Margaret John (1926-2011)

The actress Margaret John has died, aged 84.

She appeared twice in Doctor Who, featuring in the 1968 Patrick Troughton story Fury from the Deep as Director of Euro Sea Gas, Megan Jones, and returning in the revived series as Grandma Connolly, victim to the Wire in The Idiot's Lantern. Speaking in a special programme dedicated to her last year (Margaret John: National Treasure ), she was quite proud of holding the title for the longest spanned appearances in Doctor Who until Bernard Cribbins came along (if you count the movies!).

John has had a varied career, with appearances on stage (The Vagina Monologues, Calendar Girls, soaps (Coronation Street, Crossroads), drama (Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, The District Nurse), film (The Baker, Run Fatboy Run), and comedy (High Hopes, Satellite City); she also played alongside Torchwood star Eve Myles and Trevor Eve in the 2009 BBC Wales drama Framed. Her last role has yet to be seen, in an episode of new American fantasy series Game of Thrones.

She was awarded the Bafta Cymru Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

However, she will be perhaps best remembered as Doris, the "unrestrained" neighbour to the Wests from the sitcom Gavin and Stacey. Co-writer and star of the programme James Corden said on Twitter: "All my thoughts are with the family of Margaret John who played Doris in G and S. A great actress and an incredible lady. She will be missed x".

Margaret John (December 1926 - February 2011)


Media coverage by: BBC Wales Arts, BBC News, Wales Online.