Janet Stephanie Francis (born 5 August 1947) is an English actress. She appeared as Lisa Colbert in the late-1970s series Secret Army and as Penny Warrender in the 1980s romantic comedy Just Good Friends.
Early life Francis was born on 5 August 1947 at Charing Cross Hospital, Westminster, London. She is the eldest child of Frank Francis, a clerical officer with the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and Marjorie (née Watling), an employment agent, who were married in 1944. She was brought up in Streatham and was educated at the Lady Edridge Grammar School.
After training as a dancer at the Royal Ballet Senior School from which she graduated in 1965, Francis performed with the Royal Ballet Touring Company in Britain, in the rest of Europe and the United States. Francis left the Royal Ballet in September 1969 to pursue an acting career.
Acting Francis made the transfer to becoming an actress through choreography, and performed with the Cheltenham Repertory Company between 1969 and 1970. She first appeared on television in 1972 in the mini-series Anne of Green Gables playing the part of Diana Barry, before landing BBC Television drama roles including Kschessinska in Fall of Eagles and Lisa Colbert in Secret Army (1977–78). She appeared in Dracula (1979) as Mina Van Helsing with Laurence Olivier as Abraham Van Helsing.
She played the part of Susie Dean in Alan Plater's adaptation of the J. B. Priestley novel The Good Companions (1980) which was produced by Yorkshire Television. Writer John Sullivan met Francis and later created her best-known part, Penny Warrender, in the 1980s BBC sitcom Just Good Friends.
She later co-starred with Dennis Waterman as Sally Hardcastle in the 1989–1992 ITV drama series Stay Lucky. This was followed by an appearance in Heartbeat in 1993, in which she played Vivienne Keen in the episode Love Hurts. She also played Nick's "old enough to be his mother" girlfriend in the sitcom My Family.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she appeared in the Lloyds Bank television commercials alongside Nigel Havers and Leo McKern.
In 2006, she guest starred in ITV prison drama Bad Girls as interior designer Catherine Earlham, who was sent to Larkhall on remand for embezzlement. The character played a key role in the exit storyline for fellow inmate Darlene Cake (Antonia Okonma). She is also a regular performer, and part of the original cast, of the touring play Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners.
In 2009, she appeared as Julia in the second series of Mistresses on BBC1. In November 2009, she appeared in the ITV drama Collision. She also played a love interest for Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, in 2010.
In April 2014, she made a guest appearance as a patient in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty.
Personal life Francis married the actor-writer Martin Thurley in Newton Abbot on 1 August 1977; he writes using the pseudonym Thomas Ellice. They have two daughters and reside in Woodchurch, Kent.
Selected filmography +YearTitleRoleNotes1969The Ken Dodd ShowVarious1 episode1971The Fenn Street GangShirley MatthewsEpisode: "Who Was That Lady?"1972Anne of Green GablesDiana Barry4 episodesBBC Play of the MonthPophamThe MagistrateThe Long ChaseSusan Fraser13 episodesThirty Minute TheatreStephanieSwiss Cottage1973Country MattersSophie DavenportEpisode: "The Four Beauties"Doctor in ChargeDianaEpisode: "The Pool"Hawkeye The PathfinderMabel Dunham (Magnet)5 episodesThrillerGille RandallFile Under Fear1974Fall of EaglesKschessinskaEpisode: "The Last Tsar"Play for TodayLizzieThe Lonely Man's LoverRoomsJanJan & Tony (Parts 1 & 2)1975Anne of AvonleaDiana Barry6 episodesBBC Play of the MonthMariaLove's Labour's LostSoftly Softly: TaskforceKarenEpisode: "Dorothy's Birthday"Village HallMillyThe Rough and the Smooth1976CouplesEmily Rowland6 episodesBBC Play of the MonthGrace HarkawayThe London AssuranceSutherland's LawLesley GalbraithEpisode: Blind JumpThe Duchess of Duke StreetIrene Baker2 episodes1977PremiereChristabelGive Us a Kiss ChristabelRafflesNetjeEpisode: A Bad Night1977–78Secret ArmyLisa 'Yvette' Colbert17 episodes1978TargetJennyEpisode: "Rogue's Gallery"1979DraculaMina Van HelsingFilmITV PlayhousePrudence Casting the RunesRipping YarnsMirandaRoger of the Raj1980–81The Good CompanionsSusie Dean9 episodes1981Love Story: A Chance to Sit DownBarbara Livesey4 episodes1982Tales of the UnexpectedLeila GrahamDeath Can Add1983–86Just Good FriendsPenny Warrender22 episodes1984ChampionsJo BeswickFilmHammer House of Mystery and Suspense Eva Baler Corvini Inheritance1985MinderSarah BatesEpisode: "Life in the Fast Food Lane"1989–91Stay LuckySally Hardcastle16 episodes1994Under the Hammer Maggie Perowne7 episodes1995Jeremy Hardy Gives Good SexVariousVideoThe Ghostbusters of East FinchleyGrace6 episodes1997SparkColette6 episodes2000SunburnRachel Dearbon1 episode2001My FamilyAmandaEpisode: "Age of Romance"2002HeartbeatVivenne KeenEpisode: "Love Hurts"MicawberLady CharlotteEpisode: "Micawber and the Aristocracy"2005According to BexSally AtwellEpisode: The Time WarpTwisted TalesPenny MarchantFruitcake of the Living Dead 2006Bad GirlsCatherine Earlham1 episode2007Diamond GeezerKateEpisode: "Old Gold"New Tricks June ParkerEpisode: "Power House"2008The InvisiblesJanet Rigby1 episode2009Collision Christine Edwards4 episodesMistresses Julia2 episodes2010EmmerdaleSue Hastings3 episodes2013Law and Order UKCaroline MoranEpisode: "Mortal"2014Casualty Ginny Roxburgh-BerrowEpisode: "Carrot Not Stick"2016I Want My Wife BackPaula5 episodes2018Next of KinElspeth2 episodes
Theatre The Sleeping Beauty (1969) ... Royal Ballet (1969) The Farmer's Wife (1969) ... Cheltenham Repertory Company, as Susan Maine Sleeping Beauty (1969–1970) ... Pantomime, as Fairy Dreamawhile The Boyfriend (1970) ... as Maisie (& Lolita) When Did You Last See My Mother (1970) ... at The Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court, as Linda Cinderella (1970) ... at the Manchester Opera House Play It Again Sam (1971) ... at the New Theatre, Bromley as one of Barbara and the Dream Girls The Heiress (1971) ... as Marian Almond Romance! (1971) ... at the Duke of York's Theatre, London as Lotte Out of Bounds (1973) ... Bristol Old Vic Company as Ermyntrude Johnson Lend Me A Tenor (1986) ... at the Globe Theatre, London as Maggie Hay Fever (1988) ... at the Chichester Festival Theatre as Myra Arundel 'Dear Ralph' A Valentine's Day Gala (1993) ... at the London Palladium as a Host for the Evening Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners (2004–2008) ... at various theatres on tour An Evening at Le Candide (2006) ... at the King's Head Theatre, London
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