Helen Atkinson-Wood (born 14 March 1955) is an English actress and comedian born in

Cheadle Hulme Cheadle Hulme () is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England,. Historically in Cheshire, it is south-west of Stockport and south-east of Manchester. It lies in the Ladybrook Valley, on the Cheshire Pla ...

, Cheshire. She studied

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

at the

Ruskin School The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...

, Oxford University, where she performed with Rowan Atkinson (no relation). She also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where she met

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

. Whilst at Oxford, she took part in an OUDS production of ''Richard II''. Also in this production was

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

, who played the lead. She later appeared together with McInnerny in an episode of ''Blackadder the Third''.

Biography

Atkinson-Wood was a regular presenter of Central Television's controversial '' O.T.T.'' and had a small role in the 1984 '' Young Ones'' episode "Nasty". She is known for her role as Mrs Miggins in ''

Blackadder the Third ''Blackadder the Third'' is the third series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series is set during the Georgian Era, and sees the principal character ...

'' (co-written by

and

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

). She was the only regular female cast member on the radio comedy programme '' Radio Active'', where she played Anna Daptor and other roles, and also participated in the programme's televisual equivalent, '' KYTV''. She also appeared in the final episode of ''

Joking Apart ''Joking Apart'' is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark (Robert Bathurst) and Becky (Fiona Gillies), who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and f ...

'' as a morning television presenter. In 2007, she guest-starred in the '' Doctor Who'' audio play '' I.D.''. She played the role of Sybil Ramkin in a BBC radio adaptation of ''

Guards! Guards! ''Guards! Guards!'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the eighth in the '' Discworld'' series, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The first ''Discworld'' point-and-click adventu ...

'' by

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...

. Atkinson-Wood has been a regular presenter for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

series ''

Collector's Lot ''Collectors' Lot'' is a TV programme produced from 1997 to 2001 by Twofour Broadcast for the United Kingdom's Channel 4. Shown on weekday afternoons, the programme visited every corner of Britain to explore the weird and wonderful things tha ...

'' and has made guest appearances on programmes such as ''

Call My Bluff ''Call My Bluff'' is a British panel game show based on the short-lived US version of the same name. It was originally hosted by Robin Ray and later, most notably, by Robert Robinson. Its most prominent panellist was Frank Muir. Format The g ...

''. She was a guest in episode 9 of the C series of '' QI'', when she answered a question deemed almost impossible by host

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

by correctly naming a chemical reaction equation as an explosion of custard powder, earning 200 points. This was because, she claimed, she had studied

domestic science Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

at school. Through answering this single question, she holds the highest cumulative total of any ''QI'' panellist. Craig Ferguson wrote in his book ''

American on Purpose ''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot'' is a memoir written by entertainer Craig Ferguson. The book details various experiences over several decades in Ferguson's life from his days in Scotland through his migr ...

'' that he and Atkinson-Wood were in a romantic relationship that lasted five years. He acknowledges that she changed his life "beyond recognition" by improving his health and his career.

Selected performances

Movie and television

* Mrs. Miggins, ''

'', 6 episodes * '' The Young Ones'', 1 episode

Theatre

* Beatrice Voysey in ''

The Voysey Inheritance ''The Voysey Inheritance'' is a play in five acts by the English dramatist Harley Granville-Barker. Written in 1903–1905, it was originally staged at the Royal Court Theatre in 1905 featuring Mabel Hackney, and revived at the same venue in 196 ...

'' by

Harley Granville Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

. Directed by

Greg Hersov Gregory A. "Greg" Hersov (born 1956) is a British theatre director. Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford. Overview Hersov has been associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since 1979. He became a ...

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1989) * Agatha Posket in '' The Magistrate'' by Arthur Wing Pinero. Directed by

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2001) * Polina in ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises th ...

'' by

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

. Directed by

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2003) * Fritz in ''Cold Meat Party'' by

Brad Fraser Brad Fraser (born June 28, 1959 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator.Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof"Fraser, Brad" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', June 2, 2019. He is one of the most widely pr ...

. World premiere directed by

Braham Murray Braham Sydney Murray, OBE (12 February 1943 – 25 July 2018) was an English theatre director. In 1976, he was one of five founding Artistic Directors of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and the longest-serving (he retired in 2012). Ear ...

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2003) * Frosine in ''

The Miser ''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...

'' by Moliere. Directed by

Helena Kaut-Howson Helena Kaut-Howson is a British theatre director. Early life and education Helena Kaut-Howson was born (as Helena Kaut) in 1940 in Lviv, which was then in Poland. She grew up in Wrocław, Poland. Her training as a director was first at the Po ...

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2009)

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people People from Cheadle Hulme Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art English television actresses English television presenters English women comedians British comedy actresses {{England-actor-stub