Heather Chasen

I did an episode where I played this journalist which they must have quite liked because they got back to me about a month later. [They asked me] 'Would you come back and join the cast and change the colour of your hair?' Well, I said okay and so I changed my [hair] colour from red to blonde and I looked exactly the same! I didn't look any different at all. And so then I came back as this naughty lady, Valerie Pollard. The most fun I had was when I was helping out behind the bar which is a very good place to be if you're in a soap because you're in every scene. I was very happy, it was a fun time, I enjoyed it. At the beginning, not at the very end. When I first joined it, for the first few months I was in, it was great fun but after Jack (the producer) went it became less good and less fun and I didn't enjoy it so much".

— Chasen describing her time on Crossroads, from 1982 to 1986[1]

In 2011, Chasen was cast as Lydia Simmonds, Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks)'s maternal grandmother and Norman Simmonds' (George Layton) mother,[10] in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, after the original actress Margaret Tyzack had to pull out of the role due to personal reasons.[11] Two episodes featuring Tyzack had already been broadcast,[12][13] and she featured in a further one on 14 April.[14] Chasen was cast and replaced Tyzack in the role, beginning filming on 15 April [11] for scenes broadcast from 21 April.[15] EastEnders' executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood, added: "In order to continue the current storyline we've taken the decision for Heather Chasen to take over the role of Lydia."[16] The character died on-screen and Chasen made her last appearance on 13 June 2011,[17] and, though not credited for it, did a voice-over for the 14 and 28 June episodes.[18] Kirkwood later said "Lydia's storyline was perfect" and that Chasen had made the part her own after Tyzack's departure.[19] Brooks said of the storyline as a whole, "I absolutely loved exploring Janine's background. I was really proud with the scenes with Heather Chasen [Lydia]. It was really hard work, but worth it."[20]

Chasen appeared in other television programmes such as The Bill and The Harry Hill Show.[4] She had guest roles in Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green[21] and voiced a number of characters in the radio show The Navy Lark, particularly WREN Heather Chasen and "battle axe" Ramona Povey.[22] In soaps, she had four separate appearances in the BBC soap opera Doctors, with her most recent in 2014,[23] reprising her role as Grace Barberry from 2012.[24] She played Sylvie Leigh in Holby City and, for five episodes, Madge Bennet in the Channel 5 soap opera, Family Affairs.[1] Earlier credits include, playing "rich bitches" Caroline Kerr, in The Newcomers and Isabel Neal in Marked Personal, alongside Stephanie Beacham.[4] She also played the "evil" headmistress in Schoolgirls in Uniform at the Battersea Arts Centre.[4] In stage and theatre, Chasen appeared in The Rat Trap. Michael Billington from The Guardian described Chasen's character, Burrage the maid, as "trundling", rating the play three stars.[25] Other than this, she appeared in Pardon Ma Prime Minister alongside Gerald Flood and Paul Curran, written by Edward Taylor and John Graham who created the BBC radio series The Men from the Ministry.[26] The Birmingham Mail described the play as "hilarious" and "promising".[26] One of Chasen's last plays was My Three Angels in which she played Madame Parole,[4] other plays included, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Who Bombed Birmingham playing Margaret Thatcher,[27] and The Lizard of Rock, in which she played the main role,[4][22] appearing alongside actor Jack Hawkins.[22] Chasen opined that she had a "lovely time" playing Miss Marple in A Murder is Announced alongside Richard Todd and Barbara Murray.[4] In 2009, Chasen appeared in the award-winning Anglo-Russian feature film Season of Mists, playing Jane.[27] Chasen appeared alongside Marina Blake, Sergei Chonishvili, Ifan Huw Dafydd and ex-EastEnders actor Dudley Sutton.[27] Other films she has appeared in include, The Kiss of Tosca in 2000, The Toybox in 2003 and Cat Run, a 2011 film.[27][28]