Sarah Sutton (born 12 December 1961)[1] is a British actress. She played the role of Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Sarah Sutton
Sutton at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013
Born (1961-12-12) 12 December 1961 (age 62)
Alma materGuildhall School of Music and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1973–present
Known forNyssa in Doctor Who
Spouse
Michael Bundy
(m. 1985)
Children1

Early life

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Sutton was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Sutton studied ballet as a child[2] and was only 11 when she became the youngest British actress to have played Alice on screen, in a 1973 television film of Alice Through the Looking Glass.

She began acting at the age of nine in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.[3] She made her first appearance as Baby Roo[4] just five days after her ninth birthday at the Phoenix Theatre[5] in the West End of London, 1970–1972.

Besides her performance as Alice, Sutton appeared in a number of television programmes before Doctor Who, including The Moon Stallion (1978) as Diana Purwell and The Crucible (1980) as Susannah Walcott.[2]

Career

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Sutton portrayed the character of Nyssa, a Trakenite aristocrat, in Doctor Who. She is exactly one week older than her co–star, fellow companion Matthew Waterhouse. Her first appearance in the role was in the 1981 serial The Keeper of Traken. Initially, Nyssa was intended to appear only in one story, the production team later deciding to keep her as a continuing character. After joining the Fourth Doctor in the subsequent story Logopolis, her final full Doctor Who serial was with the Fifth Doctor, in 1983's Terminus.

Sutton took a break from acting after Doctor Who, focusing for a number of years on raising her daughter.[6] She made a brief appearance in Peter Davison's final Doctor Who serial, The Caves of Androzani (1984), played Sarah Dryden in a 1989 episode of the BBC medical drama series Casualty and Wendy in a 1992 episode of Unnatural Pursuits.[citation needed]

Sutton reprised the role of Nyssa in the 1993 Doctor Who Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, and subsequently in several of the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who spin-off audio plays[7] from 1999 onwards. In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[8] In 1997 she starred in a special episode of the BBC's dramatic reconstruction series 999 marking 10 years since the great storm of 1987.

Sutton also appeared in several episodes of MJTV's original audio sci-fi CD series Soldiers of Love as Colonel Franklyn. She also played Sharon in the Take 1 Productions educational video drama TravelWise (2000).[citation needed]

In 2001 Sutton starred as Sarah in Wirrn: Race Memory, a BBV audio reusing concepts from Doctor Who.

In 2006 Sutton played Asaria, a role written specifically for her in the original science fiction audio monologue The Jarillion Mercy.[9]

Personal life

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In 1985, Sutton married Michael Bundy, a general practitioner. They have a daughter, Hannah (born 1991).[10]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1973 Menace Belinda Episode: "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play"
Play for Today Little Lavina Episode: "Baby Blues"
Alice Through the Looking Glass Alice TV film
1975 Late Call Myra Longmore 3 episodes
Ten from the Twenties Ina Episode: "Aunt Tatty"
Oil Strike North Amanda Fraser Episode: "Time of Hazard"
1976 Westway Sue Harvey 5 episodes
1978 The Moon Stallion Diana Purwell All 6 episodes
1981 The Crucible Susannah Walcott TV film
Byron: A Personal Tour Mary Chaworth TV film
1981–1984 Doctor Who Nyssa 48 episodes
1982 Ann Talbot Serial: "Black Orchid" - 2 episodes
1989 Casualty Sarah Dryden Episode: "Charity"
1992 Unnatural Pursits Wendy Episode: "I'm the Author"
1993 Doctor Who Nyssa Episode: "Dimensions in Time" (two charity special mini-episodes)

Radio and CD audio drama

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Year Title Role Notes
1999–2002 Soldiers of Love Colonel Franklyn MJTV; 7 episodes
2000–2021 Doctor Who: The Monthly Range Nyssa Big Finish Productions; 64 releases
2001 Race Memory Sarah BBV Productions
2006 The Jarillion Mercy Asaria The Jarillion Productions
2008 Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles Nyssa Story: "The Darkening Eye"
2011 Doctor Who: The Lost Stories Nyssa 3 releases
2011 The Five Companions Nyssa Special release
2013 The Light at the End Nyssa Special release
2014 Dark Shadows: The Devil Cat Emma Simon Big Finish Productions
2014–present Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Adventures Nyssa 8 releases
2015–present Big Finish Short Trips Nyssa 6 releases
2016 Cold Fusion Nyssa Novel Adaptation
2018 Star Cops: Mother Earth 2 Mary Ward Big Finish Productions
2020 Timeslip: The Age of the Death Lottery Charlotte Trent Big Finish Productions
2020 Timeslip: The War That Never Was Charlotte Trent Big Finish Productions
2021 The War Master Nyssa Story: "The Orphan"
2022 Tenth Doctor Classic Companions Nyssa Story: "The Stuntman"

References

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  1. ^ Scott, Cavan; Wright, Mark (2013). Who-Ology: The Official Miscellany. BBC Books. p. 120. ISBN 9781849906197. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Eramo, Steve. "Doctor Who's Sarah Sutton - A Touch of Nobility". SciFi and TV Talk. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. ^ A.A. Milnes Winnie-the-Pooh
  4. ^ Baby Roo
  5. ^ The Phoenix Theatre
  6. ^ "The Galactic Orphan". Doctor Who Magazine (218): 7–10. 26 October 1994 – via Amazon.co.uk.
  7. ^ Gallagher, William (23 November 2013). "Doctor Who 50th: 'A shiver ran through me the moment I wrote my first line for the Doctor'". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  8. ^ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  9. ^ The Jarillion Mercy
  10. ^ "Sarah Sutton".
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