Annette Badland (born 26 August 1950) is a British actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Charlotte in the BBC crime drama series Bergerac, Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, Mrs Glenna Fitzgibbons in the first season of Outlander, Babe Smith in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Dr Fleur Perkins on the ITV mystery series Midsomer Murders, and as Mae Green in the Apple TV+ comedy-drama Ted Lasso. She was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1993 for her performance as Sadie in Jim Cartwright's play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice; a role she reprised in the 1998 film adaptation Little Voice.
Contents
Early life and education
Annette Badland was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Her mother, originally from Loanhead, Scotland, relocated to Birmingham during World War II to work as a munitions and aircraft worker in the factories, where she met Badland's father. Her family often returned to Scotland for holidays and to visit family, and sometimes they holidayed in Wales.
Badland trained in acting at East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex, working in "rep" at Southwold Summer Theatre during her time there. Her performance as the maid in Private Lives for the Summer 1970 season earned her an Equity Card and the right to work in the professional theatre.
Career
Theatre
After drama school, Badland joined Ian McKellen's Actors' Company at the Cambridge Arts Theatre; her first professional productions were in director Noel Willman's Three Arrows (by Iris Murdoch) and Richard Cottrell's Ruling the Roost (Georges Feydeau) in October 1972. After pantomime (Toad of Toad Hall at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster), at the end of that year she moved on to the 1973 season with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford. Her Audrey in As You Like It was considered an auspicious debut in a leading company.
Badland joined the cast of Jim Cartwright's play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which centres on a shy young woman from Lancashire who expresses herself through song, at the Aldwych Theatre from October 1992 through February 1993. In 1994, she starred in Tony Kushner's post-communist tragic comedy Slavs!, which explored the repercussions of the post Soviet era.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a play adapted from Muriel Sparks's novel about an otherwise inspirational teacher who transpires to have an unhealthy admiration for fascist leaders, saw Badland as headmistress Miss Mackay on London's West End in 1998. She went on to perform opposite Jude Law in both David Lan's 1999 production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and his 2002 production of Doctor Faustus at the Young Vic Theatre in London.
In 2006, Badland worked with The Peter Hall Company on two productions at the Theatre Royal in Bath, England. The first was Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, a drama centring on protagonist Isabella's moral dilemma of whether or not to sacrifice her virginity to save her brother. Second was writer Alan Bennett's ensemble piece Habeas Corpus, a farce penned in 1971 and set to modern music of that time. She went on to work with Hall again in 2007 in a production of Noël Coward's The Vortex at London's Apollo Theatre.
During the Tiata Delights Festival in 2009, Badland performed in Zimbabwean playwright Michael Bhim's The Golden Hour, a thriller set in a London hospital where the main character encounters a baby he thinks has been brought to the country illegally. That same year she participated in Hampstead Theatre's (London) fiftieth anniversary season by starring in Michael Frayn's play Alphabetical Order, which is set in a provincial newspaper library. Finishing out 2009, Badland featured as psychic medium Madame Arcat in Noël Coward's comedy Blithe Spirit at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England.
Television
Badland's first professional television role was for Thames Television in 1975's feature length biopic The Naked Civil Servant, where she portrayed the tap-dancing pupil. Between 1978 and 1980, she was featured in a series one episode of BBC Two's The Devil's Crown, an episode of Southern Television's Spearhead, ATV's long running serial Crossroads, made-for-TV film Flat Bust, BBC One's Shoestring, and Thames Television's The Dick Emery Hour. From there she secured a recurring role as Charlotte in BBC's crime drama Bergerac (1981–84), a four-episode stint in Thames Television's Bognor, BBC's mini-series Great Expectations, and several episodes of BBC Two's comedy The Last Song.
1982 saw Badland appear in several guest-starring roles in episodic television. ITV's crime drama The Gentle Touch, a police drama set in 1980's Britain, featured her in the series three episode "Solution". She also guest-starred as a nurse in both BBC's period drama Nanny and Thames Television's crime series Minder. In February 1983 she starred as Vera in PBS's comedic mini-series Pictures, set during the era of silent films, which was broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre. Later that year, Badland guest-starred on an episode of BBC Two's satirical mini-series The Old Men At The Zoo, which was based upon Angus Wilson's dystopian novel of the same name. ABC's drama Lace, originally aired in 1984, featured Badland alongside Angela Lansbury and Phoebe Cates. She would reprise her role as Piggy Fassbinder in the 1985 made for TV sequel Lace II. Between those appearances, Badland would feature in Channel 4's made-for-TV film Last Day of Summer, BBC's Two-part mini-series Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: "A Pocket Full of Rye" as Gladys Martin, BBC's made-for-TV film Newstime as Doreen, Channel 4's TV film Sacred Hearts as Sister Mercy and an episode of ITV's children's anthology series Dramarama.
From 1985 to 1986, Badland starred as Christine in ITV's sitcom Troubles and Strife, which revolved around the effect a new young vicar had on the town's women. She went on, the next year, to co-star in the PBS mini-series A Little Princess, based upon Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic children's novel (1905) and a series one episode of the BBC's sitcom You Must Be the Husband. Badland was a regular guest in series one of ITV/Channel 4's comedy sketch series Hale & Pace in 1988 before a turn in a series four episode ("Chinese Whispers", 1989) of BBC's anthology series Screenplay. Following that, she appeared in "The Rough and The Smooth", an episode of All Creatures Great and Small, an episode of BBC's medical drama Casualty, and CBS's made-for-TV film The Pied Piper, alongside Peter O'Toole. From 1990 to 1991, Badland featured as multiple characters in BBC One's children's series Happy Families, which was based upon a set of books by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.
Film
Badland's first film role was Terry Gilliam's 1977 film Jabberwocky, based upon Lewis Carroll's epic poem, alongside Michael Palin and Harry H. Corbett. She would not return to film again until 1986's independent feature Knights & Emeralds, which explored the consequences of a white drummer joining a mostly black marching band. From there she landed roles in director Jonnie Turpie's film Out of Order (1987) and director Chris Newby's Anchoress.
Writer John Brosnan's horror film Beyond Bedlam (1994) and director Angela Pope's drama Captives, which focused on a prison dentist's illicit affair with an inmate, both featured Badland in 1994. Her next film was director Paul Unwin's Oscar nominated short Syrup. She went on to Xingu Film's comedyThe Grotesque (1995, aka Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets), director Philip Haas's drama Angels & Insects, director Angela Pope's drama Hollow Reed, and director Shane Meadows sports drama Twenty Four Seven. In 1998, Badland co-starred in the SAG nominated drama Little Voice (1998) as the friend of Little Voice's mother Mari (Brenda Blethyn). The next year she starred in director Rachel Mathews's short film Mrs Buchan, a black comedy exploring religious conviction, director Mark Greenstreet's romantic comedy Caught In the Act, and Tall Stories' dramatic comedy Beautiful People, which centres on the conflict between two Bosnian refugees in London.
2000 saw Badland in two feature films, the first was director David A Stewart's drama Honest, a black comedy set in London of the late 1960s alongside Peter Facinelli, and the second was Focus Films' Secret Society, a comedy where several women working factory jobs by day are secretly sumo wrestling by night. Between 2001 and 2004, Badlland had roles in the comedy Redemption Road, dramatic comedy Club Le Monde, dramatic comedy Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War, director Joe Perino's A Village Tale, director Sonja Phillips's directing debut The Knickerman, and Caspian Productions' short film The Tale of Tarquin Slant. In 2005, Badland lent her voice to the Walt Disney's animated feature Valiant, about a WWI carrier pigeon who joins the Royal Homing Pigeon Corps, alongside Ewan McGregor and Tim Curry. She went on to feature in Tim Burton's fill-length film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), thriller The Kovak Box (2006), and the drama Almost Adult (2006).
The Baker, a comedy from director Gareth Lewis about a hit man seeking refuge from his career, saw Badland feature as Martha Edwards early in 2007. From there she went on to star in director Nic Cornwall's short film Mr Thornton's Change of Heart, feature in the comedy Three and Out opposite Colm Meaney, and appear in the thriller Legacy: Black Ops opposite Idris Elba. In 2009, Badland signed on for a role in Jam, the first short film from three eighteen year old filmmakers, which was financed through crowdfunding after attracting the attention of the public and celebrities. Continuing with short films, she starred in the Oscar nominated Wish 143, the story of a young man trying to live life before succumbing to cancer, from director Ian Barnes. 2012 saw Badland featured in Mother's Milk, a drama based upon Edward St. Aubyn's novel of the same name, before returning to short films for 2013's The Girl In A Bubble and 2014's A Quiet Courage.
Radio
Badland began her radio career in 1992 with a role in David Halliwell's comedy Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs for BBC Radio 3. In 1994, she was cast as the lead role of DI Gwen Danbury on BBC Radio 4 Extra's crime drama An Odd Body, a role she would portray for three series. From 2000 to 2003, Badland was a regular on BBC Radio 4 Extra's comedy Smelling of Roses before being cast in the six-part BBC Radio 4 radio drama Rolling Home, which centred on a group of people living in caravans (aka mobile homes/campers). In 2004, Badland starred in BBC Radio 4's play The Pool, which focuses on a Londoner's adventures while stuck in Liverpool for the day, opposite Peter Wright, The Diary of a Nobody opposite Stephen Tompkinson, and Bumps and Bruises, which focuses on an unqualified woman attempting to run an antenatal (prenatal) class opposite Penelope Wilton. Richard Monk's Church, broadcast in February 2005 and starring Badland alongside Andrew Garfield, tells the story of sex and religion through the eyes of two different men. She then took over the role of Hazel Woolley, the "bad seed" adopted daughter of Jack Woolley in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers, featured in the radio adaptation of an adaptation of George MacDonald's children's novel At the Back of the North Wind, and starred as Mrs Yeobright in BBC Radio 4 Extra's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native.
In 2006 Badland starred in BBC Radio 4's River's Up alongside Peter Corey. The next year she featured in Jonathan Myerson's six-part radio dramatisation of Boris Pasternak's epic story Dr Zhivago. From there, Badland featured as Tilly Carbury in BBC Radio 4's 15 Minute Drama The Way We Live Right Now (2008), an adaptation of Anthony Trollope's satirical novel, and served as a narrator for Heather Couper's Cosmic Quest, an educational history of astronomy. Yerma, a poetic play touching on the themes of love, infertility, and isolation by Spanish author Federico García Lorca, saw Badland star alongside Emma Cunniffe and Concrad Nelson in 2010 on BBC Radio 3. That same year, she appeared in several episodes of BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please, where poems of various themes are chosen by listeners, and Chris Wilson's play Lump-Boy Logan, which focused on a boy with acne, for BBC Radio 3. BBC Radio 4 Extra's show Poetry Extra featured Badland in an episode showcasing the work of poet Molly Holden later that year. She later guest-starred in an episode of Sebastian Baczkiewicz's dark fantasy-adventure radio program Pilgrim (2013), a series of tales that followed the adventures of main character and immortal being William Palmer. In the two-part radio serial The Aeneid (2013), writer Hattie Naylor's adaptation of the epic poem by Virgil, saw Badland in the role of Roman Goddess Venus on BBC Radio 4. Doing Time: The Last Ballad of Reading Gaol, based upon the poem by Oscar Wilde and showcasing odd historical facts from the prison's records, featured Badland in 2014. She went on to perform as a reader for series one, episode five of Jenny Eclair's short story vignette series Little Lifetimes in an episode entitled "The Viewing". The next year, she scored the lead role of Mrs Pickwick, a commissioner for local government, in director Jeremy Mortimer's drama Mrs Pickwick's Papers on BBC Radio 4. It was announced in 2018 that Badland would reprise her role as Doctor Who's Margaret Blaine in the spin-off radio series Torchwood. The episode, entitled "Sync", was released in May 2019.
