Carol MacReady
English actress
title: "Carol MacReady" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-english-actresses", "english-film-actresses", "english-stage-actresses", "english-television-actresses", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "living-people"] description: "English actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_MacReady" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English actress ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| nationality | English |
| occupation | Actress |
| years_active | 1961–present |
| spouses | James Laurenson |
| (m. 1970; div. 1997) | |
| children | 1 |
| :: |
| nationality = English | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1961–present | spouses = James Laurenson (m. 1970; div. 1997) | children = 1
Carol MacReady is an English actress. She has been working in the profession since 1961. She is known for the role of Mrs Dribelle in the series Bodger and Badger.
Career
Television
MacReady has often been cast as matronly, authority and mother figures, such as Mrs Atkins in Danger: Marmalade at Work, Madge in Victoria Wood's play The Library, Susan Speed in Waiting For God, Mrs Daws in The Darling Buds of May, Elizabeth in The Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Agnes Wilford in 102 Dalmatians (2000), Olga in My Family and Ethel in Doc Martin.
One of her earlier notable roles was in the Play for Today story Schmoedipus (1974) written by Dennis Potter. In 1996, MacReady was memorably cast as Mrs Tinker, the paranoid mother of Alice Tinker in The Vicar of Dibley episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident". She later appeared as Mrs Norcliffe in Gentleman Jack and Irene Hickson in two episodes of Strike.
Theatre
On stage, MacReady has appeared in several productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Love in a Wood as Mrs Joiner, Bartholomlew Fair as Ursula and Roberto Zucco as Madam. She has also featured in several plays at the National Theatre, including The Mandate as Tamara and Tales From the Vienna Woods as First Aunt.
Personal life
MacReady married actor James Laurenson in 1970. The marriage produced one child. The couple divorced in 1997.
Selected filmography
Television
::data[format=table title=""]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Sister Theresa | Little Moon of Alban |
| 1968 | Sherlock Holmes | Carrie | Episode: "Shoscombe's Old Place" |
| Softly Softly | Ellen Simpson | Episode: "Take Them in Singles" | |
| 1970 | The Six Wives of Henry VIII | Amalie | Episode: "Anne of Cleeves" |
| 1971 | The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder | Miss Hillard | Episode: "Death of an Angel" |
| 1974 | Play For Today | Dorothy | Schmoedipus |
| 1974-5 | An Unofficial Rose | Nancy Bowshott | 4 episodes |
| 1975 | The Sweeney | Kath | Episode: "Trojan Bus" |
| 1975-6 | Couples | Heather Barnes | 64 episodes |
| 1978 | Come Back, Lucy | Mrs Clayton | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Play For Today | ATS Sergeant | The Imitation Game |
| 1981 | The Flame Trees of Thika | Mrs Nimmo | 4 episodes |
| 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected | Liz Ferguson | A Harmless Vanity |
| The Woman in White | Mrs Michelson | 3 episodes (mini series) | |
| Union Castle | Elizabeth Steel | 5 episodes | |
| 1984 | Danger: Marmalade at Work | Mrs Atkins | 10 episodes |
| Winter Sunlight | Mrs Swain | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Mapp and Lucia | Daisy Quantock | 2 episodes |
| Roll Over Beethoven | Petra Stopforth | 1 episode | |
| 1985-6 | Troubles and Strife | Margaret | 13 episodes |
| 1986 | Dramarama | Marian Bert | Last Days at Black Berts |
| 1987 | A Dororthy L. Sayers Mystery | Miss Martin | 3 episodes (mini series) |
| 1989 | Victoria Wood | Madge | Episode: "The Library" |
| 1990 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Milly Croft | Episode: "Peril at End House" |
| Birds of a Feather | Mrs Simmons | Episode: "Love on the Run" | |
| 1991 | Never the Twain | Traffic Warden | Episode: "The First of the Queue" |
| Waiting For God | Susan Speed | Episode: "Foreign Workers" | |
| 1992 | A Bit of Fry and Laurie | Liz Tragic | 1 episode |
| Casualty | Aunt Pauline | Episode: "Body and Soul" | |
| 1992-3 | The Darling Buds of May | Mrs Daws | 4 episodes |
| 1993 | The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | Mrs Ives | Episode; "Death at the Bar" |
| Get Back | Pam | Episode: "Drive My Car" | |
| The Return of the Psammead | Cook | 3 episodes | |
| 1994 | The Rector's Wife | Celia Harper | 3 episodes (mini series) |
| 1995 | The Ghostbusters of East Finchley | Elizabeth | 5 episodes |
| 1996 | The Vicar of Dibley | Mrs Tinker | Episode: "The Christmas Lunch Incident" |
| 1996-7 | Bodger and Badger | Mrs Dribelle | 33 episodes |
| 1997 | Dangerfield | Mrs Smedley | Episode: "Guilt" |
| 2000 | Trial and Retribution | Vera Collingwood | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Doc Martin | Mrs Beckett | Episode: "The Portwenn Effect" |
| 2006 | Midsomer Murders | Hatty Down | Episode: "Vixen's Run" |
| 2008 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Miss Johnson | Episode: "Cat Among the Pigeons" |
| 2009 | My Family | Olga | Episode: "The Guru" |
| 2013 | Doc Martin | Ethel | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Casualty | Evelyn Thompson | Episode: "A Life Less Ordinary" |
| 2017 | Marley's Ghosts | Mrs Harrington | Episode: "Dead Man's Chest" |
| 2018 | The Royals | Dottie | Episode: "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles" |
| 2020 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Dorothy Tearsheet | Episode: "The Sticking Place" |
| 2022 | Gentleman Jack | Mrs Norcliffe | Episode: "Faith is All" |
| 2022 | Strike | Irene Hickson | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | This is Going to Hurt | German Professor | 1 episode |
| :: |
Film
::data[format=table title=""]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Cider with Rosie | Baroness | TV film |
| 1973 | The Taming of the Shrew | Katherina | TV film |
| 1977 | A Christmas Carol | Mrs Cratchit | TV film |
| 1978 | Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf | Wendy | TV film |
| 1980 | Invasion | Czech official | TV film |
| 1982 | Murder is Easy | Mrs Pierce | TV film |
| The Scarlet Pimpernel | Madame Duval | TV film | |
| 1983 | Forever Young | Brenda | |
| 1991 | How's Business | Kath | |
| 1994 | A Feast at Midnight | Miss Plunder | |
| Stanley's Dragon | Mrs Bradley | ||
| 2000 | Quills | Sister Noirceuill | |
| 102 Dalmatians | Agnes Wilford | ||
| 2003 | Wondrous Oblivion | Mrs Wilson | |
| 2006 | Love Lies Bleeding | Landlady | TV film |
| 2018 | Walk like a Panther | Pat | |
| Dead in a Week or Your Money Back | Celia | ||
| 2021 | A Boy Called Christmas | Mother Gerri | |
| Decrypted | Alice Bertrand | ||
| :: |
References
References
- "Love in a Wood".
- "Barthomolew Fair".
- "Roberto Zucco".
- Billington, Michael. (27 October 2004). "The Mandate". [[The Guardian]].
- Billington, Michael. (15 October 2003). "Tales From the Vienna Woods". [[The Guardian]].
- https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/coronation-street-crown-star-james-29148352
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