Tessa Wyatt
Encyclopedia
Tessa Wyatt is an English
actress who first came to the public spotlight through her marriage to Tony Blackburn
. She later starred in the sitcom
Robin's Nest
.
, Surrey
in 1948. She attended Elmhurst Ballet School
and was encouraged to act by her maternal grandmother. Wyatt got her first professional job aged 12 in Mr Pastry
and soon after she got an agent
. Other early television appearances included parts in Z-Cars
, The Wednesday Play
, Public Eye, Callan
, Dixon of Dock Green
, Doctor at Large, Play for Today
, UFO
and The Goodies
. In 1972, Tessa Wyatt and Tony Blackburn
, a well known radio
DJ
, married. They divorced after five years having had a son Simon. Blackburn was left devastated by the breakup of their marriage, and would plead on air for her return (this was later parodied in Smashie and Nicey
: The End of an Era). By curious coincidence, Tessa Wyatt played a character called Judy Blackburn in the episode The Comedian's Graveyard in the 1969 series of Public Eye.
sitcom Robin's Nest
, a spin-off the successful sitcom Man About the House
. Her on-screen boyfriend and later husband Robin Tripp was played by Richard O'Sullivan. Wyatt and O'Sullivan were a couple for seven years from 1978 and had one son Jamie. Following Robin's Nest, Wyatt appeared in Return of the Saint
, Boon
and 2point4 children
.
Register Office
in 1986, and they have two children, Joanna and Jack. Wyatt was part of the original cast of the Channel Five soap opera
Family Affairs
playing Samantha Cockerill. Since 2000 she has also appeared in Casualty
and Doctors
. She appeared in the fifth series of Peep Show
as Jeremy's mother and recently was Tom's love interest in one episode of "The Old Guys
" opposite Roger Lloyd Pack
and Clive Swift
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress who first came to the public spotlight through her marriage to Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
. She later starred in the sitcom
British sitcom
A British sitcom tends, as it does in most other countries, to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. Unlike American sitcoms, where twenty or more episodes in a season is the norm, British sitcoms...
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
.
Early life
Tessa Wyatt was born in WokingWoking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in 1948. She attended Elmhurst Ballet School
Elmhurst School for Dance
Elmhurst School for Dance is one of the foremost classical ballet schools in the United Kingdom and is the official associate school of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. First established in Camberley, Surrey, the school is the oldest established vocational dance school in the United Kingdom and...
and was encouraged to act by her maternal grandmother. Wyatt got her first professional job aged 12 in Mr Pastry
Richard Hearne
Richard Lewis Hearne, OBE was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He was famous for his stage and television character Mr Pastry.-Career:...
and soon after she got an agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
. Other early television appearances included parts in Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
, The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured...
, Public Eye, Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...
, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, Doctor at Large, Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
, UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
and The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
. In 1972, Tessa Wyatt and Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
, a well known radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, married. They divorced after five years having had a son Simon. Blackburn was left devastated by the breakup of their marriage, and would plead on air for her return (this was later parodied in Smashie and Nicey
Smashie and Nicey
Mike Smash and Dave Nice were two fictional television characters who first appeared in the early 1990s TV sketch show Harry Enfield's Television Programme. They were played by comedians Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield respectively...
: The End of an Era). By curious coincidence, Tessa Wyatt played a character called Judy Blackburn in the episode The Comedian's Graveyard in the 1969 series of Public Eye.
Television fame
From 1977 to 1981, Tessa Wyatt played Vicky Nicholls, later Tripp, in the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
sitcom Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
, a spin-off the successful sitcom Man About the House
Man About the House
Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...
. Her on-screen boyfriend and later husband Robin Tripp was played by Richard O'Sullivan. Wyatt and O'Sullivan were a couple for seven years from 1978 and had one son Jamie. Following Robin's Nest, Wyatt appeared in Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States...
, Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
and 2point4 children
2point4 children
2point4 Children is a 1990s British sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porter family; an average family that is persistently faced with surreal situations and sheer bad luck....
.
Recent years
Wyatt married property developer Bill Harkness at HammersmithHammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
Register Office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
in 1986, and they have two children, Joanna and Jack. Wyatt was part of the original cast of the Channel Five soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Family Affairs
Family Affairs
Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night...
playing Samantha Cockerill. Since 2000 she has also appeared in Casualty
Casualty (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...
and Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
. She appeared in the fifth series of Peep Show
Peep Show (TV series)
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The television programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves, amongst others. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003. The show's seventh series makes it...
as Jeremy's mother and recently was Tom's love interest in one episode of "The Old Guys
The Old Guys
The Old Guys is a British comedy television series that revolves around two aging housemates: Tom Finnan and Roy Bowden . The pair live across the street from Sally , whom they both find attractive. Tom moved in with Roy after Roy's wife Penny deserted him...
" opposite Roger Lloyd Pack
Roger Lloyd Pack
Roger Lloyd-Pack is an English actor known for his roles in the TV shows The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses and The Old Guys.-Career:...
and Clive Swift
Clive Swift
Clive Walter Swift is an English character comedy actor and songwriter. He is best known for his role as character Richard Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances. He is less known for his role as character Roy in the British television series The Old Guys...
.