Richenda Carey (born 29 April 1948) is a British film, television, stage, and radio actress whose career has spanned more than five decades. Her screen work includes The Darling Buds of May, Monarch of the Glen, Criminal Justice, Colonia and Downton Abbey.
Carey's early television work includes Mike Leigh's "Nuts in May" (1976), made for the BBC's Play for Today strand, playing Miss Beale. She later appeared in another Mike Leigh production for Play for Today, Who's Who (1979), playing Lady Crouchurst.
Carey has performed extensively on the British and international stage. Her theatre career has included work at the National Theatre, where she appeared in the original 1991 production of The Madness of George III. She later joined the West End company of Calendar Girls at the Noël Coward Theatre in 2009, and in 2012 played Mrs Higgins in a Sheffield Crucible revival of My Fair Lady. Her stage work has also taken her to New York, where she appeared as Lady Knightsbridge in J. B. Priestley's The Roundabout at 59E59 Theaters as part of the 2017 Brits Off Broadway festival. More recent roles have included appearances in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Summer 1954. In 2026, she played Lady Saltburn in a new production of Noël Coward's Present Laughter, which opened at the Theatre Royal Bath before embarking on a national tour.
Film Year Title Role Notes1980Who's in Charge?Secretary1981Couples and RobbersRegistrar1982 A Shocking Accident Susan 1985Morons from Outer SpaceCountess GretelFlorence Nightingale Committee LadyLace IIMrs Hale1988The Woman He LovedMaud Kerr-Smiley1989Dealers Mallory's Secretary1990Strike It RichMiss MullenDunrulinSister1994 Nostradamus CountessLate Flowering LustMrs Fairclough1997 Photographing Fairies Fierce WomanJane EyreLady IngramMrs Dalloway Lady Bradshaw 1998Monk DawsonLady Toynton1999 Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? Mary Blackcottage2000Five Seconds to SparePolice Officer2001 Crush Lady Governor Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Imperious Woman Hot MoneyJudge Lucinda Winchcombe2003 Vacuums Mrs Cartwright Musical also known as Stealing Bess (US title)Looking for VictoriaLady WharncliffeThe Young VisitersLady Gay Finchline2005 Separate Lies Sarah Tufnell 2010 The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister Mrs Priestley 2015 Colonia Gisela 2019 Downton Abbey Mrs Webb 2021The ProtégéMother Lucia2025The Thursday Murder ClubMarjorie2027Dangerous Romance Post-production
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1974ChildhoodWoodcutterEpisode: "A Great Day for Bonzo"Upstairs, DownstairsHead NurseEpisode: "Tug of War"1975Within These WallsOfficer BudgenEpisode: "Let the People See"1976"Nuts in May"Miss BealePlay for Today1977The Muppet ShowQueen1978Going to WorkCareers OfficerEpisode: "What's the Choice?"1979"Who's Who"Lady CrouchurstPlay for Today"Don't Be Silly"Liz CharterPlay for Today1982P'tang, Yang, KipperbangBotany TeacherTV movie1982–1983NannyDiana Curry-RivelRecurring role1983Jemima Shore InvestigatesVee BrewerEpisode: "A Promising Death"1984LaceMrs Hale2 episodesJust Good FriendsHilary StylesEpisode: "Special"1985Inside OutMagistrateCover Her Face Miss BullardThe Detective Miss Dawkins2 episodesStoryboard Lady in BuffetEpisode: "Ladies in Charge"C.A.T.S. EyesMrs Granger Mrs HargreavesEpisode #1.3 Episode #1.101986To Have and to HoldNorahEpisode #1.8Call Me MisterTechnician Episode: "The Other Women"Only Fools and HorsesLady at OperaEpisode: "A Royal Flush"The Insurance ManTall Woman Screen Two1987Dear JohnMiss CulverEpisode: "Once Bitten"A Perfect SpyNannyEpisode #1.11988GemsMrs Evans3 episodesGentlemen and PlayersMrs SampsonEpisode: "Stags at Bay"Sunday PremiereBetty BuckleyEpisode: "Across the Lake"Lucky SunilMrs SlipperScreen Two1989Ticket to Ride Nurse KosztkaEpisode: "It's Just the Gypsy in My Soul"HannayMarigold HudspithEpisode: "The Confidence Man"The Play on OneAnnEpisode: "A Master of the Marionettes"StreetwiseMrs Swithin Episode: "Breaking In"Close to Home MavisEpisode: "Helen's Parents"1990Jeeves and WoosterLady WickhammersleyEpisode: "The Purity of the Turf"Waiting for GodGreta MuellerEpisode: "Fraulein Mueller"In Sickness and in HealthLady in GardenEpisode: "Dogs"She-Wolf of LondonZeldaEpisode: "Can't Keep a Dead Man Down: Part One"1991The Darling Buds of MayLady Bluff-Gore3 episodesRoy's RaidersBerylEpisode #1.3Bodger & BadgerMrs. Bogart7 episodes1994Late Flowering LustMrs FaircloughTV movieWycliffeJane RuleEpisode: "The Tangled Web"SpacevetsEpisode: "A Hero's Welcome"1995The ChoirBridget CavendishMiniseries1996The Prince and the PauperLady Milford6 episodes1997ChalkMary LanglandEpisode: "The New Student"Jane EyreLady IngramTV movieKavanagh QCPamela ErskineEpisode: "Blood Money"1998MosleyLady MosleyEpisode: "Young Man in a Hurry"dinnerladiesLady PamelaEpisode: "Royals"Julia Jekyll and Harriet HydeSister-BlisterEpisode: "Astro-Nuts"1999SpacedDog Pound ClerkEpisode: "Battles"2000Victoria Wood: With All The TrimmingsVariousChristmas special2003Monarch of the GlenLady Dorothy Trumpington-Bonnet5 episodes2004Midsomer MurdersMargaret HopkinsEpisode: "The Straw Woman"2008Criminal JusticeJudge Ira4 episodes2009Desperate RomanticsLandlady1 episode2015ResidueEvangeline Diehl3 episodes2017FalletMrs Brown5 episodes2019Agatha RaisinOlivia WitherspoonEpisode: "The Haunted House"
Theatre credits
Year Production Role Venue / company 1972 After Magritte Bristol Old Vic 1972 Christmas Back in King Street Mermaid Bristol Old Vic 1972 Lulu Bristol Old Vic 1972 Sky Blue Life Bristol Old Vic 1973 The Double Dealer Lady Froth Bristol Old Vic / Hong Kong Arts Festival 1973 Out of Bounds Bristol Old Vic 1973 Subject to Fits Bristol Old Vic 1973 The Taming of the Shrew Bristol Old Vic / Hong Kong Arts Festival 1974 When We Are Married Bristol Old Vic 1975 Afore Night Come Bristol Old Vic 1979 Oh! What a Lovely War Bristol Old Vic 1986–1987 Mumbo Jumbo Mrs Howlett Royal Exchange, Manchester / Lyric Hammersmith 1991 Rookery Nook Gertrude Twine Greenwich Theatre 1991–1994 The Madness of George III Lady Pembroke National Theatre / national and international tour 1994 Abelard and Heloise The Abbess Bristol Old Vic 1995 Black Comedy Miss Furnival Watford Theatre 1996 Swanwhite The Stepmother Gate Theatre 2000 A Woman of No Importance Lady Hunstanton Royal Exchange, Manchester 2009–2010 Calendar Girls Marie Noël Coward Theatre / national tour 2012 My Fair Lady Mrs Higgins Sheffield Crucible 2013 Housewife 49 Mrs Waite The Old Laundry 2016–2017 The Roundabout Lady Knightsbridge Park Theatre, London / 59E59 Theaters, New York 2023 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Dorothy Simon Friend Entertainment 2023 Roman Holiday Countess Theatre Royal Bath 2024 Summer 1954 Miss Meacham Theatre Royal Bath Productions 2026 Present Laughter Lady Saltburn Theatre Royal Bath Productions / national tour
Radio and voice work
Year Title Role Notes 2000 Peril at End House Mildred Croft Dogged Persistence Nettie Written by Martyn Wade and co-starring Joan Sims and Elizabeth Spriggs (BBC Radio 4, August 2000) 2002 Clock Tower 3 Dorothy Rand 2002 The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Mrs Terriss 2005 No Commitments Lady Dorothy Trumpington-Bonnet Episode: "Hard Times" (series eleven, episode four) 2011 Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures Gliss Episode: "Prisoner of the Sun" 2016 Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures Mother Finsey Audio drama series 2017 Doctor Who: The Early Adventures Professor Blavatsky Audio drama seriesGracelessTriangleAudio drama series 2018 Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures Lady Crozion Audio drama series 2019 The Diary of River Song Darial / Admiral Audio drama series 2019 Survivors Meg Pritchard Audio drama series 2021 The Worlds of Blake's 7 Shar Audio drama series 2023–2024 Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor Adventures Mother Finsey Audio drama series
References
External links