Katy Manning
Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning is an English-Australian actress best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She has also made many theatre appearances, and is now an Australian citizen. In 2009, Manning moved back to the UK to pursue new acting work and lives in London.
Early life
Manning was born in Guildford, Surrey, the younger daughter of politician turned sports columnist J. L. Manning OBE and Amy Manning ; her elder sister was Jane Dressler, a fashion model, who moved to Roanake, America. Manning spent her early years in Dulwich Village. Manning became friends with Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland, and socialised with stars such as James Mason and Dirk Bogarde, and had tea with Noel Coward. Aged sixteen, Manning was involved in a horrific car crash after the driver, her friend Brian Gascoigne, fell asleep at the wheel. The car, which had no seatbelts, careered over a roundabout and crashed into a garage. Manning was thrown through the windscreen and through a plate glass window. Both Manning's legs were broken, her back was smashed and her face disfigured. She had to spend over a year recovering in hospital and had to have several skin grafts on her face.Manning went to the U.S. to stay with her sister to recover, and was offered a five-year contract with MGM by Arthur Mayer himself at one of her sister's house parties, although her father refused to let her do it. Returning to the UK, Manning trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, then joined a Wolverhampton repertory company. Her first screen credit was in an egg commercial which also starred Jacqueline Bisset. Manning then made her TV debut in the BBC drama , in the episode 'Standing Orders'. Shortly after, she was seen in two episodes playing Julia Dungarvon in ITV's Man At The Top.
Career
''Doctor Who''
She played the part of Jo Grant alongside Jon Pertwee's incarnation of the Doctor. Manning struck up an immediate rapport with her co-stars Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, Richard Franklin and Roger Delgado. Fans of Doctor Who often refer to these characters as the UNIT family — UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, being the fictional United Nations organisation that the Doctor worked for. Manning is the only surviving Doctor Who companion from Jon Pertwee's era.Manning's connection with Doctor Who continues: she voices Jo Grant in the Companion Chronicles Audio Adventures, and she is also the voice of the Time Lord Iris Wildthyme in several of the Big Finish Productions audio plays. In 2005, Manning also appeared in Doctor Who — Inside The TARDIS with two of the Doctors, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker, who spoke of their experiences with the long-running show.
She is also involved with fan events and conventions, and she is the patron of the Doctor Who Club of Australia.
In October 2010, Manning reprised her role as Jo Jones in the fourth series of the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. The two-part story, entitled 'Death of the Doctor', was written by former executive producer of the programme Russell T Davies. She meets the Doctor again, and stars with her grandchild Santiago Jones.
, Louise Jameson and Katy Manning at a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary event in 2013
In November 2013 she appeared as herself in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five Doctors Reboot.
After ''Doctor Who''
Straight after leaving Doctor Who in 1973, Manning presented her own ten-part TV series for the BBC on crafts, entitled Serendipity shown in the daytime schedules. She appeared in an episode of Armchair Theatre before she was reunited with Jon Pertwee in 1975, when she appeared in Whodunnit? on ITV; at the time that Pertwee was chairing the panel. In 1977, she appeared topless as a drug addict in the hard-hitting crime drama Target, her last BBC drama role other than as Jo Jones in The Sarah Jane Adventures until Casualty in 2015. Manning wrote the TV series Private Wives and has been involved in other writing and directing projects.After leaving Doctor Who, Manning appeared predominantly on stage. From 1973 to 1976, she appeared opposite Derek Nimmo in Why Not Stay For Breakfast? in the West End, as well as appearing in There's a Girl in My Soup. From 1977 to 1979, she toured in Doctor in the House, a production that also starred Jimmy Edwards, Lionel Blair, Bob Grant and future Doctor Who actor Colin Baker; in 1980, she toured in Peter Terson's VE Night alongside Ian Cullen and Jane Goddard and in 1981, she appeared on stage in Thark alongside Brian Murphy and Reginald Marsh. After moving to Australia in 1982, she appeared in the play Otherwise Engaged opposite Martin Shaw, and then Run for Your Wife in 1987–88; other members of the cast in the production were Jack Smethurst, David McCallum and Eric Sykes. Manning appeared as Rita in Educating Rita from 1989 to 1991 at the Sydney Opera House, the venue she also played Elvira in Blithe Spirit in 1990.
Manning was also offered a role in popular Australian soap Home and Away but she had to turn it down due to busy work commitments.
Manning was the voice of Australia's UKTV television channel from the late 1990s until the 2000s providing voiceovers for the indents. She also hosted her own chat show from 2001 until 2008 called Preview with Katy Manning and had guests including Lenny Henry and Basil Brush.
Her film career has included roles in the British comedies Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! and Eskimo Nell, and the Australian films Melvin, Son of Alvin and The Quest. She has also appeared in the low-budget film noir When Darkness Falls directed by Australian documentary filmmaker Rohan Spong; a role for which she would win Best Supporting Actress at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival.
In 2000 she voiced the main character Gloria in the Australian children's animated television series Gloria's House, as well as Emma in a 2002 animated film from Burbank Animation Studios, Jungle Girl and the Lost Island of Dinosaurs, amongst other animated films and television series.
In June and July 2007, she appeared as Yvette in the stage show 'Allo 'Allo! alongside Gorden Kaye as René Artois at Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane. Guy Siner and Sue Hodge also reprised their original roles from the television series, and the other characters were portrayed by Australian television actors including Steven Tandy and Jason Gann.
In 2011, she appeared as Blodwyn Morgan, a Welsh busybody and clairvoyant, in the touring stage play 'Death by Fatal Murder'. This was a Peter Gordon play, and part of the 'Inspector Pratt' trilogy. She also appeared as Susan Payne in the 2014 supernatural gangster film Evil Never Dies starring Tony Scannell and Graham Cole.
''Me and Jezebel'' at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe
In 2009 Manning returned to the UK as part of her one-woman show Me and Jezebel. The play is based on a true 1985 story about Bette Davis inviting herself to a fan's house for a night and staying for a month, with Manning playing all the parts. It toured through March and April in England and also played at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe at The Gilded Balloon Wine Bar in August. The show received a five-star review in the Edinburgh Evening News, which described Manning as "one of Britain's best actresses". Manning also received two other four-star reviews and appeared on STV news promoting the show.She returned to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 in the play 'Keeping up with the Joans' with Susan Penhaligon. The play also toured to The Customs House, South Shields & Greenwich Theatre London.
Personal life
Manning was born with myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness or shortsightedness, which caused numerous injuries during the filming of Doctor Who. She has stated, "Once I tried to take the wrong children home from school!"Manning has twins born in 1979 with partner Dean Harris. The children were born premature and suffered health issues, which caused her to move to Australia where she met her long-term partner Barry Crocker.
In a 2012 Radio Times interview, Manning said she had returned to London three years earlier, although there was no mention of any break-up in their relationship, and she referred to Crocker as her "current partner" in a 2017 interview with the Daily Express: