Barbara Flynn
British actress (born 1948)
Who was Barbara Flynn?
Barbara Joy Flynn (born Barbara Joy McMurray, 5 August 1948) is an English actress. She first came to prominence playing Freda Ashton in the ITV drama series A Family at War (1970–1972). In 2021, she appeared in Doctor Who: Flux as Tecteun, a founder of Time Lord society and The Doctor's adoptive mother. Starting in 2023, she acted in Beyond Paradise, playing the mother of the detective's girlfriend. Flynn was born as Barbara Joy McMurray, in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. Her Irish father, Dr James McMurray, was a pathologist. Her mother was Joy (or Joyce) Crawford Hurst. Flynn attended St Mary's Convent School, Hastings.
She went on to play the milk woman in the BBC comedy Open All Hours (1976–1985), Jill Swinburne in The Beiderbecke Trilogy (1985–1988), Dr. Rose Marie in the BBC series A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988), Judith Fitzgerald in the ITV drama Cracker (1993–1995), and Mrs. Jamieson in Cranford (2007–2009).
Historical significance
This included some episodes in 2024 where she was reunited with Peter Davison, her A Very Peculiar Practice co-star. In her own words, she tends to play "feisty, strong women".