Sandra Wilkinson

**Sandra Wilkinson** is a member of the Cornley Drama Society. She often gets the lead female roles, and has wanted to be an actress from a young age. Her aunt is Dame Diana Rigg.

## Personality

Sandra thinks highly of herself and her skill in theatre, having been the lead actress in several CDS productions (indeed, until a stand-in from the stage crew was hastily provided part way through "Haversham Manor", she was the only female cast member). She often overplays her characters, and has a penchant for being promiscuous on stage regardless of character. Robert says she flirts with everyone, which she looks offended by. While narcissistic at times, she is kind and loyal to the society, although she appears to have ambitions to turn professional - in the Cornley Drama Festival, her entry is a blatent attempt to make a demo tape, as part of her bid to be the next "Voice of Marks & Spencer".

She seems to take most things in her stride, including a missing dancing partner (Spirit of Christmas), the unscripted behaviour of her colleagues ("Chistmas Carol", both as Young Scrooge's fiancee and as Tiny Tim's mother, "The Trial", as a pathologist with a rather too helpful corpse, or "The Pilot" where she has to deal with a double act by Annie and her body-double), or erratic camera angles and odd rhymes ("the Most Lamentable...."). Even having her costume stolen doesn't deter her in "Haversham Manor" - she completes the play in her underwear. She does hesitate, understandably, in "Harper's Locket" before delivering the line "Father, would you carve the rump?"

Her loyalty to the society, together with Chris's, appears to have been compromised by professional ambition in "Christmas Carol", but it later turns out that the woman Chris is talking to about leaving the group is not Sandra.

Twice in Peter Pan she is the first member of the cast to take the initiative when things go wrong, first by getting someone to call an ambulance after Annie's accident, and later by leaving the pirate ship set when it fails to stop revolving. She rarely lets anything get in the way of her keeping going - in both "Haversham Manor" and "Peter Pan" even the loss of her costume doesn't stop her - she just carries on in her underwear.

She is known for frequently giving flirtatious glances to the audience throughout her performances, occasionaly with an exaggerated toss of the head - sometimes vigourous enough to dislodge a wig (in The Pilot, and in Summer Once Again) . In "The Pilot (Not the Pilot)" her character says that she doesn't care about her appearance, then immediately giving a seductive Aside Glance. In "The Nativity" she plays the Virgin Mary and attempts to constantly play up her sexuality in roles.

In "90 Degrees", after several other cast members have injured themselves trying to exit through a poorly-placed door, when it's Sandra's turn, she simply gets up and walks around the set.

Sandra seems to be quite handy in a fight. Much of the action in "Haversham Grange" is performed to the backdrop of a running battle between Sandra and Annie for the role - and costume - of Florence, only ending when Annie manages to subdue Sandra by binding her up with gaffer tape. On the set of Peter Pan she slaps Jonathan hard enough to knock him off his feet in a jealous rage over the attention he is giving Annie (a reversal of their characters' roles, where Tinkerbell is jealous of Wendy). And in the fight with the BBC staff on the set of Christmas Carol she comes to Max's aid by hitting his assailant with the roast goose prop from the Cratchits' Christmas Dinner scene.

## Relationships

### Max Bennett

During the filming of Peter Pan there are several incidences where private conversions with Chris are played, one of these being a recording of Max asking to play Peter Pan and another one where Chris and Robert talk about Max having a crush on Sandra. These recording are played during the play resulting in Sandra hearing them and Max getting embarrassed. At the time of the play Sandra is in a relationship with Jonathan. At one point the script of "Peter Pan" requires the characters played by Max (standing in for an injured Jonathan) and Sandra to kiss, but Jonathan, having recovered, reappears on stage at the crucial moment and Sandra kisses him instead, effectively choosing Jonathan over Max (perhaps channelling Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca" and Celia Johnson in "Brief Encounter") . However, shortly afterwards her relationship with Jonathan ends when she catches him kissing Annie. At the end of the play the boat crashes into the bedroom set and Max pushes Sandra out of the way before it hits her. She realises that Max saved her from getting hurt and kisses him.

About a year after Peter Pan, by the time of "A Christmas Carol", the two are still dating. During the filming of a Green screen effect, the effect fails and instead plays a small clip from Dennis's birthday party. Sandra is seen talking to Annie where she says that she wants a grown-up relationship and plans to speak to Max after the show. Max sees this and takes it to mean that she is planning to break up with him which isn't helped by another clip being played later where it looks like Sandra is kissing Chris at the same party.

In "The Goes Wrong Show" Sandra appears to indulge Max's clowning, rather than lose patience with him as most of the cast would, for example in "The Trial" when she is a pathologist and the cadaver (Max) "helpfully" hands her the organs she wishes to examine, and firmly pushes his head down to stop him grining at the camera. However, in "Harper's Locket" it is she (as Celeste) who flirts with the camera instead of embracing Max (Harper) as the context would suggest is expected. In the Nativity they are seen leaving together, having changed into street clothes, when the fire alarm goes off.

### Jonathan Harris

Sandra was in a relationship with Jonathan during The Murder at Haversham Manor and Peter Pan. She chose to kiss him instead of Max in Peter Pan, which made Max sad, but when she later walked in on Jonathan kissing Annie she slapped Jonathan in the face before breaking up with him. However, their relationship does not appear to be affected by this in subsequent productions; on the rare occasions they work together (e.g as Topper and Olivia in Christmas Carol) they are not hostile to each other.

### Annie Twilloil

During The Murder at Haversham Manor, Sandra and Annie fought over the role of Florence Colleymore, but they seemingly make up afterwards. Sandra forgave Annie for kissing Jonathan during Peter Pan, saying that it was not her fault, and that Jonathan was the one with a girlfriend, and they show no hesitation in hugging each other at the end of the play (in character as Wendy and her mother). In the clip from Dennis' birthday party accidentally played in Christmas Carol, Sandra is even seen asking advice from Annie on the future of her relationship with Max. Sandra and Annie co-operate in their complex scene together in "The Pilot", and in The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1, Sandra and Annie are seen joking with each other about Chris' ballet.

### Chris Bean

Chris and Sandra seem to have an alright relationship, although Chris occasionally gets annoyed at her.

In "A Christmas Carol" a clip is accidentally played which makes it appear that Chris and Sandra are planning a new life together outside the group, Chris saying that "We'll never have to work with this bunch of freaks again". This causes the rest of the cast, especially Max, to shun her until it is revealed that the woman Chris was talking to was not Sandra. Sandra herself does not see the clip as it is shown whilst she is preparing for her next scene (with Tiny Tim's coffin),

### Robert Grove

In "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1" Robert runs an acting class where he lines up the rest of the Society's from best to worst based on their acting skills. He places Sandra at number 2, just after himself, showing that he judges her to a good actor.

Sandra is the only person ever known to have actually read one of Robert's books (when she thinks she's off stage in "A Trial to Watch" and in "The Grange")

Ever ambitious to further her career, Sandra agreed to film a bedroom scene with Robert when he was the director for "Summer Once Again". In the event only a short segment of the film was run, and at very high speed - just enough to show that they had shared a bed - but from what we see Robert seems to have been keener on the idea than Sandra. Sandra's character's next words after the film is run, "My soul is wracked by shame", are delivered in a way that suggests that Sandra, like her character, feels betrayed. However, unlike her character, Sandra herself does not fall pregnant as a result of the encounter.

## Roles

* Florence Colleymore - The Murder At Haversham Manor
* Wendy Darling - Peter Pan
* Charity Woman/Mrs Cratchit/Belle/Olivia - A Christmas Carol

#### The Goes Wrong Show

* Nistle (Elf) - The Spirit of Christmas
* Corporal Valerie Sky/Cloud - The Pilot (Not the Pilot)
* Professor Imogen Winterbottom/Lawyer - A Trial to Watch
* Vera Fortenoy (Ghost) - The Lodge
* Celeste Fennick - Harper's Locket
* Barbara Burgess - 90 Degrees
* Mary/Courtier - The Nativity
* Margaret - Summer Once Again
* Narrator/Lord Buckingham/Torturer - The Most Lamentable...
* Rex - There Is No Escape
* Herself/Soap/Spider - The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1
* Herself/Debra Davies/Miss Pennyforth - The Cornley Drama Festival Part 2

#### Mentioned

* Rapunzel - Rapunzel
* Fun Alice - Alice in Funderland
* The Sexy Cow - Jack and the Bean

## Actresses

The role of Sandra Wilkinson was originated by Charlie Russell. Both The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong are live performances, and there are a number of actresses that have played the role of Sandra Wilkinson throughout the years.

List of Actresses:

* Charlie Russell: Portrayed by her in the original and Broadway cast of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Both BBC and West End Productions), A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (BBC), and the Goes Wrong Show.
* Elena Valentine (West End & UK Tour)
* Amelia McClain (Broadway)
* Jacqueline Jarold (US Tour)
* Maggie Weston (Off-Broadway)
* Francine Cain
* Brooke Satchwell
* Katy Daghorn
* Bryony Corrigan
* April Huges
* Brenann Stacker