Victoria Wicks
Encyclopedia
Victoria Wicks is a British
actress best known for her television work playing Sally Smedley in Drop the Dead Donkey
, Mrs Gideon in The Mighty Boosh
, Harriet Lawes, the Head of Roundview College in Skins
, and for her work with Howard Barker's
theatre company, The Wrestling School. Other recent television work includes Lizzie Fraser in the BBC drama "Silent Witness
", Gemma, in ITV’s drama Mistresses, as Angela Reeves, wife of Richard Reeves, played by Paul McGann, in ITV’s drama, Collision, and as The High Priestess of the Sybillines, in The Fires of Pompeii
, Series 4 of Doctor Who
, starring David Tennant
and Catherine Tate
.
. One uncle, Jonathan Bates, who died in 2008 was an award-winning Sound Editor, and the other, Richard Bates, is a television producer. Wicks is a director of Evensford Productions Ltd, the company set up in 1955 to protect and promote H.E. Bates's work.http://www.pollingerltd.com/estates/he_bates.htm
In 1984 Wicks married Peter Williams (divorced 2004); they have one daughter, Madelaine Rose, born 1985.
Wicks trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
where she was awarded the Pernod and Bisquit Award for the most promising graduate.
, and then went on to play Sally Smedley in all six series of Drop The Dead Donkey
. The Mighty Boosh
, is an award-winning radio, television and stage show created by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. Mrs Gideon was the Head of Reptiles at the Zooniverse in Series 1. Wicks also played Harriet Lawes, the Head of College in series 1,2 and 3 of Skins
.
Wicks joined ‘The Wrestling School‘ in 1996. The company was formed in 1988 for the sole purpose of performing the work of the dramatist Howard Barker
. Since joining the company Wicks has appeared in 9 plays by Barker, performing in London, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Adelaide, and also in Rouen, Grenoble, Le Mans and Paris for the co-production of Les Animaux en Paradis, which was performed in French by 4 British and 5 French actors. Wicks is an Associate of The Wrestling School.
In 2010 Wicks was invited to The Segal Theatre Center in New York as guest of Theatre Minima to celebrate a day-long event on the work of Howard Barker. ttp://www.theatreminima.org/barker_segal.html
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress best known for her television work playing Sally Smedley in Drop the Dead Donkey
Drop the Dead Donkey
- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
, Mrs Gideon in The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
, Harriet Lawes, the Head of Roundview College in Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
, and for her work with Howard Barker's
Howard Barker
Howard E. Barker is a British playwright.-The Theatre of Catastrophe :Barker has coined the term "Theatre of Catastrophe" to describe his work...
theatre company, The Wrestling School. Other recent television work includes Lizzie Fraser in the BBC drama "Silent Witness
Silent Witness
Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
", Gemma, in ITV’s drama Mistresses, as Angela Reeves, wife of Richard Reeves, played by Paul McGann, in ITV’s drama, Collision, and as The High Priestess of the Sybillines, in The Fires of Pompeii
The Fires of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
, Series 4 of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, starring David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
and Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
.
Early Life, Background and Education
Wicks was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England in April 1959 to Brian and the late Judith Wicks. Wicks’s mother, Judith Bates, born 1933, was the second child of the writer H. E. BatesH. E. Bates
Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE , better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer and author. His best-known works include Love for Lydia, The Darling Buds of May, and My Uncle Silas.-Early life:...
. One uncle, Jonathan Bates, who died in 2008 was an award-winning Sound Editor, and the other, Richard Bates, is a television producer. Wicks is a director of Evensford Productions Ltd, the company set up in 1955 to protect and promote H.E. Bates's work.http://www.pollingerltd.com/estates/he_bates.htm
In 1984 Wicks married Peter Williams (divorced 2004); they have one daughter, Madelaine Rose, born 1985.
Wicks trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire within the University of Glamorgan Group located in Cardiff, Wales....
where she was awarded the Pernod and Bisquit Award for the most promising graduate.
Career
First job was as Acting Assistant Stage Manager at Northampton Rep for a year, before going to Bristol Old Vic, Regent’s Park and then the RSC. In 1986 Wicks was in Andy Hamilton’s black comedy Tickets for the TitanicTickets for the Titanic
Tickets for the Titanic was a British anthology series of television plays, transmitted on Channel 4, that ran for two three-episode seasons in 1987 and 1988. The title came from the concept of Britain in the mid/late-1980s being a sinking ship...
, and then went on to play Sally Smedley in all six series of Drop The Dead Donkey
Drop the Dead Donkey
- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
. The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
, is an award-winning radio, television and stage show created by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. Mrs Gideon was the Head of Reptiles at the Zooniverse in Series 1. Wicks also played Harriet Lawes, the Head of College in series 1,2 and 3 of Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
.
Wicks joined ‘The Wrestling School‘ in 1996. The company was formed in 1988 for the sole purpose of performing the work of the dramatist Howard Barker
Howard Barker
Howard E. Barker is a British playwright.-The Theatre of Catastrophe :Barker has coined the term "Theatre of Catastrophe" to describe his work...
. Since joining the company Wicks has appeared in 9 plays by Barker, performing in London, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Adelaide, and also in Rouen, Grenoble, Le Mans and Paris for the co-production of Les Animaux en Paradis, which was performed in French by 4 British and 5 French actors. Wicks is an Associate of The Wrestling School.
Work for Howard Barker
- Smack Me - Premiere reading at The Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London
- Actress With an Unloved Child - Premiere reading at Lewis Festival
- I Saw Myself - Premiere reading Hampstead
- The Fence - Algeria: London
- Les Animaux en Paradis - Tenna: Théâtre des Deux Rives in Rouen, Paris, Grenoble, Le Mans.
- 13 Objects - Cruel Cup, Kind Saucer, The Ring, Blue Shoe, The Drum: London
- Gertrude the Cry - Gertrude: Elsinore Castle, Denmark and London
- He Stumbled - Turner, The Queen: London.
- The Ecstatic Bible - Mrs Golllancz: Adelaide Theatre Festival, Australia
- Scenes From an Execution - Rivera: Barbican Theatre, London
- Ursula; Fear of the Estuary - Mother Placida: London, Birmingham, Copenhagen
- Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
- Helena: London, Berlin, Stockholm - The Love of a Good Man - Mrs. Toynbee: BBC Radio Drama
- A House of Correction - Lyndsey: BBC Radio Drama*Knowledge and a Girl - The Queen: BBC Radio Drama
- The Swing at Night - Klatura: Marionette Theatre for PuppetBarge
In 2010 Wicks was invited to The Segal Theatre Center in New York as guest of Theatre Minima to celebrate a day-long event on the work of Howard Barker. ttp://www.theatreminima.org/barker_segal.html
Television
- EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
- Sandra-BBC - Silent WitnessSilent WitnessSilent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
- Lizzie Fraser-BBC - Sherlock - Margaret Patterson-BBC
- At Home with the Georgians - Margaret Lady Stanley. - BBC-BBC
- CollisionCollisionA collision is an isolated event which two or more moving bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision" refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the word "collision" implies...
- Angela Reeves-ITV - SkinsSkins (TV series)Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
- Head of College-BBC 3 - Dr. Who - High Priestess of The Sybillines-BBC
- Mistresses - Gemma
- Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
- Hellen Callaghan-ITV - Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
- Sarah Stone-ITV - No SignalNo SignalNo Signal is the second full-length album by Illinois indie rock band Park. It was released in 2001 on Lobster Records.The final track "Untitled " is referred to as "AJS" during numerous live performances.-Track listing:...
- You Me ‘n’ Him - The Mighty BooshThe Mighty BooshThe Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
- Mrs. Gideon-BBC 3 - Drop the Dead DonkeyDrop the Dead Donkey- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
- Sally Smedley-Ch 4 - Bright Hair About the Bone - Miss Montrose
- M.I. High - Head of MI9
- The Brief - Magistrate
- My Family - Bex's Mother
- Tickets for the TitanicTickets for the TitanicTickets for the Titanic was a British anthology series of television plays, transmitted on Channel 4, that ran for two three-episode seasons in 1987 and 1988. The title came from the concept of Britain in the mid/late-1980s being a sinking ship...
- Arbuthnot - Murder Most HorridMurder Most HorridMurder Most Horrid is a BBC dark comedy anthology series starring comedian Dawn French. It ran for four series runs, in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999....
- Jocasta - Paul MertonPaul MertonPaul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
- Emily - Prisoner of Zenda - Princess Flavia
- My Little Grey Home in the West - Janet
- The Houseman's Tale - Allison
- Blossom in France - Jacqueline Renaud
- MudMudMud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
- Miss Palmer - CasualtyCasualty (TV series)Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
- Connolly QC - Not a Penny More, Not a Penny LessNot a Penny More, Not a Penny LessNot a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was Jeffrey Archer's first novel, first published in 1976. It was said to have been inspired by Archer's real-life experience of near-bankruptcy.-Synopsis:...
- Georgina - Hold the DreamHold the DreamHold the Dream is a British two-part miniseries made in 1986, based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It is the second book in the Emma Harte series, following A Woman of Substance...
- Sarah Lowther - Peak Practice X11 - Judy
- Doctors - Alison Mathews
- Bernard's Watch V - Aunt Rowena
- Snap - Jane
- The WardThe WardThe Ward can refer to:*Ward *The Ward , a horror film by John Carpenter*Children's Ward, a British children's television drama series...
- Barbara - Delta WaveDelta WaveDelta Wave was a children's science fiction television drama series which ran from January 3 to March 4, 1996. It replaced the revived version of The Tomorrow People whose the final season ended in 1995 and was made by Tetra Films for the ITV network....
- Olga Crick - No WorriesNo Worries"No Worries" is the second single released from Blue band member Simon Webbe's debut solo album, Sanctuary. The song features backing vocals by Yvonne John Lewis. The single peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart, the same position as its predecessor, "Lay Your Hands"...
- Sarah - StreetwiseStreetwiseStreetwise may refer to:*Rover Streetwise, a small hatchback made by the MG Rover Group*Possessing knowledge of youth culture, also called "street"...
- Mrs Daniels - Snakes and LaddersSnakes and laddersSnakes and Ladders is an ancient Indian board game regarded today as a worldwide classic. It is played between two or more players on a game board having numbered, gridded squares. A number of "ladders" and "snakes" are pictured on the board, each connecting two specific board squares...
- Virginia - Gems - Elinor
- Pastoral CarePastoral CareLiber Regulae Pastoralis or Regula Pastoralis is a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy written by Pope Gregory I around the year 590, shortly after his papal inauguration...
- Arbuthnot - Two of UsTwo of Us"Two of Us" is a 1969 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney ."Two of Us" was originally released on Let It Be and was later released on Anthology 3 and Let It Be... Naked. Its title was used for a film Two of Us about a fictional 1976 reunion between McCartney and Lennon.-History:The song...
- Jackie - Rumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
- Amanda Gleason - Grange HillGrange HillGrange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
- Doctor Burton
Film
- Stick With Me Kid - Christina
- What A Girl WantsWhat a Girl Wants (film)What a Girl Wants is a 2003 film starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Oliver James. Directed by Dennie Gordon, the film is a remake of the 1958 film, The Reluctant Debutante which had a screenplay by William Douglas-Home, based on his play of the same name.The title, "What a Girl...
- Henry’s Secretary - Ping Pong - Maggie
- Loser Takes AllLoser Takes AllLoser takes all is a 1955 novel by British author Graham Greene.-Plot summary:Mr. Bertram and Cary are about to get married. An unambitious assistant accountant, Bertram's plans for marriage are not particularly exciting...
- Jane Truefit
Theater
- Quartermaine's TermsQuartermaine's TermsQuartermaine's Terms is a play by Simon Gray which won The Cheltenham Prize in 1982.-Plot:The play takes place over a period of two years in the 1960s in the staffroom at a Cambridge school for teaching English to foreigners...
by Simon Gray - Melanie - A Woman of No ImportanceA Woman of No ImportanceA Woman of No Importance is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premièred on 19 April 1893 at London's Haymarket Theatre. It is a testimony of Wilde's wit and his brand of dark comedy...
by Oscar Wilde - Mrs Arbuthnot - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
by William Shakespeare - Rosalind - Blithe SpiritBlithe SpiritBlithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
by Noel Coward - Elvira - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare - Olivia
- Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
by William Shakespeare - Portia - Charley's AuntCharley's AuntCharley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
by Brandon Thomas - Amy Spettigue - Chinamen by Michael Frayn - Jo, Bee, and Alex
- A Midsummer Night's dreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
by William Shakespeare - Helena - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
by William Shakespeare - Hymen - The Country WifeThe Country WifeThe Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun...
by William Wycherley - Mistress Squeamish
Radio
- Anything Legal
- The Cask of AmontilladoThe Cask of Amontillado"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book....
- Get TogetherGet Together"Get Together" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her tenth studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Produced by Madonna and Stuart Price, the song was released as the third single from the album by Warner Bros. Records on June 6, 2006. The decision was spurred by the fact that...
- The Cabaret of Dr CaligariThe Cabaret of Dr CaligariThe Cabaret of Dr Caligari was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series first broadcast in November and December 1991. It was written by Alan Gilbey, and produced by Anne Edyvean....
- The Cleverest Man at Oxford
- Riding to Jerusalem
- Albert's Extra Parliamentary Activities
- The Secret Parts
External links
- BBC Comedy Guide - Victoria Wicks
- Kilpatrick, David. Gertrude--The Cry (review). Theatre Journal - Volume 55, Number 4, December 2003, pp. 704–706. The Johns Hopkins University Press
- Guardian review of the 2002 production of Gertrude—The Cry