# Carol MacReady

Carol MacReady is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Mrs Dribelle in Bodger and Badger. She has often been cast as matronly, authority and mother figures, such as Mrs. Atkins in Danger: Marmalade at Work, Madge in Victoria Wood's play The Library, Susan Speed in Waiting For God, Mrs. Daws in The Darling Buds of May, Elizabeth in The Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Agnes Wilford in 102 Dalmatians (2000), Olga in My Family and Ethel in Doc Martin.
One of her earlier notable roles was in the Play for Today story Schmoedipus (1974) written by Dennis Potter. In 1996, MacReady was memorably cast as Mrs. Tinker, the paranoid mother of Alice Tinker in The Vicar of Dibley episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident". More recently, she has appeared as Mrs. Norcliffe in Gentleman Jack and Irene Hickson in two episodes of Strike.
On stage, MacReady has appeared in several productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Love in a Wood as Mrs. Joiner, Barthomlew Fair as Ursula and Roberto Zucco as Madam MacReady has also featured in several plays at the National Theatre, including The Mandate as Tamara and Tales From the Vienna Woods as First Aunt.

## Selected filmography

TV :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Sister Theresa | Little Moon of Alban |
| 1968 | Sherlock Holmes | Carrie | Episode: "Shoscombe's Old Place" |
| 1968 | Softly Softly | Ellen Simpson | Episode: "Take Them in Singles" |
| 1970 | The Six Wives of Henry VIII | Amalie | Episode: "Anne of Cleeves" |
| 1971 | The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder | Miss Hillard | Episode: "Death of an Angel" |
| 1974 | Play For Today | Dorothy | Schmoedipus |
| 1974-5 | An Unofficial Rose | Nancy Bowshott | 4 episodes |
| 1975 | The Sweeney | Kath | Episode: "Trojan Bus" |
| 1975-6 | Couples | Heather Barnes | 64 episodes |
| 1978 | Come Back, Lucy | Mrs. Clayton | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Play For Today | ATS Sergeant | The Imitation Game |
| 1981 | The Flame Trees of Thika | Mrs. Nimmo | 4 episodes |
| 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected | Liz Ferguson | A Harmless Vanity |
| 1982 | The Woman in White | Mrs. Michelson | 3 episodes (mini series) |
| 1982 | Union Castle | Elizabeth Steel | 5 episodes |
| 1984 | Danger: Marmalade at Work | Mrs. Atkins | 10 episodes |
| 1984 | Winter Sunlight | Mrs. Swain | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Mapp and Lucia | Daisy Quantock | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Roll Over Beethoven | Petra Stopforth | 1 episode |
| 1985-6 | Troubles and Strife | Margaret | 13 episodes |
| 1986 | Dramarama | Marian Bert | Last Days at Black Berts |
| 1987 | A Dororthy L. Sayers Mystery | Miss Martin | 3 episodes (mini series) |
| 1989 | Victoria Wood | Madge | Episode: "The Library" |
| 1990 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Milly Croft | Episode: "Peril at End House" |
| 1990 | Birds of a Feather | Mrs. Simmons | Episode: "Love on the Run" |
| 1991 | Never the Twain | Traffic Warden | Episode: "The First of the Queue" |
| 1991 | Waiting For God | Susan Speed | Episode: "Foreign Workers" |
| 1992 | A Bit of Fry and Laurie | Liz Tragic | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Casualty | Aunt Pauline | Episode: "Body and Soul" |
| 1992-3 | The Darling Buds of May | Mrs. Daws | 4 episodes |
| 1993 | The Alleyn Mysteries - | Mrs. Ives | Episode; "Death at the Bar" |
| 1993 | Get Back | Pam | Episode: "Drive My Car" |
| 1993 | The Return of the Psammead | Cook | 3 episodes |
| 1994 | The Rector's Wife | Celia Harper | 3 episodes (mini series) |
| 1995 | The Ghostbusters of East Finchley | Elizabeth | 5 episodes |
| 1996 | The Vicar of Dibley | Mrs. Tinker | Episode: "The Christmas Lunch Incident" |
| 1996-7 | Bodger and Badger | Mrs. Dribelle | 33 episodes |
| 1997 | Dangerfield | Mrs. Smedley | Episode: "Guilt" |
| 2000 | Trial and Retribution | Vera Collingwood | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Doc Martin | Mrs. Beckett | Episode: "The Portwenn Effect" |
| 2006 | Midsomer Murders | Hatty Down | Episode: "Vixen's Run" |
| 2008 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Miss Johnson | Episode: "Cat Among the Pigeons" |
| 2009 | My Family | Olga | Episode: "The Guru" |
| 2013 | Doc Martin | Ethel | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Casualty | Evelyn Thompson | Episode: "A Life Less Ordinary" |
| 2017 | Marley's Ghosts | Mrs. Harrington | Episode: "Dead Man's Chest" |
| 2018 | The Royals | Dottie | Episode: "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles" |
| 2020 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Dorothy Tearsheet | Episode: "The Sticking Place" |
| 2022 | Gentleman Jack | Mrs. Norcliffe | Episode: "Faith is All" |
| 2022 | Strike | Irene Hickson | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | This is Going to Hurt | German Professor | 1 episode |
Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | Cider with Rosie | Baroness | TV film |
| 1973 | The Taming of the Shrew | Katherina | TV film |
| 1977 | A Christmas Carol | Mrs. Cratchit | TV film |
| 1978 | Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf | Wendy | TV film |
| 1980 | Invasion | Czech official | TV film |
| 1982 | Murder is Easy | Mrs. Pierce | TV film |
| 1982 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Mme. Duval | TV film |
| 1983 | Forever Young | Brenda | |
| 1991 | How's Business | Kath | |
| 1994 | A Feast at Midnight | Miss Plunder | |
| 1994 | Stanley's Dragon | Mrs. Bradley | |
| 2000 | Quills | Sister Noirceuill | |
| 2000 | 102 Dalmatians | Agnes Wilford | |
| 2003 | Wondrous Oblivion | Mrs. Wilson | |
| 2006 | Love Lies Bleeding | Landlady | TV film |
| 2018 | Walk like a Panther | Pat | |
| 2018 | Dead in a Week or Your Money Back | Celia | |
| 2021 | A Boy Called Christmas | Mother Gerri | |
| 2021 | Decrypted | Alice Bertrand |