Victoria Wicks (born Beverly Victoria Anne Wicks; 18 April 1959) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Sally Smedley in Channel 4's comedy series ''

Drop the Dead Donkey ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, i ...

'' (1990–1998), Mrs. Gideon in ''

The Mighty Boosh The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aire ...

'' (2004), and the College Director in '' Skins'' (2007–08). Her film appearances include ''

The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography '' Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The film's title quotes the name of the game cry ...

'' (2014) and '' High-Rise'' (2015). She is an associate of

Howard Barker Howard Barker (born 28 June 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter and writer of radio drama, painter, poet, and essayist writing predominantly on playwriting and the theatre. The author of an extensive body of dramatic works since the 197 ...

's theatre company,

The Wrestling School The Wrestling School is a British theatre company, founded and led by playwright Howard Barker. Company history Founded in 1988 by actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, the company has exclusively presented prod ...

Biography

Early life and education

Wicks was born Beverly Victoria Anne Wicks in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

, Wiltshire, England, to Brian and Judith Wicks. Wicks's mother, Judith Bates, born 1933, was the second child of the writer

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and '' My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

. Wicks is the niece of

Jonathan Bates Jonathan Bates (1 November 1939 – 31 October 2008) was an English sound editor. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Sound for the film ''Gandhi''. and won a BAFTA in 1988 for his work on the film ''Cry Freedo ...

, a sound editor who died in 2008, and the television producer Richard Bates, who produced the television adaptation of '' The Darling Buds of May''. Wicks is a director of Evensford Productions Ltd, the company set up in 1955 to protect and promote H. E. Bates's work. Wicks trained at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

where she was awarded the Pernod and Bisquit Award for the most promising graduate.

Career

Her first job was as acting assistant stage manager at

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

Rep for a year, before going to

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

, Regent's Park and then the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

. In 1988 Wicks was in

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

's black comedy '' Tickets for the Titanic'', and then went on to play Sally Smedley in all six series of ''

''. ''

'' (a radio, television and stage show created by

Noel Fielding Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...

and

Julian Barratt Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongs ...

) featured her in Series 1 as Mrs Gideon, the Head of Reptiles at the Zooniverse. Wicks also played Harriet Lawes, the Head of College in the first three series of '' Skins''. Wicks joined '

' in 1996. The company was formed in 1988 for the sole purpose of performing the work of the dramatist

. Since joining the company Wicks has appeared in nine plays by Barker, performing in London,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Stockholm,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and also in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

and Paris for the co-production of ''Les Animaux en Paradis'', which was performed in French by four British and five French actors. Wicks is an associate of The Wrestling School. In 2010 Wicks was invited to the Segal Theatre Center in New York as guest of Theatre Minima to celebrate a day-long event on the work of Howard Barker."Playwright Howard Barker (UK) at the Segal Center"
, City University of New York, May 2010 Wicks played the high priestess of the Sybillines in ''

The Fires of Pompeii "The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. Set shortly before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD ...

'', a 2008 episode of ''

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 ...

''. In 2014, she played Dorothy Clarke in ''

'' and Susannah Marshall in the E4 drama ''

Glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

'' (2014).

Personal life

In 1984 Wicks married Peter Williams (divorced 2004); they have one daughter, Madelaine Rose, born 1985.

Credits

Work for Howard Barker

Television

Film

Theatre

Radio

References

External links

*
BBC Comedy Guide – Victoria Wicks
* Kilpatrick, David

''Theatre Journal'' – Volume 55, Number 4, December 2003, pp. 704–706. The Johns Hopkins University Press

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Victoria 1959 births 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Wiltshire Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Living people English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People from Chippenham