Helen Blatch

Helen Christine Blatch (née Wilson; 24 January 1934 – 31 December 2015)[1] was a British actress on stage and screen, best remembered on screen for her roles in Doctor Who (in the serials The Deadly Assassin and The Twin Dilemma)[2] and The Practice, and on stage for her casting as "Cerimon, a lord of Ephesus", in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1989–1990 performance of Pericles.[3]

Career

Born in Southampton, Hampshire, Blatch trained at The Questors Student Group Course, finishing in 1958,[4] and performed with the Questors for some years afterwards.[5] She spent some years in repertory, working with directors such as Sam Walters, David Scase, David Thacker and Phyllida Lloyd. Her performances attracted positive reviews ("Miss Blatch .. is capable of an extraordinary tranquillity of both voice and manner, against which slight nuances of intonation or expression register with great effect";[6] "Helen Blatch captures perfectly the fragility and neuroses of the regressing morphine addict living in a dream of the past";[7] "Helen Blatch is strong and striking ... Her wit is waspish, her frailty acute, her quest for affection chilling.")[8]

She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1989,[9] and, in her first season there, was described by one reviewer as "a find".[9] Her casting as Cerimon, "a lord of Ephesus", in Shakespeare's Pericles was considered by one contemporary reviewer as "a brilliant stroke, for Cerimon (Helen Blatch) becomes a healer whose urgent goodness and brightly pitched grief has us eating magic from her hand."[9] Another reviewer said "this presentation of power within gentleness, strength within femininity, was profoundly impressive."[10]

A 2004 survey of performances of Pericles said "Helen Blatch brought to the part a combination of compassionate humanity and priestly authority",[11] and commented, "In a virtuoso piece of doubling, Helen Blatch went on to play the Bawd in brothel scenes that were positively Hogarthian in their fetid realism; by having one actress play parts so different, Thacker emphasized the way in which Pericles ... brings together contrasting extremes: here, .. juxtaposed in a single performer."[11] Since Blatch's performance, Cerimon has often been cast as female.[12]

Blatch appeared in many other classic and modern plays. For her role in Sir Peter Shaffer's The Gift of the Gorgon, she learned Greek from a 'How to Speak Greek' tape and tourist guidebook.[13] Her performance in Sir David Hare's Racing Demon as "Espy's understandably unhappy wife" was particularly noted as "affecting ... their final scene of clenched and frigid misery sends a shiver down the spine."[14] She appeared in films also (including different roles in two versions of A Doll's House) and in many TV series. Her longest-enduring television role was as Nora Madkay in the ITV series The Practice,[15] but she is perhaps best known for her two roles in Doctor Who: the voice of the Matrix in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin,[2][16] and Fabian in the 1984 serial The Twin Dilemma.[2][17]

Selected stage performances
YearTitleTheatreRoleDirector
1966HecabeQuestors Theatre, EalingPolyxenaAlan Clarke[18]
1968Beware of the DogBirmingham Repertory TheatreShePeter Jefferies[6][19]
1971TreeLittle Theatre Club, Garrick YardDerek Oldfield[20]
1973NightKing's Head Theatre, IslingtonThe WomanSam Walters[21][22]
1977The IslandOrange Tree Theatre, RichmondDeeRoger Swaine[23][24][25]
1980Past TenseLibrary Theatre, ManchesterDavid Scase[26]
1980Love's Old Sweet SongLibrary Theatre, ManchesterNanAlan Meadows[27]
1981The Importance of Being EarnestDuke's Playhouse, LancasterLady BracknellDavid Thacker[15][28]
1982Long Day's Journey into NightDuke's Playhouse, LancasterMary TyroneDavid Thacker[7][15]
1983Just Between OurselvesHaymarket Theatre, LeicesterChristopher Honer[29]
1984Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are DeadTheatr Clwyd, MoldGertrudeGeorge Roman[30]
1986The Cheeky ChappieLibrary Theatre, ManchesterHoward Lloyd-Lewis[31]
1986Julius CaesarThe Young VicCalphurniaDavid Thacker[32][33]
1987Just Between OurselvesEveryman Theatre, CheltenhamPhyllida Lloyd[34]
1987Cider With RosieDerby PlayhouseMartin Houghton[35]
1988Tom and VivLibrary Theatre, ManchesterRoseChris Honer[36]
1988Noises OffTheatre Royal, YorkMartin Houghton[37]
1988Woman In MindLibrary Theatre, ManchesterSusan[8]
1989PericlesSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonCerimon; BawdDavid Thacker[15][11][9][38][3][39][40][41]
1989The Duchess of MalfiSwan Theatre, StratfordMidwifeBill Alexander[42][43]
1990EarwigThe Pit, Barbican Centre, LondonMarthaRon Daniels[42][44]
1990All's Well That Ends WellBarbican, LondonWidow CapiletBarry Kyle[15][42][45]
1990PericlesThe Pit, Barbican Centre, LondonCerimon; BawdDavid Thacker[46][47]
1990The Duchess of MalfiThe Pit, Barbican Centre, LondonMidwifeBill Alexander[42][48]
1991Sex Please, We're Italian!The Young VicClotilde SaltoDavid Thacker[15][49][50]
1991The Snow QueenThe Young VicKaren Stephens and Chris White[15][51]
1992The Gift of the GorgonThe Pit, Barbican Centre, LondonKatinaPeter Hall[15][52][42][13]
1992Columbus: The Discovery of JapanBarbican, LondonFelipe PinzonJohn Caird[15][42]
1993The Gift of the GorgonWyndham's Theatre, LondonKatinaPeter Hall[42][53]
1993Live Like PigsRoyal Court TheatreKatie Mitchell[15][54]
1994BabiesRoyal Court TheatreIvy Williams / Valerie PinkneyPolly Teale[15][55]
1995The KnockyRoyal Court TheatrePearl (grandma)Brian Stimer[56]
1995-1996The TempestThe Young Vic; Swan Theatre, Stratford; UK tourMariner, SpiritDavid Thacker[57]
1995Bingo: Scenes of Money and DeathSwan Theatre, StratfordOld WomanDavid Thacker[58][59]
1997Marat/SadeOlivier TheatreA newly-rich ladyJeremy Sams[60][61]
1997Measure for MeasureRoyal Lyceum, EdinburghMistress Overdone and Sister FranciscaStephane Braunschweig[62][63]
1998Racing DemonChichester Festival TheatreHeather EspyChristopher Morahan[64][14][65][66]
1999Sitting PrettyChelsea Centre, LondonJacob Murray[67]
2001Blood Red, Saffron YellowTheatre Royal, PlymouthDaily cleaning womanJennie Darnell[68]
2002The Three SistersOrange Tree Theatre, RichmondAnfisaSam Walters[69][70]
2002Three Sisters TwoOrange Tree Theatre, RichmondAnfisaAuriol Smith[69][71]
2004Humble BoyLibrary Theatre, ManchesterMercyRoger Haines[72]
2005Arsenic and Old LaceDerby PlayhouseMiss BrewsterJoseph Alford[73]

Selected filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1973A Doll's HouseHelenePatrick Garland, director[15][74][75]
1976Doctor Who - The Deadly AssassinMatrix (voice)Two episodes[2][15][16]
1979Secret ArmySimone BorelOne episode[15][76]
1980Blake's 7ReceptionistOne episode[77]
1984TenkoMrs. BriggsOne episode[78]
1984Doctor Who - The Twin DilemmaFabianOne episode[2][17]
1985The PracticeNora Madkay12 episodes[15]
1988Coronation StreetMuriel AshtonOne episode[15]
1992A Touch of FrostAnnieOne episode[15]
1992A Doll's HouseAnne-MarieDavid Thacker, director[79]
1991, 1993, 1997, 2002The BillFour charactersFour episodes[15]
1993The Buddha of SuburbiaPyke's MaidFour episodes[15]
1998The Hello GirlsAunt HelenTwo episodes [80][81][82]
2001-2010DoctorsSeveral charactersSeveral episodes[83]

Personal life

Blatch commented in a 2002 interview that she had entered the theatre against her father's wishes.[69] It was announced in January 2018 that Blatch died on 31 December 2015, aged 82.[84][85]

References
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