# Patricia Brake

Patricia Ann Kennedy (25 June 1942 – 28 May 2022), better known by her stage name Patricia Brake, was an English actress. She was best known for her role as Ingrid Fletcher, eldest daughter of Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the BBC sitcom Porridge and its sequel Going Straight.

## Early life

Brake was born in Bath on 25 June 1942, the daughter of Victor Brake, a butcher, and Doreen Brake (née Wilkey). She was educated at the City of Bath Girls' School, and beginning at age 16, she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before joining the Salisbury Playhouse for two years, from 1960 to 1961. She moved then to Harrogate for a year, where she was a member of the White Rose Players.

## Career

She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where (among other roles) she played Hermia in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Peter Hall, which also featured Judi Dench, Diana Rigg, Ian Richardson and Ian Holm. This was followed by a period in the West End. She began appearing on television in such series as Emergency – Ward 10, No Hiding Place and A Sharp Intake of Breath with David Jason, and also had film roles in My Lover, My Son (1970), The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973).
Brake played Ingrid Fletcher, the daughter of Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the BBC sitcom Porridge, and its sequel Going Straight. In 2015, she guest-starred in the BBC ongoing drama Casualty and in Midsomer Murders for ITV. Alongside her extensive body of work in West End theatres, she also appeared in UK soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street and with many British comic actors in numerous situation comedies and one-off plays and Love/Loss (2010).

## Personal life

Brake married actor Robert McBain in 1966. She adopted his son from a previous marriage and after they had two further children, they divorced in 1978. She married Michael Kennedy in 1997, gaining two stepchildren; he died in 2011. Brake died from cancer on 28 May 2022, aged 79.

## Acting roles

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2020 | Manhunt | Edith Cloves |
| 2020 | Truth Seekers – The Haunting of Connelly's Nook | Miss Connelly |
| 2019 | Defending the Guilty – #1.3 | Annie Scott |
| 2018 | Casualty – #32.40 | Margaret McDale |
| 2015 | Casualty – The Department of Secrets | Lola Brightwell |
| 2014 | Midsomer Murders – Let Us Prey | Stella Spencer |
| 2012 | Doctors | Patti Sylvester |
| 2010 | Love/Loss | Millie |
| 2008 | Holby City – Stolen | Heather Clegg |
| 2005–2006 | Coronation Street | Viv Baldwin |
| 2004 | EastEnders | Deirdre Foster |
| 2003 | Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher | Ingrid Godber |
| 2001 | McCready and Daughter – The Dating Game | Barbara Graham |
| 2000 | Midsomer Murders – Beyond the Grave | Anne Quarritch |
| 1998 | Looking After Jo Jo | Doro |
| 1995 | The Upper Hand – 2 episodes | Peggy Thatcher |
| 1992–1993 | Eldorado | Gwen Lockhead |
| 1991 | Stay Lucky – Shingle Beach | Tanya |
| 1991 | 2point4 Children – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning | Tina |
| 1990 | The Bill – Decisions | Irene |
| 1990 | Campion – Dancers in Mourning: Part 1 | Chole Pye |
| 1988 | Singles | Di |
| 1985–1986 | Troubles and Strife | Cherry |
| 1985 | Mann's Best Friends | Doll Delights |
| 1982 | Only When I Laugh | Hilary |
| 1980 | Keep It in the Family | Ann |
| 1978–1979 | The Glums | Eth |
| 1978 | Going Straight | Ingrid Fletcher |
| 1977 | Nicholas Nickleby | Madeline Bray |
| 1976 | Forget-Me-Not | Pat Powell |
| 1976 | The Picnic | The Maid |
| 1975 | Emmerdale Farm | Sarah Foster |
| 1974–1977 | Porridge | Ingrid Fletcher |
| 1974–1975 | Second Time Around | Vicki |
| 1973 | The Optimists of Nine Elms | Dogs Home Secretary |
| 1970 | My Lover, My Son | Julie |
| 1968–1969 | The Ugliest Girl in Town | Julie Renfield |
| 1967 | Inheritance | Susie Morcer |
| 1966 | This Man Craig | Joyce Marino |
| 1965 | Love Story | Yvonne |
| 1963 | Lorna Doone | Gwenny Carfax |
| 1963 | No Hiding Place | Cathy Kennedy |
| 1961 | Home Tonight | Dot Sutton |
| 1960 | Emergency Ward 10 | Nell Ritchie |