Sally Knyvette (; born 9 February 1951) is a British actress, theatre director and drama teacher.

Early life

Born Sally James in Horsham, Sussex, the daughter of a doctor, Knyvette lived in France and then Switzerland for nearly twelve years. She returned to London with two French friends, and they started a successful restaurant in Chelsea.

Early career

In Chelsea an actress friend, Tilly Tremayne, encouraged Knyvette to take acting lessons from

Beryl Cooke Beryl Cooke (1 November 1906 – 21 August 2001) was an English actress. Her career spanned six decades; she is most familiar to British audiences as Aunt Lucy in the sitcom '' Happy Ever After'' and Mrs. Vance in the BBC drama '' Tenko''. ...

, which she did for two years. Her first work was in a children's theatre company, working in schools. She then acted in repertory theatre for seven years, mostly on stage, including playing Shakespeare roles.Alan Stevens
Jenna Stannis: The Teleport Queen
interview with Sally Knyvette at kaldorcity.com, accessed 29 November 2013

Television career

On screen Knyvette is best known for her roles as

Jenna Stannis This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...

in the first two seasons of the British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

series ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...

'', Kate Sugden in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'', and Nurse Rowland in the medical soap series '' General Hospital''. She later complained of her ''Blake's 7'' role that Jenna had "started off as this really exciting, intergalactic space pirate, but then she became a sort of housewife on the Liberator".Jonathan Bignell, Andrew O'Day, ''Terry Nation'' (2004), p. 172 Other television appearances include: '' Holby City'', '' The Safe House'', ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'', ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'', '' Unfinished Business'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', '' EastEnders'', ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is ...

'', '' Coronation Street'', '' The Politician's Wife'', ''

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 o ...

'', '' Big Deal'', ''

Who Pays the Ferryman? ''Who Pays the Ferryman?'' is a television series produced by the BBC in 1977. The title of the series refers to the ancient religious belief and mythology of Charon, the ferryman to Hades. In ancient times, it was custom to place coins in or on t ...

'', '' General Hospital'' and ''

Z Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

''. She also voiced the part of Doctorman Allan in the '' Doctor Who'' audio adventure '' Spare Parts'' and that of Carmilla in the video game '' Castlevania: Lords of Shadow'' and its

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, developed by Mercury Steam. She voiced Emiliana Perfetti in the video game '' Layton's Mystery Journey'' developed by Level-5. After leaving ''Blake's 7'' Knyvette studied for an English and drama degree at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She lives in Fulham, west London.

Notes

External links

* 1951 births People from Horsham Alumni of the University of London British soap opera actresses British television actresses Drama teachers Living people {{UK-tv-actor-stub