# Patsy Byrne

Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne (13 July 1933 – 17 June 2014) was an English actress, best known for her role as "Nursie" in Blackadder II as well as Malcolm's domineering Mother, Mrs Stoneway in all seven series of the ITV comedy Watching  between 1987 and 1993.

## Biography

Byrne was educated at Ashford County Grammar School. She studied drama at Rose Bruford College before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company playing parts such as Maria in Twelfth Night and Gruscha in The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Aldwych Theatre in the early 1960s. In the 1980s she also worked at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Byrne starred alongside Tony Robinson in a Series 3 episode of Maid Marian and her Merry Men. She played Betty the Tea Lady on the BBC children's programme Playdays. She also played Marge Stoneway, mother of Malcolm, in TV Series Watching which ran from 1987 to 1993.
Other roles included appearances in I, Claudius (1976), Stealing Heaven (1988), Inspector Morse (1989), 2point4 Children (1991), Les Misérables (1998), David Copperfield (1999) and Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), as well as numerous radio plays. Byrne performed in the 1990 BBC production of C. S. Lewis' The Silver Chair as the giant nanny in the city of the giants. In 1998 she played Martha Coutts in episode 19 of series 7 of Heartbeat.

## Death

Byrne died at Denville Hall, a retirement home for performers, on 17 June 2014.

## Selected filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Susan Barwell | "The Mayor's Nest" |
| 1962 | The Cherry Orchard | Dunyasha, the maid | |
| 1963 | Espionage | Maid | "The Frantic Rebel" |
| 1970 | The Wednesday Play | Markenka | "The Cellar and the Almond Tree" |
| 1970 | Z Cars: "Lost" | Bessie Laidlaw | 2 episodes |
| 1971 | Doomwatch | Mary Franklin | Episode: "By the Picking of My Thumbs" |
| 1972 | The Alf Garnett Saga | Mrs. Frewin | |
| 1972 | The Ruling Class | Mrs. Pamela Treadwell | |
| 1973 | Z Cars | Mary Walker | Episode: "Nuisance" |
| 1974 | The Gathering Storm | Cook | TV Movie |
| 1976 | I, Claudius | Martina | Episode: "Some Justice" |
| 1977 | Eleanor Marx | Lenchen | 3 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1977 | Just William | Mrs. Coombe | Episode: "The Great Detective" |
| 1978 | All Creatures Great and Small | Mrs. Hammond | Episode: "A Dog's Life" |
| 1978 | The Class of Miss MacMichael | Mrs. Green | |
| 1978 | The Devil's Crown | Florence | 3 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1978 | Hazell | Mrs. Dobson | Episode: "Hazell Settles the Accounts" |
| 1979 | My Son, My Son | Mrs. O'Riordan | 1 episode |
| 1979-1980 | The Old Curiosity Shop | Mrs. Nubbles | 4 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1980 | A Little Silver Trumpet | Mrs. Cleaver | 5 episodes |
| 1980-1984 | The Setbacks | Lily Setback | 17 episodes |
| 1982 | Britannia Hospital | Nurse | |
| 1982 | Educating Marmalade | MP's Nanny | Episode: "Nanny" |
| 1982 | The Return of the Soldier | Mrs. Plummer | |
| 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected | Jean | "The Absence of Emily" |
| 1983-1984 | Miracles Take Longer | Betty Hackforth | 36 episodes |
| 1984 | Danger, Marmalade at Work | Miss Peach | Episode: "Social Worker" |
| 1985 | Bleak House | Mrs. Blinder | 1 episode (TV mini-series) |
| 1986 | Blackadder II | Nursie | 6 episodes |
| 1986 | Mr. Love | Mrs. Lunt | |
| 1986 | Screen Two | Mrs. Dempster | "Hotel du Lac" |
| 1987 | A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery: "Strong Poison" | Mrs. Pettican | 2 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1987-1993 | Watching | Mrs. Stoneway | 50 episodes |
| 1988 | A Taste for Death | Millicent Gentle | 2 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1988 | Hanna's War | Rosie | |
| 1988 | Stealing Heaven | Agnes | |
| 1988 | Blackadder's Christmas Carol | Nursie, Bernard | TV Special |
| 1988-1997 | Playdays | Betty the Tealady | Series regular |
| 1989 | Inspector Morse | Mrs. Maltby | Episode: "The Ghost in the Machine" |
| 1990 | The Silver Chair | Giant Nanny | 2 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 1992 | 2point4 Children | Peggy | Episode: "Thank You Lucky Stars" |
| 1992 | In Sickness and in Health | Mrs. Jones | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Emily's Ghost | Mrs. Crabtree | |
| 1992 | Screen One | Sarah Stone | "Adam's Bede" |
| 1993 | The Higher Mortals | Matron | |
| 1993 | Maid Marian and Her Merry Men | Marian's Mum | Episode: "Keeping Mum" |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Old Woman | 1 episode (TV mini-series) |
| 1994 | The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | Mrs. Mitchell | Episode: "Hand in Glove" |
| 1995 | Casualty | Grace Kent | Episode: "Halfway House" |
| 1996 | The Treasure Seekers | Mrs. Nesbit | TV Movie |
| 1997 | Bramwell | Mrs. Mills | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Peak Practice | Mrs. Burns | Episode: "Lost Feelings" |
| 1998 | Heartbeat | Martha Coutts | Episode: "Appearances" |
| 1998 | Les Misérables | Toussaint | |
| 1998 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Daisy Panick | Episode: "Road Rage - Part Two" |
| 1999 | Blackadder: Back & Forth | Nursie | |
| 1999 | David Copperfield | Mrs. Gummidge | 2 episodes (TV mini-series) |
| 2000 | Kevin & Perry Go Large | Old lady | |
| 2006 | Holby City | Esme Taylor | Episode: "Into Your Own Hands" |