Linda Regan (born 5 November 1949), born Linda Mary Drinkwater, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

actress and author, who has appeared on television, film, radio and on stage. She is best known for her role as Yellowcoat April in the British holiday camp sitcom ''

Hi-de-Hi! ''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote '' Dad's Army'' an ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, London, Regan is a daughter of bandleader and agent Peter Regan (born Peter Albert Drinkwater) and Phyllis Drinkwater, an Irish nurse; Regan's older sister is the actress and writer

Carol Drinkwater Carol Drinkwater (born 22 April 1948) is a British actress, writer and filmmaker residing in France. She portrayed Helen Herriot (née Alderson) in the television adaptation of the James Herriot books '' All Creatures Great and Small'', which l ...

. They moved to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, before settling in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

when Regan was five. Regan often helped her father while entertaining, such as helping with

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

and balloon modelling. After leaving school, Regan attended the

Worcester Repertory Company The Worcester Repertory Company (WRC) is a regional theatre company based in Worcester, UK. The company was founded in 1967 by John Hole, David Wood and Sam Walters. The company's home is the Swan Theatre in Worcester and the Artistic Director ...

Career

Regan made her television debut in an episode of the popular

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast on ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned three spin-off feature films and a stage version. Desp ...

'' in 1970, shortly after, she appeared in the film version of the same name. This was followed by roles in well known programmes such as '' Doctor at Large'', '' Softly, Softly: Task Force'', ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

'' and ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

''. She was also the stunt double for

Katy Manning Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning (born 14 October 1946) is an English- Australian actress, television presenter, voice artist and former model. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as t ...

Jo Grant Josephine "Jo" Grant, later Jo Jones, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Jo was introduced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the first episode of ''D ...

in the ''

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 ...

'' episode "

Carnival of Monsters ''Carnival of Monsters'' is the second serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 January to 17 February 1973. In the serial, set ...

" in 1973. In the mid-1970s, Regan appeared in several

sex comedy Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

films including ''

Carry On England ''Carry On England'' is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured ''Carry On'' regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sim ...

'', ''

Confessions of a Pop Performer ''Confessions of a Pop Performer'' is a 1975 British sex-farce film. This second instalment continues the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea and is based on the novels written under the name by Christopher Wood. In this case, the original novel ...

'' and ''

Adventures of a Private Eye ''Adventures of a Private Eye'' is a 1977 British sex comedy film directed by Stanley Long and starring Christopher Neil, Suzy Kendall, Harry H. Corbett and Liz Fraser. It followed the 1976 film ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' and was followed ...

''. She also starred in the high profile films ''

A Private Enterprise ''A Private Enterprise'' is a 1974 British film directed by Peter K Smith. It stars Salmaan Peerzada as Shiv Verma, an Indian immigrant in Birmingham who attempts to start his own business. It is regarded as the first British Asian British ...

'' (1974), '' The Hiding Place'' (1975) and ''

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...

'' (1979) and had a main role in the hospital drama ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' from 1976 to 1977. Regan appeared in the first episode of popular drama series ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' in 1979 starring George Cole and

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', '' Minder'' and '' New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of th ...

and played a Swedish pop star in '' Bergerac'', before having a role in the film '' The Hit'' (1984) with

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

and

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...

. She followed this with a main role in the

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

sitcom ''

'' as April, a character she would play from 1984 until the show's end in 1988, appearing in a total of twenty-four episodes. After appearances in '' Birds of a Feather'', thriller '' Framed'' and hard hitting crime drama ''

The Knock ''The Knock'' is a British television crime drama, created by Anita Bronson and broadcast on ITV, which portrayed the activities of customs officers from the London City & South Collection Investigation Unit of HM Customs and Excise. The seri ...

'', Regan starred in five episodes of ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' before appearing as Harry's mother in all 4 series of children's drama series ''

Harry and Cosh ''Harry and Cosh'' was a British children's television series directed by Daniel Peacock shown on Saturday afternoons on Shake! on Channel 5 (UK), Channel 5. It starred Harry Capehorn, Coshti Dowden, Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty, Gemma Baker and Lind ...

'' from 1999 to 2003. She continues her career on both stage and screen, including ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' and '' Run for Your Wife'', as well as appearing in several short films and commercials, and writing award winning crime novels.

Personal life

Regan married the actor

Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to: Sportspeople * Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer * Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer * Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...

in 1995. She is

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and was not encouraged at school but wrote stories from a young age. Just before her first book was published, in 2005, she was kidnapped at knifepoint and forced into a car, later jumping from the vehicle to escape. Soon after, she was diagnosed with cancer, which she believes was caused by her kidnap ordeal; she overcame the disease. A dog lover since childhood, Regan runs her own blog in which she communicates with other dog owners.

Filmography

Film

Television

Writing

* ''Behind You!''. (2006 or 2007). Creme de La Crime. . . * ''Dead Like Her''. (5 February 2007). Creme de La Crime. . . * ''Passion Killers''. (2008). Creme de La Crime. . . * ''Brotherhood of Blades''. (28 July 2011). Creme de La Crime. . . * ''Street Girls''. (28 March 2012). Creme De La Crime. * ''Guts for Garters''. (March 2015). Accent Press. * ''SisterHoods''. (December 2016). Accent Press. * ''The Terror Within''. (December 2019). Accent Press.

References

External links

*
Linda Regan OnlineCanines in Kent
Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses English film actresses English television actresses 1949 births {{england-screen-actor-stub