Beverley Cressman is a British actress, best known for being the first person cast as

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart UNIT stands for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a fictional entity in '' Doctor Who''. UNIT first appeared in the Second Doctor serial '' The Invasion'', (1968), although Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart had appeared earlier in ''The W ...

. She appeared in two unofficial

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' spin-offs, ''

Downtime The term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable. The unavailability is the proportion of a time-span that a system is unavailable or offline. This is usually a result of the system failing to function because of an un ...

'' (1995), and '' Dæmos Rising'' (2004).

Career

Cressmain was trained as an actor at the

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

. In 1995, Cressman played

in the ''

Reeltime Pictures Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather. As well as producing corporate and business television, it has made a number ...

'' film ''

''. The film also starred

Nicholas Courtney William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Ear ...

as the Brigadier and

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien t ...

. In 1999, Cressman appeared as a driving instructor in the TV series

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

. In the same year Cressman played Debbie Hunter in the ''

Pig Heart Boy ''Pig-Heart Boy'' is a children's novel by Malorie Blackman, which was first published in 1997. Described by the Guardian as 'A powerful story' it shows the life of a teenage boy with a viral heart transplant. It was shortlisted for the Carnegi ...

'' episode ''Losing It''. Cressman played the role of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart again in the 2004 film '' Dæmos Rising''. She starred in this film alongside her then husband

Miles Richardson Miles Richardson (born 15 July 1963) is a British actor, born in Battersea, London to parents Ian Richardson (the well-known Shakespearean actor) and Maroussia Frank (daughter of dancer and critic Elizabeth Frank), both founder members of th ...

. In 2012, the then current

production team decided to re-introduce Cressman's character. The role was re-cast and given to

Jemma Redgrave Jemima Rebecca Redgrave (born 14 January 1965), known as Jemma Redgrave, is a fourth-generation British actress of the Redgrave family. She played the title character in four series of '' Bramwell'', and has a recurring role in ''Doctor Who'' as ...

. In 2018 it was announced that Cressman would reprise her role as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in the Reeltime drama film ''Anomaly''. Cressman also works as a voice over artist and a

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Penn ...

guest presenter. Furthermore, she voiced Clarissa Jones in Big Finish's ''

Death and the Daleks Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length '' Doctor Wh ...

'' and Doctor Carnive in ''

The Mirror Effect ''The Mirror Effect'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Plot Inside ...

''.

Personal life

In 1994 Cressman married

. As of 2005 the couple had two sons. In 2009 the couple were divorced. As of August 2015 Cressman lives in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

along with her three sons.

Filmography

Film

TV series

Audio plays

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cressman, Beverly British film actresses Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) British television actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Living people