50th: 'A shiver ran through me the moment I wrote my first line for the Doctor'". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ The Jarillion Mercy
- ^ "Sarah Sutton".