Felicity Jane Montagu (born 12 September 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Lynn Benfield, the long-suffering assistant of

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, h ...

Early life

Montagu was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, to Lieutenant-Colonel John Drogo Montagu (1916–2013), whose great-great-grandfather Admiral George Montagu was great-great-grandson of Hon. James Montagu (d. 1665), who, in his turn, was the third son of

Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer. Life He was the 3rd son of Edward Montagu of Boughton and grandson of Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1539 to ...

. She attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

and the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: * Webber, Kansas, a US city *Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA *Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA *Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA *Webber (surname) Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) ...

Career

Film

Montagu's reputation in comedy character parts was enhanced by her performance in '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' as Perpetua, Bridget's unpleasant colleague. She also appeared in the 2006 film ''

Confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''co ...

'' as highly strung magazine editor Vivien Kay-Wylie. She appeared in the film '' I Want Candy'' in which she plays the mother of an ambitious teenager. She appeared in '' How to Lose Friends & Alienate People'' (2008). In 2013, she reprised her role as Lynn Benfield for the

film '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'', and Mrs Mainwaring in the 2016 ''Dad's Army'' film. In 2016, Montagu reprised her role as Miss Adolf from the ''

Hank Zipzer The ''Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever'Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever'' in Books 1–3 and ''Hank Zipzer: The World's Best Underachiever'' in Book 4. series of American children's books ...

'' series in the TV movie '' Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe''.

Television

In 2004 and 2005, Montagu starred in ITV comedy drama Doc Martin as Caroline Bosman, the radio presenter of Radio Portwenn. She co-starred as Lynn, the faithful but put-upon personal assistant, in ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the B ...

'', and as the huge-breasted, raunchy vicar's wife Sue in '' Nighty Night''. In 2006, she took the leading role of housewife and gang queen Barbara Du Prez in the offbeat comedy series ''

Suburban Shootout ''Suburban Shootout'' is a British satirical black comedy television series produced for Channel 5 and Paramount Comedy by Feelgood Fiction in association with Oxygen. The first series aired in the UK on Channel 5 from 27 April 2006. It began ...

''. Her other television credits include ''

Mapp and Lucia ''Mapp and Lucia'' is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It bring ...

'',

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

('Furthers'; 1991), ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' season 3 episode 'Out To Lunch'; 1991, '' Health and Efficiency'', ''

Wish Me Luck ''Wish Me Luck'' is a British television drama about the exploits of British women undercover agents during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 17 January 1988 and 25 February 199 ...

'', '' Tumbledown'', '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', ''

2point4 Children ''2point4 Children'' is a BBC Television sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porters, a seemingly average, working-class London family whose world is frequently turned upside-down by bad luck and ...

'', ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'', '' My Life as a Popat'', '' Johnny and the Bomb'', ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their m ...

'', '' The Queen's Sister'', ''

Coogan's Run ''Coogan's Run'' is a 1995 UK TV series featuring Steve Coogan as a series of odd characters living in the fictional town of Ottle. It was written by various people including Coogan, Patrick Marber, David Tyler, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, ...

'', '' Doc Martin'', ''

Lead Balloon ''Lead Balloon'' is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian w ...

'', ''

Alexei Sayle's Stuff ''Alexei Sayle's Stuff'' is a British television comedy sketch show which ran on BBC2 for a total of 18 episodes over 3 series from 1988 to 1991. Cast Alexei Sayle's Stuff stars stand-up comedian Alexei Sayle, with a recurring cast including A ...

'', '' Skins'', ''

'', ''

M.I. High ''M.I. High'' is a British action television series produced by Kudos for CBBC and created by Keith Brumpton. The series focuses on a team of undercover teenage spies working for a fictional version of the secret intelligence agency MI9 who ha ...

'', ''

The Durrells ''The Durrells'' (known in North America as ''The Durrells in Corfu'') is a British comedy-drama television series loosely based on Gerald Durrell's three autobiographical books about his family's four years (1935–1939) on the Greek island of ...

'', ''

The End of the F***ing World ''The End of the F***ing World'' is a British black comedy-drama television programme. The eight-part first series premiered its first episode on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2017, after which the following episodes were releas ...

'', '' Rab C. Nesbitt'' (TV series) as Reverend Biddulph season 10 episode 'Stool'; 2011, and ''

Sally4Ever ''Sally4Ever'' is a British comedy television series created by Julia Davis. The series stars Davis, Catherine Shepherd and Alex MacQueen. It premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic on 25 October 2018, and in the United States on HBO ...

''. In 2020, she appeared as a contestant on ''

Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

''.

Theatre

After graduating from drama school Montagu was cast in the Terry Johnson play ''Unsuitable for Adults'' at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a s ...

. She went on to work at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

and the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. After a long hiatus due to her screen work, Montagu returned to the stage when she starred as Melanie alongside

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

in the 2013 West End production of ''

Quartermaine's Terms ''Quartermaine's Terms'' is a play by Simon Gray which won The Cheltenham Prize in 1982. Plot The play takes place over a period of two years in the 1960s in the staffroom at a Cambridge school for teaching English to foreigners. It deals wi ...

'' at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

. In 2017 she appeared at the Liverpool Playhouse in a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as Mrs Bennet alongside Matthew Kelly as Mr Bennet.

Radio

Montagu has also been a regular voice on a range of comedy programmes on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

since the mid-1980s. Her credits include ''

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' is a humorous detective novel by English writer Douglas Adams, published in 1987. It is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic- ...

'', ''

Delve Special ''Delve Special'' was a UK BBC Radio 4 comedy starring Stephen Fry as investigative reporter David Lander. It ran for four series from 1984 to 1987, each series being four 30-minute episodes long. It was written by Tony Sarchet and produced ...

'', ''Ayres on the Air'', ''

Dial M For Pizza ''Dial M for Pizza'' was a sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in two series in 1987 and 1988, written by Ian Brown and James Hendrie. The series starred Robert Bathurst, Brenda Blethyn, Mike Grady and Jonathan Kydd. Other performers on ...

'', ''

Old Harry's Game ''Old Harry's Game'' is a UK radio comedy written and directed by Andy Hamilton, who also plays the cynical, world-weary Satan. "Old Harry" is one of many names for the devil. The show's title is a humorous play on the title of the 1982 TV ser ...

'', '' The Million Pound Radio Show'', '' Revolting People'', and ''

No Commitments ''No Commitments'' is a radio drama written by Simon Brett, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and now on BBC Radio 4 Extra. It ran for 13 series, starting in 1992. The sitcom portrays the day-to-day lives of three very different sisters. All ...

''.

Personal life

Montagu married Alan Nixon in 1984. They divorced in 2006. The couple have two children, Olivia (born 1990) and Luke (born 10 Aug 1996). Felicity and Olivia worked together in 2016 in the

series ''Guilt Trip'', where they played a fictional mother and daughter.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, Felicity 1960 births Living people Actresses from Leeds English film actresses Alumni of Loughborough University English radio actresses English television actresses Felicity