ATV Icons: Glynis Barber |
| Written by Doug Lambert |
| Saturday, 09 January 2010 08:53 |
 On Thursday evening Glynis Barber made her first appearance in BBC One soap EastEnders, Barber is playing Glenda Mitchell, mother of Ronnie and Roxy, but as our look back at her career reveals the actress is no stranger to the world of soap. After all she was amongst the regular cast of the short-lived and bonkers LWT soap Night and Day and enjoyed an extended stint in Emmerdale investigating the murder of Tom King. However, to millions she’ll probably still be remembered for her role in the classic 1980s series Dempsey and Makepeace and to fans of British Sci Fi for her role in the final series of Blakes 7. We take a look back at the career of Glynis Barber to date. Glynis Barber was born in 1955 in South Africa but is known to British television audiences for her variety of roles over the years. Her first real big break came in 1978 when she appeared in a first season episode of new BBC science fiction series Blakes 7. Created by Terry Nation, the man who had given the country the daleks and Survivors, Blakes 7 was a somewhat dark sci fi series set in the future with a group of criminal rebels fighting back against a fascist, corrupt and totalitarian Terran Federation. In the episode Avalon Glynis was cast as a ‘Mutoid”, a cyborg style creature that are servants of the federation. Her mutoid in the episode is the personal assistant of Space Commander Travis [Stephen Grief]. It was her first big break into the world of television acting and her first appearance in the series in which she would later be a regular cast member. After appearing in Blakes 7 the actress had roles in a 1980 adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, the BBC Play of the Month, The Sandbaggers, Bognor and A Fine Romance. In 1981 the actress returned to Blakes 7 for its fourth and final season. Originally the series was planned to end after its third season in 1980 but Bill Cotton, BBC Head of Television, had enjoyed the series so much he ordered a fourth year. Actress Jan Chappell decided not to return for the fourth season and producers looked around for a new actress and character. They created the character of Soolin, a good shooter whose parents had been murdered by mercenaries. Barber was cast in the role and joined the cast of the 4th season as a regular. As the series was due to end with its third year the fourth season is very much different in style with new sets, ships and credits introduced and in many ways the fourth year could be considered a follow-up to Blakes 7. Despite a last minute re-commissioning for a fourth season the producers felt a fifth season was Following the end of Blakes 7 in 1980s Glynis Barber appeared in several drama’s such as The Adventures of Lucky Jim, another version of Sherlock Holmes, The Wicked Lady and Jane but it wasn’t until 1985 that she was seen in another role the actress is still remembered for – Harry Makepeace in the ITV series Dempsey and Makepeace. Dempsey and Makepeace was an LWT series for the ITV network which was created by Ronald Graham. It was the latest in a long-time of detective dramas but in many ways the success of the Following the end of Dempsey and Makepeace the actress continued to make frequent appearances on television throughout the 1990’s on dramas such as The Bill, Diagnosis Murder, Miss Marple, Doctors, Red Dwarf, Tales of the Unexpected and Babes in the Wood. It wasn’t until the 21st century however that the actress was cast in a regular role for a television series. In 2000 ITV lost its Australian soap Home and Away to rival broadcaster Channel Five and sought a replacement for it. It decided to revive the Midlands soap Crossroads and to create a new London based soap. The series was originally devised as Thornton Street but later renamed Night And Day. The teatime soap was created by Caleb Ransom who devised it to revolve around the residents of Thornton Street, a middle class area of Greenwich, and its first big storyline would be the
In 2005 the actress appeared in several episodes of Channel Five soap Family Affairs and guest In 2009 she joined the cast of 1960s drama The Royal – a medical spin-off from Heartbeat. The In October 2009 it was announced the actress would take over the role of Glenda Mitchell in EastEnders as original actress Jill Gascoine withdrew from the soap. The actress was a last minute casting for the role as filming had already begun for the characters first scenes. In the wake of Archie Mitchell’s murder Glenda returns to Walford to be reunited with her two daughters, Ronnie and Roxy, having not seen them since she walked out on her marriage to Archie many years before.
Part of our EastEnders @ 25 celebratory features.
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unlikely and so planned to give the series another big send off. As the third series had ended with the destruction of the liberator so the fourth would end in a blood bath – most of the characters would seemingly be killed off. If the series were to be re-commissioned for a fifth season those actors who return to the series could do so as their characters would be revealed to have survived. To end the series former lead actor Gareth Thomas agreed to reprise his role of Blake on the condition he was killed off. So just days before Christmas in 1981 11 million viewers watched as all the characters – bar Servalan played by Jacqueline Pearce – were shot and killed. No fifth season was commissioned and although the possibility of reviving the series cropped up several times during the 1980s ultimately that was the series end.
format in America, such as Cagney and Lacey, was the inspiration for the series. Cagney and Lacey, which followed two detectives investigating various crimes, had been a huge success and LWT wanted a similar series for British audiences. The series drew upon established themes laid down in shows such as The Persuaders and The Professionals and dealt with the different class of the two detectives and how American and British forces do things differently. American actor Michael Brandon was cast in the role of Dempsey and in 1989 he married his co-star Glynis Barber. The drama ran for 30 episodes spread over 3 seasons and at its height was seen by 20 million viewers.
disappearance of teenager Jane Harper on her 16th birthday. The central storyline of the series in many ways reflected the central premise of Twin Peaks in which the main mystery was the murder of teenager Laura Palmer. Night and Day clearly drew upon Twin Peaks, and Sunset Beach, for inspiration and had a dark overtone with dream sequences and bonkers storylines. The producers of the series decided to cast establish actors in the older parts and new talent for the younger characters in the new soap. Cast alongside Glynis Barber in the soap were Joe McGann, Lysette Anthony, Gareth Hunt, Sally Dexter, Lesley Joseph with Bradley Walsh and Shane Richie joining the cast later on.
Despite a lot of publicity for the launch of Night And Day, and indeed Crossroads, the series wasn’t a successful as ITV hoped. Its complex nature and different style to other soaps at the time perhaps alienate audiences and so six months into its run the soap was shunted to late night where it stayed in an ever changing slot. Production wrapped after just a year but because filming was so far ahead the series didn’t conclude on air until June 2003 – just a week after fellow soap Crossroads ended its run on ITV.
starred in an episode of the Lynda La Plante drama Trial and Retribution. It was in late 2006 the actress was cast in the role of DCI Grace Barraclough in Emmerdale who arrived to investigate the murder of resident Tom King on his wedding day. Barber enjoyed an extended guest stint in the soap staying with Emmerdale until September 2007 when her character was killed off. As well as investigating the murder of Tom King Barraclough entered into a romance with Carl King – ironically the man who had murdered Tom.
actress appeared in 12 episodes as Janet McAteer, the hospital administrator. In 2009 ITV announced it was suspending production on both The Royal and Heartbeat due to declining ratings and a backlog of episodes to be aired. The broadcaster announced once filming had wrapped on both dramas it would have enough episodes to see it through to the end of 2010 when it would decide whether or not to commission new episodes of both shows. However, both shows have effectively been axed as the cast and crew have moved onto new projects and reviving the shows seems unlikely in their current forms. 
